Did we change?

[Tomate]

KS did not change be much, its a great game and made my last vacation really enjoyable since I was really bored while all my friends worked.

But thanks to this forum i started to run, and the running lead to the gym. Now I'm more healthy then i was last year, but i don't feel like it was Katawa Shoujo changing my life. I was not running for Emi or something like that, i was running because of the amazing feedback people were giving. if I have to thank something for my new running habit and i would thank coolruning.com for the Couch to 5k program (aka Emi running chart) and the forum to bringing the plan to my attention.

[Dream]

Yes, most certainly. In fact i would go as far as to say that it changed my entire life, or at least the way i look and approach the concept of life. In a way, Katawa Shoujo gave me a certain hope that i never really had before, something that previously only two things could ever do for me. That, plus with the different routes, watching the story of Hisao and the girls develop, i could learn many things about myself and about certain past relationships i had, as well as helping me understand why a lot of them got to the bad end.

So i would say that Katawa Shoujo changed me in an intellectual/emotional sense, now i can see and approach things with a better perspective, and it has helped me to try to find some inner love/kindness i was never really sure if i had or could manifest/act on.

[Valtameri]

Actually it did in a way, while i haven't been able to put my life back together fully, i have made some positive progress, and hopefully will continue do so.

More negative changes include that while i was perfectly happy being alone before i played KS, but after that i've been almost constantly feeling anxiety and depression of being alone.
Hopefully i meet someone, someday, if i'm really lucky it might be someone who reminds me of some of the girls in KS.
Until then i must endure this pain of being alone and build my life to a point where i can actually support healthy relationship (financially, physically and mentally).

PS: Also KS made me really respect disabled people... and also made me have this insane lust towards asian girls. For what reason? I would never know

[HarvestmanMan]

I still haven't fucked any crippled girls, so no.

[Nekken]

KS itself didn't really change me all that much. But it did give me the swift kick in the butt that I needed to seek help for some things, and that certainly sparked changes.

[SkyraScarletXVII]

It changed me immensely. When I first played it back in April, it was one of the lowest times of my life. But after playing through Hanako's route, it was weird, I felt like I wasn't alone. It's psychotic to say now, but I tried to imagine she was with me so I wasn't alone as I went about my life. To a degree that helped me more than any amount of counselling could have done.
After Lilly's route, I came to understand that even if you have a disability (like I do), you can live with it and make the most of life even with the impairment.
After Shizune's, I realised how important keeping friends close is (though admittedly, like Hanako, I only really stay around 1 or 2 people.)
After Rin's, I realised I bit about how another sufferer of my condition (Aspergers Syndrome) managed to cope, through their art. I'm not into the drawing kind of art, so I took up music instead.
After Emi's, I realised that what you say is vitally important- take the dinner at the Ibarazakis house, for example.

So, in a sense, yes, it changed me a lot.

[Xanatos]

After Rin's, I realised I bit about how another sufferer of my condition (Aspergers Syndrome) managed to cope, through their art.

Does Rin have that?

[Denouement]

Yeeeeah I don't think so.

[inquisitivenegro]

Katawa Shoujo inspired me to write a research on bio mechanical concepts behind prostheses, which yielded excellent results.
Should I have taken bio-engineering?

[Daitengu]

hmm, I'm going with yes and no on this.

Pre KS I was sad and didn't know it. Post KS I am sad and know exactly why. In this way I've changed. Everything else not really.

It's one of those currently impossible to fix things. Another thing is a fear of people. Always had it, even before primary school, but I never really understood it till KS. How does one even get over that? Hell, I've had panic attacks from call center work. The hives from going to the store still persist. I even have a hard time mowing the yard or dealing with family. Internet wise. Skype or vent? Forget about it, chat/forums only.

[completesky]

Since playing in January, it gave me more motivation to pursue a hobby of which I was too lazy to consistently train before. Since then, I've trained and competed in as much BJJ as I could.

Also, gave me incentive to eat with my feet. For that I am forever grateful

Oh, one more thing. Feels that stretch to this day.

[SkyraScarletXVII]

After Rin's, I realised I bit about how another sufferer of my condition (Aspergers Syndrome) managed to cope, through their art.

Does Rin have that?

It's assumed by the general fanbase and its leaders that Rin has autism to some extent, most likely Aspergers. Like her talking about random things is a common trait, and the scene in the art gallery where she breaks down is something a lot of sufferers have too.

[Loonie]

After Rin's, I realised I bit about how another sufferer of my condition (Aspergers Syndrome) managed to cope, through their art.

Does Rin have that?

It's assumed by the general fanbase and its leaders that Rin has autism to some extent, most likely Aspergers. Like her talking about random things is a common trait, and the scene in the art gallery where she breaks down is something a lot of sufferers have too.

I'd say Rin's fanbase assumes too much. But then again, so does every other fanbase - that is in their nature I suppose. What matters more is if you yourself think that is, indeed, the case. And if that viewpoint genuinely helped you understand someone else... *shrug* by all means - in your mind, and that of the majority I suppose if that is indeed what her fanbase thinks, she has autism.

But even if that were the case, at the end of the day, like all disabilities, it matters a lot less than how she finally dealt with it by the end of her arc. And there is a stark difference in that between her endings. In one she resigns herself to coping with it, as you put it, for the rest of her life and in the other she learns to embrace it.

At least...that's how I'd see it. Or how I'd derail this topic.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

Damn right, I changed. A lot of damage in me started to be healed. I started to draw again, play music again... I felt truly alive again for the first time in nearly a decade. It goes to show just how much damage I was repressing.

[acewing905]

It moved me emotionally when I first played it, but hey, it's fiction, and I could easily recognize it as such. So it didn't really change me. Well, it made me a huge fan of visual novels, at least. I consider that a good thing. Sort of.