as an overall eroge from anons from 4chan it's not that bad of game. I don't call the dating sims people "there not unless you play shitty flash games from new-grounds" However I am still surprised this finally did come out after being in that four year limbo. When I have the chance I will do a review of game but I am holding off until I have seen most of endings.
This aside I love the visual novel market/eroge's and If openly recommend this game for anyone to play if you are new to the genre. Now excuse me will i go off an finish little busters from key/visual arts...
4 Leaf studios? So basically this game was developed by 4chan, and it is exactly the kind of thing I would expect to see from them that doesn't involve appallingly illegal pornography. That being said, kudos for making something original.
The comments on this are alternating between sickeningly depressing and cheerily optimistic.
It's either "I've played this and I think it's pretty right on" or "I have no idea what's going on but I'm gonna judge it anyway." Isn't that everything KS is trying to go against? Stereotyping, making assumptions about things you have yet to experience, jumping to conclusions without any evidence whatsoever. That kind of stuff.
Stop it.
Just judging by the sheer number of people "blaming" this on Japan, it makes me more than a little sad. Some people just don't want to read the article before throwing their opinion on the pile. This is a game based entirely around getting to know [people] as the people they are, instead of what your perceptions of them might me. And here we have people judging the game itself on their own perceptions, without bothering to see for themselves what it might actually be.
You guys have no idea how the way you defend dating syms by stressing on calling them "visual novels" has me utterly amused. Well, I also pity you a bit, but I'm mostly amused. XD
Date away [http://lairoflurdane.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/jouka-no-monshou/]
...though I suppose the lack of any romance whatsoever in that visual novel might pose a slight hindrance in that regard.
As for Katawa Shoujo, it does seem to have some fairly pronounced dating sim elements to it (as do several other visual novels). I for one don't see how that's bad, when the general opinion of the people who've actually played it so far seem to be that it's a good game with a worthwhile story.
Or do games featuring girls and romance have cooties?
Wow. I don't post here for months, MONTHS, and THIS THREAD is what it takes for me to post again.
I finished the game in two days. I was so sunk into the story that I blew over 8 hours into it the first day, and ended up dating Emi who I would have completely forgotten didn't have legs if it didn't keep coming up, and if Hisao wasn't a massive derp and didn't connect a blatant plot element before it was spelled out to him.
The game is spectacular, and I'm legitimately disappointed by every single person here whose written it off as some porn riddled sex simulator WITH CRIPPLES.
The writing trumps most professional games. The characters and interactions are unique and compelling. The soundtrack is top of the line. The art is beautiful. I could go on about how I feel about this game after one route (actually two, but one was technically a bad end) but I won't, because I'm in a hurry to get out with my boyfriend. Everyone who thinks this game isn't worth it, play it. Now. I'll wait.
While I won't judge the game without playing it, the concept does make me feel a little off. The idea of a dating sim "but with disabled girls!" does indeed seem like blatant fetishisation (which is objectifying and more than a little creepy), and while disabled people definetly don't get enough representation in games, the way to fix that isn't to make a special section of games for disabled people (or in this case, games for people who fancy disabled people), instead it's just to make games which happen to have disabled people in them
However, as I said, I haven't played this game (but I do fully intend to, seeing as it's free), but those are my initial thoughts going into it.
After playing it for a while (a lil into act 2 or 3ish...) I found that it is mostly just a novel, with the occational choice. I know the words 'dating sim' and 'visual novel' are thrown around a lot more here than anywhere else, but all I can think of is a 'Choose your adventure' book, honestly. You read a long bit, then a choice appears, choose one turn to page 34 choose the other turn to page 65.
Honestly if people are that worried about sexual content, there is a 'disable adult content' button, and as far as I've been playing it there hasnt been so much as a blatant pantyshot or even an unbuttoned shirt, it seems to be all story till the end when 'romance ensues.' Most of this game seems to be the main character dealing with his position and introspection of how the others carry themselves along with their individual situations.
