Katawa Shoujo Act 1 Preview feedback thread

[Aura]

I heavily dislike YMK's way of doing the "dead end"

Why's that?

It's just a personal preference, that's all. The quiet fizzling of the story fails to get anything resembling an emotion out of me.

[Skofo]

So, this person thinks there's no plot?

...

I don't think I agree; I'd say a guy adjusting to his radically changed life and new status as disabled and coming to terms with it is a fair amount of plot. There wasn't much CLOSURE to Act 1, but since it's a demo, there didn't need to be...

And I think the fact that it's a school for cripples (to put it crudely) is a fair bit of original spin. I can honestly say I've never seen this before. Granted, I don't have access to every Japanese visual novel ever, but still...

My wording was off. My bad.

I didn't mean that there is no plot, but that it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. There is no build-up, it's just meeting people and talking with them. While there were many mini-plots with build-up, I feel that it is beneficial to have one big, main one in a serious story.

Also, I knew someone would eventually call me out on me saying that the authors didn't give enough original spin, and I didn't necessarily mean it like that since I think that the fact that it's about a school full of cripples is very original. To word what I meant differently, I feel that if you write something that's based on someone else's culture instead of your own, you miss out on the genuine perspective. If you actually live in a particular culture, you'll notice little things that people simply cannot meaningfully catch in their mind through watching cartoons about it. And this will affect your perspective when you write about it, even if subconsciously, and it gives readers a greater feeling that you're actually there and elicits an overall richer experience, at least in my opinion. I guess I'm just big on media derived from deep personal experiences. But this is fiction, after all, and this really isn't as big of a deal as I'm making it out to be, I just don't know how to word it in less than a paragraph. As it stands, my biggest criticism of Act 1 is the lack of much of a rising action.

It's almost like you're reading a slice of life VN.

If this is true, then I think that basing the story more on personal life is even more important.

Hisao adjusts to his new life, forges and begins to develop new friendships, that's the progression.

As most of the events in this game are making new friendships, none of those events really "build up" on top of each other, hence my thinking that there isn't much of a rising action. Also, there are many stories that manage to include making many new friendships in the beginning, yet the story still seems to build up from the very start.

Oh man, I press 'Submit' but there's always another reply.

So yeah, it's just you. Non-4chan lurking, non-eroge fapping, not an English speaking Japanese you.

I actually do lurk 4chan, fap to eroge and really enjoy Japanese media in general. I'm also fully aware of the typical Japanese school environment as Japanese media portrays it. I just don't think that the media portrayal of it is as accurate as the actual thing. How many movies/sitcoms/cartoons that portray American high school don't have any flaws? None, as far as I know. So I don't think that the authors can be as authentic and get as deep into the subject as they could with American/English/Canadian/Australian etc. schools. It's like describing a picture of the Eiffel Tower as opposed to actually being there.

This visual novel is really nice in almost every other way, though, so don't let my criticisms discourage anyone too much. Also again, it's all personal opinion; I might just be crazy.

[SABAN]

Oh man, I press 'Submit' but there's always another reply.

It's tough being a Skofo.

So yeah, it's just you. Non-4chan lurking, non-eroge fapping, not an English speaking Japanese you.

I actually do lurk 4chan, fap to eroge and really enjoy Japanese media in general. I'm also fully aware of the typical Japanese school environment as Japanese media portrays it. I just don't think that the media portrayal of it is as accurate as the actual thing. How many movies/sitcoms/cartoons that portray American high school don't have any flaws? None, as far as I know. So I don't think that the authors can be as authentic and get as deep into the subject as they could with American/English/Canadian/Australian etc. schools. It's like describing a picture of the Eiffel Tower as opposed to actually being there.

It's not an American/Canadian/Australian High School.
It's not an actual school.
It's not your everyday school, it's a school for physically disabled/challenged people.

It's Eroge.

I feel like I should do a cool pose, like wear my sunglasses after posting this.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

[Coyfish]

You sound proud to admit that you lurk 4chan, fap to eroge, and really enjoy Japanese media in general. That is disturbing. Well, at least for the first two.

I agree with Skofo about the plot being a bit 'stagnant', but this is only 'Chapter 1'. It was mostly just the main character getting acquainted with the characters. I'm sure you'll get ONE BIG PLOT you want once the full version of KS comes out. Hopefully.

