Just started KS... UPDATE: 100% Complete!

[Bigbishounen]

And I've just finished the Shizune arc. I decided to go for her first simply because she reminds me of my wife. Determined, driven, a little tsundere, glasses, short hair. Just my type. I really enjoyed it, although I was a bit disappointed at the ending. It was nice and happy and all, but I was really hoping for an epilogue of some kind and it just sort of ends. So a bit of a letdown but otherwise a good complex storyline. Nothing like a love triangle to spice things up.

I'm holding off on the "bad end" until after I've done a "good end" play through on all the other girls (I have Feuvre's flowchart/walkthrough. I can't play VN's without one. I always end up with a bad ending because I react to the questions as "I" would react, not how the main character would react, which is invariably the wrong thing to do.)

So the question is: Where to from here? Is there any particular recommended order? Lilly's arc seems the longest and has an epilogue, so perhaps I should save her for last? I was thinking I'd just use the flowchart and go from right to left across it since I started with Shizune, but maybe I shouldn't jump right from her to Emi. Hard to say.

On a related note, I just wanted to take a moment to thank the KS developers for making such a wonderful game. As a 40yo father (No, I'm not a Hawaiian Werewolf Samurai. Although I do have quite the collection of Hawaiian shirts.) of no less than three "special needs" children (2 with mild-moderate ASD, one with 4L Spina Bifida) I was a bit worried initially that this game would be exploitative or that the disabilities of the girls would just be a cheap excuse for getting them into kinky sex situations. But it turns out to be the polar opposite of that. So far the characters have been well written and deep with complex motivations.

Ironically, this makes some of the sex scenes seem almost "tacked on" as they really aren't necessary to drive the story forward. Not that they are objectionable in any way. I found Shizune's scenes to be very realistic and quite arousing without being cheap or tawdry. The second one in particular was charmingly romantic and very satisfying.

So a hearty "Well Done" to 4LS. I've hardly started and I can already recommend KS to anyone who enjoys a good complex and romantic VN.

EDIT: corrected Lilly's name. Ooops!

[Rivan]

Lisa's arc? Who the hell is Lisa?

If you like your girls a little tsundere, then Emi is seriously the only other one who even shows signs of it.
If you're going to ask us which arc is the best for you, everyone will just recommend their favorites. You should say what you prefer in a girl. Or what do you prefer from the game. Drama? Difficult conflicts? Difficult everything? Lot of emotions and utterly overbittersweet endings?
Being a shield for the girl you love?
ekhem...T.R...ekhem...A.P

Nevertheless...

WHY ARE YOU PLAYING WITH A FLOWCHART ON YOUR FIRST RUN? It's just so... wrong. It's all right to be yourself. It's all right to occassionally screw up.
You can't be a perfect match for everybody, you know. Minor girl spoilers.
Shizune's arc is fairly obvious. Lilly and Hanako provide an interesting challenge of fighting your own flaws (if you're doing it without a flowchart, that is...).
Emi has a lot of problems and quite a few ways to resolve them in an "okay" way, whereas with Rin, there is a trap every other step and you may lose yourself unless you realize what she needs and what kind of a person she is...

There's no need to just waste it, take all the challenge and educational value from the game, spoil it etc. just because you can't stand getting a single bad ending or two.
I had the luck of my methods being the proper ones for my favorite girls, but the bad endings are sometimes good for people, too.

[Althamus]

Lisa's arc? Who the hell is Lisa?

I dunno, but I've heard she tears people apart. /obscurereference

On a more serious note, Shizune's arc is generally seen as the weakest of the 6, so it can only go up from here ^_^

[GaseousMask]

Lisa's arc? Who the hell is Lisa?

I dunno, but I've heard she tears people apart. /obscurereference

On a more serious note, Shizune's arc is generally seen as the weakest of the 6, so it can only go up from here ^_^

I think you guys are talking about Lilly . I found that Lilly's and Hanako's to be th emost emotional ones and a lot of people love them. I personally hate Rin's story (sorry Rin fans) and I found Emi's pretty fun

[newnar]

Nevertheless...

WHY ARE YOU PLAYING WITH A FLOWCHART ON YOUR FIRST RUN? It's just so... wrong. It's all right to be yourself. It's all right to occassionally screw up.

I second this. You oughta at least play through once without influence from flowcharts. It's one of the best experiences these CYOA games can offer - the ability to "see" where you would stand just by being yourself.

[Bigbishounen]

Nevertheless...

WHY ARE YOU PLAYING WITH A FLOWCHART ON YOUR FIRST RUN? It's just so... wrong. It's all right to be yourself. It's all right to occassionally screw up.

