If you’ve been following this blog closely, you may have caught a mention of Neko No Sentouki here or there, especially over these last few weeks. It’s an adventure visual novel created by SKredjun, a name that should also sound familiar to you, as she has provided us with many adorable chibi icons in the last two years, primarily of the GENBA cast (you can find them all in her gallery section)!
Quite some time ago, I decided to check out the demo for her VN project and ended up enjoying it very much. So much, in fact, that I eventually got personally involved in it by helping out with the English translation. That’s why, today, I’d like to take a moment to promote the project some more and link you to its store fronts. Because, as the title of this post has already given away…
The full version of Neko No Sentouki has just been released!
- Story & Characters
Neko No Sentouki is the story of two very distinct characters. On the one hand, you have Hikaru, a seemingly grumpy and cynical young man living on the streets and getting by as a thief. And on the other hand, you have the very cheerful and naive Aiko who is participating in a mysterious tournament. By chance, the two of them meet and their fates become intertwined as they make a deal to further their individual ambitions.
In my opinion, Neko No Sentouki‘s greatest strength is by far its characters. They’re very well-written, with numerous layers to their behaviors and motivations. I quickly found myself growing heavily invested in their tale and rather attached to them. While there are your typical anime-style exaggerations and shenanigans going on here and there, for the most part, these characters do feel like real people, with a strong focus on their complex emotions. So, if character-driven stories sound like your kinda jam, I highly recommend it!
The overarching plot is quite intriguing, too, however. There is even a bit of a mystery aspect to it, with countless questions being posed as to what’s going on. What is this tournament? What is its purpose? Who are the people in charge and those participating in it?
Whenever there would be an answer, new questions would arise, certainly helping with keeping me engaged. I wish I could say more, but this is the type of plot you can’t really talk much about without immediately getting into some sort of spoilers, so…
I guess you’ll have to find out for yourselves!
- Character Routes
You can play the game either from Aiko‘s or Hikaru‘s perspective. And with a total of 40 hours of gameplay, no matter which of the two routes you choose, you’ll have quite a lengthy adventure ahead of you! It’s definitely worth playing both, though! Because our protagonists get separated a lot. So much, in fact, that overlap is relatively minimal and you’ll get to see way more new stuff than repeating dialogues! Actually, this is another of Neko‘s strengths. The dual perspective is really well utilized here.
It’s no wonder it took Jun so long to write this story…
Now, with that said, it’s highly recommended that you start out with Hikaru’s route! At least if you’re English-speaking.
That’s because the translation check for Aiko‘s route sadly couldn’t be completed before release. I did go through the entirety of Hikaru‘s route, however! Of course, given the behemoth of a script that Neko offers, it’s very likely that there are still overlooked issues hiding throughout, so… if you do decide to play and come across anything, be sure to let either me or Jun herself know!
- Where To Buy
Now for the important part! Neko is available on both itch and Steam, so go grab it on the platform of your choice!
At the very least, I would like to urge you to take some time to check out the store pages and try to get a better idea about the game and whether it might be up your alley! It definitely deserves as much! As I’ve mentioned before, Jun has poured a lot of her heart and soul into this project. And you can clearly tell by going through it!
