Written by Rastafoo69, edited by Otaku Apologist
Nekopara 1, a visual novel developed by NEKO WORKS. Released November 21, 2014. Download on DLSite for $22.00, or Steam of Nekopara. Free demo available. For PC Windows, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch. Full Japanese voice acting. Censored genitals. Available in English, Chinese, and Japanese.
You’ve finally moved out of home to start your very own bakery! Independence at last! But wait, there are two boxes here! What’s inside? Your two pet catgirls ready to a dick! And they’re here to stay with you!
Want to know more about Nekopara? Read our overview of this adult game series. Download of reviews Nekopara 2, Nekopara 3, Nekopara 4.
WORLD BUILDING
As the first game in the series, a lot of time is devoted to establishing the setting. This means tons of background lore that isn’t necessarily important to the main story.
Catgirls are cats who were “genetically modified” to look like humans. Thus, their legal status is still that of pets. They cannot travel on their own unless they pass a certification test for a bell. This bell indicates the catgirl is mature enough to be outside without her master. Each catgirl has her own breed and temperament. Of course, they’re still cats at heart, and love to pounce on things and eat fish.
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The strangest part is how common it is for humans to have sex with their catgirls. In that relationship they are called “catpanions”. Catgirls and humans cannot reproduce together. More catgirls are created via “genetic modification”.
So, cats are being experimented on to appear like human women and become sex objects for the men who purchase them. And yet, the women of the world are completely fine with this. The cats as well are okay with it if their master cheats. Basically, these are consenting cat concubines, making this is one of the most disturbing forms of human slavery ever conceived.
Some catgirls are thieves. Some catgirls wander into traffic and get hit. Some catgirls are victims of ridicule and discrimination. The list goes on. Nekopara 1 engages in world-building that all future titles draw from.
STORY
The story is told from the first-person perspective of Kashou Minazuki, the son of a rich Japanese baking family. The cakes and treats produced by your family are sold all across Japan. But Kashou wants more out of life! He moves out of home to start his own bakery!
At the start of the game, Kashou is a pretty big jerk. He pushes people away, ignores their feelings, makes them cry, and only thinks of himself. He has no idea if his bakery will be successful, and he’s shouldering the burdens of this challenge on his own.
Chocola and Vanilla are two of the six catgirls owned by the Minazuki family. They’ve always been extra close to Kashou ever since they were little kittens. And that he’s moved out, they want to live with him!
As the youngest catgirls, the comedy of this game comes from how naive they can be. When Vanilla asks for a business card and you say “help yourself” she tries to take an entire box of them! Misunderstandings like that are the bread and butter of the Nekopara series.
While the game generally falls into the “slice of life” genre, there is buildup and development all throughout. The catgirls need to earn their bells while Kashou needs to learn how to be considerate of others. This culminates in a fantastic ending scene.
Some parts of the game can drag on. There’s about 15 minutes of dialogue spent discussing sleeping arrangements, all for the sake of character building. For example, Vanilla says she’ll use the sofa while you and Chocola share the bed. That’s Vanilla’s personality, humble and putting others first. Character building is nice, but the entire conversation went on way too long.
The title “Nekopara” stands for “Cat Paradise”. Soft language like “snuggle” and “fluffy” are used often. Headpats and cheek pokes are some of the cute things catgirls love. Chocola often speaks in the third person, which many people find to be cute. “You surprised Chocola!”. Even if you have a heart of stone, this game is sure to make you smile.
Chronologically, this game takes place over two weeks of Chocola and Vanilla living with you. At the end of these two weeks, the rest of the Minazuki catgirls decide to start working at the bakery. This leads into the story of Nekopara 2.
GAMEPLAY
Nekopara is a kinetic novel with all the standard visual novel features. Press CTRL to fast forward. Scroll to access the text log. Right click to hide the text boxes. You can save your progress into multiple slots or use the quicksave feature for smooth bookmarking.
The unique game engine runs smooth as silk, with a custom user interface and presentation style that makes for a super enjoyable experience. Even after many hours of play, I encountered no lag or bugs.
GRAPHICS
The visuals in this game are downright gorgeous! They were created using the notoriously expensive “e-mote system”. This basically allows for facial riggings and animations for visual novel characters. It’s similar to vtuber technology, except the e-mote system allows for dynamic perspective and movement in three dimensions. For example, a girl can turn around and walk away from you, with the hair flip and footsteps fully animated. Similarly, she can blush and lean in for kisses.
