Putting it in perspective

[Shades of gray]

I don't even know why I'm writing this... (oh shades, what a brilliant opening statement...) but after... what 2 years now? (something like that...)
I thought to myself (a dangerous thing...) what did everyone think when they first heard of KS, compared to what they thought of it after playing Act 1.

anyways, enough with my inner voice, (Oi...) what I mean is, with the full games release on the horizon, I've been thinking back on the time since I learned of KS, and trying to put it in perspective. do I think that KS will affect VNs from here on out? Maybe, and by that I mean that a group that quite frankly didn't have any idea what they were getting into banding together to create a VN based off a single page by Raita, and thus, putting themselves head to head with the likes of Fate/Stay night and many many others in terms of popularity.

what sets the Devs here apart from others? well, lets look at the obvious things first. KS is 100% free and won't accept donations. nor are they getting paid by anyone to create KS. now that right there is something to be admired. they are creating a quality story that stars girls with disabilitys... now that is sure to put people off it straight off the bat (or draw people towards it...) something I don't recall any other VN I've seen doing.

In many ways the Devs set themselves up with a hard task to complete, writing, art, quality control, programming... and these are only what they have told us.

and through all this, KS/FLS has gathered a large following, some from people that were there when the idea first come to life, others (like us...) that came along after finding out about KS.

there is so much I could write here, but I think ive rambled on long enough (that you have...)

Thoughts, Opinions? (thread-lock?...)

[Brogurt]

what did everyone think when they first heard of KS

Hells yeah, cripple hentai! You shall be used today... on my penis.

compared to what they thought of it after playing Act 1

I came for spanking material. What I found was love... charred love.

[traitor]

what did everyone think when they first heard of KS

Hells yeah, cripple hentai! You shall be used today... on my penis.

compared to what they thought of it after playing Act 1

I came for spanking material. What I found was love... charred love.

this

When I first heard of KS (by 4chan) I was pretty sure that I'll be looking at the sickest, most inappropriate web satire by some of the most racist group of people on the internet. I installed it for the lulz at first, but then I was taken back by the immense quality and story telling of Act 1. Hell, a hentai visual novel made by the crazy people at GODDAMN 4CHAN made me feel warm and cozy inside. It almost felt like I was reverse-trolled.

Seriously though, I think KS will impact how people deal with datings sims (even the bioware dating sim RPGs may be affected). The game is good because the girls are all attractive. They are attractive because it is inspiring to see how they attempt to overcome their obstacles, none of them are whiny and bitchy like Hisao, they embrace their issues and all live ordinary lives that we can relate to. This puts a greater emphasis on inner beauty and is what I think makes a great VN.

[Shades of gray]

theres also the fact that japanese VN makers might say (and feel free to think all of this in engrish)

"these westerners create good visual novel... for free... we must do better!" or "why we pay you? these westerns create better visual novel! for free!"

[UrbanBas]

Well I heard about it from youtube as I was mindlessly trying to find a new VN to play. I ran across some videos about it so I decided I might as well see what it was all about and I'm glad I did. Like most people I was a little suspicious of how they were going to play the disability card and they did it quite well. After I played Act 1 I became a loyal follower and I visit the blog at least once a day.

[Mogami-kun]

It was my second VN after Wanko to Kurasou, and I didn't know much about it, except for a short summary. Didn't expect anything more than a good way of passing time, but the humor, the characters, and how disability was handled in general surprised me in a pleasant way, and KS is still one of my favorites. It helped me relieve a great deal of stress during my final exams when I replayed every route, I'm forever thankful for that. It was a horrible time apart from those few hours of enjoyment.

I don't think it will have such a great impact as to change the VN scene in any direction, but it is an excellent example to show that sudden big ideas can actually last and be made real. I've been part of many projects (from indie filming, to making games), but not one got past the initial wave of "Let's make it!". To see that a project with such a sudden start is actually going to be completed gives me a warm feeling and hope that there will be others to follow.

On a side note: I never would have thought that it would make me read a book (finished Life of Pi 3 days ago). Funny.

[HeMeido]

I thought to myself (a dangerous thing...) what did everyone think when they first heard of KS, compared to what they thought of it after playing Act 1.

"This is not my fetish." => "New fetish obtained."

[UrbanBas]

"This is not my fetish." => "New fetish obtained."

That made me laugh. There is truth to it though.

[Esa94]

This thread in a nutshell: the first half of kscomic.jpg

[Raiden]

I first heard of KS through deviant art. After seeing a few interesting pictures of Rin my thoughts were "who is this cute arm-less chick, and where did she come from? After a bit of researching on deviant art I found that her name was Rin, and she was from a visual novel game called "katawa shoujo". Now my Japanese sucks ass through a straw, but I knew enough to know that the name roughly translated to "Disability girls", this alone peaked my interest in the game. A few google searches later, I found myself at the official website for the game and downloaded it. I am a sucker for romance/drama stories, so after reading the website a bit, I knew I would love it.

What did I think of it after I played it? I was a little disappointed in the ending I first got (emi) so I looked up the walk through online and got all the endings. Honestly the only one I can say I was completely happy with, was shizune's (although hanako is still my favorite girl). But, despite the endings, the game was very enjoyable and I am much looking forward to the full release when it comes out in (hopefully) 5-6 months.

[griffon8]

My perception of the game didn't really change. As my sig says, I learned about this from the Misfile forums, and the OP really talked up the quality of the game.

So I expected a lot and that's what I got.

[G3n0c1de]

ITT: How'd you find yourself here?

My friend was a channer, and he had told me about KS. This was right before Act 1 was first released. I had never played a VN in my life, and the premise seemed to be... well, deviant. But I was bored one day, so I looked it up, and immediately became attracted to Shizune. Downloaded it, played it, and I hit the pavement before getting Shizune's end. I lurked the forums for a bit and decided to start posting here.

I was pleasantly surprised that what started as a community project turned out to be of such high quality. Given the origin, I had thought it would be brash, funny, rude, and full of memes like 4chan. Instead I got a sincerely written story. And it was all for free.

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

theres also the fact that japanese VN makers might say (and feel free to think all of this in engrish)

"these westerners create good visual novel... for free... we must do better!" or "why we pay you? these westerns create better visual novel! for free!"

Which is, from what I hear, only slightly less than what full-time Japanese animators are paid.

[UrbanBas]

theres also the fact that japanese VN makers might say (and feel free to think all of this in engrish)

"these westerners create good visual novel... for free... we must do better!" or "why we pay you? these westerns create better visual novel! for free!"

Is it bad that whenever I read these lines I instantly think of a high pitched old Japanese man.

[PasterOfMuppets]

I found this a few years back googling random japanese shit, which took me to a page containing a link to the site and a summary of the game's story.
I read it and liked the idea for some reason, and seeing hanako's picture made me want to try it. Though finding out only the first act was out i didn't download it, mainly because I didn't want to be deathly waiting for other act releases. A few years later (2011 now) I found it again surfing the net. This time I downloaded it, completely no lifed on it for a week, spread news of such a godly game like wild-fire, got looked down for it, and here I am now...