108: Heart-wrenching Hentai
- Thread starter Leigh Alexander
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Thank you very, very much.Before anything, i would like to say: Very nice article, and i hope this genre becomes a lot more known AND understood to the Western world, beacause most, if not all, of these types of games, are truly a must play for anyone of the appropriate age.
I had just finished playing Kana -Little Sister-, and...
All i can say is.. Wow... I never thought it possible, but there really is a game that wrings tears out of a man like a soaked sponge.
Yes, i've palyed a lot of different kinds of games. Yes, i have a life. And yes, i've had several H-games under my belt, most notably Yume Miru Kusuri. (IMO, Yume Miru has a better gameplay system, has voice acting, and nearly perfect translation, but Kana gets to be just as good (if not better) in terms of storyline.)
The six endings are indeed mind-haunting (since if the events in game were to happen in RL, the protagonist can possibly end up like that), and it brought me a feeling of accomplishment to have unlocked the ending in which Kana lives. *jumps in joy* Someone said somewhere in his review of the game... that Hitler would've become a missionary and donated his kidney to the Jews, had he had his copy of Kana Imouto.
Sure, i've had some problems with it, but none of them are too objectionable to even lose the slightest interest in playing this game - that is, unless you're some extremish Puritan/Christian/Catholic or too uncomfortable with any of the topics covered ingame, incest in particular. (as apparently Mr. EffTee is/was)
But remember, folks.. This is what fiction is all about. After all is said and done, after shedding all those tears and smiling with the characters in the story, it all boils down to THE PLAYER's desicion as to whether accept it as part of the story and NOT do it in reality, or go ahead and try it (which is of course wrong, but again, it is YOUR desicion.) If some n00b protagonist were to jump off a skyscraper to reach the next tower, anyone with enough sense to be called human knows better than to do it as well.
This game truly is a masterpiece, but there are a few things i don't really get about it. Why you don't have any option to to say no or resist doing "it" with Yumi, or not to drink in the first place? It just seems as if the storywriter really wanted to push that part to make it more dramatic, but i REALLY would have liked such an option (and yes, i'd resist if i was the guy)
The musical looping, i.e., the way the music is played ingame, was done badly (it's supposed to be continuous, but you hear it end and start again) but for games that were made at the time, it is excusable.
Lack of voice acting... I daresay this is also a strong point in games like this, but apparently they either didnt have the budget to do that, or they intentionally left it to the player to "imagine" that as well, which makes for a really absorbing experience. Either way, it's not really a big deal, though.
These issues might be addressed in the upcoming release of a new-improved version on the game, named Kana - Okaeri! - With basically the same story, but improved CG artwork and added voice acting; however, it has yet to be English-translated. And yet, i'm eagerly awaiting my copy, and all ready with another tissue box to boot.
My advice (And this especially goes out to those who still criticize the game without knowing what it really is all about): PLAY THIS GAME NOW, and criticize later, or we will just simply ignore your trolling with your Puritanistic rattling and being a total noob.
And if you do (and it also depends on what kind of person you are), I guarantee you won't regret it; although i will also hand out a warning: Play it only whan you have a lot of time to spare; a playthrough where you read all the text will take a lot of time (est.7-10 hours, depending on your read speed.. this game made me play it till early morn 3 times in a row), and you can only fastforward text that you have already read.
And, with all regards, i wish you Good Luck in unlocking all of the game~!
- General Starr
I had just finished playing Kana -Little Sister-, and...
All i can say is.. Wow... I never thought it possible, but there really is a game that wrings tears out of a man like a soaked sponge.
Yes, i've palyed a lot of different kinds of games. Yes, i have a life. And yes, i've had several H-games under my belt, most notably Yume Miru Kusuri. (IMO, Yume Miru has a better gameplay system, has voice acting, and nearly perfect translation, but Kana gets to be just as good (if not better) in terms of storyline.)
