Πρόσφατες κριτικές από τον Eville Caston

After the first volume, I thought this would be an easy review, but KARAKARA2 is plenty unique. It's like the more I delve into it critically, the more unsure I am about how I feel about it. Let's begin, shall we?

Starting off with the easy bits, KARAKARA2 looks and sounds exactly like the first. The backgrounds and existing characters are reused as they originally were, and the new additions fit in perfectly. There's one or two new music tracks, but they're just as standard as the rest, so I don't even remember them honestly. Don't expect any new features or anything you've not seen yet, aside from a fairly pointless chapter select (again, there's only two chapters). On a surface level, there should be no real surprises.

Such is not the case with the story, which is surprising to say the least. We pick up from the first volume with a sense of normalcy among Leon, Lucia, and Aisia setting in finally. Suddenly, without any indication from before, we find out that young human males are inexplicably rare, and as a result, Leon gets numerous marriage proposals from seemingly every available girl in Sagami Francisco. Let me stress that there was ZERO indication of this from the first volume, and out of nowhere it becomes a major plot point. From this, we're introduced to two new characters: Rebecca, who attempted a proposal to Leon in person, and Mari, who was tasked to protect the others when the plot gets threatening. And oh boy, does it get threatening. Being a rare male, Leon gets pursued by a shadowy organization that's been tasked with capturing him. Once again, I must ask why this is happening now of all times, but there seems to be no answer to this. It's frustrating how much gets brought up and not answered, in fact. KARAKARA2 ends with a brutal cliffhanger that's so sudden that it rivals many "Top 10 Worst Game Endings" in terms of sheer whiplash. Come to think of it, all of chapter 4 was a blur to me, as it has to introduce and develop Mari (seriously, she shows up after the halfway mark), as well as intensify the main plot. At least Rebecca had a fair shake in chapter 3, and I think it was the better chapter overall. It's not perfect though, since Rebecca's big reveal was rather strange, and it doesn't really go anywhere into chapter 4. The whole thing was just crazy, and not necessarily in a way that benefits anything.

So with a wild plot, does anything carry over from the first volume? Well, Aisia is pretty much the same as we remember her, as is Cullen when we get to see her (which is sadly not often). Lucia seems a bit more abrasive in her tsundere tendencies now, but it's all in good fun. Speaking of fun, there's still a fair amount of humorous moments to be had, especially in chapter 3. I don't think they're quite as good this time around, but I'm glad they're still present. And of course, there's a lewd patch that contains exactly what you would expect. I hope we get a third volume, if only because of how I appreciate the consistencies we've seen, though the plot may make it especially strange.

Now that I've said all I can, what can we take away from KARAKARA2? Well, for one, it has left me conflicted. Literally as I type this, I'm still deciding whether to recommend it or not. I suppose if this becomes a trilogy (and with that ending, it better be!), then I can see the potential for something amazing to happen for the finale. And hey, that's almost exactly how NEKOPARA fared for me. So alright, I'll give it a thumbs up, but I have high expectations for what comes next. Please don't let this series end like Half-Life has (sequel-wise, that is), because I really need to know how it all comes together. Don't let me down, calme!

If I had to describe KARAKARA in one sentence, I'd say "It's Fallout meets NEKOPARA, but not as competent as either one". Now if that intrigues you, please read on.

KARAKARA is a fully kinetic visual novel. That means there's no plot choices, no dating sim elements, not even a petting button or localized earthquakes. It functions like a standard visual novel, with static backgrounds and slightly animated character sprites. I really like the visual style, particularly with how colors are balanced. If I had to complain about anything, I'd say everything is just a bit too bright, but it's not bad. As for audio, the music isn't exactly remarkable, but it makes for a good background. There's also sound effects that get the job done similarly, and the voice acting was at least good enough that I didn't mute it.

The story is where KARAKARA gets especially interesting. It's a post-apocalyptic slice of life affair, with supernatural elements as the overarching plot. The protagonist, Leon, along with his longtime friendzoned coworker Lucia, run a diner outside of a large city (well, large for post-apocalypse anyways). One day they come across a strange wandering girl named Aisia, who they decide to take in and have her work as well. Oh, and police officer friend Cullen shows up when possible with plot stuff. Most of the story is about Aisia learning to work, and the others finding out more about her. There are plenty of memorable scenes ranging from comical to emotionally serious, and aside from the occasional awkward dismount (Leon's oddly "poetic" exposition moments, for example), I think they do a good job accomplishing what they wanted to. There are a few plotholes I found, but they're too minor to really matter in the long run. I especially liked Lucia's arc in the first chapter (there's only two chapters, by the way!), and she may be my personal favorite character. Aisia is the focus of the second chapter more so, and I thought it was good as well, though her big reveal appears to be a bit divisive from what I've read from others' reactions. Without going too much into detail, the story overall is great, despite a handful of oddities.

Now, I have to address what many potential readers really care about: the lewd DLC. Without it, the base novel took me about three hours to read. Should you invest in the patch, you'll have access to two scenes, each about 10-15 minutes in length. There's no additional animations, as it's all static CGs. Also, there's a mosaic over the most naughty bits, and I don't believe it's possible to remove it. So if you're deciding you want to go all in or just stick with the base experience, at least you know what's up.