I'll probably comment again upon finishing my first playthrough, and again none of this is ment to be arguementative, but informative.
You guys have no idea how the way you defend dating syms by stressing on calling them "visual novels" has me utterly amused. Well, I also pity you a bit, but I'm mostly amused. XD
It's a matter of terminology rather than any attempt to "defend" the game.
It's a visual novel because it is equivalent to reading an elaborate picture book. Gameplay equates to "read, read, read some more, read, choose a or b, read, read, and then read again". It's rather difficult to call it a "game" at all.
A dating sim is a bit more complex. The ones I've seen tend to play out like RPG's with stats and levels and traveling to locations and whatnot.
Or you could just ignore everything I say like some kind of deranged misogynistic harry potter lookalike.
Okay, I'll bite. I suppose if it's free I've got nothing to lose giving it a try.
EDIT: (Been 'playing' a couple of hours and enjoying it so far, the characters make sense to me, the protagonist seems to be reacting in just the way I'd expect being introduced to this environment. So yeah, I think they're handling it pretty well, so far at least.)
Mind you, I lived in Japan for 7 yrs and read/write/speak the lingo fluently. My wife is constantly embarrassed as - when she visits family back in Osaka - I ask her to run down to Den Den Town and pick me up some random 'renai' sims.
I doubt it's embarrassment she feels when her husband is drawn to romancing cartoon characters while she struggles to get some attention...
While I am joking, this could quite possibly be true.
OT: This is just such a Japanese thing, people are so constrained and distanced from each other that they only see real prospects of a social life in dating sims.
Also comes in handy with boring relationships
Heh, yeah I hear ya lol. I actually play them to keep up my J-skills. You get spoken dialogue plus text (in Japanese of course) at full, natural speed. Plus, it deals with regular every day stuff. I tried keeping my Japanese up to date playing Shinsangokumusou (Dynasty Warriors) but there's only so many times in your life you need to scream in Japanese "The enemy are taking the flag!!!"
WI finished the game in two days. I was so sunk into the story that I blew over 8 hours into it the first day, and ended up dating Emi who I would have completely forgotten didn't have legs if it didn't keep coming up, and if Hisao wasn't a massive derp and didn't connect a blatant plot element before it was spelled out to him.
The game is spectacular, and I'm legitimately disappointed by every single person here whose written it off as some porn riddled sex simulator WITH CRIPPLES.
The writing trumps most professional games. The characters and interactions are unique and compelling. The soundtrack is top of the line. The art is beautiful. I could go on about how I feel about this game after one route (actually two, but one was technically a bad end) but I won't, because I'm in a hurry to get out with my boyfriend. Everyone who thinks this game isn't worth it, play it. Now. I'll wait.
I too went with Emi (I have no idea how, I just ended up there), stopped thinking about she being... legless, didn't care at all about the sex-scenes seeing as they were pretty much as erotic as the sex in The Sims games and yeah, I got kind of pissed at Hisao for not understanding that one thing I understood after about 5 scenes with Emi.
I think it all came down to the fact that my ex lost her dad while we were together and therefore this story kind of got me attached really easily, and to be honest I actually found myself getting sad after hearing Emi's story, which I don't recall happening in any game before.
So yeah, this game is really good, unless you came for the "bisarre sex-fetishes" part of it, since there pretty much is none. Or well, I've only done one story, so I can't judge anything about the rest.
Meh. I can't stand the art style and the premise doesn't sound interesting to me at all. I'd rather skip it myself. As to opinions on the game regardless of me not playing it the game doesn't really matter to me. All sorts of games exist so why not this one? Doesn't hurt anything and the message isn't too bad I guess. Still seems kind of weird to me that all these types of disabilities are sent off to a single specialized school. If there are that many types of disabilities then it's usually a normal school setting. Seriously, my high school had kids with most of these disabilities. Except for the short limbs thing.
