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Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche Review

cat girl 2

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche is the newest game series from Way Forward. Originally the game was started as an April Fools joke a couple years back. Based on the overwhelming positive community reception to the joke, the game was made a reality thanks to Humble Bundle. The game is only available via Humble Monthly, a monthly “loot crate” type program to receive numerous games. So how does this genre mash-up play? Let’s delve into the review galaxy and find out.

Full disclosure: James Montagna, who has worked on this game, has been interviewed by Source Gaming in the past. The game was purchased using personal funds. I’ve completed the game (all three bounties).

Minor spoilers below.

Story:

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche stars Kebako, and her friend / partner, ‘Squiddie’. Kebako is a simple-minded but amazing at everything (even if she forgets about it) cat space bounty hunter. Throughout the game she will need to collect bounties on criminals who are causing destruction across the various galaxies. Players will visit the Radical, RPG and Kawaii Galaxies in this first game.

CkNm2o3VEAAxsfXThe levels have their own episode, and even though there are only three galaxies, the plot feels a little formulaic by the end of the third act. Essentially, Kebako gets a bounty…she doesn’t remember the criminal…some random humor is interjected…it’s revealed that the criminal and Kebako have some sort of history together…and they fight. That’s the basic plot points of the three levels. For the next game in the Cat Girl Without Salad series, my biggest suggestion would be to mix up the story a little bit more.      

The game plays on rails. There is scripted conversations going on throughout the entire game, and that’s a major part of the appeal for the game. One of the major drawbacks to Cat Girl Without Salad is that if the player loses a life in the middle of the level, the game will restart from the very beginning of that stage. Luckily, the game is pretty forgiven with the amount of health items dropped. I do wish there was more dialogue mix up while replaying the level, or the option to disable it (or at the very least until it gets to the new dialogue). Adding those options would make replaying the game a bit more enjoyable.

That being said, the story is a huge draw for Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche. Players will definitely enjoy the humor. In my opinion, the game is just not well suited for multiple playthroughs. Each episode lasts about ten minutes, so the three episodes will take players about thirty to forty minutes to complete.

Gameplay:

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche is a shoot ‘em up game at it’s core. The genre mash up shines through the variety of weapons that can be obtained and used. Often referencing classic video games (as with a lot of Way Forward games), the weapons have a huge impact on the way the game is played.

There are the “Platforming”, “Puzzle”, “RPG”, “Dance”, “Arcade”, and the “Pea” guns. The control for each weapon is unique and interesting. For example, the Platformer Gun shoots out a character that can be jumped using any of the attack buttons (the arrow keys). Jumping on enemies leads to a more damage.The RPG Gun on the other hand makes players choose between Attack, Magic, Heal and Run. Understanding how each gun works, and how to unleash the most amount of damage is required and part of the fun.

Admittedly, some weapons are very difficult to use. The “Dance Gun” in particular needs to be buffed in my opinion. It’s difficult to get a rhythm when it doesn’t match the in-game music. Trying to line up shots while matching the key presses is a bit frustrating. I also wish the “Pea Gun” had multiple shooting properties (or at least an option to shoot backwards) as it’s incredibly weak. In boss fights, losing the powerup weapon early on and having to rely on the Pea Gun early is very punishing.

The boss fights are well done, and interesting. I found the first boss fight to be the most difficult one of the three. I particularly enjoyed the last boss battle for reasons I will explain in a spoiler.

Final Boss Spoiler

I enjoyed the way the last boss remixes Kebako’s weapons. For example, Kebako’s MegaMan-like weapon becomes a Sonic-like weapon, or Pac-Man being replaced by Frogger. I feel like it was a missed opportunity to not give Kebako those weapons as a reward for finishing the game.

I do wish there were additional guns, or even mixing up the gameplay even more. It’d be great if there was a dungeon crawler level, or a full on platforming level. Of course, that would make programming the game even more difficult but it’d be a way to further explore the genre mashup genre. I thought mixing genres through the weapons was a great idea, it just needs to be explored more (perhaps in the inevitable sequel?).

Presentation:

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche is very well polished. The script, enemy names and references in the game are very satisfying. I really enjoyed the quirky humor that the game has, such as, “Pressing Any Button” and having a button with “Any” on the screen. The controls are relatively simple, and the game is laid out in a very easy to understand way.

After completing the game, players can have an option to replay the levels while cycling through weapons. Furthermore, as players complete levels, Kebako will gain an additional heart. It’s a good reward, but it doesn’t entice players to replay the game that much. Online leaderboards could help if the game is ever re-released.

Verdict:

I think a lot of people will enjoy this game for what it is. It’s an interesting concept, and it plays well enough. The game is a little short, and lacks real incentive to replay it/ master it. However, that being said, the presentation is solid, and the gameplay is fun. I’d suggest people on the fence of this game to watch a little bit of the first level, and judge for themselves. I wouldn’t recommend watching more, as part of the charm of the game would be ruined by watching a full playthrough. Considering the price of this game (or I should say the bundle), I would recommend people to pick up this game — if they could. It’s too late now! Additional episodes might be planned for future Humble Monthly‘s, so keep an eye out. 

My Scores

After defeating Uramiko, she reveals that there are six more people after our hero. With that and the subtitle, it seems that additional games are planned for Cat Girl.

Bounty

My high score (as of writing). I need to replay the levels to get them higher!

starstarstarstarempty star

2 comments
  1. Great!

    jedisquidward on June 6 |
  2. “if the player loses a life in the middle of the level, the game will restart from the very beginning of that stage.”

    Might I ask what’s even the point of having a lives system then? This reminds me of a different WayForward game, though I’ll try and stay on topic here. Honestly, it does sound like a unique, if quirky, game that I wouldn’t mind at least giving it a try. I’m not necessarily a fan of shoot-em-up games, nor am I a fan of writing that tries too hard to be entertaining, which is what makes me wary of this in general, but I am open to at least giving it a shot.

    At least I *would* be if it weren’t only a Humble Original at the moment. This incoming rant has nothing to do with the game, so feel free to ignore it (or to refute it, I’m pulling most of this off the top of my head anyway). I honestly don’t like the concept of the Humble Originals. I’ve been a longtime fan of the Humble Bundles, both for games and for e-books, and the Humble Subscription doesn’t sound like a bad concept on paper, if not for the fact that my income at the moment is too shaky for subscription-based payment systems. But I don’t like the idea of games exclusive to this subscription system. Having a game available only for a month just to have it disappear afterwards if the developers decided that it didn’t generate enough interest sounds like a terrible idea for me. I’m no fan of restrictions, so if I miss the month for a Humble Original that I actually want, what other option could I possibly have? If the game was available on the Humble Store afterwards, I’d be more okay with the system, but it just seems unfair to me that my ability to play a game could be limited by when I’m able to buy it, instead of just if I’m able to buy it. I get that the games probably wouldn’t have existed otherwise, and when the choice comes down to either having the game for a limited time and not having the game at all, I’m in favor of the former. I’d just rather have as few conditions in between me and the game as possible.

    Spiral on June 11 |