The six endings are indeed mind-haunting (since if the events in game were to happen in RL, the protagonist can possibly end up like that), and it brought me a feeling of accomplishment to have unlocked the ending in which Kana lives. *jumps in joy* Someone said somewhere in his review of the game... that Hitler would've become a missionary and donated his kidney to the Jews, had he had his copy of Kana Imouto.
Sure, i've had some problems with it, but none of them are too objectionable to even lose the slightest interest in playing this game - that is, unless you're some extremish Puritan/Christian/Catholic or too uncomfortable with any of the topics covered ingame, incest in particular. (as apparently Mr. EffTee is/was)
But remember, folks.. This is what fiction is all about. After all is said and done, after shedding all those tears and smiling with the characters in the story, it all boils down to THE PLAYER's desicion as to whether accept it as part of the story and NOT do it in reality, or go ahead and try it (which is of course wrong, but again, it is YOUR desicion.) If some n00b protagonist were to jump off a skyscraper to reach the next tower, anyone with enough sense to be called human knows better than to do it as well.
This game truly is a masterpiece, but there are a few things i don't really get about it. Why you don't have any option to to say no or resist doing "it" with Yumi, or not to drink in the first place? It just seems as if the storywriter really wanted to push that part to make it more dramatic, but i REALLY would have liked such an option (and yes, i'd resist if i was the guy)
The musical looping, i.e., the way the music is played ingame, was done badly (it's supposed to be continuous, but you hear it end and start again) but for games that were made at the time, it is excusable.
Lack of voice acting... I daresay this is also a strong point in games like this, but apparently they either didnt have the budget to do that, or they intentionally left it to the player to "imagine" that as well, which makes for a really absorbing experience. Either way, it's not really a big deal, though.
These issues might be addressed in the upcoming release of a new-improved version on the game, named Kana - Okaeri! - With basically the same story, but improved CG artwork and added voice acting; however, it has yet to be English-translated. And yet, i'm eagerly awaiting my copy, and all ready with another tissue box to boot.
My advice (And this especially goes out to those who still criticize the game without knowing what it really is all about): PLAY THIS GAME NOW, and criticize later, or we will just simply ignore your trolling with your Puritanistic rattling and being a total noob.
And if you do (and it also depends on what kind of person you are), I guarantee you won't regret it; although i will also hand out a warning: Play it only whan you have a lot of time to spare; a playthrough where you read all the text will take a lot of time (est.7-10 hours, depending on your read speed.. this game made me play it till early morn 3 times in a row), and you can only fastforward text that you have already read.
And, with all regards, i wish you Good Luck in unlocking all of the game~!
- General Starr
This is true and the Yaoi genre has a large female following in itself, and Yaoi Hentai games are specifically targeted to a female audience. Hell, a friend of my girlfriend, is obsessed with hentai involving young boys.Vortigar said:
I find it odd that we're perfectly accepting of men being perverse creatures, but yet we don't want to imagine that women are just as capable of being just as perverted. Have you people even seen "Two Girls One Cup?" (And if you haven't DO NOT look it up, you've been warned.)
Well written article, it's casts quite the positive light on the subject that I've personally never heard or thought of before.
What's really interesting is how a woman wrote this, it's not that I don't think that a man is INCAPABLE of writing an introspective on porn games, but the truth is that the audience this is aimed at, lonely shut in gamers, don't really care about this (at least in the United States, h-games can get...personal...to some uber-hardcore Japanese gamers). The bottom line is that a lot american gamers would never admit to ever having HEARD of these kinds of games.
Why?
We live a in a post-victorian society where sex is still taboo. It's used to sell cologne, hamburgers, clothing and video games. We accept sex, but only as a rejection of the uptight, prudent standards of many in our society and previous generations. No gamer would want to admit to playing Kana Little Sister or 'Do You Like Horny Bunnies?' It's gross and vilifying. We don't want the label of the lonely pathetic shut in who masturbates constantly to images of women who don't exist, afraid to engage in the real thing. To a degree this coincides with this article, it's the perfect archetype and personification of what we are and what we want out of romance. We want the feeling of commitment, playing to basic male instincts of wanting to be the one who passes his genes, proving superiority, and we want the feelings of having a beautiful girlfriend with this ideal, perfect circumstance that creates the relationship.