I second this. You oughta at least play through once without influence from flowcharts. It's one of the best experiences these CYOA games can offer - the ability to "see" where you would stand just by being yourself.

I should note: I did play through once without the flowchart. Got the "Man Picnic" ending. I'm just no good at EVER EVER EVER picking enough right answers to get to the good end. Besides: For me the story is the thing. I honestly could care less about the "game" aspect of it. I know that's probably a bit of an unusual way of approaching it, but that's just me. I don't have the patience to slog through all the twists and turns and missteps. Unless I'm going for 100% completion. Then I don't care and just autoskip through it so I can get all the scenes unlocked. But going through each story the first time? I just want to enjoy it without worrying about messing up along the way. Is that so wrong?

[newnar]

I should note: I did play through once without the flowchart. Got the "Man Picnic" ending. I'm just no good at EVER EVER EVER picking enough right answers to get to the good end. Besides: For me the story is the thing. I honestly could care less about the "game" aspect of it. I know that's probably a bit of an unusual way of approaching it, but that's just me. I don't have the patience to slog through all the twists and turns and missteps. Unless I'm going for 100% completion. Then I don't care and just autoskip through it so I can get all the scenes unlocked. But going through each story the first time? I just want to enjoy it without worrying about messing up along the way. Is that so wrong?

When you make your choices without the flowchart, are you using the "I wonder what the game needs me to choose here to get to xxx" or the "what would I have done if I were Hisao" mindset? If you're using the former, then you're playing KS wrong. It's not multiple choice questions in an exam. There is no "achievement" in getting to an arc. For me, even if I logicked out the correct choices to a certain arc without using
the flowchart, it would still mean nothing because the choices were made not by my own judgement in-game but more of a meta-game judgement. If you really cared less about the game and more abt the story it is highly improbable that you hit Kenji's end, imho. Or it could be that you are too nice/cold to everyone, which was someone's reply to a thread on why the TC kept getting Kenji's route.

[Bigbishounen]

When you make your choices without the flowchart, are you using the "I wonder what the game needs me to choose here to get to xxx" or the "what would I have done if I were Hisao" mindset? If you're using the former, then you're playing KS wrong. It's not multiple choice questions in an exam. There is no "achievement" in getting to an arc. For me, even if I logicked out the correct choices to a certain arc without using
the flowchart, it would still mean nothing because the choices were made not by my own judgement in-game but more of a meta-game judgement. If you really cared less about the game and more abt the story it is highly improbable that you hit Kenji's end, imho. Or it could be that you are too nice/cold to everyone, which was someone's reply to a thread on why the TC kept getting Kenji's route.

(emphasis mine)

See, this is where we diverge. I don't necessarily agree that trying to decide what the game wants me to do to get to a given goal is incorrect. Simply because when I follow your suggested model I get the results I am complaining about. (I did note that I played the game through once withOUT the flowchart. That's when I got Kenji's ending. Dunno why you wouldn't beleive me on that. I have no reason to lie about it.) I guess I'm just not good at putting myself into the protagonist's place. I prefer to experience the story from a "reader" perspective rather than an "Interacter" perspective. It is perhaps somewhat less immersive that way, but given the time constrains on my life (job, 3 kids, house repairs and maintenance, chores, etc.) I simply don't have the time to spend getting that deep into it. I have to be able to move much more quickly through the story than I could if I had to keep stopping and going back because I accidentally made Hisao a jerk at the wrong time.

Ultimately though, I disagree that there is a "right" or "wrong" way to play through ANY game. Ultimately, you play the way you want, and experience what the game has to offer that way. Some methods will be perhaps richer than others, but none are really "wrong" with the possible exception of cheating in an online game. But that doesn't really apply here.

[E-Ibarazaki]

I totally agree with Bigbishounen's point of view. Playing this game is a very personal experience, so there's no right or wrong way to do it.

From my personal point of view the game is pretty emotional, enough to suffer the bad endings. But that's MY case. Besides, the logical choices you make don't exactly mean they'll take you to a good ending.
First time I played, I tried following Shizune/Misha's path because it kinda felt the right way to go, but I ended up in Kenji's bad route. And I did try to take the best choices I could. Then I decided to use the walkthroughs and play Emi's route because that's the girl I like the most, so far.

[minkus]

I think you should try doing a run without the flowchart again. I had no idea which endings I received were the 'good' endings until about halfway through. There are no wrong ways to playing games like this, but I think that if you are trying to experience the story as is, without wanting to worry about the other endings, then using the chart is fine.

