[h1]Introduction[/h1]
NEKO-NIN exHeart 2 is the 'proper' sequel to NEKO-NIN exHeart, from developer Whirlpool and published by Sekai Project.
This chapter logically follows NEKO-NIN exHeart +PLUS Saiha. Houjou Haruki, high-school student and 'Lord' of the Houjou clan, is now settled into his daily life protecting and providing for his two lovable ninja catgirls, Yura and Tama, while also working part time for Saiha and her branch of the runaway shinobi group, the Four Heavenly Kings.
In +PLUS Saiha we saw the Four Heavenly Kings tracking and fighting a mysterious catgirl ninja. NEKO-NIN exHeart 2 introduces that catgirl, Ritsu, and her rabbitgirl companion, Maya, as members of the Satomi Hachi-nyan Ninja clan. The pair encounter Saiha's group again and Maya is captured, suffering from a serious form of amnesia. Thinking she is a cat herself, but not remembering her mission objectives or anything of her life, Maya becomes somewhat of a burden on Saiha, who hires Haruki to look after her.
As you might expect, this doesn't please Yura and Tama, but Haruki is a pushover where a cute, helpless demi-human girl is concerned. Add Ritsu into the mix and Haruki's little catgirl love nest is no longer looking quite so idyllic.
[h1]Presentation[/h1]
As with the other titles in the series, the character art is fantastic. Yura and Tama are cute, as always, and Takano Yuki does a great job with exposing the two new characters' personalities in their appearance as well. The paper-doll characters are animated more than I've ever seen in a visual novel, which really adds to the presentation, with frequent expression and pose changes, ear twitches, and various combat effects. It's really very well done.
Backgrounds, however, are still bland and, I think, almost entirely repeats of the same locations from the previous titles. They're not bad, but they're just not great, and by this fourth title they're getting a bit boring. A few different views of the same locations would do wonders for adding a bit of extra interest to the series.
The same game engine is used as with the other NEKO-NIN titles and I'm happy to say that I didn't see either of the weird bugs that I found in the first chapter. It's fully featured as far as visual novel engines are concerned, with an easy-to-use history and multiple options for auto reading. F12 still doesn't work for Steam screenshots.
Music is typical anime VN fare and some of it has been reused, I think. Sound effects are used to help spruce up a couple of scenes and they work well enough, but as with most visual novels they feel like a bit of an afterthought. The full Japanese speech for all characters except Haruki is again very well done. Returning characters sound similar to me, but I confess I didn't check whether they were the same voice actors.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
There's nothing revolutionary about the gameplay in NEKO-NIN exHeart 2; it's the same as the previous titles, and most other modern visual novels. I'm happy to be able to report that this chapter includes a couple of choices that branch the story, but as with the first episode, here both are only short-lived changes and don't affect any major plot lines. There's only the one ending to the game.
The main menu this time includes a new option, Outline, which provides you with "(Just About) All You Need to Know About NEKO-NIN exHeart in 3 Minutes", presented by Yura and Tama. This is basically the same as "review time" from the two +PLUS titles, and once again it's pretty funny. In fact, I think I enjoyed this more than any of the actual storyline this time around.
The developers seem to have attempted to provide much more play time in exHeart 2 than in the previous titles -- something which I would normally be grateful for, given that the short length was one of my complaints previously -- but unfortunately the story is mostly uneventful and repetitive, even boring: something I never thought I'd say about a visual novel focused on catgirls! I don't want to ruin the story for anyone, so I'll just say that I think the script could have been savagely edited to about half its current size -- i.e. about the length of the first game -- and nobody would miss anything.
This problem is compounded by the translation of the script, which is nowhere near as good as in the first exHeart game. It's better than the +PLUS games, but I definitely wouldn't say it's good, and after the excellent translation of the first title that's very sad to see.
On the positive side, though, the developers have done a great job of continuing to emphasise the beast-like traits of the demi-humans, and the two new characters are different enough to the existing cast to be interesting additions, rather than just more of the same. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next, but I really hope the next title is more heavily edited, and a better job done of translation.
[h1]Pros and Cons[/h1]
Pros:
+ Character art
+ Catgirls!
+ Increased length
+ Trading Cards
Cons:
- No achievements
- Relatively poor English translation
- Too long for what actually transpires
- Mistagged: no nudity or adult content without a purchased patch
[h1]Verdict[/h1]
NEKO-NIN exHeart 2 attempts to include a lot more content, with a length more than double that of the original title, but the English translation is quite poor and the script is rather boring. Very little actually happens in this chapter, but it takes nearly four hours; most of that time is spent in fairly repetitive and unconvincing dialogue. That said, the already-fabulous character art is even better in this episode, though as with the first title the cost of the adult patch is disappointing.
The only people who are likely to buy this title are those who want to continue the series from the previous episodes. With that in mind, even given the somewhat sleep-inducing story I'm still happy to recommend it, though you might be best off waiting for a bundle or sale.
[h1]Save for Later[/h1]
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