The faces are super expressive, the eyes blink, the lips are synced to dialogue, their breasts bounce when they hop up and down. The emote system allows for the creation of super life-like characters drawn in the anime art style. These screenshots do not fully convey the gameplay experience because of how animated the girls are. The entire game is fully animated, like an interactive movie.
Outside of the animated characters, heavy use of panning shots fully conveys your eye movement from the first person perspective, making for many immersive moments. For example, checking out a sexy girl in a cute outfit. And due to the wide variety of variation images, the constant panning is hardly noticeable, at least at first.
Chibi artworks are used for comedic moments throughout the story. Since visual detail has to be condensed, these artworks are the purest vision of what a character is like. Chocola is excitable while Vanilla is relaxed, and this remains consistent regardless of art style. While other developers use chibi art as a visual shortcut, this developer implements the style well.
Although this is a visual novel created in an independent engine, it still runs incredibly smooth! Some developers like UmeSoft are well known for using a dated engine that ought to be updated, but Neko Works is the complete opposite! The game runs so smoothly, I never thought about back-end operations even once! It could be Unity, Renpy, or any other professional engine. Bottom line, however this game was made, it was made perfectly.
VOICE ACTING AND SOUND EFFECTS (SFX)
All characters in the game are fully voiced, even men! Only the protagonist is silent.
Chocola is voiced by Tomonaga Maki, while Vanilla is voiced by Inokuchi Yuka. Both of these women are highly experienced and well respected voice actresses in Japan.
Chocola has a high-pitched feminine tone, to match her girlish personality. Meanwhile Vanilla has a calmer voice at a lower pitch, because she doesn’t like to be the center of attention. And yet, both girls convey a range of emotion: Sadness, fear, doubt, love, joy, fatigue, and so much more. I never heard a voice actress behind the character. When I played the game, I heard Chocola, because that’s what the actress chose to embody. Seriously, it felt like Chocola was a real person!
Sound effects are used sparingly and largely for surprising moments. Chocola coming out of her box, fast steps from people in a hurry, and so much more. The sound design is meant to emphasize character dialogue, with fitting effects in between. This means the game is rarely silent, and always keeps your attention both visually and audibly. Of course, this is done with tact so the player is never overwhelmed.
MUSIC
There are 15 tracks in total. The music ranges from bouncy to depressing, a true rollercoaster of emotion. During happy times, the music has a digital synth style with piano and trumpets tossed in to create a lively feeling. During sad moments, piano and cymbals create a more delicate, angelic feeling.
The track “Tasogare Nyanko” is so sad it depresses me. I get flashbacks to sad moments in the game and start tearing up. Then I listen to “Nyannyan Paradise” for that comforting music box melody. The music in this game is flawless.
HENTAI
Nekopara was designed to have two version. The versions on Steam, Playstation, and Nintendo switch are missing the sex scenes. The DLSite edition has all of the content intact.
This means that the sex scenes are minimal and isolated to specific moments in the story that can be skipped over. Do not expect sex to be prominent or interwoven deeply into the plot.
There are three sex scenes in total, but they’re very intense. Each scene features multiple sex positions and multiple swaps between fucking Chocola and Vanilla. Scenes can easily last 15 minutes or longer simply due to the gorgeous animations and lengthy dialogue shared between the characters.
Chocola will say “it feels so good deep inside me” and later “It’s so intense I’m really going crazy!”. The dialog is super hot. The audible moaning mixed with well animated visuals is combined with the dirty sex sound effects for insertion and climaxing. Even though there are only three sex scenes, they’re incredibly emotionally rewarding and satisfying to fap to.
Each sex scene is a threesome between you, Chocola, and Vanilla. The background music is soft piano to match the sensitive lovemaking you’re giving them. Altogether, it fits the cute tone of the game while also remaining highly erotic.
CONCLUDING WORDS
Nekopara 1 is the first and possibly greatest of the Nekopara series. The graphics are gorgeous, the music is phenomenal, and the voice actresses are some of the best I’ve ever heard. This game truly is a catgirl sexual paradise.
Download Nekopara 1. If you love catgirls, check out more of our reviews with cute neko bitches.
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