Well, well...look at that! I'm back with another review, and it's a review of Nekopara Vol. 1! Believe it or not, I bought this game yesterday just to have something else to review, even though I had little to no interest in Nekopara Vol. 1, I think...that Nekopara Vol. 1 is a game that didn't interest me in the slightest, and even so, I bought it, I mean, think about it, I have written a lot of reviews of games with fan service for this site but all those games have something in common: The fan service is not the only objectionable aspect of those games, Danganronpa Another Episode? It also has strong language, violence and (pink) blood, among other things, Blue Reflection? Fantasy violence, references to bullying, theft, and instances of swearing, Dark Rose Valkyrie? Violence, language, a little of blood, and brief references to drugs...I can keep going. Wouldn't it be great if I reviewed a game that has a T or M rating because of fan service, suggestive or sexual dialogue, and nothing else? That's where Nekopara Vol. 1 comes in, Nekopara Vol. 1 (or NEKO Para Vol. 1, as it appears in the Nintendo Switch UI) is a game rated M and the only content descriptors it has are...Sexual Themes and Partial Nudity, when a game rated M only has those content descriptors, you know that the game will be something else, and even on consoles, that's somewhat true for Nekopara Vol. 1, now, it's true that there are RARE instances of swearing in the game but it's nothing major or important, I've played games rated E10+ with worse coarse language (Touhou Genso Rondo, A Witch's Tale...). As you probably know, Nekopara Vol. 1 was originally a PC game with pornographic or explicit content, like many other visual novels, the original version is released for PC and the console versions are ports, visual novels on consoles never have pornographic content (hentai, of course) in the event that the original version has said content, the versions released for consoles that don't have pornographic content are otherwise known as the ''all ages version'', a term that, honestly, I don't like that much...even if you remove the pornographic content of a visual novels, it's far from being a game for kids...Changing the subject, on the eShop page of this game they boast of the fact that Nekopara is ''a famous PC adventure game that has sold over 2 million copies of series worldwide'', if that's the case, shouldn't we be talking about this game and series more? Perhaps nobody has talked about this game here on this site...is that a bad thing? I do not know, but at least I'm here to write a review of the Nintendo Switch version, as of me writing this review, I haven't played the extra story unlocked after finishing the game (Nekopara Vol. 0 apparently), even so, I'm here writing a review, I want to review Nekopara Vol. 1 already, I'm specifically reviewing the Nintendo Switch version and...I don't know, everyone...maybe, this game is worth it, a little at least, but if you are going to play this game, you should play it the way it should be played, which is another way of saying that you should buy the game on Steam and get the 18+ patch while you're at it, you can buy the 18+ content on Steam, the content should be easy to get...I can't say that there aren't things I like about this game, of course there are good (or almost good) things about the game, I can respect a game that has the word ''semen'' in its dialogue, so far, Nekopara Vol. 1 is the only game I have played that has that word somewhere, and the sexual dialogue can be amusing (''I never thought Master would ever be such a horny pastry puffer. Humph!'')...I...think I don't have much more to say for an introduction...in case it wasn't obvious, this review might contain references to sexual themes and controversial things, so, if you have made it this far, you have been warned, I guess...

Story: I thought about giving this category a 7, but no, the game needed a little more to get a 7 in this category. The story of Nekopara Vol. 1 works and not much else, Minaduki Kashou opens his own cake shop ''La Soleil'' as patissier, he receives 2 uninvited guests, the catgirls Chocola and Vanilla, and although he tries to send them back, the 2 catgirls never abandon Kashou and stay with him in the end, and they also help Kashou with the cake shop. I know that the game is a comedy, even on the eShop page it's advertised as such, even so, I don't like the story that much, I admit that the game made me laugh several or many times, but even for a comedy or a game that doesn't take itself too seriously, this doesn't cut it, just look at the Hyperdimension Neptunia games, Senran Kagura, Gal*Gun...those games are funnier than Nekopara Vol. 1 and/or have better written stories. I can't deny that the story makes sense, but...I don't know, even with certain scenes, I don't think that the game is that moving or romantic, when it comes to romance or relationships, perhaps an otome game is a better choice, or an anime like Fushigi Yuugi. In the end, I don't hate the characters of Nekopara Vol. 1 but I don't love these characters either, for the most part these characters are just there, I like them a little as characters, and that's it...maybe the porn of Nekopara Vol. 1 really is an important part of game after all, if you remove that content and only leave the rest of the game, what's left is a story that isn't good enough...without spoiling too much, there is the possibility that the sex scenes of the PC version are justified by context, considering that after a while Chocola and Vanilla are in heat and everything, but, of course, we don't have that in the console versions...even if the sex scenes (probably) make sense thanks to the context...the ending was slightly moving, I think...unfortunately, the game never made me shed a tear, and the game was never on the level of ''oh, the feels!''...almost, but no...I think I can't be moved (that much, at least) by these characters if these are characters I just met...is it just me...?

Graphics: The best part of the game are the graphics, Nekopara Vol. 1 has an art style that reminds me of Tsunako's art style, and coming from me, that's a huge compliment. The characters look really nice and the CG Images look great, as always, the backgrounds are detailed and although there are a few instances where the backgrounds look pixelated or low res, somehow...the rest of the game looks amazing, that's for sure. During the game there are frequent animations and overall, Nekopara Vol. 1 is more expressive than other visual novels, it's not on the same level as the Xblaze games, but it really is a game with a great presentation: The 2D characters look amazing, the CG images look great, the backgrounds look nice for the most part, and the animations (movement) of the characters when they talk (not just lip movement of course) are a nice touch.