At the end of the day, we as image conscious consumers and users of internet culture tend to single out and alienate the 'pervs' we must be models of intellectual prowess and will. We must be able to solve any problems, be it computer, mathematical or a simple puzzle in a video game. We must be so secure with ourselves that we are above 'playing' h-games, we must be overmen.
But we all know that's not possible, no one is so secure that they don't have to even talk to women cause they're so secure, no one has so absolute will over their hormones they don't knock out some knuckle children occasionally.
It shouldn't have to be so psychological, we live in a society, be it the Fox News paragon of society John Wayne terrorist killing Christin or the smartarse internet weeaboo whose value is directly proportional to their number of posts on a message board. We should enjoy sex, it feels good and can be a great thing between two people, it's shouldn't be a topic where anyone who admits to enjoying it is a pariah and anyone who speaks frankly about it is somehow brave.
The H-Game has a story, be it romantic or rape-fantasy, to make it so you justify it in your own head and to make it feel real...because you're not supposed to enjoy sex for sex, you need to either have a fetish or justification behind it.
Sexuality is complicated because people make it complicated, because we want it to be complicated. The problems occur when we as a society, the online/gamer/otaku/fanboy society starts to have weird double standards and stops being honest.
"Sex is overrated, cause there's nothing more satisfying than a good bowel movement." - Sam Clemens
I might be a little jaded, but I personally don't think an h-game could ever possibly have a story that's...heart wrenching...I enjoy a great love story, some Russian classics, some shojou, all kinds...but every h-game I've ever 'played' is just little more than macho stereotype playing BS. The kinda thing a desperate suit wearing businessman would do with a hooker...sorry if that seems nasty, but I find it hard to believe that a game made to be sold based on cup size can have any real legitimate story that isn't either self-depricating or just silly tounge-in-cheek humor.
What's really interesting is how a woman wrote this, it's not that I don't think that a man is INCAPABLE of writing an introspective on porn games, but the truth is that the audience this is aimed at, lonely shut in gamers, don't really care about this (at least in the United States, h-games can get...personal...to some uber-hardcore Japanese gamers). The bottom line is that a lot american gamers would never admit to ever having HEARD of these kinds of games.
Why?
We live a in a post-victorian society where sex is still taboo. It's used to sell cologne, hamburgers, clothing and video games. We accept sex, but only as a rejection of the uptight, prudent standards of many in our society and previous generations. No gamer would want to admit to playing Kana Little Sister or 'Do You Like Horny Bunnies?' It's gross and vilifying. We don't want the label of the lonely pathetic shut in who masturbates constantly to images of women who don't exist, afraid to engage in the real thing. To a degree this coincides with this article, it's the perfect archetype and personification of what we are and what we want out of romance. We want the feeling of commitment, playing to basic male instincts of wanting to be the one who passes his genes, proving superiority, and we want the feelings of having a beautiful girlfriend with this ideal, perfect circumstance that creates the relationship.
At the end of the day, we as image conscious consumers and users of internet culture tend to single out and alienate the 'pervs' we must be models of intellectual prowess and will. We must be able to solve any problems, be it computer, mathematical or a simple puzzle in a video game. We must be so secure with ourselves that we are above 'playing' h-games, we must be overmen.
But we all know that's not possible, no one is so secure that they don't have to even talk to women cause they're so secure, no one has so absolute will over their hormones they don't knock out some knuckle children occasionally.
It shouldn't have to be so psychological, we live in a society, be it the Fox News paragon of society John Wayne terrorist killing Christin or the smartarse internet weeaboo whose value is directly proportional to their number of posts on a message board. We should enjoy sex, it feels good and can be a great thing between two people, it's shouldn't be a topic where anyone who admits to enjoying it is a pariah and anyone who speaks frankly about it is somehow brave.
The H-Game has a story, be it romantic or rape-fantasy, to make it so you justify it in your own head and to make it feel real...because you're not supposed to enjoy sex for sex, you need to either have a fetish or justification behind it.
