Katawa Shoujo Act 1 Preview feedback thread

[luinthoron]

Something I had never noticed before but suddenly started to disturb me in v4. May I suggest switching the colors for Emi and Rin? They really would make much more sense the other way around.

I assume you're talking about the color for their names in the dialogue boxes.

I present exhibit A.

screen5g.jpg

I suppose it makes sense to switch them around. There appears to be a trend in the path girls (and Misha) that their font colors be related to their hair colors.

Exactly. I'd even hazard a guess that they were actually meant to be the other way, but were somehow mixed up. Not really a big problem, but it does feel a bit strange when they're both around.

[PCJedi]

Yeah, I always thought there was something odd about Emi and Rin's name colors too. But if it was something the devs wanted to fix, I'd have thought they would have done so by now. Maybe they have other reasons for keeping things as they are. But oh well, it's not really a big deal, just a bit of a curiosity.

[Nintendo Maniac 64]

Seeing how trivial it is, it could have just have been forgotten about..

[Elnendil]

I saw no real problems on my end. I think my only issue is what happens at the end of Kenji's route. Most of the ways you get there you can just be pretty passive, and i'm sure you could work into a relationship later. Why make a wall so early? Maybe it'll be changed, who knows. I think its obvious a lot of people like Kenji, and I think at the very least, he should stay a bit more prominent. I'd be glad to see if the Kenji "route" is pushed further and you just make some fatal mistake later and then you fall...something like that. I just think its fine to hang out with the guy now and again. Seemed lame that the only time you sit down and hang out with him ends up being the last time.

The art is great, although of course some of the graphics should (and OBVIOUSLY) will be finalized, like with Emi's look. Torn on Yuuko, but I think its good either way.

Music I enjoyed. It isn't mind blowing, no, but I think the style fits the setting.

Onto the characters themselves...I liked all of them. I think one of the devs said something like "thats not good" or something, but I think they're all fleshed out well. I do agree with the whole thing about Shizune almost being the antagonist. I had a hard time going through her route, it was as if I was being bullied and I had to be a prick to everybody. True, characters should be different from others, and I do like the fact that there are "clicks" etc, but I felt like if you chose Shizune's route, you were just being a tool. But...then again, thats probably someone's kick, and I just enjoyed everyone else's. I'll also say I was disappointed when Misha had no route (Would be at least amusing to have a bad ending tagged on with Misha, but thats pushing it), but hey, she wasn't one of the originals, so...thats what doujins will be for, I guess? I didn't really feel like she was "prominent", though, Shizune. After a point you can just ditch her and she never shows up again. Most VNs have that one "guide" character anyways be it a childhood friend or whatever before other characters are introduced, so its acceptable, as I ended up with everyone through several runs without much effort.

General layout of the area and environment I enjoyed, I found no real problems. I was actually glad to see that the VN steered from most disabled cliches (can't to anything, helpless, need some man to sweep them off their feet (or lack thereof)). I would definitely like to see more thought on the environment, how it feels to be around or be disabled, the general struggle with how the outside world looks at it. Possibly, say, a situation in which the protagonist has to deal with people abusing disabled people's rights etc (parking in handicap spots because its closer, fat bitches in electric buggies or something). At least stuff that people take for granted.

Overall, it was well made, and I was surprised that a bunch of /a/fags got it started, although only a few of you guys actually stuck to it. I just want to see it finished, and i'm sure you do too.

[Csihar]

(Would be at least amusing to have a bad ending tagged on with Misha, but thats pushing it)

I have to agree with this. A Misha bad end is an excellent and potentially hilarious idea.

[Elnendil]

Yes, but to be honest, there isn't much to really work with that she could do. It was almost a stretch with Kenji.

[RoyKr]

Just found out about this project, downloaded the v4 demo and read through it a couple of times. There are still a few scenes i haven't unlocked so i'm not done with it yet. Just got through the manly picnic btw, good stuff.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of it all. Knowing the origin of the project; i was expecting less.
Having to act like a dick towards others in order to score points with Shizune was somewhat unpleasant. Might be intersting though, i just hope my fears aren't confirmed and she turns out to be a tsundere.

For now i'll go through it a couple times more, checking if there's some effective way of getting to know Rin without landing on some other girls route.

[RoyKr]

I'm back after going through it a couple times more.

Seems i had the wrong impression about Shizune being a tsundere character.
Got the Rin end pretty fast when i actually tried to get it, it's sweet.
Now i'll check if i can get some more Lilly stuff without landing on the Hanako route, since hers was the first one i did.
Will check out that guide you mentioned as well.

[hir]

Just conveying a feedback from Japanese feedback thread...

There were a few posts asking if you can add a feature to read through the lines with mouse wheel down.
It does sound valid though the decision would be with the devs. Appreciate if you could give a thought.

