Katawa Shoujo Act 1 Preview feedback thread

[G3n0c1de]

Scene: Throwing Balls.
Hisao wonders if girls would look good in kimonos. I'm pretty sure that's gotta be yukatas there, not kimonos. Sure 'kimono' could mean clothing in general, but yukata is the word to use here. Or does he actually wants to see them in long-sleeved 12-layered kimono?

Since they were at a festival, I think yutaka is indeed correct. But seeing Shizune and Misha wrapped in 12 layers is by no means a bad thing.

[Anon]

Some honorifics will be much appreciated. It's just plain strange for a japanese female shy-as-hell burn victim to adress a man she only met yesterday by his first name without any honorifics. It doesn't bother me that much, but (future) japanese players might find it unnatural.
P.S. Another usefull tool for a writer, too.

[DESU]

Some honorifics will be much appreciated. It's just plain strange for a japanese female shy-as-hell burn victim to adress a man she only met yesterday by his first name without any honorifics. It doesn't bother me that much, but (future) japanese players might find it unnatural.
P.S. Another usefull tool for a writer, too.

well that might fixed for the Japanese release

[G3n0c1de]

Some honorifics will be much appreciated. It's just plain strange for a japanese female shy-as-hell burn victim to adress a man she only met yesterday by his first name without any honorifics. It doesn't bother me that much, but (future) japanese players might find it unnatural.
P.S. Another usefull tool for a writer, too.

Well... the game is in English, and in English we don't use honorifics. Though I'm sure she would use them if she was speaking Japanese. Like in the Japanese version of the game.

[Suriko]

There are no honorifics because this is game is written in English, to be read by English readers. This was a conscious decision made a long time ago to improve readability and text flow.

The Japanese version will have honorifics, of which have been discussed at length between us and the Japanese translation team.

[Anon]

Conscious decision it is then. Thanks for answering.

[Mercutio]

There are no honorifics because this is game is written in English, to be read by English readers. This was a conscious decision made a long time ago to improve readability and text flow.

The Japanese version will have honorifics, of which have been discussed at length between us and the Japanese translation team.

I'd wondered about that a little, since the game takes place in Japan, but what you say makes perfect sense. also, Japanese honorifics sound kinda weird with English text and stuff. 'Hicchan' took a lot of getting used to, 'cause it sounds like 'hic-chan' to me, and I wondered why Misha though Hisao's name was 'hiccup.'

but I do like how Muto uses all the students' last names instead of their first. it seems like that's his one concession to formality and/or professionalism. makes me wish I'd had a teacher like him in high school.

[Csihar]

'Hicchan' took a lot of getting used to, 'cause it sounds like 'hic-chan' to me, and I wondered why Misha though Hisao's name was 'hiccup.'

I thought the same thing too when I first read it. It would probably be pretty confusing to someone not familiar with how Japanese nicknames are formed, although considering KS's target audience, I can't imagine that would be a huge number of people.

Also, I believe an alternate way to romanize it would be "Hitchan," although that reminds me more of an animu version of Kick-Ass than anything else. (This method also presents some hilarious problems with Shizune's nickname. )

[EternalLurker]

This method also presents some hilarious problems with Shizune's nickname. :mrgreen:

Not a problem in everyone's eyes >_>

I can't see Hicchan being a big issue, though. It's pretty clearly established beforehand that she knows his real name is Hisao, so even a reader with no familiarity with common romanizations of Japanese should understand that the pronunciation of the first syllable of Hicchan would be notably similar to that of Hisao.

[Eadwacer]

Just finished a massive playthrough on my Win machine, and am currently fiddling around trying to get it installed on my netbook, because it looks to repay replay, and not just for Completeness.

First impressions - Most Excellent, many kudoii to all involved. I won't repeat what others have said, but I agree with almost all the good comments, and mostly tolerate the bad ones. I think the whole topic was well handled, and the slowly developing complexity very well done, the characters well-formed. Part of the time I was playing this with a brace on one hand, so I had more empathy for the whole disability/workaround idea than I might have. All of the female characters are engaging in their own way. As an aside, I think that Shizune gets downvoted because the competitive side is not brought out as clearly as it might be early on. I kindof felt it was sprung on me at the last minute, but then went back and saw that the hints were there, I just didn't notice them. Right now, I'd rate Shizune last in my affections, but certainly still in the pack, not trailing behind. I expect that everyone's personalities will develop, downpath.

In my quick scan though these posts I didn't notice much talk about Hisao and his character development. What I saw in the game was that his personality was different for each path (with, of course, neutral scenes where the paths overlap). That was also well done, but perhaps a little too subtle in places. I'd expect him, for example, to be more competitive with Shizune sooner.

I am looking forward to the final release, but I figure the path complexity can only grow from here, and that will slow development. Presumably the need to control the complexity is part of the reason we don't have a Misha path (or a Yuuki path, that would be fun). Of course the other reason is authorial fiat - as Rin might say, the art is what it is, and if you don't like the romance you find here, you can always go to World of Warcraft.

Good job, folks. Keep it up.
(edited for VN terminology, thanks Nintendo Maniac 64)

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

Just a head up about the previous post, whenever Eadwacer used the word "track", he meant "path". I'm guessing Eadwacer is either not a native English speaker or just isn't that familiar with visual novel terminology.

[Eadwacer]

Thanks, Nintendo Maniac 64, from a native, but somewhat clueless, english speaker.

[EternalLurker]

Just a head up about the previous post, whenever Eadwacer used the word "track", he meant "path". I'm guessing Eadwacer is either not a native English speaker or just isn't that familiar with visual novel terminology.

Just a heads up about the quoted post...When Nintendo Maniac 64 tried to correct Eadwacer's perfectly understandable diction, he meant "route" rather than "path". I'm guessing he felt like trying to show off.

Eadwacer: The final decisions that get you stuck on each respective route come fairly late in Act 1. If Hisao's personality were to be molded too early by interactions with a given girl, that would be...awkward, to say the least. For example, it's quite easy to be following, well, any girl and suddenly end up on the Emi route by deciding to "Go For It!", and Lilly's route doesn't split off from Hanako's until the very end.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

...huh? Dang it, after reading Eadwacer's post after mine, I KNEW this was going to happen! I was saying it not as a correction, but as a heads up to EVERYBODY ELSE in case they didn't understand!

And as for route/path, honestly I've heard both used. :/

[G3n0c1de]

And as for route/path, honestly I've heard both used. :/

Yeah, they're pretty much interchangeable, but we do have 'Path' writers for this game.