Disabled Girl Dating Sim Katawa Shoujo Finally Available

[VanQ]

I'm actually of the opinion that Kenji is there only to provide you with the Act 1 Bad Ending if you fail to "open" a path for the other girls

Spoiler

In which you end up on a "MANLY picnic" on the roof, get drunk and accidentally kill yourself

That said, past Act 2 for any route Kenji becomes less prevalent and at rare times even considerate.

Yeah, that was a downer. I was aiming for the Rin route (out of curiosity more than anything else. I'll play again later, this time aiming for Emi, who I think makes more sense for HIsao, given his character). Unfortunately, one wrong choice led me to that bad ending. I had to search online for a graph that showed me where I'd gone wrong. All I can say is the developers did good making that 'skip' option.

The skip read text option is pretty much standard fare among Visual Novels. When you have multiple routes to each that are as long as a single, typical western game, it's kind of necessary.
You have no idea how difficult it is to get the true ending in Steins;Gate, which basically requires you to not use the skip button. And a lot of other annoying shit. Totally worth it though.

 

[Paragon Fury]

I kind of want to play this, but after I couldn't help but laugh at some of the terrible jokes someone I knew made about it, I'm not sure I would be able to do it justice.

 

[Shadowcreed]

Just finished going trough Rin's route - now that's some story, I'm at a loss for words at how astonishingly well this was written.

EDIT:

I wonder though.. Does this kind of novel appeal to women as well? I'm thinking about forwarding it to a friend of mine but I'm not quite sure she could be engaged by it as much as I was. That damn thing too nearly 6 hours to read!

 

[stefman]

People were actually waiting for something like this? Dating sims always came across as creepy and stupid to me, but this one is just taking the piss.

Edit: Actually, I wanna know why all of the physically disabled people are all in the one class. I bet there's some strange reason for that in the game.

I've never really played one but this strikes me as basically a graphic novel with multiple endings. I dunno, maybe try it before just to understand what it is. I'm kinda curious, but also a little apprehensive. I know the kin of things japan is capable of...

 

[Lunar Shadow]

Just finished going trough Rin's route - now that's some story, I'm at a loss for words at how astonishingly well this was written.

EDIT:

I wonder though.. Does this kind of novel appeal to women as well? I'm thinking about forwarding it to a friend of mine but I'm not quite sure she could be engaged by it as much as I was. That damn thing too nearly 6 hours to read!

Considering a woman was the one that got me into it, I would think there is some appeal.

Also: I love this game. Recently completed Hanako's good ending and wanted to cry near the end it was so touching. I can't bring myself to do the bad ending because of it.

 

[Uliana]

I've never really played one but this strikes me as basically a graphic novel with multiple endings. I dunno, maybe try it before just to understand what it is. I'm kinda curious, but also a little apprehensive. I know the kin of things japan is capable of...

Considering it's not made in Japan, I don't think you have much to worry about. And yes, graphic novel with multiple endings is one of the better ways to describe it.

 

[Shadowcreed]

Just finished going trough Rin's route - now that's some story, I'm at a loss for words at how astonishingly well this was written.

EDIT:

I wonder though.. Does this kind of novel appeal to women as well? I'm thinking about forwarding it to a friend of mine but I'm not quite sure she could be engaged by it as much as I was. That damn thing too nearly 6 hours to read!

Considering a woman was the one that got me into it, I would think there is some appeal.

Also: I love this game. Recently completed Hanako's good ending and wanted to cry near the end it was so touching. I can't bring myself to do the bad ending because of it.

Alright I'll see if I can warm her up for it ^^

I can really recommend Rin's storyline - Its immensely deep, even managed to lay awake at night thinking it over, good 4 hour steady read before hesitatingly went off to bed

 

[Duruznik]

I can really recommend Rin's storyline - Its immensely deep, even managed to lay awake at night thinking it over, good 4 hour steady read before hesitatingly went off to bed

Seconded. I finished it moments ago.

I originally went into Rin's storyline out of curiosity, and was actually planning to skim through it and then move on to one of the others that I felt were more in-character for the main hero. Man, was I in for a suprise. Holy. Hell. I mean, wow. Talk about a mind screw. Brilliantly done, beautifully written, and perfectly put-together.

