So about a week ago I was reminded of Katawa Shoujo's existence when it released on Steam. It always was on the back of my mind because I heard it was an incredible VN. And recently I was searching for a new kind of game I've never tried before because I felt like my gaming routine was getting stale, and what's better as a change of pace than a visual novel!
And man, I'm not even sure if I can properly express how I feel about this game so soon but I really feel the need to say something now...
I played Emi's route first and after finishing it, I was left absolutely speechless at how incredible of an experience it was. I have never cried as much as I have in front of ANY media in my life as much as I have playing Emi's route. It's the most beautiful romance story I have ever read, with a very realistic depiction of relationship struggles. The story resonated with me so much I'm still tearing up just thinking back on it.
After Emi, I played Hanako's route. It was quite good and the ending was very emotional, but it never reached anywhere near the level of Emi. Altough this might also be because I've played it very soon after Emi, so I was still (and still am) heavily influenced by my emotions from this story.
Playing the other routes makes me feel pretty bad about myself and my experience with this game, because Emi's route was so perfect that I feel it could've been its own VN with a perfect feeling of closure.
Should I wait before playing more routes? Emi's story is still occupying each and every one of my thoughts every single day, it's genuinely insane.
I started Shizune's route today and so far it's very boring and tedious (I just finished Act 1 and it was sooo long), I really hope Lilly and Rin's routes are as good as people say, because I really really don't want to leave the game with a sour taste, my first impressions were just far too good for the game's own good...
Also, which route would you guys recommend I play last (between Lilly and RIn) if I want to leave the game feeling as emotional as possible? It's a weird thing to ask but that's how I gauge how good a story is and I want the best last impressions possible on this masterpiece.
Shizune's route is very long and in my opinion very boring. Some people enjoy it, but I only enjoy the parts of it that are not about Shizune. It has a few sweet scenes with Kenji, Misha and Lilly.