Sexuality is complicated because people make it complicated, because we want it to be complicated. The problems occur when we as a society, the online/gamer/otaku/fanboy society starts to have weird double standards and stops being honest.
"Sex is overrated, cause there's nothing more satisfying than a good bowel movement." - Sam Clemens
I might be a little jaded, but I personally don't think an h-game could ever possibly have a story that's...heart wrenching...I enjoy a great love story, some Russian classics, some shojou, all kinds...but every h-game I've ever 'played' is just little more than macho stereotype playing BS. The kinda thing a desperate suit wearing businessman would do with a hooker...sorry if that seems nasty, but I find it hard to believe that a game made to be sold based on cup size can have any real legitimate story that isn't either self-depricating or just silly tounge-in-cheek humor.
While most of it is drawn-out or "has a story" to the same degree a porn movie can have a story, some seems to have more effort behind them, or even be well-written and interesting.
One example is Fate/Stay Night which got a ps2-version with the sex scenes removed. That has to be a label of quality if any. It also got its own anime series. Same goes for the writers previous work, Tsukihime, which is sort of a horror tale. It's been translated by mirrormoon, and on request they made a patch to remove the sex scenes (in both cases they are extremely limited even before and take up perhaps 1/1000 of the total text... I'm not sure really ~~).
Some of the most famous anime drama series are based on h-games, like Kimi ga Nozumo Eien.
That said, most of the material coming out of the h-game ooze is complete crap, and if people are in general afraid that games will hurt the minds of the players I think this is a genre that actually deserves that critique. The few games (for example a game called... Princess General 2 I think?) have excellent gameplay elements (in that case a very advanced strategy rpg) that leaves you wonderig why it couldn't have stood on its own.
One example is Fate/Stay Night which got a ps2-version with the sex scenes removed. That has to be a label of quality if any. It also got its own anime series. Same goes for the writers previous work, Tsukihime, which is sort of a horror tale. It's been translated by mirrormoon, and on request they made a patch to remove the sex scenes (in both cases they are extremely limited even before and take up perhaps 1/1000 of the total text... I'm not sure really ~~).
Some of the most famous anime drama series are based on h-games, like Kimi ga Nozumo Eien.
That said, most of the material coming out of the h-game ooze is complete crap, and if people are in general afraid that games will hurt the minds of the players I think this is a genre that actually deserves that critique. The few games (for example a game called... Princess General 2 I think?) have excellent gameplay elements (in that case a very advanced strategy rpg) that leaves you wonderig why it couldn't have stood on its own.
While the rest of what you said was quite well thought out and such this part caused me to stop for a moment. I think it's my own jaded-ness in that I am the antithesis of an absolutist such that I believe that no general description of any category is 100% (which is exactly what you said). Why should it be impossible for something like an h-game to have an excellent story? Sure, most of the stuff is, "a dark depressing sea of vomit," but there certainly is/was/will be a sparkling diamond in there at some point in time.SanitysRequiem said:
Please take a read on my earlier post.SanitysRequiem said:
Yep, I let my workmates know that i play these kinds of games, and demoed it to them on my laptop. The next day, they're like..
"Can i get a copy or something, or can i at least try playing it?"
And that's not just one person. Even a manager and two females. That's beacause they were properly informed.
As some people say.. there's a first time for everything. People tend to think of things they do not know well as "bad" or "no sense risking it" without even giving some thought for a second to get to know what it really is all about. After reading all that, i ask: Have you EVEN PLAYED the game in question?
And this game, Kana.. you can opt NOT to do 'it' with her in the game; you probably had your first as a really crappy or really extreme type of game.
The 'labeling' you are talking about is only an impression of people who do not know ANYTHING about the subject, being total noobs. People like me play these games NOT FOR THE EROTIC CONTENT (we may consider it a side dish of sorts), but FOR THE STORY. Let me ask: Has there ever been a Box Office movie about a brother with a terminally ill sister, with the brother willing to do anthing for her, even love her as a woman, in the same way she loves him since childhood? And holding it back so much to the point they both suffer emotional pain, only to find out she's adopted? (Sorry for the spoilers) I will certainly bet my top dollar that Hollywood dreamed or can only dream of pulling off such a thing.
