• Price: $49.99 USD (digital & physical)
• Developer/Publisher: Idea Factory (International)
• Release Date: May 28, 2024

A review code was kindly provided by Idea Factory International. We thank them for allowing us to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.

I previously reviewed the original Cupid Parasite, which ended up being my favorite otome ever. So I was incredibly excited for the fan disc, Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling. (It’s certainly got an interesting name!)

It includes 3 different story modes:

• After Drama: Newlywed & dating life with the original Parasites
• New Parasite: A story with a new love interest
• Bonus Episode: short stories for the original Parasites

After Drama

Naturally, I started with the After Drama stories for the original 6 love interests. Funnily enough, the After Drama menu put my least favorite love interests on the top row, saving my favorites for last on the bottom. Most of the love interests have 3 endings in their route: Sweet, Spicy, and Sweet & Spicy. A few of them have 1 or 2 additional endings.

Gill

Highlight, copy, & paste the all-red text below to view spoiler related content warnings.

Kidnapping

Usually I really like the love interests who wear glasses (see: Kent from Amnesia, Neji from Jack Jeanne). Gill appears to be an exception for me, as he was one of my least favorite love interests in Cupid Parasite. To quote Lynette’s thoughts from the first game: “He’s got a fixated gaze that walks the fine line between love and lunacy.”

He’s hardly my least favorite love interest ever, but I still felt like he borderline infantilizes Lynette. It seems like he reverts to his old ways sometimes, and he can be a bit impulsive and thoughtless when he does things. I didn’t care for his Spicy ending in the slightest, but the Sweet and Sweet & Spicy endings were okay.

His saving grace is that he is sweet, and the end of his After Drama – similar to his route in the original – is so ridiculously comical. What he reveals towards the end is hysterical and made me laugh. I adored the obvious reference they made.

Ryuki

Content warning: Discussion of beauty standards may be triggering to those struggling with eating disorders.

The Spicy ending includes voyeurism that the pair did not consent to at first, which then becomes consensual.

I think Ryuki just might rank below Gill for me, surprisingly. While he did seem to improve a little by the end of his original story, he still comes off as slightly shallow. He’s fairly young at 20 years old, and that shows with his immaturity and insecurity. Ryuki and Lynette’s relationship feels awkward and perhaps even rushed a bit. I don’t know if I’d say they’re ready for marriage. One of the sources of conflict in his route felt like its resolution was anticlimactic.

However, I do still have some positive things to say about his route. For one thing, their date towards the beginning is probably my favorite excursion in the game. (I also think the backgrounds are the best here.) There are some hilarious family-related hijinks, too. His endings are nice enough, and the Spicy ending isn’t necessarily bad so much as it is…interesting.

Peter/Jupiter

Intercourse with beast man in spicy ending; head only if it matters to you…? Includes CG.

Peter/Jupiter’s route – and the romance – weren’t as strong as I would have liked in the original game. As far as his After Drama is concerned, I didn’t find it terribly romantic either. But it does have its strengths: Chii is adorable, the overarching story is interesting, and I also found myself laughing a lot.

He also has some of the prettiest CGs in the game – perhaps second to Allan’s. A word of warning though: you might find his Spicy Ending disturbing. I was a bit squicked out, personally. The Sweet and Sweet & Spicy endings were fine, though.

Shelby

The main story mentions “trading” a woman in a bet. In the Spicy ending a man gets Lynette drunk and assaults her. She leaves Shelby for that character (in that ending only) so kind of infidelity?

Okay, so now we’re on to my favorites from the original. In this After Drama, I thought that Shelby showed some improvement from his old workaholic ways. I did not particularly care for the overprotective and possessive moments in this route, but appreciate that Shelby recognizes his mistakes and apologizes.

I also like that he’s an older love interest at 33 years old. That doesn’t mean he’s without his insecurities, but I like him anyway. His route has some of the funniest family-related scenes, which made me cackle. What I didn’t care for was the extra fourth ending, which involves extremely dubious consent between 2 characters.

