How to Raise a Wolf Girl, because raising a normal girl isn’t already hard enough.
This game’s all about finding a girl who’d gone missing ten years prior. She’d been spirited away, the townsfolk said (not to be confused with the anime Spirited Away), and then somehow ended up growing wolf ears and a tail in the process, as well as losing most of her speech.
Now that you’ve found her, it’s up to you to help her relearn Japanese and deal with life outside of your home.
The thing that called to me first about this game is that it has gorgeous graphics. Plus, it’s rated highly positive by people who’ve played it as well. Last, but not least, the title. Whoever loves wolves is probably at least going to take a peek at what this VN has to offer.
Isn’t that why you’re interested?
Gameplay
Due to this game being a Visual Novel, there’s nothing for you to really “play.” You can read along with it on auto-pilot, or read at your own pace by clicking to continue.
Most of all, enjoy the visuals.
Are there achievements?
No.
Is there nudity?
While there is nudity within the game, none of the actual bits show. If you want the full adult version, you can download the 18+ patch from Denpasoft.
Do choices matter?
There are choices in this game, which made me believe there was replay value in it, however I don’t believe the choices actually make a difference. You’ll be placed on the same path eventually–they’re more for their reaction to what choice you would actually be willing to make.
Graphics
The graphics are gorgeous in this game.
The background of the setting you’re in features a more realistic style while the characters at the front have your usual anime look to them. Although, quite a bit more detailed than any actual anime you’d watch or read.
To make things even better, by choosing an option in the menu, you can have the characters move around a bit during the game. So you’re not simply looking at a static image if you don’t want to. Most of the characters will blink, and then there are those with wolf ear that tend to twitch them on occasion.
These movements might prove distracting to you, and if that’s the case, simply turn them off.
Who did the artwork?
Since you’re wondering, the character art is done by Motomiya Mitsuki,
Soundtrack
How to Raise a Wolf Girl has some lovely music accompanying the progression through the game, and if you’re ever wondering what song is playing, it’ll actually pop up in a corner of the screen whenever it changes.
It’s never loud and in your face, either. It’s just a blend in the background of what you’re reading and hearing.
Is there DLC available for the soundtrack?
Unfortunately, as of right now, there isn’t. But due to the effort they put into making the song title appear, it makes me wonder if it might not be something they’re implementing in the future.
Characters
There are a variety of characters in this game, but most notably are the five with actual visuals on them. So while you have a grandfather and your fawning not-really-a-girlfriend childhood friend has a dad, they aren’t shown–they merely have voiceovers.
- Sakuraba Iroha
Voice acted by Yuzuhara Miu - Kagaya Kana
- Kotsugai Chihiro
- Kousaka Kotori
Voice acted by Yayoi Hayase - Kousaka Shuuji
- Kisaka Marin
- Grandfather
- Kana’s Dad
- Wolf God
Bugs & Glitches
I didn’t encounter any kind of bug or glitch within the game, but there was the occasional misspelled word–which happens in these text-based games. But it never became too much of a distraction.
Final Thoughts
There’s not many things that are off-putting about this game that would drop it into a negative review territory. As of this post, it is fairly new, so there may be updates in the future regarding DLC and achievements.
Is it worth the price?
20$ is a bit of a high price point for a game that’s voiced only in Japanese and not in English as well. Not only that, but it’s pretty short with not much in the way of replay value, despite there being obvious choices to make.
Personally, I’d wait for a discount on the game, unless you’re really hankering to buy it.
Deals
I didn’t find any deals, but check out the sites below:
