Katawa Shoujo Act 1 Preview feedback thread

[kosherbacon]

Well since I'm in the feedback thread, I'd like to thank whoever did the menu GUI for KS. Free VNs I've attempted to play tend to either have very basic minimalist menus with barely any features or ones that straight up don't work as well as you'd hope. It really helped make the game look well polished. Thumbs Up.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

It's so polished that someone on Yahoo! Answers thought this was an incomplete TRANSLATION project of a Japanese VN XD

[DESU]

It's so polished that someone on Yahoo! Answers thought this was an incomplete TRANSLATION project of a Japanese VN

really? you have a link? I wanna see this.
EDIT: found it myself: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 915AAM0FPo
I want to tell him so badly, but he didn't leave any contacts and I don't have an account

[kosherbacon]

Wow. I guess the only way you can make that a bigger compliment for the devs would be if he also asked where he could buy the full version and if there was a patch for it yet.

[lds7654]

this so cool! being handicap this is awesome.... TT_TT never thought they make a game based on my kind.... thank you!!!
ALSO tho need a wheelchair girl or walker girl it be awesome well since I use them (and don't use the elderly walker I use the walker for young people look it up!) anyway! yay! thank you alot!

[fragmentedfear]

I just finished playing through all of Act 1 for a second time. I couldn't shake the urge to play more, so I had to go over it again. My impressions are the same as they were months ago, this is so amazing and I am so impressed. I just had to say it again.

[Extremist_Line]

A friend of mine I got into the game wanted me to post a complaint he had:

(friend): You know, I'm upset they left out one disability that they really needed in KS....
(me): ?
(friend): They needed a girl with the disability of having an animal tail
(friend): Hah
(me): ......

[Flying Gypsies]

A friend of mine I got into the game wanted me to post a complaint he had:

(friend): You know, I'm upset they left out one disability that they really needed in KS....
(me): ?
(friend): They needed a girl with the disability of having an animal tail
(friend): Hah
(me): ......

That reminds me of a certain scene from Shallow Hal...

[Smoku]

(friend): They needed a girl with the disability of having an animal tail

Tell him to play Wanko to Kurasou If he doesn't mind a thing that's described on VN database as "tons of sex scenes"

[saltinemonster]

I hate VNs that are just sex and sex and sex and sex. I need good story, characters, and romance.

[Csihar]

I hate VNs that are just sex and sex and sex and sex. I need good story, characters, and romance.

Then you have come to the right board, guy.

[Ricky Controversy]

I wrote this 'first impressions' blurb while under the influence of sleep deprivation about a week ago and at the request of a friend, so please forgive me if it meanders at times. I would not consider this a critical review, just, as I said, a first impressions statement. I may come back later with a more thoughtful analysis later.


On my first playthrough, I decided to go with my natural choices, which put me on the Emi route. Emi is easily the liveliest character in the story, and quite cute both in appearance and personality. While she is just a bit reckless, this can probably be attributed to her sense of freedom and motivated nature. She strikes me as the sort who feels very strongly that the important part of life is facing down your biggest challenges and turning them into assets: so, for instance, she's on the track team despite having lost her real legs, and she tries to encourage Hisao to work through his cardiac difficulties until he can become a proper running partner for her. She revels in this freedom, which is a very attractive quality and can elevate the mood of those around her, but at the same time, it's to such an extent that she doesn't quite acknowledge that others are in different places some times. I find it hard to fault her for being an optimist, however.

On my second playthrough, I decided to try for Lilly or Hanako. With a mixture of assertiveness and sensitivity, being careful not to trigger the obvious Emi flags, I ended up with Lilly. She is quite elegant and ladylike, as to be expected from a student of a private girl's school. She is strong-willed and commanding, but shows a great deal of restraint, unlike Shizune, and does not antagonize even those who put her out of sorts. Instead, she tries her best to be patient and understanding. Yet, at the same time, she is no door mat, and takes initiative when it needs to be taken. She seems to cope rather well with her blindness, though one has to wonder if this is only because she is such a poised person: controlling herself and memorizing things around her frees her from an immediate need for eyes, though in situations where it is absolutely necessary--such as grocery shopping--she is willing and able to depend on others. What makes me most curious about her is her relation to Hanako. What I notice is that she doesn't really click with Rin or understand her, has something of a matronly tolerance for Emi and comes into direct conflict with Shizune, while being quite fond of Hanako. The reason why I take explicit notice of this is because the first three are all decision makers. Rin is by far the most relaxed of the heroines, but she simply cannot be ordered. She does what she wants when she wants, and doesn't do what she doesn't want to, plain and simple. Emi is the sort who seems to endorse action for action's sake, constantly bolting about everywhere and loving to have something to do. Shizune is, of course, a very assertive, competitive personality. Not only is she decisive, but she's looking for others to get with the program, and puts pressure on those who don't. In contrast, Hanako is a shrinking violet who is pretty much a non-entity to everyone but Lilly, whom she clings to. Take this along with the hints we get about Lilly's relationship with her sister, Akira, and a picture emerges of someone who really wants to feel necessary and depended upon. I look forward to seeing how this all plays out in the full version.

My third playthrough was for the Shizune route, since I felt placing the aggressive student council president between Lilly and Hanako would make for a nice balance. Being very assertive and trying to favor Shizune in various ways--asking about her deafness, waiting on her and Misha to finish their chat instead of talking to Hanako, etc--led very early to spending nearly all my time with she and Misha, which makes sense, as they are the ones who most actively try to acquaint themselves with Hisao of their own accord. I find many things about Shizune attractive: assertive, action-oriented, intelligent, witty...of course her appearance didn't hurt either, and getting to spend time with Misha was a plus. However, she frustrates me at times because she can also be somewhat cruel and petulant. While one wants to be understanding of her stress as it relates to the festival weekend that the game begins shortly before, she let herself get carried away a bit in her debate with Lilly. Two things strike me as I reflect on this. The first is that she seems to be somewhat idealistic, with high expectations of people and situations. The second is that while she has a childlike playfulness that can be quite charming at times, she is not quite mature enough yet to understand how to separate it from more serious matters.

What I mean by the first should be self-evident: Shizune tends to see the world as a place of grand things, and expects and desires to be a part of this greatness and share it. Since she lacks the power of speech, she turns to her actions as her primary method of communicating. So, when things she is involved in hit snags--Lilly's difficulty getting her class's festival information collected and ordered, or Rin's apparent lack of progress on her mural--or people fail to recognize the way she sees things--as with Emi defying the school rules Shizune stands in support of--she is quick to lose her temper. What I mean by the second point is that, while getting into the competitive aspect of things is all well and good in a situation like a game of Risk, it is wholly inappropriate to turn a discussion about student council business into a battle of wits and wills. Not only does this cause her to abandon reason in such cases, but it also leads her to take personally things she really shouldn't: she resents Lilly's perceived defiance and Hanako's truancy to the point of lashing out at Hanako, who is obviously emotionally frail and has actually done nothing to cross her. Of course, this childish side is also what makes me interested in seeing how her full route progresses, because the way it manifests in her final scene is truly moving, and made it perhaps my favorite of the endings in the demo. She will benefit most from learning to strip back the self-centered quality inherent in her idealism. I also wonder exactly what will become of Misha on this route, as she and Shizune are an inseparable unit excepting an extremely brief part of the finale, and Hisao mentions developing an attraction to both of them.

The fourth playthrough, I aimed for and received the Hanako route. Hanako is not the best character from an objective standpoint, but she is nevertheless my personal favorite. Not only is she beautiful--and I say this not in the sense of 'in spite of her scars' or the fetishistic 'because of her scars'; she simply is beautiful, as a whole package--but she is in many ways my kind of girl. She is bookish, quiet, gentle and sweet. While at first it's hard to get close to her, when she finally begins to warm up to you, she reveals herself by degrees. First, she shares some of that sweet demeanor with Hisao that formerly had been reserved solely for Lilly, showing that deep down inside, she really does want friends. Then, she reveals a playful side of her own that lacks the shade of ego that Shizune's playfulness is possessed of. Hanako's obvious fear of being judged by her scars, and the painful memories that are attached to them together form the axis on which her story will turn. While she is an endearingly pure-hearted girl, she will need to learn to defend herself and exist on her own. She doesn't even necessarily need to become a socially outgoing person in order to achieve this, but rather, she needs to develop enough self-confidence that she would not wither under Shizune's antagonism and would not feel the need to run away from every unexpected encounter.

My fifth playthrough, I was aiming for the Rin ending and very nearly had it, but I made a mistaken choice, not realizing it would end in me snapping at Lilly and putting Rin off. As a result, I landed myself in the Kenji ending. While it turned out to be an effectively upsetting bad ending, it was also somewhat humorous to see the drunken dialogue between Kenji and Hisao, and even learn a bit about Kenji's past and why he's so obsessed with the great feminist conspiracy. Kenji is a thoroughly amusing character, but that seems to be the extent of what he's there for; comedic relief. Even his grand revelation of the most shocking experience of his life turns out to just be a comical misunderstanding on his part, one which he took far too personally. In short, he will always be a gag character, but if nothing else, he is very effective as that.

Finally, my sixth playthrough landed me on the Rin route. When I said I didn't feel that Hanako was the best character despite being my favorite, I reserved that objective judgment because I believe Rin is the best. Apart from being the least feminine of the heroines, she has an approach to life that is a mixture of zen profundity and nigh-autistic lack of inhibition. She says and does whatever comes into her head at a given moment, and while this is often indecipherable or entirely unrelated to anything that preceded it, it's also always enjoyable. She is incredibly laid back, honest, and thoughtful, even if this last one isn't observable in any conventional form. However, this raises two concerns. First, is Rin actually just going with the flow, or is she just a whimsical person remaining detached so that she is unanswerable to anyone? Second, regardless of which of those is the case, what becomes of Rin in situations where she needs to be decisive? While things are natural and relaxed with Rin during her route so far, there is a necessary element of effort and dedication that comes into any relationship. How would she cope with that situation? Either way, she is the most unique of the heroines, and also the most entertaining.

If I were pressed to order the routes as they stand so far by favorites, I would say Rin > Shizune > Lilly > Hanako > Kenji > Emi. However, this is different from my favorite character order, which would be Hanako > Rin > Lilly > Emi > Shizune > Kenji. Rin tops the route list both for an enjoyable final scene and the fact that you spend all of that time with Rin. Enough said. While Shizune's wanton aggression towards others grated on my nerves at times, the endearing side she showed--especially with her ending scene--was enough to really elevate my assessment of her route overall and earn her second place. Lilly was an enjoyable heroine, but then, they all are in ways. The strength by which she securely claims a close third is the hint that comes in the form of her sister, Akira, which really reinforces my curiosity about her potential need to be depended on, initially suggested by her relationship to Hanako. Hanako herself takes fourth despite being my favorite heroine simply because so very little actually happens in the demo route for her. The nature of her scars and her tragic past, which would really be the meat of the drama in her full route, are simply not touched in significantly enough. Nevertheless, she is constantly adorable, and showing her playful side towards the end was rewarding. The Kenji ending is quite funny, and definitely worth seeing, but there's no mistaking that it's a bad ending. The humor one can take from it is black: the drunken ramblings are not just drunken ramblings, but very bitter, hollow drunken ramblings. As a result, even though I laughed, it was not satisfying enough to take a high spot. Finally, Emi's route, to me, just felt sort of there. Cute and lively as she is, I really didn't get any special enjoyment from it. Unlike the four other heroines who definitely have layers of personality that come together to form unique wholes, and their interactions with each other are intriguing, Emi felt easily predictable and one-dimensional.

