Basiclly, this game's inspired me to help take a second look at my life, and reshuffle it, it's really rather strange if not impressive feat xD, and I have to thank the writers for it. It's often said that if a story can make you feel something, that is a huge achievement (And this game delivers at that level too), but for me it's also served like a mirror. A brief chance to "live vicariously" through the eyes of another and re-evaluate yourself from another perspective, seeing similarities in the characters and how they respond (both good and ill) to familiar situations revealing where you yourself are doing it wrong.
...And that's not to mention some of the philosophical points it raised have given me more food for thought than anything I've read, watched or played in a long time...
In short, this game made me think critically about my own lifestyle - and change it for the better... more productive, more direction, healthier too if that's believeable xD
So again, thanks
--- Now the long boring version, it's probably tl;dr so whatever, just turn on skip mode if you want, also some spoilers likely
--Like a lot of folks I kind've raised an eyebrow when I first heard about the game. Definitely not the sort've genre I personally'd play normally by a verrrryy very long shot, I don't consider myself an anime fan (Though in retrospect I probably have watched a sizeable amount of it over the years), and eroge... first thought that comes to mind is "tacky and exploitative". But, after hearing the critics spilling their guts over it and being a bit miffed by Mass Effect 3's ham-fisted conclusion I figured I'd see what all the hype was about, like a lot of folks I imagine.
When things got started, i guess I was immediately hit a little by familiarity, it's not something known to just about anyone but my immediate family (And why even now I'm posting anonymously), but I went to a special school as a kid. It was a day school and not a boarding school, but there was still a lot of occasions I smirked at the familiarity of some of the situations and I guess that made me curious to stick around and see what other similarities i might recognise... the real life equivalent was rather more mixed, more psychological than physical cases: My group had a boy with PDD-NOS, a recovering drug addict, a girl who'd been expelled from all the local schools, a girl with advanced cancer (In the last term of me being there), couple others I didn't know what they had, and me... Aspergers. (I bet half of you just rolled your eyes so hard they almost came out your sockets...*), but that wasn't why I was there, after 8 years straight of teacher assisted bullying in the mainstream system I had cracked. Anti-depression medication, therapy the works... I responded to people the same way hanako does by that stage.
...hmm, didn't think this was going to turn into a life story. Still there was a reason I was covering this now I get back on track. As you might imagine, being out of mainstream school and separated from my peers for so many years meant over time I've increasingly become less and less disciplined and directionless. When it came to university work I was horribly out of practice organisationally... scratch that my organisation was non existant, but I had meandered on for a few years, well aware I was doing below what i was really capable of
In fact over the last few months I'd increasingly been finding my thinking more foggy and detached kind've a worrying feeling, and mulling over direction - one of my friends even pointed out that I seemed to have changed a lot over time, stopped drawing nearly as much or being so creative, that triggered me to look back over my old stuff and it almost did feel like a different me who did those things. In the game, the first character's path I played was Rin's... I guess it speaks volumes that such an alien-minded character should be so completely familiar to me that I would befriend them over the other characters xD, very early she starts talking about exactly the same concerns, but unlike me had also got some thoughts and conclusions of her own (How past creations still root us in a way with our old self even if change is a scarey thing). Over the course of her story arc it goes into some depth about the idea of self identity, personal ambition Vs fulfilling the expectations of those around you, almost all of them gave me lonnngggg pause for thought.
After Rin's playthrough I decided to play Emi's but, didn't find it all that enthralling, her story was a much more open book; Though the idea of applying the method for detecting subatomic particles to social concepts rung a bell. But something that did catch my eye was hisou's working around the school timetable. I'd either been out the loop so long, drifting from one day to the next I'd forgotten the value of structuring time or having self discipline, or maybe it's because I despised school for enforcing structure on me that was always bad, I don't know; but anyway, it made me think and the more I thought the more a whole bunch've pieces fell together, and before long I'd built a rough framework for a day that made sensible use of my time, maximise my free time and get uni work in order.
I also noted how Hisou was seemed to think effort in the morning paid off for getting him awake and on-track... I was also acutely aware that this IS only a game, but I know some people do swear by morning exercise, so, as if to underline my resolve to change, I decided that the first thing I'd do in the morning was... no not jog, I'm far too lazy for that; but I do live in a semi-desert region and there are rolling hills for dozens of miles starting almost from the end of my garden... walking a few kilometres in the cold morning air gives plenty of time to wake up and organise your thoughts and it's healthy... so I figured I'd give that a try...
...and it works, for me anyway, your mileage may vary of course. But after that I find I'm ready and able to get straight down to work... instead of say, waking up almost at noon and then idling on the internet for hours trying to get started on something.
And so concludes my story, how a free game, developed by some guys off 4chan about a bunch've disabled girls got me to re-evaluate my life, sad as that sounds to say it out loud xD
But nonetheless, thanks devs, for pursuing your crazy dream
* Honestly, it really irks me when people use the "aspergers" label for entitlement or an excuse for their behaviour. iI's not, an aspie who acts like an ass is just an ass, tell him so!... he's probably not even really an aspie. Sure they might've been born at a disadvantage, but they CAN change if they want and try
The KS forums are known for the abundant number of life stories. We're used to it, so there's nothing wrong with venting it out.
ty
).
Kaede <3