Creature Romances: Kokonoe Kokoro, being in love with a grasshopper is…complicated.
I purchased Creature Romances: Kokonoe Kokoro through Humble Bundle by means of A Hot Date with Humble Bundle.
Now, honestly, I’d never heard of this game. Then again, I’m pretty new to the whole Visual Novel genre (as of this post), so that’s no surprise. Would I have played it if I’d seen it on Steam through the exploration? Probably not. While the banner did intrigue me through the artwork, it wouldn’t have had enough pull aside from that.
But I got it through a bundle, thus I never needed to make the choice on my own.
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Characters
You have a small cast, which is good for such a short game.
- Kokoro – Our love interest–a female humanoid grasshopper.
- Ichitarou – The main character we play as, and the only human.
- Masato – Our “friend”, though that’s debatable.
- Itsumi – Our batty sister.
- Teacher – Apparently he plays such a small role there was never a need to actually give him a name.
As far as if the characters are interesting…not quite. They’ve got intriguing looks. Who expects to see a Mr. Potato Head as a teacher, a scary skeletal dude as a “friend”, a humanoid grasshopper lady, and more?
They give the game the most appeal. But they’re cliche and bland for more than half the time you play.
The way they look is what you expect them to act, sort of. Especially Masato. He’s a guy you wouldn’t expect to be a genius, but of course he is, and he can also very much be a ruthless brute. Then there’s Kokoro who’s got the brains, while you, Ichitarou, are basically dumber than dirt.
Makes you feel good, don’t it?
Gameplay
It’s a straight-forward visual novel that takes you through a short clip of the life of a young man who has an insanely smart love interest. She’s going to Tokyo U, but he believes he won’t make it due to his poor grades. They try studying, but he still can’t get a handle on things.
Long-distance is an option, but then your friend Masato kind of gives you a wake-up call.
The game is probably around an hour, if you’re a fast reader. And while there are some sexual scenes, they aren’t overly so. No nudity.
All in all, your objective is to get the girl.
Are there achievements?
Yes, the game has 6 achievements in total. For the most part, all you have to do is play the game to obtain them. However, there is one that requires you to make a specific choice.
Graphics
The background areas are nice with their blurred look so they don’t stand out too much and sit comfortable behind the characters. It also switches scenes at a decent rate so you’re not constantly looking at the same location for long periods of time. (Trust me, it becomes stale.)
The artwork for the characters are very well-done. They’re soft-shaded instead of cell, but the fact that the artist had to go out of their way to drawn non-humanoids make the artwork better.
I mean, the artist had to draw a humanoid grasshopper and make her look sexy for crying out loud.
There’s also a few other scenes where the artwork differs a bit more to provide more atmosphere and personality to their respectable characters. The shadow-work and up close zoom is a great touch that differs from the rest of the graphics as a whole during these parts.
Soundtrack?
The soundtrack is catchy and it’s low-key. Don’t expect anything loud and instrumental. Sometimes silence also places emphasis on certain scenes.
Bugs & Glitches
Why yes…she’s a grasshopper.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Final Thoughts
While I like this game (despite a lot of people being unable to even call it a “game”), I can’t say it’s one of the better catches in the pool. The characters catch your eye, but that’s about all you’ll want to see in this game.
Might I also add the voice acting is on point.
With all that being said, Creature Romances: Kokonoe Kokoro isn’t something I’d recommend unless you’re truly looking for something different character-wise.
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