Your First Playthrough

[Nyarly]

Like most players, I got Emi at my first playthrough. I just played rather randomly, nearly killed myself and ended up with her.

[Kazuki]

Decided to play through I second time, and I ended up with Rin.

[Linch]

On my first playthrough i got Emi.

And i played without reading the walkthrough so basically, on my 2nd and 3rd i got kenji.

and then.

rin
shizune
lilly
and hanako.

[kapparomeo]

I've just completed my first playthrough today, but I've known about Katawa Shoujo for a long time - following discussion threads, chiefly on /a/ but also lurking here from time to time, collecting art, and reading fiction (and currently making a stab at writing some of my own). Act 1 has actually been sitting on my harddrive for months, I just never got round to actually playing it!

So, I already knew about things like Hisao's bum ticker giving out on the track, that the "secret Rin path" was a hoax (aww), and Shizune opposing stem cell research (I know it's been said that the message on her knickers was just a non-canon joke, but wouldn't it be more interesting and engaging if she actually was? The characters have to be diverse, after all) long before I played - I even have a few walkthrough graphics in my image folder. That said, though, I endeavoured to play blind, not reading up on the paths beforehand, and ended up with Emi. I can't say that I entirely succeeded in keeping my play uncontaminated, though - I knew about the track episode beforehand and while my natural response in that situation would have been to hold back, to be honest the temptation to see Hisao get a heart attack was too much to resist - that pretty much doomed me to Twintails Girl. Still, she's got a nice smile.

[Esa94]

—and Shizune opposing stem cell research (I know it's been said that the message on her knickers was just a non-canon joke, but wouldn't it be more interesting and engaging if she actually was?

Wait, I thought it was{/b] canon?

[kapparomeo]

Well, most of the comments on her daikamura picture over at Mishimmie were assuming that it was a joke at least, although I don't know if that's reflecting actual developer confirmation on the matter or their own personal biases.

[Esa94]

Well, most of the comments on her daikamura picture over at Mishimmie were assuming that it was a joke at least, although I don't know if that's reflecting actual developer confirmation on the matter or their own personal biases.

Take a look at the CG in "Cold War"

[kapparomeo]

I know about the pantyshot in that scene, yes - I was just giving the Mishimmie post as an example of where people responded to it. A few people don't believe it pantyshot or otherwise, and I doubt that the developers are going to confirm it either way because they don't want to give away spoilers, but personally I think it'd be best if Shizune does turn out to be anti-stem cells after all. A bit of topicalism (particularly relevant given the whole KS scenario) would be something for people to get their teeth into, the quality of KS's writing is such that I trust the developers to treat the subject and opposing points of view maturely and not make characters strawmen over the issue, and Hell... given Shizune's combative personality it'd be an entertaining argument to spectate at if nothing else.

[G3n0c1de]

Esa, it's in the game yes, but it is meant as a joke. I believe the devs said it was A22's doing.

[kapparomeo]

I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here, but while the topic is fresh on the thread, I was reading around on comments on the Shizune's Mishimmie daikamura and other threads and something that I saw coming up repeatedly was that it would be "irrational" for Shizune to oppose stem cell research, which I think is unfair. Now, I know that this is the internet and that for most people on the Web the argument doesn't go any further than the religious element, but irrepesective of your position on that there's wider implications with the subject's inherent link with genetic screening and modification. More than half of the girls in Katawa Shoujo are affected by this - Lilly, Shizune and Rin are all affected by congenital conditions that have veen with them since birth. Now, you look at them, and they are happy, well-adjusted (Rin perhaps is tuning into a different wavelength than most of us, but she's content listening to it) and satisfied with their position in life. Had they been conceived a decade or so later, though, they could well not even have had half-lives if a doctor - doubtlessly well-meaning and good-intentioned - classified their foetuses as 'defective' and terminated them, or cut their embryos open on a petri dish. Now, go up to one of those girls and tell her that she's a gross mistake and a walking abortion, and see how far it gets you... in that context, Shizune's opposition to such equivocating research is perhaps more understandable.

[Notguest]

Except that stem cell research is a completely different issue then abortion.

[G3n0c1de]

Except that stem cell research is a completely different issue then abortion.

... And the fact that it is a joke. I don't think it will ever come up in the game again. And at definitely not in a serious light.

[neumanproductions]

Except that stem cell research is a completely different issue then abortion.

... And the fact that it is a joke. I don't think it will ever come up in the game again. And at definitely not in a serious light.

Unless she is still wearing that exact pair during the H-scenes. Technically Hisoa hasn't seen them unless you consider the CG of Shizune and Lilly's standoff through his eyes. That reminds me, they would have to say 'embryonic' to have any relevance, yet it still has nothing to do with actual abortion.
To keep relevant, I remember on my first playthrough testing both options when playing against Shizune to find out you lose either way. And I still have no clue which pushes you closer or farther from her. And Risk isn't that hard to comprehend.

[kapparomeo]

That reminds me, they would have to say 'embryonic' to have any relevance

Well, they could but it'd probably be a bit difficult to fit such a long message in, although it could have been quite amusing

To keep relevant, I remember on my first playthrough testing both options when playing against Shizune to find out you lose either way. And I still have no clue which pushes you closer or farther from her. And Risk isn't that hard to comprehend.

Atacking aggressively gives you kudos - because she has a combative personality, she sees it as rising to the challenge and becoems excited by the confrontation. If you play defensively, though, she's bored by your lack of ambition and drive and wonders if you'd actually be worthwhile on the student council at all.

Speaking of comprehending Risk, I used to play it a lot when I was younger, but we lost the rulebook - so we ended up making up our own rules on the fly every time we played. It worked surprisingly well, even when we treated the "Risk" cards not as reinforcements but as teleporters to send your units to the country shown...!

Incidentally, if there was one modification I'd make to Act One I think that the Risk scene probably could have done with a CG showing the characters leaning over the board (or maybe amongst the pieces, looking up to the players above them) for illustrative purposes, to add a bit of clarity for readers. It seems churlish to ask for it seeing as the game is already chock-full of great art and features, and I know that the specifc mechanics of Risk aren't really relevant to the narrative, but that was one occasion where a visual image would have helped set the scene.