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Nekojishi

A visual novel about the pressures and consequences of deciding your future in a world of gods and spirits. · By Studio Klondike

A review

A topic by Lieni created Mar 05, 2022 Views: 686
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Didn’t like it.

A very weak visual novel, even by furry standards. 

The plot is basically non-existent until the end of each route. All the events that exist besides it are only here to pad the story. The game itself isn’t really long yet it felt like it was going on forever. The writing is a bit bland and unenergetic, I didn’t really find the situations that characters were involved interesting or fun most of the time, it’s mostly just about Liao just hanging out or wasting time, and his spirits are there to tag along for a ride. 

The characters aren’t really that likeable or interesting as I constantly keep hearing either, I didn’t really felt anything toward them. Liao is a blank slate, which I suppose is a common thing by now considering how many visual novels typically involve them so everyone could project himself onto them. Lin Hu Is your typical daddy that just love the protagonist, Likulau is… well, Likulau. I couldn’t tell much about his personality because he just doesn’t talk most of the time and can’t even form a cohesive sentence. And Sempai just the most obnoxious character in the game whom I simply couldn’t stand. No seriously. He is constantly forcing himself onto the screen so much that in the end, I wanted him just to f\*ck off and die.

On top of it, there are so many uncomfortable hints at an abusive relationship that are present in this novel that I couldn’t help but notice, like how the spirits immediately want to take advantage of his ability and help them with their personal problems, or they just forcing themselves at Liao’ bed in a very first day, or how Liao isn’t particularly caring that his friend got possessed by a spirit who is actively taking advantage of his friend's money and… you know… his *body* in nsfw version or how Randolph is also possessing someone and also saying that he can switch the body whenever he likes when something will go wrong with his current host…. Yeah. Yikes. 

The setting isn’t particularly interesting either. To be honest, I’m pretty tired of eastern/Asian setting by now considering how many of visual novels and anime use them, and this game does nothing to stand out, even if it itself trying to suggest otherwise. Sure it uses a Chinese terminology from time to time when talking about supernatural occurrences, but that’s that. Aside of main character designs and some names this version of Taiwan doesn’t strike me as a particularly interesting or exotic place, the setting itself also has a very little personality aside from “it’s just another Japanese-esque” setting and any events places and characters that our characters visit doesn’t really help it.

Also-also, the novel is really vague and unclear about the rules it’s spiritual world operates. Like, I still can’t comprehend how spirits interact with objects. Like, they interact not with the object itself but with it’s “chi”, which poses some questions, like, can spirits borrow object’s “Chi” to infinity, and what happens once they stop interaction with that “chi”? How’s Lin Hu manages to get his “clothes” burnt and sustain any physical damage If he is a spirit? Is by allowing a human to see spirits you kinda exposes him to danger that these spirits possessed? If so, can it be reversed back? Is there any control under spirits? The spiritual setting makes no sense.

A lot of people praising that its background has real-world counter-part, but, you know, it’s not that hard to go and take some photos of a place you live in, so if anything it strikes me more as lazy than anything else. 

Speaking of laziness: The only thing that is animated is portrait in the left-down corner of the screen, and not the sprites themselves, and there are only like, six characters who are present in this novel? Also only spirits animated and not humans, so… yeah. Although to be fair, Studio Klondike only started their career so maybe they just simply didn’t have a budget at this point in time.

TL;DR just another furry visual novels created for gay furries. If that’s the writing this niche is going to stick to, then I’d rather might as well stick to vanilla stuff.

4/10