[kapparomeo]

These are just a couple of small niggles and not anything particularly game-breaking, but they did poke out as loose threads that should be easy to pull.

-In the Library, the caption for the scene "Quiet" reads "Hanako and Hisao read books for the festival" - however, this is inaccurate as it's not a festival scene, but occurs on the previous day. Could it be clarified in future releases?

-After searching the thread for mention of it I'm surprised that no-one seems to have pointed this out before, but there's a pair of CGs missing from the Gallery. These are the one from "Sip (Part 1)" which features Hisao, Hanako and Lilly together in the lunch room, and then the second CG of Lilly and Hisao at the table from "Pseudo Tea Cosy". While we have a CG of Lilly on her own in the lunch room, these other images could do with adding to her sequence.

[g police 2]

Great game you guys made.It kind of reminded me of my own disability.My disability is a blessing but a burden at the same time.

As for the feedback:

-During the conversation with Misha and Shizune, replace the '...' phrase for shizune with description of her sign language.Hisao claimed that he may not understand what they are saying but some of us do know some sign language.[A hidden message?]

-Give us the option to switch font type and size.(Not that the original suck but I like using one of my own)

-During the scene where hisao introducing himself,the camera movement does not sync with the description of his new classmate.

-If theres is going to be a ero scene,wouldn't hisao pass out or even worse die?You know,if he reaches orgasm,his heartbeat would be so fast that his heart couldn't take it and stop beating? Oh wait,I think i just predicated a bad ending for the full game.

[Mirage_GSM]

-During the conversation with Misha and Shizune, replace the '...' phrase for shizune with description of her sign language.Hisao claimed that he may not understand what they are saying but some of us do know some sign language.[A hidden message?]

Uh... leaving aside the question whether one of the devs actually knows sign language...
Do you have any idea how much text would be necessary to describe all the signs used for one of Shizune's average sentences? A conservative estimate would be at least five times as much as for Misha's translation (which would have to be in there anyway, for all those who don't know sign language.

Edit:
OK, just back from a bit of fact-finding...
So if Shizune says "Sorry", you'd have the following text:
"Shizune moves her right fist to her chest and makes a circular motion with it."
Scratch what I said above. It would be at least ten times as much text, you'd have to click through to finally get to Misha's translation.
Katawa Shoujo already beats the word count of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "War and Peace", but with this it would probably start to approach the "Wheel of Time" series

[Bara]

Katawa Shoujo already beats the word count of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "War and Peace", but with this it would probably start to approach the "Wheel of Time" series

Gaaah! Not the series that even the authors death could not kill off!! (WoT = publishing industry vampire.)
Thank god the Devs as a group mainly want to go on to other projects after getting done with KS. (Those that are not totaly burned out.)

[G3n0c1de]

Beyond the extra wordcount, they are in Japan. They'd be using JSL, which I'm sure very few English speaking players would know. Theoretically, since the text is in English, perhaps the sign language could be in a translated format as well... But no. This would only serve to bloat the game. Misha is already translating what Shizune is saying. Putting a description of the sign language Shizune is doing is unnecessary.

[g police 2]

Beyond the extra wordcount, they are in Japan. They'd be using JSL, which I'm sure very few English speaking players would know. Theoretically, since the text is in English, perhaps the sign language could be in a translated format as well... But no. This would only serve to bloat the game. Misha is already translating what Shizune is saying. Putting a description of the sign language Shizune is doing is unnecessary.

True but you don't need to put the exact description of the hand movement and you could description during those scene where Misha isn't there to translate it or isn't willing to translate secret message between Shizune and Misha.Some brief description would do too.

-During the conversation with Misha and Shizune, replace the '...' phrase for shizune with description of her sign language.Hisao claimed that he may not understand what they are saying but some of us do know some sign language.[A hidden message?]

Uh... leaving aside the question whether one of the devs actually knows sign language...
Do you have any idea how much text would be necessary to describe all the signs used for one of Shizune's average sentences? A conservative estimate would be at least five times as much as for Misha's translation (which would have to be in there anyway, for all those who don't know sign language.

Edit:
OK, just back from a bit of fact-finding...
So if Shizune says "Sorry", you'd have the following text:
"Shizune moves her right fist to her chest and makes a circular motion with it."
Scratch what I said above. It would be at least ten times as much text, you'd have to click through to finally get to Misha's translation.
Katawa Shoujo already beats the word count of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "War and Peace", but with this it would probably start to approach the "Wheel of Time" series

I guess my feedback is overkill for you guys.Sorry...I guess shizune's expression would be alternate way to understand her.

Edit: After completing all the storyline route,I found a glitch in th Extra>Library section from the main menu.

I completed Hanako and Lily route but the game did not register that I completed these scenes 'Paint by numbers' (Not shown in the picture) , 'Quiet' & 'Slip (part 2)'.