Heartlesswithaheart wrote:As others have said, do not, not, not play Rin's route first. I'd recommend saving her for last, despite her being tied for my favourite. It's a truly beautiful route, but it's so dark. I didn't play Katawa Shoujo for a few days because of that.
Aside from that, I'd recommend Shizune first, then Lilly, then Hanako. I'll get back to you with Emi later when I finish her route.
I recommend Rin's route for completing last as well, but for a different reason. Rin's route is definitely the hardest to understand of the 5 routes.
I never thought that her route was dark...the ending made me really happy.
Shizune: [Why does he get to see your room and I can't? Is it a guy thing?]
Hisao: It's not a secret club being a guy.
Kenji: It should be. With rings. Rings with big ass emblems. And gold!
Heartlesswithaheart wrote:As others have said, do not, not, not play Rin's route first. I'd recommend saving her for last, despite her being tied for my favourite. It's a truly beautiful route, but it's so dark. I didn't play Katawa Shoujo for a few days because of that.
Aside from that, I'd recommend Shizune first, then Lilly, then Hanako. I'll get back to you with Emi later when I finish her route.
I recommend Rin's route for completing last as well, but for a different reason. Rin's route is definitely the hardest to understand of the 5 routes.
I never thought that her route was dark...the ending made me really happy.
I sort of disagree with finding hers the hardest to understand. Perhaps the hardest to adapt to, but not to understand.
Yes, the ending is great, but if you compare her route to the other four, you'll notice it's much darker than the others. It's a huge offender of the Cerebus Syndrome when I (not sure about others) compare Clouds In My Head to Rin's route.
Heartlesswithaheart wrote:As others have said, do not, not, not play Rin's route first. I'd recommend saving her for last, despite her being tied for my favourite. It's a truly beautiful route, but it's so dark. I didn't play Katawa Shoujo for a few days because of that.
Aside from that, I'd recommend Shizune first, then Lilly, then Hanako. I'll get back to you with Emi later when I finish her route.
I recommend Rin's route for completing last as well, but for a different reason. Rin's route is definitely the hardest to understand of the 5 routes.
I never thought that her route was dark...the ending made me really happy.
I sort of disagree with finding hers the hardest to understand. Perhaps the hardest to adapt to, but not to understand.
Yes, the ending is great, but if you compare her route to the other four, you'll notice it's much darker than the others. It's a huge offender of the Cerebus Syndrome when I (not sure about others) compare Clouds In My Head to Rin's route.
I felt is was complicated in the sense that almost everything Rin says is almost like a riddle, making it easy to miss meaningful facts. You can see Rin express some her problems as early as Act 1 (much earlier than other characters), but it may often be missed because it is steeped in weird metaphors and allegories, something that readers unfamiliar with Rin may have trouble following. Even Hisao missed it up until the last act.
Shizune: [Why does he get to see your room and I can't? Is it a guy thing?]
Hisao: It's not a secret club being a guy.
Kenji: It should be. With rings. Rings with big ass emblems. And gold!
Aerin wrote:As someone who's only played through one route, I can only say one thing for certain.
-snip-
After that, I'm not sure that I can continue on to other stories. At the back of my mind I would always wonder what became of Rin absent Hisao. Too many hints were peppered through conversations to make me think that she would have survived long without completely burning out and self destructing.
Mmm, not quite. In Emi's and Lilly's routes, it's mentioned that Rin just kinda does her own thing, much to the frustration and annoyance of her art teacher, so it's unlikely she does the exhibition. Most likely because Hisao is the one who pressured her into even doing it
I agree with whoever put her squarely in the middle. Do not start with her, do not end with her. But by all means, do not ignore her either. Her story is one well worth the emotional trauma.
Oh! OH! That was me! *smiles*
Manual breathing activated!
Lilly=Emi>>>Hanako=Shizune=Rin=Misha
In terms of STORY, on the other hand - so far:
Lilly's>Emi's>>>>Rin's>>>>>>>>Shizune's>Hanako's
Complete: Hanako, Rin, Shizune, Emi, Lilly
What now? Now I cry over how beautiful the whole thing was.
Aust Kyzor wrote:
Mmm, not quite. In Emi's and Lilly's routes, it's mentioned that Rin just kinda does her own thing, much to the frustration and annoyance of her art teacher, so it's unlikely she does the exhibition. Most likely because Hisao is the one who pressured her into even doing it*
Thanks for that. This actually makes me feel quite a bit better about actually tackling the rest of the game.
I enjoyed the quality of the writing so much that it seemed a shame not to enjoy everything it had to offer. But Rin really wrecked me and I didn't think that I could go through that another four times. Something light and fluffy would be wonderful at this point, which is why I'm saturating myself in the Old Republic. Galaxy hopping fun for a while, then I'll allow myself some more emotional gravitas.
I'm not sentimental
This skin and bones is a rental
And no one makes it out alive
Until I die I'll sing these songs
On the shores of Babylon
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong
If you want to go for maximum emotional impact, I would definitely say: Shizune, Emi, Hanako, Lilly, Rin. But before you play any of those, make sure to get the "Manly Picnic" ending.
The order I actually did was Lilly -> Hanako -> Shizune -> Emi -> Rin. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably do Shizune -> Emi -> Rin -> Lilly -> Hanako.
Some of this is practical. Lilly/Hanako by fork late in Act 1, and it's possible to arrange a Shizune/Emi fork late in Act 1 as well, so if you leave a save state at each one, you can do those four paths while minimizing the rigamarole of going back through Act 1 quite so many times. You can't avoid rigamarole on Rin's path, but this is Rin we're talking about: she wouldn't want it any other way.
