Feb 052021
Three years ago, I played Nekopara Vol. 1 and Vol. 0 and found that they were silly yet oddly endearing stories, so this year I finally followed up with Nekopara Vol. 2.
Picking up after the events of the first volume, the protagonist is now managing La Soleil alongside the whole family of catgirls and trying to help them get along.
While the first Nekopara focused on Chocola and Vanilla, those two have a supporting role this time around, while Coconut and Azuki take center stage. The story starts out surprisingly strong compared to the previous one, as Coconut is struggling with self-esteem issues due to the mistakes she makes around the shop and Azuki’s harsh attitude toward her.
It has some genuinely sweet moments alongside the silly fanservice antics, although eventually the story loses its focus and becomes more about Coconut and Azuki recognizing their romantic feelings for the protagonist.
The romance focus is to be expected, considering the sort of game this is, but the ending felt abrupt to me. I thought there was more story yet to come, so I was surprised when I realized the dialogue was wrapping everything up for the volume’s conclusion. Of course, the 18+ version should be a bit longer since it has extra scenes (although the all-ages version makes it clear enough when those moments occur).
And once again, I’m impressed by the quality of the visual novel itself. The art and animated sprites look great, and even the ability to pet the characters at any point to get a voiced reaction from them shows that a lot of work went into it. People often look down on Nekopara as an example of bad or stereotypical visual novels, but it’s certainly not some cheap effort. Let’s just say it has a specific audience in mind and is laser-focused on giving that audience a good time.
Nekopara Vol. 2 is cute and silly, best-suited for catgirl fans but enjoyable enough even if you just want some lighthearted romance you don’t have to think too hard about.
I probably will pick up Vol. 3 and 4 someday, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, share your own thoughts on the Nekopara series and Nekopara Vol. 2 in the comments and don’t forget that every comment brings you closer to winning a prize in this year’s contest!
Honestly, never played Nekopara, and doubt that I will. Seems cute enough though. Are the volumes so far essentially standalone or do you lose anything by not having played the prior ones, do you think?
That’s a tricky question to answer, since they don’t really have much story to speak of, but at the same time they do follow one another. Vol. 1 sets up the basic information for the world and story premise, and Vol. 2 assumes you already know those things.
So I’d say you’ll lose some context and be a little more confused if you start in the middle, but it’s not like you’ll be missing out on important story content.