Sound: I'm not impressed with the soundtrack of Nekopara Vol. 1, even for a comedy game or slice-of-life story, this soundtrack isn't that good, what's more, there are (I think) 2 tracks that have some kind of glitch or error, and when those 2 tracks are used, there is a frequent sound of static for about a second, which is very, very annoying. When it comes to music that can be used in an everyday situation, there are better examples, $100 (Hyperdimension Neptunia series), Let's Have a Leisurely Chat (Atelier Shallie), Aruella (Blue Reflection), and more...Even the piano music isn't the best, perhaps there are at most 3 or 4 good songs in the game, but when everything else is okay or ''eh'', it's not enough to give this category a 7, not to mention the Japanese voice acting. As you probably know, Nekopara Vol. 1 only has Japanese voice acting, which is, of course, something I don't like, the Japanese voice acting of Nekopara Vol. 1 is a mixed bag, some characters have perfect voices and the acting is spot on...for the most part, a few lines weren't delivered in a good way and it sounded fake or flat, also, a few characters have voices that can be annoying or aren't good, I'm sorry, but I don't like Cinnamon's voice, I heard her voice for some lines and after a while I said ''forget it, I won't listen to your voice anymore, shut up''...she had the honor of being the only catgirl I silenced...I don't have regrets. It's too bad, because this franchise really has potential for great English voice acting, I can EASILY imagine Azuki voiced by Sarah Williams in English, for example, it would be great if this game has English voice acting, but...beggars can't be choosers...

Addictive: A kinetic novel, that's exactly what Nekopara Vol. 1 is, this means that there is a linear story without player choice or gameplay...I've already said that visual novels are probably my least favorite genre in video games, but when you make a visual novel without choices or gameplay mechanics...I'd say that the result is a game that is even less enjoyable than the visual novels that actually have choices or gameplay...if we consider the story of Nekopara Vol. 1, it's even worse, this game would be SLIGHTLY better if it had dialogue choices, at least, but as it stands, Nekopara Vol. 1 is almost a bad game, it's enjoyable to play from beginning to end at least once, but after finishing the game (notice that I refrain from using the word ''beating''), there isn't much reason to play it again, and even compared to other visual novels, it's not the most enjoyable read, in fact, it's the least enjoyable visual novel I've played so far, maybe it's just me, maybe it's the story...I don't know but...I'm sorry...Maybe I haven't used it enough, but the touch mode isn't that fun to use, I'd rather use the intimacy mode in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus or something, I don't know if I'll change my mind if I use that mode more...

Depth: It's shorter than other Visual novels, the Xblaze games, World End Syndrome...many visual novels offer more story (and content) than Nekopara Vol. 1.

Difficulty: The first game where this category is a blank space for me...Difficulty of what? Having enough will to finish the game? Come on, Nekopara Vol. 1 is enjoyable to play/read, more or less...it's an...easy game.

Nekopara Vol. 1 is my least favorite Nintendo Switch game, a 5.5/10 is something I'm willing to give the game, I'm sorry, I don't know if I'm missing something here, but I played the game from beginning to end, and it's an enjoyable read, a little, but even so...I recommend pretty much any game over this...get Blue Reflection, Super Mario 3D world, Hakuoki ~Memories of the Shinsengumi~, Castle of Shikigami III, Mega Mari, Yume Nikki...anything else...I also want to mention that there are a lot of errors in the game, the translation is worse than I thought (''This your room, so use it as you wish.''; ''I like the way your eating it''; ''It didn't taste bad and it fact tasted pretty good.'' and more)...in my experience with those games, there are less errors in Gal*Gun 2 and Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness, for example...Overall, it's an enjoyable visual novel (a little), but the fact that it's a kinetic novel, part of the voice acting, the unremarkable soundtrack, and how it seems that the game is less polished than other visual novels, with brief moments of static in 2 songs as I said before, not to mention the disappearance of a sound effect used in the menus...I can't believe I'm saying this, but yeah, Nekopara Vol. 1 might be less polished than other games, and yeah, I can't believe I'm saying this of a visual novel. If you are a die hard fan of visual novels, buy it if you are interested, everyone else should buy another game or, maybe, MAYBE buy the game on sale, even $14.99 (less than $300.00 Mexican pesos for Mexicans like me) might be a lot to ask for this game. The Steam version is cheaper, so, if you really want to play Nekopara Vol. 1, maybe you really should go for that version...that's probably the best choice, get the original version for PC and play the game with the pornographic content...if you remove the porn, perhaps the game suffers as a result...in any case...I don't recommend this game that much, still, I don't regret playing Nekopara Vol. 1, as I said, it's an enjoyable read, even if it's less enjoyable than other visual novels...so, yeah, that's probably the best thing I can say about this version, if you are interested, buy the game on sale...

At first when I read this I had to do double take, this is on the Nintendo Switch?! But then I remembered by default the real saucy stuff is patched out. Still it's a nice review, and I didn't think I'd see anyone make a review on it here, good on you sir!

I mean, the real censorship is on PlayStation nowadays. Which grinds my gears, as I was a Sony Pony most of my life. In any case, this game doesn't look like it needs to be on any console, let alone the Switch.

pennylessz : Part of the reason why I won't review certain games such as Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars and Dragon Star Varnir, is the fact that those games were censored but only on Playstation consoles, I'm very anti-censorship, I won't buy those games. it's a shame, but Sony has been imposing censorship of Japanese games with an anime art style for some reason...come on, in the case of Dragon Star Varnir, we are talking about a game developed by Compile Heart, if it were for them, IFI would have published the game without those 2 CGs modified, that's for sure, but no, the western versions have 2 modified CGs, and yes, we know why, of course, we know why...

I agree that Nekopara Vol. 1 doesn't need to be on any console, as I said, perhaps the PC version with the 18+ content is the best choice if someone wants to play this game.