Overall, my impression of Katawa Shoujo is very favorable. The music was quite good considering it's a freeware game, and I also quite liked that there were so many unique themes, including tracks that serve as character themes. Rin's theme in particular stands out to me as quite interesting. The CG art is pleasing to the eye, the sprites have a decent amount of subtlety of expression about them (some more than others), the Nurse is a great character, if a bit scary at times, and I have no complaints about the interface. Above all, a premise that I was rather skeptical about at first is very respectfully treated, and the story is both believable and interesting. If this is just the demo, then the full game has incredible potential, I just hope they flesh out the Emi character some more.

[Esa94]

SHITLOADS OF TEXT

Hello.
I like Hanako and Rin, too.

For me that text was kinda annoying to read, since generally try to browse quickly through the forums when I check new posts - however, it shows you have put thought into writing it. Also, you seem to think like me - or the other way around, doesn't matter - which means I could understand you pretty well.

And that's probably the longest review I've read on KS. Not that I've actively searched them, though...

[EternalLurker]

*massive wall of text*
I may come back later with a more thoughtful analysis later.

o_O

She is quite elegant and ladylike, as to be expected from a student of a private girl's school.

Cough. I know lots of people of either sex who've come out of private mono-gender schools...Let's leave it at that. The situation is likely different in the case of Japanese mono-gender schools, but to what extent I haven't a clue.

Rin is by far the most relaxed of the heroines, but she simply cannot be ordered. She does what she wants when she wants, and doesn't do what she doesn't want to, plain and simple.

Amusing that you'd say this when talking about Lilly's route, in which Lilly stands up to Shizune while Rin, seemingly worried about what Shizune will do if Rin doesn't meet the deadline, rushes her mural to be on time for the festival about which it seems plain that she doesn't otherwise care.

Hanako is a shrinking violet who is pretty much a non-entity to everyone but Lilly, whom she clings to. Take this along with the hints we get about Lilly's relationship with her sister, Akira, and a picture emerges of someone who really wants to feel necessary and depended upon.

How about the most obvious part, her role in the blind class?

I'm not gonna comment yet again on the utterly ridiculous Shizune ending, and I probably concur with some bits of what you said about the pre-ending stuff.

Your Hanako comments are generally understandable, though they'd put her in a friend category for me, never anything more.

I made a mistaken choice, not realizing it would end in me snapping at Lilly and putting Rin off.

Heh, everyone else seems to do that. Amusing.

No further comments about Rin's awesomeness or the potentially oh-so-satisfying Kenji route (since the path you take to reach it can include Slow Recovery).

[Ricky Controversy]

Cough. I know lots of people of either sex who've come out of private mono-gender schools...Let's leave it at that. The situation is likely different in the case of Japanese mono-gender schools, but to what extent I haven't a clue.

I suppose I specifically meant in the cases where etiquette training happens to take. But yes, I know they're just as much a mixed bag as any other group in practice. Back in my High School days, I attended the one public High School in my area, which was surrounded on all sides by neighboring private schools. All I can say is "Oi...", so I definitely feel you there.

Amusing that you'd say this when talking about Lilly's route, in which Lilly stands up to Shizune while Rin, seemingly worried about what Shizune will do if Rin doesn't meet the deadline, rushes her mural to be on time for the festival about which it seems plain that she doesn't otherwise care.

Definitely a good point, and when I said 'more thoughtful analysis later', it's things like this I meant: some of my thoughts may be entirely absent-minded or dumb and I'd overlook this sort of stuff. If I really stop and think about it now, yeah, Rin does seem to worry about that in this situation. Though, when I got her route, I sort of got the impression she was more concerned about it for the sake of the composition, you know? The part where she talks about it not necessarily being where she wants it to be. But I could just be talking out my arse, and I do appreciate you reminding me of that...it merits further consideration.

How about the most obvious part, her role in the blind class?

Maybe I should retain you on a salaried basis to point out obvious stuff that I miss when I'm thoughtlessly rambling. I feel sort of 'herp derp' for forgetting to mention that. Thanks again. ^_^;;