^This.
I chose the soundtrack but I love everything else as well, the music with the powerful stories and wonderful cast of characters put together gave me THE FEELS!!!
A story makes a character, but a character also has a story to tell.
If those two complements each other, then you have yourself a memorable tale.
...and so I vote for the story
They say they hate Shizune? What is this? BLASPHEMY!
SHII-HAEL! Shizune>Rin>Emi>Hanako>Lilly "A writer is a light that reveals the world of his story from darkness. Shapes it from nothingness. If the writer stops, the world dies with it." - Alan Wake
Yes, I write stories. Currently working on: The Haunting: A Love Story
The soundtrack is on my MP3 player, and I regularly listen to it (as in, every time I use my MP3 player pretty much). It is, in a word, amazing.
The story is so wonderfully written. Everyone seems to relate to it, everyone seems to get the feels from it. This will go down in my list of awesome things, and a lot of that is because the story made it. But the story would be nothing without...
The characters are really well designed. I love that they have disabilities, but aren't designed around their disabilities. They're all just normal girls (except Rin xP) who're trying to grow up and find their place in the world. Oh, and they have disabilites as well. They all have their own, clear personalities as well, but are all still real and not too impossible. I could easily imagine meeting somoene like them IRL. But the characters were brought to life because of...
The artwork is wonderful. I've only seen a couple of VNs after I started reading KS, but the artwork in them seemed rushed and amateur compared to this, which is just stunningly professionally done, all through.
Routes played: Emi (10/10), Shizune (6/10), Lilly (9/10), Hanako (9/10), Rin (7.5/10)
Emi > Hanako = Lilly > Rin > Shizune
"As long as you're still alive, you can keep going." ~ Emi
100 pushup challenge
MADE HER PROUD - Final exhaustion test: 101
I voted for characters, but only because there was no "atmosphere" option. I think KS is a prime example of the the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
"100%"
My final ranking: Hanako >>> Lilly > (Misha >) Shizune > Rin > Emi.
Everything except for the fact that Misha doesn't have her own path.
In all seriousness, though, it's the characters, hands-down. The soundtrack and the writing are fucking great, too, but it's how real the characters become over the course of their respective routes that really brings KS to life.
| Can you see what I see? | To the end of the Waltz... | First stop, Nagoya! | Oh, come, lovely child! | To the World of Dreams | Pray to become starry sky tomorrow... | Please... forget about me... | No music, no future |