So The Boy seems to believe that we should seek out every bizarre romance visual novel game, and that I should be the one to play them. For review purposes. Solely review purposes. I hope.
And so we come to Hustle Cat. Those long time readers may remember my last foray into the realm of animal-based dating sims, the indiscriminately named Animal Lover. It was odd to say the least, however an in-depth story line and some well thought out animation and designs elevated it above the initial weirdness. Hustle Cat sadly seems to have fallen short.
The basic premise, without too many spoilers, is that you have joined a cat cafe as their latest employee but unfortunately this particular cafe appears to be cursed. Upon leaving the premises all employees, except the gothly cafe owner, turn into a range of adorable felines, and now this will include you unless you can break the dreaded kitty curse. Naturally along the way you fall in love with one of your cursed colleagues and together you try to break the spell. There are some external evils to be dealt with, and this pretty much drives the story along.
The story is rather lacking in firm substance, unsurprising given how short the overall game play is, and it feels rather vacuous at times. You get to the end of a playthrough and there is the looming question of “Is that it?” The only reasoning I can think of for this is the secret sixth route, which is obtainable once you have completed the other five romances. The sixth route fleshes out the story considerably, and provides a background otherwise missing from the other routes. It’s just a shame that this particular route is so hard to uncover, especially having to plough through the other routes to get it. There are some entertaining meta references in-game that hint towards the secret route, specifically in Finley’s playthrough.
What I found interesting was the move toward inclusiveness from the very first moment of playing. You choose your gender and the choice includes a They/Them option, and your avatar choices lean towards the gender fluid look. My niggle? There is a very male feel to all the options. Plus points for being a very queer friendly game though in all aspects of the story.
There is a definite Japanese lean in terms of styling and feel to the whole game, and yet the scripting has an American edge to it. The humour is evidence of that, with my particular favourite regarding Goth willpower and the spelling of spider with an X. The animation quality is not great by visual novel standards, except the cats themselves which appear lovingly rendered to the detriment of everything else.
The character designs are forgettable, and even those that show some distinctiveness are dull versions of a trope. Overall it’s just bland and distinctively average.
Tagged: Game Dating sim 2D Easy difficulty PC