Alright, I think I've said all I needed to say. I would certainly recommend KARAKARA to avid visual novel readers, and I believe newcomers would enjoy it as an entry to the genre. Apparently this was on Kickstarter as well, so I hope those backers were satisfied with what they got. It'll be interesting to see what this team comes up with in the future...

While unnecessary, Vol. 0 is a fun little addition to the series bundle. It's a fandisc about a "typical" day with Shigure and the catgirls, shortly before Kashou left home. Expect plenty of feline shenanigans over the course of about an hour, and enjoy the new pet button in the top right of the screen. It's even more fun than pushing P at good moments!

Fair warning though, if you're new to NEKOPARA, you might want to experience Vol. 1 first, possibly even 2 and 3 as well, before this one. Vol. 0 isn't the same as the trilogy, and it won't exactly show you what to expect from the series as a whole. With that in mind, you always need more NEKOPARA, so enjoy this volume as well!

For a one-dollar ecchi game, it's actually good. It's sort of like Audiosurf, but instead of being about music, you strip down an anime girl as you gain points. I might be the worst player ever though, because it took me three hours to win. This might be a good game to kill a bit of time with, but it's also hard to put down...

How did I find this one...? Oh well, might as well stay around and review it!

Dimension of Monster Girls (DoMG) is a rather simple visual novel. You play as Morgan, a scrawny young guy who nearly dies out at sea. Instead of dying, he somehow ends up in a dimension of, well, monster girls of course. After being "introduced" to three of them, Morgan has four days to decide which one (if any) to claim as his waifu in his newfound laifu. Each monster girl is unique in personality and species. There's the rich and tsundere lamia Beatrice, the lewd and sort of yandere kraken Reina, and the demure loli alarune Iris. You'll make key decisions along the way, which will affect the outcome in the end. There are four endings, with each girl having a good ending, plus a bad one with none of them. Nothing too surprising about it all.

Let's talk about the audio and visuals first of all. The music is okay, though I have a feeling it's royalty-free (Was there anything about it in the credits? I missed it if so). Nothing really worth talking about though, as it gets the job done. Same with the sound effects, honestly. The visual parts are much stronger. Despite having minimal animations, the sprites look great. I really like the backgrounds as well. The character graphics are good, though not as good as the sprites. They're rather inconsistent with each other, likely due to having separate artists. Still, everything has a solid presentation.

The story is where things get interesting. You'd think DoMG would be an easy universe to describe, but there's a surprising amount of exposition. Too much, perhaps. There's a supporting fellow named Xander (who you never see by the way, since it's only the three girls) whose main purpose seems to be to clarify basically everything about the dimension. He's a decent character, but alot of what he says just seems extraneous. Once you can wrap your head around the setup, you can focus on the girls and how they act on their respective dates with Morgan. Each of these dates presents you with a question, and you can choose to answer in three different ways: good, neutral, or bad. There's also a first impressions decision which I believe is a tiebreaker. After the dating is over, Morgan will automatically make a decision based on your answers. It may seem odd to take that agency away in the end, but it's all dependent on the previous days, so it makes sense. It all comes down to how you feel really. It also adds a bit of replay value, as each ending is fairly long, and it should be fairly obvious how to at least get the three good endings.

Finally, I gotta mention the monster girls. As characters in a dating VN, you'd think that they'd be fairly equal in terms of development. Such isn't the case in DoMG. In terms of character dimensions (hah, get it?), Reina has three, Iris has two, and Beatrice has one. For me, the emotional investment fared along the same ratio. I absolutely love Reina, but that seems a bit unfair, don't you think? Even the endings can't escape this inequality, including the bad ending (That one hurt to read, by the way!). Despite having equal screentime and probably the same amount of dialogue, the quality of the interactions is very different between the girls, and that's just odd. I do like each of them in their own way though, so it's not as if any of them are outright irredeemable.

Looking back, it seems I had more complaints than I realized, but I still very much enjoyed my time with DoMG. I still have no idea what possessed me to get it, but I'm glad I did. If only there were trading cards so I could get a wallpaper of Reina...

A cute little story about everyone's favorite catgirls, months before Kashou lewds them all like a boss. If you really need more NEKOPARA (and trust me, you do), you'll love this prequel as well!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go back to fanboying over Maple, and praying for nekogenetics to be a real thing....

The locations are British.
The people are British.
The zeds are British.
The weapons are (mostly) British.
The dosh is British.
The chat is British.
The killing is British.
The floors are British.
EVERYTHING IS BRITISH!!!

Two bloody great handfuls/10

It's like Nekopara, but cheaper. In every possible way.

I ain't even mad about that, either.

I just wanted a poet waifu...

Be careful what you wish for, you might just Monika just get it!

Well, it's FF6. It's only one of the most beloved JRPGs of all time. That said, is this specific version worth the asking price? Here's the pros and cons:

+Can run on a potato PC. It is ported from mobile, after all.
+Sound is completely faithful to the SNES version, save for a few volume changes
+Enemy sprites and maps are basically higher-res versions of the SNES originals, which is pretty neat
+All content is included, including GBA postgame areas
-Character sprites and potraits look...wrong
-Translation is more bland than SNES version
-Playable with keyboard, but annoying. Better use a controller if you have it.

TL;DR- It's fairly expensive for an old game, but still worth getting. The port is competent enough that new players and nostalgic fans alike should at least be content.