Finally giving KS a chance

[Umber]

We probably were a bit rough on him, but he really did get off on the wrong foot. Coming in here criticizing something we all love while admitting he hasn't actually played it yet. He was kinda asking for it.

Reminds me of Fyn. Shame, if Fyn changed his tracks, he might've had nice insight on KS.

[Wynd]

Katawa Shoujo was my introduction to the VN genre, and I effing loved it.

As KS was my first VN, I was probably considerably more open minded than the OP. Fun Fact: I discovered the game after seeing the KS torrent file in my friend’s download folder while we were screen sharing on Skype (trying to get a game to work). Anyway, long story short, I googled “Katawa Shoujo” (knowing “shoujo” to mean girls, but not knowing the meaning of “katawa”), and found the official website (I didn’t have the guts to ask my friend about it).

I did some research, so I went into the game knowing that it was about disabled girls, that Four Leaf Studios was spawned from 4chan and that the inspiration for the game came from the /b/rilliant tales of Nurse-kun and Ampu-tan (or maybe not, but Nurse-kun was mentioned on the knowyourmeme page for KS for some reason). Despite the affiliation with 4chan, literally the anus of the interbutts, I felt no real apprehension about playing the game as I have a (probably abnormally) high opinion of 4chan, although this is probably due to the fact that I have never properly sat down and trawled through /b/ (and honestly, I have no intention of doing so).

Also worth mentioning is my own experience of disability (or not really, but what I went through was pretty bad, although thankfully it was reversible). A few years back I was ill with chronic stomach pains. I pretty much couldn’t move for the bolts of pain that shot through my belly. However, a couple of months of daily medication, the stomach pain went away, but it turned out I had developed ME (nothing as serious as arrhythmia, but google Post-Viral/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome if you're interested). Getting through the stomach pain, overcoming ME and getting back to my previous level of fitness was tough, but my experience of being unwell and my rehabilitation let me sympathise with Hisao and helped my immersion into KS a great deal.

Anyway, no previous experience of VNs coupled with the price tag of zero and the connection to 4chan made me slightly (and, of course, unnecessarily) apprehensive of the quality of the game, but my first impressions of the game were very good indeed. The characters were interesting and well-drawn to boot, the dialogue was immersive and realistic (if at times a tad tedious) and the backgrounds, font/text boxes and music were functional, professional and clean. Overly drawn-out Act 1 dialogue aside, I really enjoyed KS: taking in the portrayal of the lives of disabled individuals and experiencing all the feels (and the H scenes, can't forget those).

Well, onto my personal experiences with the girls themselves, I guess. After originally going for Hanako but winding up with Emi after deciding that running would be a good way to postpone Hisao's expiration, I finished the game with both characters (I got the "bad" ending for Hanako the first time, the one where Hisao sort of becomes her guardian but there's no real romance). I then moved on to Lilly, probably my favourite character in the game. Debating over whether I should go for Rin or Shizune next, I decided to go for Rin, as she seemed pretty interesting, and so far my least favourite characters had been the pushy Misha and the confrontational Shizune. After completing the eternity that was Rin’s story, I started on Shizune, and narrowly managed to dodge the bad ending where Hisao dies (I knew it existed, but not how it was triggered) after alarm bells went off when we started spending time with Kenji. Restarting from a well-placed save, I soldiered on through the abuse rained upon Hisao by Shizune’s father, and finished the game (not 100%, but whatever).

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Katawa Shoujo: it was not an experience I regret having. I would recommend it to all of my friends, but they probably wouldn’t talk to me any more… Anyway, I think that KS has actually changed the way I look at individuals with disabilities (not in a dirty way, goddamn you), to see them more as independent individuals with their own futures rather than poor souls doomed to an existence of support (lulz, mandatory reflection on "what I've learned" and the feels I had).

Lastly, I think I’ll comment on the OP’s consideration of the nurse as a love interest. Again, I’m not a VN veteran or anything, but I sussed out pretty quickly that the only love interests in a game called “Disability Girls” were going to be girls with disabilities. Although like I said, my complete lack of experience with VN’s or other dating sim’s meant that I didn’t even consider that there would be an option for man-on-man romance, and when you combine this with 4chan’s teasing of homosexuals (OP is a fag, etc.) Although now that I think about it, Nurse himself does pass a few suggestive comments, but those were just to tease Emi. Besides, it's pretty obvious that he's Emi's mother's boyfriend. Anyway, provided you (the OP) haven’t finished it yet, I hope my own account of KS will inspire you to open up, knuckle down and finish the damn thing already.

[Xanatos]

^ That was Hanako's neutral ending. The bad one is...Oh, so much more obvious.

[Wynd]

I stand corrected then... and slightly disturbed too.