Well, that is, unless Spielberg accidentally or somehow plays Kana Imouto.. and gets a license pronto to make a multimillion-dollar movie out of it. *LOL*
As i have said before, at least try playing this game. (If you want, i can help you acquire it by my methods, since this game is said to be out of print, but still available for purchase online) And unless you don't have any capability of felling emotional or lack imagination, i can definitely say you WILL take back what you have said about an H-game unable to make you cry you heart out, or at least shed a tear. I did. Many times, in fact.
And I NEVER regret it at all. I don't regret the other fact that these games take some hard disk space; they are so worth it. (typically in the less than 450 MB to 1.5 GB range)
I do play normal games; games where elite micro skills count a lot, where speed, timing and accuracy is a must, and the only thing that matters is winning and 'owning' your opponent. (something like, i'll have your base in 5 minutes, maybe even less.. "no rush" is for noobs)
The visual novel genre is a different ballpark than these, but they give a sense of accomplishment that you may not have thought possible. Sure, you can nuke the hell out of your opponent in Generals Zero Hour, but getting all the choices right to get the best ending/s in Yume Miru Kusuri or Kana is much more rewarding than getting a double kill in Halo 3 with supersonic flying traffic cones. (Yes, it happens, beacause i was a victim of those cones once. Just look it up on Youtube.)
Sorry for repeating myself, but remeber that these are works of FICTION. Yes, they are'nt real; but they are something that can teach us valuable lessons in real life - lessons that no first-person shooter or arcade game can give, and just maybe, can help us appreciate life and other people more. After all is said, read & done, and the ending credits roll, it is left to you, the player, to decide what to do about what you have seen and learnt.
And, besides, you have to be 18+, or at least, have the right state of mind, to really play these games, learn about what happens in the story, and understand WHY.
Stats (H-Game division)
Pia Carrot 3: 97.5% unlocked CGs (1 Day, 4 hours 12 minutes total)
Yume Miru Kusuri: 100% unlocked (6 hours, 35 minutes total)
Kana Imouto & Kana Okaeri (Japanese Remake): 100% Unlocked CGs, 5/6 Endings Unlocked (1 day, 15 hours, 27 minutes total)
Notes: None of this time is considered wasted!
There's another two cents.. i hope you enjoy.
You see something in the story that most people don't of course. But the bottom line is that if you want to read a book, read a book. On that, you can't really call these games, cause like you said they're interactive novels. I don't really feel the need to respond to the emotions thing cause different things move people in different ways, that's part of being human.
What I didn't say that I should have is what bugs me about 'nice' h-games like Kana is the ambiguity, you could nail half the nurses in the hospital or declare your love for one girl. The ability to choose to either have sex or not, seems like a cop-out, if this were a love story, either it happens or it doesn't, that's up to the author. Giving the reader the ability to choose makes the game seem like a it's just another fetish game, getting off by not having sex with the weak, innocent little girl. Maybe you do, maybe you don't, but these games are meant for sexual gratification, maybe they have deep, moving, tear-wrenching stories, but wouldn't those be better off told in a context where they were sold next to His and Her Circumstances...not 'Let's have a 3-way with my mother!'?
My point was there doesn't have to be ambiguity, you like love stories? Read, watch, play love stories. You wanna get your jollies? Play an h-game.
I haven't played Kana, I knew the story ahead of time...but it was WAAAAAY too creepy for me to even want to touch it.
"The only abnormal sex is no sex." - Freud
Except when it's either rape or incest...that's just not cool.
