Katawa Shoujo Forums

so i am a little late to the party here having been super busy around release time, but i figured id waited this long, another couple of weeks wouldnt hurt. anyways, ill have to look around before really discussing the paths so as not to really repeat something, there is something i wanted to say.

i got hanako's good ending first, i then went through and played the rest of her path because i would need to eventually anyways and she is the one i am most interested in. once i was done, i moved on to other paths, emi's first. playing through hers, and then getting intimate with her for the first time i felt... well i felt like i was cheating on hanako. i couldnt shake the feeling. it didnt help that she would occasionally flash accross the scene and not say anything. i went back through the theater and replayed her bad ending, pretending like we had broken up and that i had moved on to emi. it helped, and i finished the rest of her paths. moving on to rin, i found myself worrying how hanako was managing without me while working on the group project with misha and shizune. did she simply leave the class like she usually does? i have yet to go through lily's path, thinking it will be difficult to be that close to hanako while forcing myself to go after someone else. given how rare it is for me to form attachments like this, even in real life, it really is a testament to the amazing writing that went into this game...

I wholeheartedly agree. Act 1 had some prominent scenes where you felt a little cheap, but the act 2's do this pretty hard too. Just another testament to how well written this game is that it makes you feel bad about that.

Trust me, you're not the only one.

I have to say, it is a bit weird reading through all these kinds of responses. So far I have only done the Emi and Lilly routes, and may go Hanako later. Now, there's no denying that this is a very good and well-written story, I even got a bit misty a few times (which is not an easy accomplishment). But that's still all it is, a story, an excellent one, but a story nonetheless. Maybe it is because I wound up missing a few days two-thirds into Lilly's route, I don't know. But It is just strange seeing people getting so deeply effected by a work of fiction. I have no intention to cheapen your experience, I just wanted to say this and the opportunity presented itself here.

Retsof wrote:I have to say, it is a bit weird reading through all these kinds of responses. So far I have only done the Emi and Lilly routes, and may go Hanako later. Now, there's no denying that this is a very good and well-written story, I even got a bit misty a few times (which is not an easy accomplishment). But that's still all it is, a story, an excellent one, but a story nonetheless. Maybe it is because I wound up missing a few days two-thirds into Lilly's route, I don't know. But It is just strange seeing people getting so deeply effected by a work of fiction. I have no intention to cheapen your experience, I just wanted to say this and the opportunity presented itself here.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People are affected by different things according to their life experiences and backgrounds. There are a few pieces of fiction that have affected me in certain ways (The Screwtape Letters, The Road, Cowboy Bebop, to name a few) because they have caused me to see certain shortcomings in my own life. KS is another one. On the other hand, there are others that I know quite a few people have been touched by, but they did nothing for me. It's all a matter of personal experience.

I wonder if this is related to route order. The people I've seen here talking about feeling like they are cheating all played Hanako first.

Notguest wrote:I wonder if this is related to route order. The people I've seen here talking about feeling like they are cheating all played Hanako first.

To be honest, I felt the same way but Emi's was my first route. Starting on another route right after completing hers made me feel like a jackass. Especially when she popped up from time to time.

My first route was Emi's, and I kind of felt like a manslut for immediately starting another route. I laughed it off, but still did feel a little bit bad. What made me feel worse was that, to go on different routes, I felt like I was being a big dick to the people I'd previously dicked. Like refusing to run with Emi, or being a jerk to Lilly, etc.

I played Shizune's route first, and indeed I felt as if I was cheating on her when I played through Rin's route next. After that, I felt like I was cheating on Rin when I played through Emi's route. However, after that, I sorta learned to detach myself from the girls in a way that Hanako's and Lilly's routes weren't as bad, but then I didn't feel like I connected with them in the same way that I did with the first two. =/

I played Emi's arc after Hanako's, and I had this paranoia about the library the whole time. Even Yuuka. I didn't know what to say to Hanako if I were to see her. Lilly's teasing at the later parts of Emi's route didn't help either. And not to mention, the absurd amount of sex in Emi's route just drives home the guilt all the way.