[Guest]

Forgive me if this is out of topic, but is it just me, or are there more people who did not expect to be with Emi when you go for it on the track? I just didn't expect it to have such a major impact on the game, sorry but it seems that the decision is haste. Other than that, I applaud the development team, thank you for making this game real.

[lurk moar]

It's not an American/Canadian/Australian High School.
It's not an actual school.
It's not your everyday school, it's a school for physically disabled/challenged people.

It's Eroge.

I feel like I should do a cool pose, like wear my sunglasses after posting this.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

You need to wear two pairs of sunglasses, and take one pair off before striking a pose and going YEAAAAH!!

[Mercutio]

haven't read through the entire thread, but I don't think I need to just to say this: despite (and probably because of) the cast, KS is totally uncrippled in terms of pure awesome.

..okay, that sounded a lot cooler in my head. let me elaborate.

I expected this to suck. I really did. when I first heard that some people were making a game based off of the original picture, I thought it'd be some cheap-ass flash game, a bad parody of h-games in general, making jokes about the disabilties and with the legless-girl offering you a stump job in the bathroom shortly after meeting her.

I have never, never, never been so pleasantly surprised in my life, never so glad to be wrong.

this game got me from the first few lines, from the first picture of the snowy woods. that opening scene was so very, very well done; Hisao's sudden heart attack and heartbreak really made me feel for the guy and made me want to see how he was going to deal with such a big damn change in his life. I think one of the greatest things about this game is that Hisao's a character I want to read about, I want to hang around in his head for the duration of the game. if he'd been annoying, weak-minded, or a general fuckoff, I wouldn't have stuck around.

I really can't say enough good things about the girls. I remember the "what if they hate her?" blog entry, and having played the demo to 100%, I'd be really surprised if anyone who played it actively hated any of the girls. yeah, Shizune and Misha took some getting used to, but they were oddly addicting - I like girls that actually challenge me. Rin was a completely different kind of challenge, but damn if she's not one of my favorites. I'm also a total sucker for the 'cute sleep' thing. naturally, Hanako set off my "must protect and cuddle" senses like crazy, but I think I liked her path the best; there's something about helping her come out of her shell that's oddly rewarding. Lilly... her path was well-written, but she herself just seems so vanilla, so classic traditional Japanese girl. we get to see a tiny bit of attitude in her ending, so hopefully we can get to know her better and she'll get more interesting. or it could just be my lack of interest in blondes. Emi's fun, and though she's not really to my tastes (I don't dig the loli thing), I liked her dialogue a lot and I really want to see how things go with her. and the puppy-eyes thing kills me. figuratively.

also? the production values (hope that's the right word) for this game are much, much better than I expected. this game is utterly free of half-assery, which is not at all what I thought would happen for a game that was born in the depths of 4chan. when I wasn't nodding along with Hisao's inner monologue or laughing my ass off at the interactions with the girls, I was admiring how much the sheer effort that was went into this game shows.

in short, you guys have a fan for life, and I'll be waiting eagerly for the full version. keep it up.

[Coyfish]

......stump job? Gawd. I should of expected that some people would have that kind of fetish, but.....it doesn't stop it from feeling SOOOOO wrong.

Well, the entirety of Chapter 1 takes spans over 4 days (that's what I read in-game, though my memory could be failing me). I don't think the girls would open up enough that quickly for us to get to know them better. Generally, people tend to restrain themselves when interacting with strangers. Just saying.

[Mercutio]

......stump job? Gawd. I should of expected that some people would have that kind of fetish, but.....it doesn't stop it from feeling SOOOOO wrong.

Well, the entirety of Chapter 1 takes spans over 4 days (that's what I read in-game, though my memory could be failing me). I don't think the girls would open up enough that quickly for us to get to know them better. Generally, people tend to restrain themselves when interacting with strangers. Just saying.

believe me, I agree with you on the "SOOOOO wrong" thing (trust me, not my fetish). all my experience with h-games comes from the reviews of them over on Something Awful, which is why I expected KS to be like that - in those games, the girls are supposedly almost always like "hi, what's your name - nevermind, let's fuck!" this is why I half-expected KS to jump straight to the sex as well, with just plain wrong conclusions.

like I said, I'm so damn glad it's not like that. the game wouldn't be a tenth of what it is without the interactions and characters, and I would have been really disappointed if Hisao got laid at the end of the first few days.