Wow, I went to sleep, and all these replies in the morning! Thanks everyone!
So, reading all the comments (and bypassing spoiler tags!), I have come to my conclusion. I'm going to halt my current game, then restart again in this order: Shizune, Emi, Rin, Lilly/Hanako or Hanako/Lilly. TBH I pretty much adore both Lilly and Hanako almost equally, so that's gonna be a tough choice, but I'm likely going to save Lilly as last route because it's longer.
Once again, thanks everyone! I think I have to cover Painful History as a sign of gratitute to all of you!
I haven't decided if I should do Hanako or Rin next but that would determine the actual order. I went Shizune, Lilly, then Emi and honestly I'm not sure I would change it, knowing now.
The very first Playthough I actually did the Emi (Good ending) playthough, then Rin (Good and Bad ending) then got lost how to initiate the lilly/hanako story arc, after a hour or so started Hanako (Good ending), Lilly (Good ending) then finally Shizune (Good then Bad) When I play this game again (which I will) I think I will do it from favorite to meh. I would start with the Hanako/Lilly, Rin/Emi (although I do prefer the Emi arc over Rin) then kenji about 5 times for the laugh then finally Shizune (but to be completely honest I was all dryed up (From crying you pervs)and so tired after playing every other arc, that I may play it first )
I am happy to have played this game though as before having played it, me + dreams were like, enemies, almost never seeing one another. By that, I mean that I almost never had dreams. Some people may say "Oh you had them, just that you never remember them."
To them, I say no. Because when I DO have them, I at least know the morning after I had a dream even if the contents are no longer remembered. Usually it would be black nothingness. But, it seems the friday after posting and that night, I had a dream. All I remember was that Rin was in it. The past few days after that I have had dreams as well, though the contents are unknown to me.
Last night/this morning I had a couple. The first one seemed to end with me going to Lilly's house. Part of me suspects it to be the on that they all go to, as in, at the end of Lilly's path if on track for the good end, or the one in Shizune's route. It is as though the thing that woke me up was the odd fact that one of the first things I noticed was that the room I entered could be considered a form of "Messy that is organized in it's messiness." Or maybe "A form of organized chaos.". Basically, people if living at home would think that my place was messy due to laziness. However, I knew where everything was despite the "Mess". However if forced to "CLean up" I would end up losing things.
The part that really made my brain go odd and wake up (Which sucks), was the fact that she had a PS3 as well as an old NES System. Those factors are clear as day to be. I remember the red light being on on the ps3 as though waiting to be used. The NES light seemed to be doing that blinking red thingy. As though it were like that on purpose, where the power buttons function was inverted. Pushed in = off, pushed out so it is flush with the reset button = on. It made sense to me inside my dream filled mind. Kinda like her being able to know that the one sticking out is the reset button and to the left of it is the real button to turn it on.
Part of me suspects that the idea of her playing video games comes from the fact I read somewhere here that some people who are blind can be good at video games, sometimes better then those of us who see the game. Something to do with sound or something I think.
Of course, I then woke up at around 3am. Some may think it a good thing, but others not, but for me I have extremely sensitive hearing. Before when younger, I could probably sleep through exlosions like nothing. Now, I wake up so easily. >_< And, if say there is a noise closer to me, it can in a sense, make me not as able to hear things farthur away. As though it gets pushed away from the noise closer.
The second dream, as far as I know didn't have anything KS related, but was interesting. Seems I was at someones house where a party was. It was getting late and me & the friend were still hungry. So we were looking for food in the fridge. Just when I found some, someone who was prety much Professor Snape came in and asked us to leave as it was late. I was all O_o WTF when I woke up.
But, maybe it was due to being hungry. ^_^;
Anywho, this game so far seems to have allowed me to dream once again and it feels good, even if I can't remember it all the time.
That's pretty funny. I've also had more dreams since then, although I usually rarely dream. Maybe one reason is because I got so hooked on this game that it ruined my sleep schedule.
After finishing this game and waiting a while, I think I've definitely come away as a better person. At least, it feels that way. Things feel and seem to be going a better way for me.
Anyone else feel better after finishing a route or so, after a while?
I can understand this, actually. Hanako's story was very captivating and it still grips me. I feel a bit unwilling to read the other routes, actually.
Still, it's not that bad. I didn't really had problems beginning Lilly's route. And I will surely read the other ones. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I will even read Shizune's, even though I considered not doing that one (since I rather dislike her) before. I'm more hooked on KS than I ever was before, and I really, really looked forward to it when I finished the Act 1 demo.
After doing two routes that hit too close to home and finally doing one that didn't punch me in the guts for being the idiot I amLily, in case you are wondering it kinda hurt me at first. To see such interesting and unique characters and the problems that they have made me realize how much I've negleted those around me. That made me restless, I have a fragile stomach so I couldn't even eat properly.
However, the game was a wake up call. Seeing Hisao struggle to masquerade his own problems while still trying to fit in and befriends others has showed to me why I've always screw up, the routes with amalgamations of past girlfriends made me realize the extent that I am selfish. Is a mix of beautiful writing with the realization that I could be such a better person if I only made a tiny effort that made me want to stop playing, thinking I could just return to my useful self.
But now I decided I want to see every route. I think after Hanako and Shizune routes that hit too close to home for me, I will be able to handle the other girls storyline better. What I do know is that game forced me to reflect about my own disabilities and I think I'm on the path of becoming a better person.
)
