Nyaaaanvy Review

Jump into the crazy world of the Nyanvy creatures. You are probably wondering what the heck that is. These characters look like you mixed a cat with a weasel or ferret based on its crazy long body. Nyanvy doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, so most of the time I’ll just call them cats. Players are instantly thrown into a tutorial that will teach you how to control one of these crazy-long cat weasels. During the lesson, you are controlling a white creature named Nora, and a young girl named Aoi is giving you commands to learn how everything works.

I am playing using my Xbox controller, but the controls will be similar for whatever kind of gamepad you are using. You will move your kitty around using the left thumbstick. The first task is to get to the can of food, which is used to replenish your cat's health. Next, you will play with the toy and learn how to attack by using your butt to smash opponents with the right thumbstick. This was really unique, as I'm so used to using the face buttons for attacking. It also allows you to hit your opponent into the air to send them flying around and off the stage.

Tinned food isn’t the only consumable you will collect; energy drinks — the game calls them juice — when picked up, will fill your Berserk meter and give you extra energy to make you move faster and your attacks stronger. The cat toy that you are fighting stands no chance and is quickly destroyed. The only other move that you learn is how to do a little hop using A. These creatures won’t ever win a high jump award, but this move can let you bounce out of the way of danger.

This is the end of the tutorial. This game isn’t overly complicated, so you don’t need to know too much! The girl says thanks for playing with me, and she leaves. This isn’t the only time you will see Aoi; besides training, she is also in charge of Nyanvy customisation, so we head over to the shop to make your character your own and fancy if you would like!

Nyaaaanvy has a tonne of different customisation options available in multiple different categories to select from. In the general section, you get to name your kitty and select their “voice” from raccoons, cat meows, snorts, and even robot sounds. There is a different-sounding “meow” for when you attack, take damage, or are defeated. Once that’s decided, you get to change your cat's colour. You get to choose if you want a more realistic look or bright colours like green, blue, and purple if you want to go crazy. Besides this base colour, you select the fur pattern; some of the options are free, while others will cost you coins to unlock.

One of my favourite things about this character creation mode in Nyaaaanvy is that you can select the face, eyes, and mouth. Some expressions make your creature look happy, some are cute, and others just look downright sad. All the different options aren’t free and require in-game coins to unlock them. Whiskers, nose style, ears, paws, and tail shape can also be selected — you could even pick a bunny or raccoon tail for your character! Once that’s all decided, you get to accessorise with different styles of hats, helmets, and other fun articles of clothing.

There are a variety of modes to play, ranging from Single Play — Story (Am I, a cat?); Arcade — fight against the CPU, where you try to push off all the other cats to win; Sub Game — mini-games like survive the longest, collect the most, or sumo wrestling matches where bombs drop, and if you aren’t cautious, you could get launched out of the ring. There is also an area to practice, or you can play through the tutorial again for a refresher.

The Story mode is divided into multiple chapters. Your cat is lying on a bench and sees a flyer fly by for a cat battle tournament where the winner gets a year's supply of cat food. Apparently, you don’t have any choice in the matter, as you are quickly thrown into a battle with a cat on the playground beside you. Once you win, you meet Aoi; she is the inventor, groomer, and guide for this tournament. She explains the rules to you: each fight is a battle royale; it’s every nyanvy for themselves, but you are allowed to form alliances; when the battle starts, if you are in the area, you are a participant, the last cat standing is the Cat of Cats. I won’t spoil the whole story, but you will be trying to find the captured Nyanvy, battling enemies on your journey, and collecting coins that you can use for customisations in the shop.

Multiplayer Mode is next, and you have options for both local and online. Local Match has you battling in player vs player matches for up to four players. There are eight different stages to choose from, all with their own quirks: Random, the game selects which stage you are playing on; Nyanvy Town, fighting takes place on the roof of a building; Factory, with moving platforms you can fall off of; St Racer, fight on the top of two buses driving beside each other; Fish Heaven, rotating arms like a clock spin around to hit you and push you around the stage; Sumo, try to stay in the circle and knock your opponent out; TNT, hit a large bomb around the ring when it explodes it to take out the ropes so you can fall off; Cat Punch, rotating bars with cat paws that can push you off; Antarctica, chunks break off the icy ground, Beigoma, all fighters have max berserk meters; Aquarium, circles of light appear where bombs are thrown to hit you; and Shrine, which is like hot potato but one cat is a bomb, and you want to hit the other before the timer counts down to zero — if you are still the bomb you will explode. No matter the stage you select, your goal is the same, knock your opponents off of the arena. With so many locations to fight at, this round alone will keep you busy for a long time!

Casual Matches are for playing online with up to four players. These battles are simple, get two points to become the Cat of Cats. You can search for rooms to join, or you can create your own to battle with your friends who also own the game. Once you create your own room, you will get to decide which of the stages you want to battle in.

Nyaaaanvy has a simplistic and adorable look to it, which fits this crazy and eclectic game very well. Along with it is music that is a lot more upbeat and catchy than it has any right to be. I never thought the songs that consist of non-stop meowing could be so endearing! I figured my kids would love it, and it would drive me insane, but that wasn’t the case.

Nyaaaanvy is one of the most stupid yet amazing fighting games that you can play. Who would have guessed trying to hit opponents with your butt could be so entertaining? Due to the weird body structure these characters have, everything looks so weird and exaggerated but incredibly silly at the same time. With simple controls, anyone can learn how to play, and with a huge variety of stages to fight on, it will keep you busy for a long time! The game's strength is playing with others, so if you are only planning to play by yourself, this title might not be the one for you. But if you have other people to play with or the opportunity to play online, you need to check this out!