[Flamesoul32]

I am thoroughly inpressed with this VN. I have played through Emi's and Shizune's endings and I think that I can saftly say that the dev team did a great job. I am also one of the (aparently) few people that fully understood Misha and Shizune's way of "talking" and really enjoyed their banter with the main character. On the other hand I was greatly confused by the Shanghaied scene. I understood the whole contest with Shizune. I just don't get how Hisao lost. Plus the way that Misha and Shizune acted when Hisao got back to school was very...odd. It was like the events of the tea shop never happened but also acknowledging that Hisao lost the contest. It just ended up confusing me.
The other odd scene I noticed was the festival scene (again on Shizune's path)was the way it seemed to change from morning to sunset over a meal of takoyake(sp). The girls grab at your dorm in the moring, go to festival, get something to eat, and the sun starts to set...WTF?
Sorry for the language but that was literally how I felt. The only thing thatpushed that aside was the amazing fireworks scene that really blew my mind .
Anyway great job guys and I hope my feedback helps. If I find anything else worth commenting on you might hear from me again.
Sincerely a fan...

[lurk moar]

It seems that sunset is at around 5pm or something during the game, even earlier possibly.

[Flamesoul32]

It seems that sunset is at around 5pm or something during the game, even earlier possibly.

How did we go from about eight in the morning (when you wake up) to 4 or 5 in the afternoon?

[Flamesoul32]

I am thoroughly inpressed with this VN. I have played through Emi's and Shizune's endings and I think that I can saftly say that the dev team did a great job. I am also one of the (aparently) few people that fully understood Misha and Shizune's way of "talking" and really enjoyed their banter with the main character. On the other hand I was greatly confused by the Shanghaied scene. I understood the whole contest with Shizune. I just don't get how Hisao lost. Plus the way that Misha and Shizune acted when Hisao got back to school was very...odd. It was like the events of the tea shop never happened but also acknowledging that Hisao lost the contest. It just ended up confusing me.
The other odd scene I noticed was the festival scene (again on Shizune's path)was the way it seemed to change from morning to sunset over a meal of takoyake(sp). The girls grab at your dorm in the moring, go to festival, get something to eat, and the sun starts to set...WTF?
Sorry for the language but that was literally how I felt. The only thing thatpushed that aside was the amazing fireworks scene that really blew my mind .
Anyway great job guys and I hope my feedback helps. If I find anything else worth commenting on you might hear from me again.
Sincerely a fan...

I actualy created an acount and thought I should make that known .

[Tualha]

"Mind Your Step": Hisao: I have a pretty... I guess the best way to put it would be messed-up... heart. Arrythmia.

"Smalltalk": The teacher clears his throat very loudly, batting his long wooden pointer agaist his other palm like a baton. He shoots a pointed gaze at us.

[DuaneMoody]

I haven't read through all 18 pages of this thread yet, but the only thing I don't like in this entire production is the way "Daylight" ends like a wind-up toy dying, in slow motion. Remember that this piece often loops and it's kind of jarring to hear it die and then pick right up again -- also, while it may not officially be Hisao's theme, it usually punctuates his thoughts so the sound of something dying in slow-mo initially made me think he was about to snuff it.

Considering how many musical pieces are in this and how well they're done, this is the only nit I have to pick with the soundtrack. "Parity" does a great job of introducing Rin.

Great job, everyone.

edit: I've finished reading the entire thread and see other people noticed this as well.

As has been mentioned, the sprite artists have gotten away with only Emi having a costume change so far, but this is going to stretch credulity if more scenes take place on Sundays or other events where students would not normally wear school uniforms. It would also lend more depth to the characters to see their choice of casual clothes.

When I attended a private school, the idea of two girls being allowed in a boy's dorm room was just about impossible -- but I imagine acknowledging that would make all the H scenes take place in broom closets or on rooftops. Then again we have to chalk up some things to artistic license (single rooms, no computers, secondary school teachers who handle all subjects), don't we.

Having made my way through a few more paths, I want to jump on the bandwagon of congratulating you for making characters who are neither defined by their disabilities nor noble because of them. Especially Hisao.