What I didn't say that I should have is what bugs me about 'nice' h-games like Kana is the ambiguity, you could nail half the nurses in the hospital or declare your love for one girl. The ability to choose to either have sex or not, seems like a cop-out, if this were a love story, either it happens or it doesn't, that's up to the author. Giving the reader the ability to choose makes the game seem like a it's just another fetish game, getting off by not having sex with the weak, innocent little girl. Maybe you do, maybe you don't, but these games are meant for sexual gratification, maybe they have deep, moving, tear-wrenching stories, but wouldn't those be better off told in a context where they were sold next to His and Her Circumstances...not 'Let's have a 3-way with my mother!'?
My point was there doesn't have to be ambiguity, you like love stories? Read, watch, play love stories. You wanna get your jollies? Play an h-game.
I haven't played Kana, I knew the story ahead of time...but it was WAAAAAY too creepy for me to even want to touch it.
"The only abnormal sex is no sex." - Freud
Except when it's either rape or incest...that's just not cool.
It seems you are mixing the media forms. Visual novels mix some elements of games with novels that is based around the story instead of the gameplay (merely in terms of the format itself that you seem to have a problem with), and h-games just add in *quote* adult *end quote* material. Sure, people get off on that, in fact, that's the major focus behind most of the games but, again, there is nothing that is absolute about any stereotype. Your own admittion that you are unwilling to play it kind of cuts off your own argument a little short of reasonable, since you aren't even willing to understand. I, myself, haven't played the game, but I'd be more than willing to see for myself what's going on on the inside to verify the good reviews that people have been giving it.
And I think we already went over the incest *thing* we keep getting at (understandably). Rape, on the other hand, is a *VERY* different story.
"Quoting other people makes me sound unoriginal." -my brother.
Especially when it is taken out of context in both quot*ing* and the rest of what you have said.
And I think we already went over the incest *thing* we keep getting at (understandably). Rape, on the other hand, is a *VERY* different story.
"Quoting other people makes me sound unoriginal." -my brother.
Especially when it is taken out of context in both quot*ing* and the rest of what you have said.
Just because the story ends up with you not being related, doesn't mean people don't get off on incest. You missed my point anyway, the reason I don't want to play it and pretty much any h-game for that matter is because of the ambiguity, telling some faux "love" story as an excuse for sex scenes. It's just ambiguous and silly, as the old saying goes, I came for the story, I stayed for the tentacle rape.
"Quoting people is good because someone else already said it better than I ever could, so why try to out do them?"
"Quoting people is good because someone else already said it better than I ever could, so why try to out do them?"
Greetings.
I'm new here. Only came to know the website from Yahtzee reviews, to be honest. The other day I stumbled in this review, while checking the site. And I'm glad I did. Had to download the game, unfortunately (My country is hush hush about "hentai"), for it's worth every penny it costs. Great review, by the way, and excuse me if my english is unpolished from time to time ^^
Anyway, onto the matter at hands. Kana - Little Sister. Well, yes, it's a hentai game. And yes, it has an incestual-death theme. I'm aware that these simple facts will make all hell break loose with most people. Their loss, says I.
Kana is much more then a game. It's art. And like every other artistic piece, it tells a story. And damn, it's a memorable one. Heart-wrenching is an understatement.
Let's put all prejudice crap on a corner and leave it to rot, shall we? Only then you'll be able to aprecciate what this game is, to it's full extent. Morality is a method we created to label things to be "Good" or "Bad". Not to enter into philosophy crap, but the world is far from being black and white. The gray area is unquestionably bigger then any of those two.
If asked, any one of us would say no to incest. Thing is, why not? Because society told us it was wrong? Society once told us it was wrong to have sex before marriage. Hell, society made us choose between being religious or being dead.
Morality is everchanging, so do not cloud your mind with it. Ignorance never led us anywhere. Not to say that abiding to morality = ignorance, but we should be open to new things.
About the game, it does not matter what audience it targeted. It's a storytelling masterpiece, hentai or not. It pulls you into the story like no other game, and it just pokes your emotions right through to the end. It has an undeniable charm to it, and an amazing plot. Should it be punished for having adult material? Heck no. By no means it makes the game worse. It appeals more perverts? Probably, but does the game suffer due to it? No.
