I want to see Qwerty and Swallow play this game

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Yeah Emi made some sense because he would get healthier. But I still place her 3rd. Actually finished her arc first but I just found her story to be somewhat predictable. Rin was ok but her personality was so abstract that it had me wondering the sanity of the protagonist. Story just didn't flow that well. Shizune I played last. Glad I did cause yeah it was just wtf ending.

[Plasmarobo]

Shizune freaks me out.

Look at what she did to Hisao: she tied hum up and raped him just because she was bored, made it look like a romantic surprise and got away with it. Hisao could have died since he has a weak heart, but Shizune does not care. She is like a Ayn Rand character stuck on a Kawaii world.

Wait wait wait.

You guys... are playing a game about rape?

That's...not even a little cool.

[Sailorman]

Shizune freaks me out.

Look at what she did to Hisao: she tied hum up and raped him just because she was bored, made it look like a romantic surprise and got away with it. Hisao could have died since he has a weak heart, but Shizune does not care. She is like a Ayn Rand character stuck on a Kawaii world.

Wait wait wait.

You guys... are playing a game about rape?

That's...not even a little cool.

Relax man,

My post is a small inside joke to those who played the game, there's no rape. _probably

Katawa Shoujo  at a first glance raises several red flags, after all it is a Visual Novel about handicapped girls that started on 4chan. But actualy its a very well written and tactful.

KS is very interesting, the characters have life and the dialog can be amusing, but the story is very formulaic,  it is a classic monomythic coming of age tale, you know the drill:

Young lad lives a normal life, but then something happens, in this case a heart disease, and he is forced to go to a new world, in this case a special school. There he finds new freedoms and new trials, meet new friends and foes. Then he meets a special someone that challenges him on new ways, then there is sex as rite of passage, then there's a trial of fire and finally the lad becomes a man and it is time to return home and back to the known world. And the story ends.

This post getting way bigger than necessary, so I'll end it. I tend to get carried away when discussing medias that I like.

[Wazulu]

So, reading this thread, I braced myself for the madness of this game. So far, I've completed a fully successful Emi arc, and I'm somewhere in Shizune's Arc now. Besides the shed episode, which was 'interesting', my main problem is the sheer time investment in the game. Her Arc took me a good 4 hours, and I don't think I can play anything near Qwerty's fully complete run. The Skip feature's a blessing, but surely if you're playing one of these games you want to read each dialogue sequence. I'm still on the fence for this one, considering the Arc I've just played through, but I leave it 'til I've finished Shizune's to decide to go for another Arc, or just to call quits and get back to heavy-input games.

[Qwerty Kun]

Wazulu if I can make a recommendation. Stop shizunes path right now, it is highly disappointing (at least compared to the other paths in the game)

If you want the best experience for your time go play Hanako's path, the level of beauty in that story arch is amazing.

Btw katawa shoujo is slated as a medium length VN taking about 50 hours to 100%. Longest VN I have played is 'If my heart had wings' which is rumoured to take about 120 hours to 100%.

[Charon]

You know, guys, I think we could do better. I really do. Let's break it down, grab all the screenshots we need to cut out these characters, and turn this into a game we can all really get behind.

Something where you can woo the girl of your dreams, get rejected but only a little, not enough to make you run off

And then when you finally break down that wall and corner the object of your affections

You can mount her fucking head on a spike

[Squidslinger Gilder]

May need to look up guides to get all the routes. Couple of them are rough if left to trial and error.

[Wazulu]

Gilder, man, save states. Spam like a king. Also, the game helps you out so much. It even says, in a sort of 'inside the mind of the character' "I shouldn't of done that" or "perhaps running after her was a bad idea". In that case re load the savestate at the choice.

EDIT: Oh, and looking at the game, each character only has a handful of positions and emotes, so in terms of production cost, it wouldn't be that much of a deal in comparison to any other form of game. The only simpler form of entertainment is a 'Choose your path' book. You'd just need a committed artist, writer and programmer with some simple software. Heck, Sunder, we could probably make a low-level version of one of these games. It would be terrible, and would of course include many references, but the community'd probably be able to make it.

[Qwerty Kun]

Warning wazulu, the bad endings make you feel like a REAL douche.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Yeah the game helps you, you don't have to be Katsuragi Keima to figure it out, but there is an order to do some of them and if you miss one step it kills you. I hit the bad end a few times trying to get Hanako's route after I did Emi. Emi is pretty easy. Her flags are very simple. Run with her...the end. Although Emi does have one traumatic sequence which you might hit bad end if you aren't careful. But yeah save often.

[Wazulu]

Ah, was that the 'Follow her into the kitchen' or 'speak with her mother' one? I'll admit, I followed, then reloaded and chose the other option. Oh, finished the Shizune arc- is the Misha part always impossible to refuse? Despite what Qwerty said, I think I may call it a day on this one, or maybe just do Hanako's and finish there. I'm just too lazy to read all the dialogue, and I then miss subtle plot points as well. Interesting game, but I think it's got a couple of unneeded scenes and moments. That, and the dialogue needs to have liposuction.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

No you can refuse the Misha route. Just do a search for a guide and you'll find one which gives you all the routes, good ends and bad ends.

[Qwerty Kun]

You have to enjoy reading to enjoy VN's. I only do it when I want something different for a day, or I'm feeling mellow.

Do yourself a favour, just find a guide and do Hanako's

[Sailorman]

Gilder, man, save states. Spam like a king. Also, the game helps you out so much. It even says, in a sort of 'inside the mind of the character' "I shouldn't of done that" or "perhaps running after her was a bad idea". In that case re load the savestate at the choice.

EDIT: Oh, and looking at the game, each character only has a handful of positions and emotes, so in terms of production cost, it wouldn't be that much of a deal in comparison to any other form of game. The only simpler form of entertainment is a 'Choose your path' book. You'd just need a committed artist, writer and programmer with some simple software. Heck, Sunder, we could probably make a low-level version of one of these games. It would be terrible, and would of course include many references, but the community'd probably be able to make it.

If you want to create a VN this link is for you:
http://www.renpy.org/

Its the same software that the folks at 4 Leaf Studio used to create Katawa Shoujo, its very simple to use.

[Qwerty Kun]

Oh. My. God.

NO! NO!

OH GOD RESIST THE URGE TO MAKE A GoIO VN!!!!!

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!