[b]Note:[/b] I proofread the English version, so I won't comment on that aspect. However, all other aspects are fair game. XD
[h1]Becoming a cat in the land of cats. XD[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]Cat's Princess[/i] is a fantasy, otome visual novel developed and published by Feather. You take on the role of Leah Morford, the daughter of a count, who lives a carefree life until one night, she hears a cat meowing for help. Curious, Leah investigates, only to end up confronting an evil witch known as Hex. Hex kidnaps Leah as revenge for Leah's father banishing her from the kingdom. As Leah tries to escape, though, Hex places a curse on Leah, transforming her into a cat, or more precisely, a cute white kitten. Another cat encounters Leah, and as Leah can now communicate with cats, the other cat tells her that only Rhjau, a lynx-sorcerer, has the power to break the curse. However, Rhjau is being kept prisoner in a magician's tower, so Leah sets off a journey to the tower. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that.
As for the gameplay, [i]Cat's Princess[/i] has mainly multiple choices that determine which one of eight endings the reader will obtain. While three of these endings are bad ones (one earns you a Steam achievement while the other two unlock CGs), five of them are good endings. Leah can choose to pursue one of five routes: Ray, Yuumei, Sion, Rion, or Purika. Ray, Yuumei, and Sion are the magician's apprentices, and Leah can choose to pursue romance with them. Purika is the helper who takes care of tasks like cooking and cleaning (although she's secretly [spoiler]one of the strongest magic wielders[/spoiler]), and Leah can choose a friendship route with her. As for Rion, he's Purika's cat, and Leah can have friendship with him. In addition to choices, there are hidden pumpkins in a few backgrounds, and finding all of them will earn you Steam achievements. As I mentioned earlier, [i]Cat's Princess[/i] has many CGs as well as a varied soundtrack. In addition, there are Steam achievements although at the time of this review, they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited".
[h2]Review[/h2]
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. Starting off with the story, I found it to have a cute, sweet theme. Here, we have Leah, an innocent daughter of a count, caught in a feud between an evil witch and her dad. Leah must find a way to break the curse on her, but fortunately, she has help. As Leah is known as the cat's princess (thus, the title of this visual novel XD), she is widely known and respected among both people and cats. Once, the land where Leah resides was populated with metamorphs. Metamorphs had the ability to transform from people into cats and vice versa. However, one day, that ability was suddenly gone. Thus, whatever form metamorphs were in, they were stuck like that forever. I enjoyed this fantasy full of magic and adventure. Now, whether Leah finds a way to break her curse depends on the choices that the reader makes, of course. As for the cast of characters, I liked all of the love interests. There's Ray, the aloof apprentice who likes to cause mischief but is holding a secret. Then, there's Yuumei, the cheerful guy who is friendly towards Leah (as a cat) but actually, doesn't want to be an apprentice under the magician. Finally, there's Sion, the quiet young man who's dedicated to his studies and research. Among the love interests, personality variety is present although if I have to pick a favorite, I'd go with Sion because [spoiler]there's an event in his route where he confronts the witch who curses Leah[/spoiler]. Now, as to the romances themselves, they're more on the cute, sweet side. The closest there is to a kiss is [spoiler]a kiss on Sion's cheek from Leah (although it's simply described in text)[/spoiler]. For those who are looking for more hot, passionate romance, this visual novel may end up being a bit of a letdown. Also, I liked the friendship routes if you choose to go on Rion's or Purika's paths. Rion is a mischievous cat who initially doubts that Leah is a human or the daughter of a count. However, he's willing to help her out, even if his methods are somewhat unconventional. As for Purika, I found her to have a sweet, kind personality. She clearly cares for Rion (and later, Leah) but is yelled at a bit by an older woman (called auntie), who is presumably her boss. She works hard, though, and I liked finding out that [spoiler]Purika secretly has magic although the magician forbids her from practicing her skills with the other apprentices[/spoiler].
As for the gameplay, I didn't encounter any technical issues. I was able to obtain all of the Steam achievements (albeit with assistance from an online guide), and it was fun searching for all of those pumpkins. (I believe the pumpkins were a later addition to the game.) In regards to the art, I liked the style that the artist used. The sprites are in an anime style that's typical of visual novels, but they're drawn clearly and colored well. The backgrounds are lovely to gaze at, and the CGs especially are beautiful. Colors have a slightly soft, pastel look, never feeling overly bright. Regarding the music, there are quite a few tracks. They're instrumental in nature, and they have that slow, soothing tone. I found it enjoyable to listen to the tracks, and there's a bit of variety, each track fitting well with the scene it's placed in.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2922751952
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2922776858
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Overall, would I recommend [i]Cat's Princess[/i]? If you like visual novels, enjoy reading stories that are more on the cutesy, light-hearted side, and don't mind the pure type of romance, then I'd say that this is worth taking a look. I found the story to be enjoyable, and it's appropriate for younger audiences. (Spoiler: [spoiler]There is a bit of death mentioned if Leah makes a wrong choice, but it's confined to text[/spoiler].) For the asking price, I'd say it's worth it if you intend to go for all the routes and 100% complete the game. However, if you only want to pursue one or two routes, then I'd suggest holding off for a sale. Regardless, I enjoyed both working on and playing [i]Cat's Princess[/i], and I hope that the developer will develop more visual novels and release them on Steam in the future. ^^
[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url] and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7593237/]Otome Rakuen[/url] team up to give readers highly detailed, thorough reviews of hot romance games.[/quote]