And if anyone is dumb enough to reduce this game to a "pervert hentai incest game", he should be slapped in exact moment he does that. With the internet slapping machine. Or a trout ^^
I bid my farewell!
I'm new here. Only came to know the website from Yahtzee reviews, to be honest. The other day I stumbled in this review, while checking the site. And I'm glad I did. Had to download the game, unfortunately (My country is hush hush about "hentai"), for it's worth every penny it costs. Great review, by the way, and excuse me if my english is unpolished from time to time ^^
Anyway, onto the matter at hands. Kana - Little Sister. Well, yes, it's a hentai game. And yes, it has an incestual-death theme. I'm aware that these simple facts will make all hell break loose with most people. Their loss, says I.
Kana is much more then a game. It's art. And like every other artistic piece, it tells a story. And damn, it's a memorable one. Heart-wrenching is an understatement.
Let's put all prejudice crap on a corner and leave it to rot, shall we? Only then you'll be able to aprecciate what this game is, to it's full extent. Morality is a method we created to label things to be "Good" or "Bad". Not to enter into philosophy crap, but the world is far from being black and white. The gray area is unquestionably bigger then any of those two.
If asked, any one of us would say no to incest. Thing is, why not? Because society told us it was wrong? Society once told us it was wrong to have sex before marriage. Hell, society made us choose between being religious or being dead.
Morality is everchanging, so do not cloud your mind with it. Ignorance never led us anywhere. Not to say that abiding to morality = ignorance, but we should be open to new things.
About the game, it does not matter what audience it targeted. It's a storytelling masterpiece, hentai or not. It pulls you into the story like no other game, and it just pokes your emotions right through to the end. It has an undeniable charm to it, and an amazing plot. Should it be punished for having adult material? Heck no. By no means it makes the game worse. It appeals more perverts? Probably, but does the game suffer due to it? No.
And if anyone is dumb enough to reduce this game to a "pervert hentai incest game", he should be slapped in exact moment he does that. With the internet slapping machine. Or a trout ^^
I bid my farewell!
Another person here joining the forum to engage in this discussion. Kana's one of my favourite pieces of media, and it's good to see it being discussed more widely. (Although when I was linked to the Escapist to see an article on it, I briefly got a image of a Zero Punctuation review of it, which would be rather hilarious.)
I'll admit, when one of my friends first mentioned Kana, the idea seemed somewhat repellant to me. I hadn't yet experienced the world of hentai, and with a title including "Little Sister", the first reaction of the unenlightened is one of shock. At least, it certainly was in my case. But as he praised the storytelling, I decided to give it a go.
I was astonished, to say the least. The story was wonderfully written, and as an introduction to the visual novel format, there's none finer, from my point of view. Good music, beautiful CG, but the best thing was the characters. Through the course of the story, you really do empathise with them. It becomes more than the average game, to the point where I'd be sat in front of it for huge chunks of time.
So, given that I'd never had an interest in hentai, and the title shocked me so, you could assume reasonably that I'd have avoided that side of the relationship and gone for a safer option. But you'd be wrong. As Kana's time slipped away, I (as Taka) attempted to give her the best time she could have, from that amazing, sublime scene on the beach, to - yes - the sex scene. I wasn't attempting to see it for a sexual thrill, but simply because it seemed a natural conclusion. They were two people that loved each other, and this could help to make them happy.
And given the ending that I got, in which an message left by the then-deceased Kana revealed how happy she had been in her remaining time, I was pleased to do so. Of course, that didn't stop me crying like a baby as a result. The storytelling was that good. I've never had such a reaction to a piece of media.
Since playing Kana, I've also played through D.O.'s other games, Crescendo and Snow Sakura. The thing that got me with Crescendo was that it was very much a sex-geared story. The characters seemed less subtle in that respect, none more so than Yuka, who you first encounter having sex in a classroom. Which leads to the conclusion that applies to Snow Sakura and especially to Kana, and the primary reason that I like them. They're not sex-based stories. They're stories in which sex happens to occur.