[Xanatos]

I stand corrected then... and slightly disturbed too.

The avatar, right?

But yeah, the bad end is...Damn, it's bad.

[gekiganwing]

I have been much too negative on this forum. This is a problem that I need to address. Likewise, in the last few days, I have become increasingly aware of my negativity in real life. This is a problem that I definitely need to address.

My previous computer stopped working in February 2013. I have a new one, and I will install Katawa Shoujo on it this evening.

Regarding Wynd's recent comment: After about three years in fandom in which there was almost nothing but Boy x Girls visual novels in English, I was quick to embrace stories with other (or no) pairings. I had positive experiences reading several Girl X Boy(s) VNs made by the freeware and indie communities, including RE: Alistair, Spirited Heart, and Fantasia: The Realm of Thanos. And to show how much of a strange person I am, my avatar is Sakuya Morimura from Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side.

Not entirely sure of this, but i think i saw OP around on another forum i recently joined. Didn't really get a chance to talk to him, but i hope he didn't feel too bad/attacked by all the replies he got here (or rather, the tone of some of them) Personally, i would find his review of the VN interesting, in a way.

I have been active on Lemma Soft for several years. In the last few months, I've realized that some WVN creators rarely if ever post there, so I have tried to be active on other fandom related forums. I try to offer comments and criticism on works-in-progress and completed projects.

[pandaphil]

Enjoyed your intro Wynd. Welcome to the house of feel's. (or the madhouse, your choice)

And yep, Hanako's bad ending is a real soul killer at least for someone like me.


And now you can talk to your friend about the game. And aww, go ahead and introduce others to it. What can it hurt?

[Wynd]

Enjoyed your intro Wynd. Welcome to the house of feel's. (or the madhouse, your choice)

And yep, Hanako's bad ending is a real soul killer at least for someone like me.


And now you can talk to your friend about the game. And aww, go ahead and introduce others to it. What can it hurt?

Hmm... I'm kinda intrigued now. I guess I expected one good ending and one "neutral" ending per character, as well as the aforementioned bad ending.

And telling the my friends could hurt quite a bit. I'm pretty open to stuff like 4chan and KS itself, but "Hey guys I played this game where you date and f**k disabled girls, it's awesome!" would probably get me alienated by my relatively normal friends.

[Wynd]

Besides, what with KS's links to 4chan, Nurse-kun and /b/, I'd be breaking the first and second rules of the internet if I said anything.

[pandaphil]

Enjoyed your intro Wynd. Welcome to the house of feel's. (or the madhouse, your choice)

And yep, Hanako's bad ending is a real soul killer at least for someone like me.


And now you can talk to your friend about the game. And aww, go ahead and introduce others to it. What can it hurt?

Hmm... I'm kinda intrigued now. I guess I expected one good ending and one "neutral" ending per character, as well as the aforementioned bad ending.

And telling the my friends could hurt quite a bit. I'm pretty open to stuff like 4chan and KS itself, but "Hey guys I played this game where you date and f**k disabled girls, it's awesome!" would probably get me alienated by my relatively normal friends.

Oh well, if your friends can't appreciate a good love story, thats their loss. Personally I don't even mention the sex unless a friend asks about it. Its kinda comes naturally as part of any over 18 love story.

[Xanatos]

Enjoyed your intro Wynd. Welcome to the house of feel's. (or the madhouse, your choice)

And yep, Hanako's bad ending is a real soul killer at least for someone like me.


And now you can talk to your friend about the game. And aww, go ahead and introduce others to it. What can it hurt?

Hmm... I'm kinda intrigued now. I guess I expected one good ending and one "neutral" ending per character, as well as the aforementioned bad ending.

And telling the my friends could hurt quite a bit. I'm pretty open to stuff like 4chan and KS itself, but "Hey guys I played this game where you date and f**k disabled girls, it's awesome!" would probably get me alienated by my relatively normal friends.

All characters have a good and bad ending. Hanako and Rin both have an additional neutral ending. Then Kenji has an ending.

13 in all.

[Solistor]

Besides, what with KS's links to 4chan, Nurse-kun and /b/, I'd be breaking the first and second rules of the internet if I said anything.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7i02 ... o1_500.jpg

Only applies to raids

[pandaphil]

And telling the my friends could hurt quite a bit. I'm pretty open to stuff like 4chan and KS itself, but "Hey guys I played this game where you date and f**k disabled girls, it's awesome!" would probably get me alienated by my relatively normal friends.

Let me guess. Your friends are these guys?

[Wynd]

Let me guess. Your friends are these guys?

I believe their reactions would be more akin to this:


Or this:


They'd just get really weirded out.

[pandaphil]

Meh. You need better friends then.