STORY
Neko Paradise has a shallow 'running thread' for its characters, but don't mistake that for an actual strong, grounded backstory. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Neko is a catgirl- or boy. One day during a disaster boattrip, John is teleported to the world of Nekos. He wakes up with a daughter Lily and a lovely girlfriend Violet at his bedside, both sporting purple hair and fuzzy ears. All is fairly well in Neko Paradise. Rather than explore the mystery of John becoming a Neko, the game focuses on corrupting behavior from all parties involved. Kleo, a magical neko, tells you about how you have an illness and need to have intimacy in order to survive. What could have been an interesting plotline ends up being a simple justification for a fuckfest that sometimes disregards its own foundations.
While wife Violet actually gets a writer’s treatment, most of the supporting characters are deliberately kept shallow. They might appear interesting at first, but most of them can't really break away from the ‘curious & horny’ stereotype. Daughter Lily gets a special route of her own, which I’ll talk about in a separate part later. About 50% of the cast is shoehorned into the story, sadly missing proper context and explanation. The inclusion of other species is interesting, but doesn’t allow for the story richness I hoped for. This is a cat harem fantasy with a bunch of other kinks baked in, which never quite tells you how things came to be. 'And then the magic happens' simply isn't strong enough.
The game is very clearly playing off a Neko fantasy, but misses the worldbuilding to actually bring weight. One of the key points is Violet possibly discovering your debauchery, and many parts of the story are centered around that tension. But as the story handles that tension, the impact of socially unacceptable behavior becomes less impactful. We get this is a paradise, but referring to a tension that has already resolved in game after the fact seems like stories feel separated from the original game. Having the idea of a Neko island full of fertile felines 'in heat' is an interesting idea, and the addition of pregnancy (which can be turned off if wanted) and their offspring makes the story take a deeper dive on family than usual games. The game is already pretty rounded when it comes to family matters, but there's room to explore additional families in future updates. Even though storywise things might seem shallow at times, Neko Paradise is a fun game that deserves to be explored.
PRESENTATION
Developer Alorth upgraded his rendering skills, giving Neko Paradise far better graphics than its predecessors. While the game does start out rough, pretty soon the furriness comes into play and while sporting a doll-like look, all characters look great. The oversized eyes of the teen Neko's, along with the many tails and furry ears sell the paradise to the player. Environments do have that glossy 3d look, but they work for the most part. There are both some beautiful locations and some standard asset flips in this fame, but it all works fine in the end. The menu structure works, albeit feels a bit clunky for today's Ren'py games. You do always get a helpful hint figuring out how you can unlock the next scene for a character, which is extremely helpful and at times downright necessary.
The mix of camera angles and closeups does give the scenes in Neko Paradise a dynamic feel and as the game progresses, this only gets better. Alorth took a lot of kinks into consideration, most namely soft vore, daddy kink, pregnancy, gore, feet play, fluid play and corrupting teen girls. Mix that with a good, diverse looking cast of brunettes and blondes, and the paradise has various kinds of flavors you could be interested in. The game implies it's best to just taste them all. Overall, the game is a fun ride that looks good with a bit of mischief on the side. All the girls, including your BFF who you can pick to be a trap or futa, are appealing in nature and add to the charm of the game. And the game has more than enough charm to keep you hooked if you're into the neko.
GAMEPLAY
Since Neko Paradise is a sandbox game, you'll spend roughly 40% of your gametime grinding for points. The game features a four moments in a day cycle, and each moment shows characters living out their lives in a different place on the island. Your BFF runs the farm, Violet has to work her shop in the city and in the afternoon, the kids often play around in the town square. You will eventually get the hang of what everyone's schedule is, piecing together the time puzzle this game holds. There's a gameplay flow of talking to characters, collecting fish from the sea using a minigame, and exploring locations while looking for the next story. These sidegames are a fun diversion, even though it seems the game leans a bit too much on them. Spearfishing isn't that fun the 50th time, cutting wood is simple enough but unlocks late and playing tile-matiching seems out of touch, but can be fun if you burned out from farming 'talking points' in the original game. The game does have more than enough wallpapers to unlock, and even a few extra outfits which sadly don't carry over into cutscenes, but are welcome refreshments.
For the most part, this game is like a puzzle where you have to figure out the best and fastest way to get to your goal, all the while making sure you rack up the points to unlock other parts of the game. Sadly the grind does harm the fun of the game, which will reflect in the scoring of the game. Especially leveling Corynn and Bera, who appear late in the game, ask for some grinding that doesn't add fun to the game. Grind aside, the game does feature a ton of stories to explore and while you will have to plow through repeated comments, you'll get to know pretty characters and a bit of their backstories if you pay attention during the moments their stories are exposed. Packed together with a few gameplay twists, this is more than a visual novel
EXTRA PART
This game features family intimacy in the most intense way possible. You have the ability to, alongside your wife, corrupt your daughter and eventually become her first true love. That in itself will raise a few flags on websites, especially regarding things happening in the world right now. The added visual of teen nekos being smaller and the gaslighting about 'cleaning daddy' exhibits a different moral set than humans would have in our world alongside suggestive content. Make sure to be mindful of this and don't unlock the options if you oppose this. That content is totally avoidable.
OVERALL
Neko Paradise is a charming, playful ride into feline fantasies. There are about a dozen cute girls that demand your attention and each comes with their own little backstory. Don't question the underlying narrative too much, just enjoy what this sandbox has to offer and meanwhile, ask yourself what amount of fun your daughter Lily deserves. When you're in doubt, you can always ask your lovely wife Violet.
Rating: 7.5/10
Developer: Alorth's Website