...And I still feel like the lead guy has no business at that school. There's girl with no legs, scarred girl, blind girl, mute girl, hyperactive/dumb (?) girl, guy with cane, girl with no hand and...guy who suffered a heart attack once and suffers from a condition that doesn't really come into play except once or twice. :/
While I was lurking 4LS forums a bit after the demo release back in 2009, one of the developers elaborated that the hero's heart condition was Low QT Syndrome.
Wiki it. It's fucking scary.
It is the inner demon he has to wrestle with after living a healthy life for 17-18 years, but now can't so much as break into a mad dash or be surprised by a prank... or make love, without being afraid of death at any moment, and he likely won't live nearly as long as anyone else. That's a pretty damn powerful "monster" he has to overcome.
Oh, I heard about that. I was actually looking at the Katawa Shoujo forums myself and there was a guy there who had the same disability. Now, I don't know how much of this is true, but he said that Hizuo's recovery time shouldn't have been that long despite what happened to him. It is also kinda weird that they operated on him when all he had was some sort of heart attack...unless they put something in him that was never mentioned.
Also, his disability isn't as bad since towards the end of the game, he learns to conquer it and it only comes into play like once or twice. The rest just feels like they need to mention it to remind everyone why he's there. His condition, if I understood correctly, doesn't go past being careful not to overdo himself. What he suffered was an extreme. Heck, if I read correctly, I might have the same problem myself, except not as bad. But it's not something that should be life changing. I just think they should have given him some sort of treatment/therapy before being all "Out of that hospital bed and off to school now!".
The only time it became serious during my playthrough was when...
Emi literally rams him in the chest and he feels pain. Then he starts running for the first time and he feels like he's about to pass out but he manages to control it. He doesn't even think about it when having sex with her and she only mentions it once casually. But do either one of them mention it again when they're having sex once again? No. You'd think that would have some sort of side effect on him...
I don't know. I get that he had a serious heart condition. But still, he's Superman compared to the other girls there...and he obviously has no problem with sex. But I digress. >_>;
White_Lama said:
I too went with Emi (I have no idea how, I just ended up there)
Right?! I was shooting for Lilly or...the girl that can't speak whose mane I can't remember right now, and BOOM! Next thing I knew, I was paired up with her. But it's fine now; I actually agree with the whole thing about the great script and the way the story is handled.
And yes, Hizao is just a big derp for not getting her family situation. I don't even think he got it until the moment she...took him to see her dad.
I ended up giving this VN a go out of recommendation.
I managed to get myself onto Rin's path and got the good ending for it and christ, it was one of the most emotionally/mentally draining things I have ever experienced.
Even days after post reflection I still cannot work out what I felt afterwards. Happy? Sad? I truly cannot place it, but it was definitely a feeling that no game has made me experience.
It's astonishing to me that something like this had such a profound impact on me, some of Rin's scenes were so heart wrenching difficult to sit through and I genuinely feel like the experience as a whole has made me start to seriously re-evaluate some of the aspects of my life.
I've gotten a fair laugh out of the people who've dismissed this VN as some sort of disgusting fetish fuel without even giving it a fair chance first. Sure, there's a couple H scenes but honestly? They're more to be taken as a scene of intimacy written in a book, that is, furthered development of the relationship between the two characters and it's a bit of a let down that people refuse to think about that.
Katawa Shoujo was probably one of the most emotionally rewarding things I've played for quite some time, so I say bravo Four Leaf Studios for making a VN about such a controversial topic and handling it in such a tasteful manner.
I downloaded it and I'm going to play it soon. But really, shame on those who automatically say that there's something wrong with this game specifically. To say it bluntly, art forms should be pushing the bounds of society.
For people who criticize this before even giving it a chance, it sounds more like you don't want stories to feature disabled characters. It's fine to be prejudice against certain groups of people, if that's how you truly feel, but don't hide the hate by saying you're "doing this for justice or good, etc." Ugh.
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