It's interesting how we react to sex as a culture. We've got little or no qualms about violence in games as a whole, sawing through hordes of zombies with blood spattering on the screen with relative calm and almost disinterest, outside of a few notable lawyers and parent groups. But a game in which two people who love each other happen to have sex despite some cultural barriers, it produces a rather different reaction.
Sex is a part of life, and it seems folly to me to categorise Kana based on the fact that it contains it. I mean, yes, it is a hentai game in terms of release. But it occurs to me that it couldn't really be shown in any other genre. And its success lies in the fact that it goes beyond the regular hentai genre, and pushes the sexual aspect not exactly to the sidelines, but out of the limelight. The plot is the center of Kana, and not the hentai.
Recently, I decided to give the h-game 'Discipline' a try, given that it seemed so hilariously stuffed with characters from a summary of the game, and I wondered how they were able to do it. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of any semblance of a plot. I played through quickly to see if there was a satisfactory ending (the answer was no), and then deleted it. It's this kind of game that Kana throws to the wayside. Rather than throwing in a sex scene every five lines of dialogue or so to keep the masturbators happy, Kana told its story, and put in the sex scenes where it was thought they were needed.
I'll admit, when one of my friends first mentioned Kana, the idea seemed somewhat repellant to me. I hadn't yet experienced the world of hentai, and with a title including "Little Sister", the first reaction of the unenlightened is one of shock. At least, it certainly was in my case. But as he praised the storytelling, I decided to give it a go.
I was astonished, to say the least. The story was wonderfully written, and as an introduction to the visual novel format, there's none finer, from my point of view. Good music, beautiful CG, but the best thing was the characters. Through the course of the story, you really do empathise with them. It becomes more than the average game, to the point where I'd be sat in front of it for huge chunks of time.
So, given that I'd never had an interest in hentai, and the title shocked me so, you could assume reasonably that I'd have avoided that side of the relationship and gone for a safer option. But you'd be wrong. As Kana's time slipped away, I (as Taka) attempted to give her the best time she could have, from that amazing, sublime scene on the beach, to - yes - the sex scene. I wasn't attempting to see it for a sexual thrill, but simply because it seemed a natural conclusion. They were two people that loved each other, and this could help to make them happy.
And given the ending that I got, in which an message left by the then-deceased Kana revealed how happy she had been in her remaining time, I was pleased to do so. Of course, that didn't stop me crying like a baby as a result. The storytelling was that good. I've never had such a reaction to a piece of media.
Since playing Kana, I've also played through D.O.'s other games, Crescendo and Snow Sakura. The thing that got me with Crescendo was that it was very much a sex-geared story. The characters seemed less subtle in that respect, none more so than Yuka, who you first encounter having sex in a classroom. Which leads to the conclusion that applies to Snow Sakura and especially to Kana, and the primary reason that I like them. They're not sex-based stories. They're stories in which sex happens to occur.
It's interesting how we react to sex as a culture. We've got little or no qualms about violence in games as a whole, sawing through hordes of zombies with blood spattering on the screen with relative calm and almost disinterest, outside of a few notable lawyers and parent groups. But a game in which two people who love each other happen to have sex despite some cultural barriers, it produces a rather different reaction.
Sex is a part of life, and it seems folly to me to categorise Kana based on the fact that it contains it. I mean, yes, it is a hentai game in terms of release. But it occurs to me that it couldn't really be shown in any other genre. And its success lies in the fact that it goes beyond the regular hentai genre, and pushes the sexual aspect not exactly to the sidelines, but out of the limelight. The plot is the center of Kana, and not the hentai.
Recently, I decided to give the h-game 'Discipline' a try, given that it seemed so hilariously stuffed with characters from a summary of the game, and I wondered how they were able to do it. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of any semblance of a plot. I played through quickly to see if there was a satisfactory ending (the answer was no), and then deleted it. It's this kind of game that Kana throws to the wayside. Rather than throwing in a sex scene every five lines of dialogue or so to keep the masturbators happy, Kana told its story, and put in the sex scenes where it was thought they were needed.