Katawa Shoujo Forums

Csihar wrote:Not to mention that it's already beaten many Japanese VNs without even having been released in Japanese yet, when they are by far the largest market for VNs. :shock:

They are probably the largest market for VNs primarily because most VNs are released in Japanese first. Your argument is invalid. Language + what kosherbacon said are significant contributors to KS' download count, impressive though it is regardless.

EternalLurker wrote:

Csihar wrote:Not to mention that it's already beaten many Japanese VNs without even having been released in Japanese yet, when they are by far the largest market for VNs.

They are probably the largest market for VNs primarily because most VNs are released in Japanese first. Your argument is invalid. Language + what kosherbacon said are significant contributors to KS' download count, impressive though it is regardless.

Okay, maybe, but there's no denying that VNs are a lot more accepted as a genre in Japan than in, say, the US. I wouldn't be surprised if the Japanese version of the full game ends up accounting for half of its total downloads, or maybe a third at the absolute least.

EDIT:

Xuan wrote:Kira Kira is an excellent VN, especially for those who enjoy Japanese music.

I gotta agree with you there. I'm only an hour in and I'm really loving it, especially the music. (The translation does leave a bit to be desired, but it's tolerable.) Japanator reviewed it recently, incidentally, which was how I found out about it.

In any case, I'm sure that KS is probably already the best English VN out there.

Note that this is not an adulation or an over-statement, because being the best English VN is like being king of shit mountain.

As for commercially-made VNs, I'd rather wait to judge it until the whole game is out.

Hey, man, don't diss Shit Mountain while Harry King's in charge.

Honestly, its not hard to dominate the english original anime/manga/vn scene. Very little stuff of any quality comes out.

Well, the demograph is pretty limited to begin with, so...

Shades of Grey wrote:Honestly, its not hard to dominate the english original anime/manga/vn scene. Very little stuff of any quality comes out.

I agree with you... since I was introduced to KS back in February by the Kotaku article, I tried out other english VN's, sadly, there were not many that came close to KS's art quality, and others had excessively long plots that tire you (Family project). I remember I recently checked VNDB for free english VN's and I was surprised that there were only some 2-hour VN's with a linear plot and the art looks like an elementary student drew it. Even then they get downloads (I think the largest one got about 180,000 downloads on cnet)... so if these VN's get that many downloads, then imagine the number of downloads the full KS will get..

Member22 wrote:

Shades of Grey wrote:Honestly, its not hard to dominate the english original anime/manga/vn scene. Very little stuff of any quality comes out.

I remember I recently checked VNDB for free english VN's and I was surprised that there were only some 2-hour VN's with a linear plot and the art looks like an elementary student drew it. Even then they get downloads (I think the largest one got about 180,000 downloads on cnet)... so if these VN's get that many downloads, then imagine the number of downloads the full KS will get..

I would just imagine that it is more difficult for those who arn't getting payed to make a excellent VN. The Japanese ones are most all designed for marketing to the public as most games are computer based and most of those are VNs. (Hard to believe that this is Nintendo and Sony's hometown; appears to be more Microsoft friendly) Anyways, the devs for this project are great for using such time and lengths to create a great VN that has a special taste to it. Something away from the usual "here is a guy and he can have one, none or all of these girls; now play" ( no harem) Sure, it has that part but its not the main focus I think. I have seen some commercial VNs that are not as well done as Act 1 in length and other things. So I take it that this might be the top free VN avaliable; I would love to compare the final project to True Rememberance (My #1 KN).

I think one of the main advantages for the KS devs/writers is that time is on their side... they are not following some development cycle in which they need to complete their product by a specific time... this might not sound like an advantage to a fan, but to a dev... there is no better advantage than that

It will probably be considered one of the better ones. If we assume that the finished product is on par with Act 1 it would be better than two of the commercially produced VNs that I've played, Wanko to Kurasou (not that that's saying much) and Bible Black. Since I only play popular, well known titles it really says something that KS beats two of them without even being finished.

There's something KS does that few VN's have had the ability to do.
It can hold my attention.
I'll usually grab a title.. Check out the artwork, music, voices and plot setup.. Then rip through until I get to bits that catch my interest.
Sometimes just to get to the CG. Sometimes to catch a certain character's voice or mannerisms that I like. Sometimes to skip a bit of pointless dialogue and get back to the meat of the story. Sometimes just in a desperate attempt to get through to the end of the damned thing so I can say I finished it and delete the files without feeling that sense of regret that comes with completely wasted bandwidth. There aren't many scripts that haven't suffered the wrath of my <Ctrl> key at some point during the story.
I actually read all of KS. Even on the replays to get a full clear I'd pause and listen to the music, or look at a character's face, or re-read whole sections just because I enjoyed them.
So congratulations to everyone involved. You actually made characters and settings that catch my interest, that I can identify with, and that entertain me. Will KS stand up to professional VN titles? From my viewpoint it's already passed many of them.. with a demo act.

Pumpkineat3r wrote:Wanko to Kurasou

KS grips your heart.
While WtK grips your penis, I guess.

Member22 wrote:I think one of the main advantages for the KS devs/writers is that time is on their side... they are not following some development cycle in which they need to complete their product by a specific time... this might not sound like an advantage to a fan, but to a dev... there is no better advantage than that

Time/cost/quality, pick two...

Cost and Quality to pick, lads! We're all young here, it's not like we're going to die before it comes out, right?

... right?

ContinualNaba wrote:Cost and Quality to pick, lads! We're all young here, it's not like we're going to die before it comes out, right?

... right?

i have heart problems on my dad's side of the family and a lifestyle and diet that would make emi rage with the force of a thousand suns.