Raul

Kidnapping, unethical human and animal experimentation

Once again, Raul steals the show. Which makes sense, considering his career as an actor. I don’t think there’s anything overly problematic in his route. It starts on a more serious – and realistic – note, and then becomes more and more absurd by the end.

The main storyline was so ridiculous by that point, but it made me laugh. His Spicy ending wasn’t too bad, and I loved his romantic gesture in the Sweet & Spicy ending. I was happy to see that his obsession with mythology was stronger than ever; he stands out even in other characters’ routes.

Allan

Temporary character death

Allan was in my top 3 after the first game. He’s very self deprecating, but he cherishes Lynette and just wants her to be happy. There are 5 endings in Allan’s After Drama; his days with Lynette are somewhat bittersweet, but they’re still happy together.

Some scenes were especially touching – his Sweet ending hit me right in the feels, making me tear up. His Spicy ending was the only Spicy ending I enjoyed besides Raul’s. Raul remains my favorite love interest in the Cupid Parasite series, but I thought that Allan’s route was much stronger here (especially the Sweet & Spicy ending). My only issue was with the scene where Allan is climbing something towards the end; some voiced Japanese lines weren’t translated there.

After Stories: Conclusion

The way they handled the Sweet, Spicy, and Sweet & Spicy endings was interesting. The Sweet endings were the good endings, while the Sweet & Spicy ones were the best endings. I had assumed that the Spicy endings would be more..sensual…and they kind of were. But most of the Spicy endings felt more like bad endings to me, which I didn’t necessarily like.

For me, the Spicy endings were a departure from the romantic comedy vibes I got from the first game. I also didn’t really like how they made several love interests jealous, possessive, and overprotective in their After Drama stories. I would have hoped that their relationships would be more secure in the fan disc. (The fact that some love interests still don’t know about her past as Cupid didn’t help matters.)

While I didn’t always love the direction they took the stories in, I did enjoy the After Drama experience as a whole. They included brief recaps of the stories from the original, which was helpful to jog players’ memory. I thought there was a decent balance of romance, comedy, and drama. Although some storylines were better than others, there were always a few aspects I appreciated in each character’s route.

Bonus Episodes

There are 3 Bonus Episodes for each of the original Parasites; sadly the new love interest doesn’t get any Bonus Episodes. But it was nice to see more events from the men’s perspective. We get some nice CGs out of them, too.

Destiny Parasite: Merenice

Includes trafficking and auctioning of sentient beings, potentially for experiments or display

Merenice is the new love interest in the fan disc. He’s a fortune teller who can see everyone’s destiny except for Lynette’s. Lynette and I were both concerned that his interest in her stemmed from his inability to see what would happen next with her.

I think he’s an interesting character, and he’s a nice – and pretty – guy. He has 4 endings, and towards the end his story gets pretty bizarre. More so than Raul’s story, even. One of his endings (the O. story) was unexpected, and I wanted more content related to it. I did kind of wish we got an After Drama and Bonus Episodes for Merenice, but I was satisfied enough with his route.

Overall Otome Opinion

I think that Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling was slightly weaker than its predecessor; many of the Spicy endings felt out of place, and Lynette’s relationship with a few of the love interests didn’t seem as strong as I would have liked. At the same time, this is still an enjoyable expansion of the original stories.

One of the major strengths of the CupiPara series is its artistic quality and creativity. From the character designs to the backgrounds to the menus, the art is an absolute delight with its eye-catching colors.

Both the original and fan disc soundtracks are top tier, in my opinion. I love the love interests’ theme songs with English vocals, and the Japanese opening and ending songs are pleasing as well.

I also enjoy their continued use of silly alternative parody names like Los York, Boltamore, and Instegrimm. Some of the storylines may have missed the mark a little for me, but I can’t deny that they have creative ideas that manage to keep me entertained.

If you’re interested in seeing what comes next for Lynette and her pack of Parasites after playing the original, there’s some sweet romance, spicy (in a good way) CGs, mild drama, nutty comedic moments, and some floral notes in this fan disc. I do recommend it, but keep the content warnings in mind.

8/10