I won't use the chart mainly because that's a personal thing. I felt that I had to learn from any mistakes I made and to experience the game a bit more naturally.


If you're still looking for recommendations, definitely play Lilly next, then Hanako.

[geekahedron]

While I (obviously) advocate the use of a flowchart to find the hidden or elusive sections of the game or to complete the various storylines, it's definitely worthwhile to play through the game at least a few times on your own before going to a walkthrough. I would say you don't have to make every choice exactly as you would personally; part of the appeal in playing a game is the ability to escape from reality, take on a persona other than your own, and do things you wouldn't normally have the option or ability to do. There's a lot happening in the game and I found it very fulfilling and cathartic even to read through every path and learn more about the characters, but I personally erred in feeling somewhat rushed to do so. My advice, then, to someone experiencing it for the first time would be to take your time and enjoy the game for what it is, and only after you let it roll around and sink in for a while should you look for a guide through the remainder of the game. If you have a busy life and can only play so much at a time, all the better, I would say.

As for an order of completion, since you've already done Shizune's arc, I would suggest Rin, then Emi, then Hanako, then Lilly. That's not an order of preference, but I think learning more about the characters in that order will help you appreciate those girls as they appear in the other stories. Also, ending with Lilly's arc definitely wraps things up nicely, as you guessed.

Enjoy the game, and really, don't be in a rush. It's worth it.

[Bigbishounen]

Thanks geekahedron, and others for your advice.

I've actually gone ahead and played through another storyline today (in between painting the bathroom and realizing I've got an expensive moisture problem in my attic. (Ugh. I hate home ownership sometimes) I decided to sort of go with my original plan and just go right to left (Japanese Style!) across the flowchart I have, so I chose Emi next. She has a really sweet story. Makes you feel kinda sad how she bottles everything up, but it's understandable. That's alot of trauma to go through. So glad Hisao could help her find some peace. Although it did feel a bit odd at first. Kinda felt like I was cheating on Shizune. But I felt better about it when Shizune and Misha both obviously approved. (Is that strange?)

Also... ANAL. (OMFG! FUNNY!)

On a different note; One thing I found interesting and educational about the flowchart I'm using is it indicates that a scene I had come across during my unsuccessful first attempt was actually a hard to get scene! (slow recovery) But apparently because I decided to be a sarcastic ass when Misha started poking at me afterward, I ended up with the Kenji ending. (of course, the choice made it seem like it would be only somewhat sarcastic. Hisao decided to go full asshole on me! Geez, Hisao. Never go full asshole.) Ironically I hadn't realized it until after I got the flowchart. I had assumed that making the wrong choice at the running track triggered the failure. Without the flowchart I would have missed a great extra part of the story, even IF I had gone back without it, because I guessed wrong where I had made the mistake.

So yeah, still using the flowchart. I might try going without it when I get to the Lilly path last, as I will already have a fair idea what I'm doing. But for now (and especially since Rin is up next) I'm gonna stick with it. My apologies to the purists. You are free to call me a lout and a heathen.

[Mysterious Stranger]

The Lilly and Hanako paths are my absolute favorites, though I'd actually suggest you go ahead and get Shizune's bad ending. Might as well get those feels done with before moving on to the next heroine, if you ask me. Also, if you get all the good endings first, then you're going to have a streak of horribly depressing bad ones to play through. That's not very healthy, wouldn't you say?

[encrypted12345]

Also, if you get all the good endings first, then you're going to have a streak of horribly depressing bad ones to play through. That's not very healthy, wouldn't you say?

Yeah, I can testify to that. Did two bad endings in a row, need three more, and haven't the heart to do so.

[Bigbishounen]

Also, if you get all the good endings first, then you're going to have a streak of horribly depressing bad ones to play through. That's not very healthy, wouldn't you say?

Yeah, I can testify to that. Did two bad endings in a row, need three more, and haven't the heart to do so.

Hmmm.. You might have a point there. I'll admit I did both Emi "good" routes back to back and the "Let Misha Know" one was WAY rougher than the other one. Inside 1 minute I was saying "Bad move Hisao. Ouch!" I can't imagine how painful the actual bad ending will be. Ugh.

Of course, I could always take the "coward" way out and just pick the bad ending and put it on auto-skip. But something tells me I'd hate myself for chickening out. Argh.

Well, too much to do today to worry about good or bad endings. I can't afford to get emotionally tied to the game today so I'm taking the day off anyway. Today I take care of REAL katawa shoujo, my two daughters. The synthetic ones can wait.