 

[s0p0g]

oy vey.

now, THIS is a tough one. first i thought "wtf?!".
then i thought "hell, why not, if i can let sims burn in their kitchen or trap them in their swimming pool, this surely ain't wrong either"
then i thought "ooh, now that's a good idea for a game - if it's ok to romance blue aliens or Miss Spandex slash Leather-and-Lace-after-personal-quest 2010 in a scifi setting, then this must be most right. why exclude characters who had some pretty tough luck (besides their parents being killed by orks or having to save the world from a hugely gigantic enormous seemingly unstoppable but no our hero will do it exclamation mark threat), so they were born or got handicapped somehow, from games?"
by not shunning yet another part of any big-ish society/large number of people (besides including women who do not have EE-cups. sometimes. if you have a really open minded developer. no, none comes to mind. EDIT: what about Bastila, KoTOR I? if memory serves she looked pretty normal, frame/figure wise, rite? pretty face, of course, but no unhealthy large udders on their chest) and focusing on 100%, grade A, money back guaranteed, absolutely totally and completely normal teenage interaction (haven't played it, but that's what i hope. something like: your average boy-meets-girl, boy-likes-girl, boy-changes-the-underlying-social-order story. cookie for reference.) instead of listening to very funny jokes like "*women being raped by alien*: you're fucked."
it can only broaden the horizon of people, right?
i mean, at worst the game is uninteresting for you because normal interaction with (physically) handicapped people is, well, normal to you.
but at best it could show someone "oh right, THEY! are normal people with normal human interaction, surprisingly including liking the other gender (no space zombie demons with tentacles which the protagobitch enjoys (if she's lucky and the "artist" does not get wet dreams of tentacle-rape-hentai) having wrapped all around her), too" - yes, sometimes i am both naive and hopelessly romantic-optimistic, sue me; then again... someone had the idea for such a game, just because it would be a nice change of stance there (or so i hope. if the main idea behind this was some fetish... well, uh... the end justifies the means? something like that?). and some twentyone people from around the world realised it.

positive discrimination? maybe. for a cynical bastard (which i am when i am nit the naive-optimistic type. yes i've seen a shrink. nope, it didn't work. but hell.) this cetainly is the case. but friendship is magic, even among people who play videogames, and even among fictional characters. if they're not busy shooting mobster #3741 in this level, that is.

EDIT 2: "The full version of Katawa Shoujo contains adult material.
Please confirm that you are over 18 years old and that you will not make the material downloaded available to persons below that age." i clicked the link in the OP out of curiosity. adult content is beyond romancing, right? so, someone played this? is this just a fetish hentai-game?? oh wait, wasn't there something about 4chan? nevermind then
...
......
*knock knock* who's there? - the cynical bastard, you had your fifteen minutes, SHOO!


TL;DR: ok, then don't, i am happy with writing this stuff down to see what i actually think about it

 

[TheEvilCheese]

People were actually waiting for something like this? Dating sims always came across as creepy and stupid to me, but this one is just taking the piss.

Edit: Actually, I wanna know why all of the physically disabled people are all in the one class. I bet there's some strange reason for that in the game.

I've never really played one but this strikes me as basically a graphic novel with multiple endings. I dunno, maybe try it before just to understand what it is. I'm kinda curious, but also a little apprehensive. I know the kin of things japan is capable of...

Well, I for one, urge you to 'play' it. It's not Japanese in origin, the developers being brought together by 4chan (an English language imageboard). It is basically 5 stories (one corresponding to each girl) each with multiple endings depending on how you approach certain key situations.

Doesn't sound that amazing, I'll agree, but It has some of the best writing I've seen in quite a while, when I finished it I found myself subconsciously grinning because I was happy for the characters. It is the first story I've read in a long time to develop personalities so excellently

Spoiler

I am disappointed in a good portion of you. If the article had been about a media watchdog organisation jumping on the latest GTA, you all would be condemning them for forming opinions based on hearsay and promotional images, yet here all I see is a clear divide between the people who have played KS, and have nothing but praise for it, and people who clearly have never heard of the game until now and are writing it off as just another sick fetish game from those "filthy japs".

Most of you would be better served researching something before getting on your moral high horse about it.

Thank you. Thank you so much for putting into words (+picture) what I could not.

Double standards just annoy me.

 

[Luciella]

hmm i dont think the point is weather the disabled ppl can love or not. We all know they are ppl like us.
The problem is, games are a fantasy and made to live the fantasy. I myself dont have the fantasy of having a relationship with someone in those circumstances and it doesnt mean i dont respect them.

Its a new idea but, my curiosity doesnt go as far as trying it out regardless of how tasteful it is i think my fantasies belong somewhere else like in Tamriel or in ME space.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

-Cut, edited above post-

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

In any path to progress, there will be some funky bumps along the way. Many of these bumps will be positive, if a little weird and unorthodox and maybe not done as well/fairly/non-discriminatorily/whatever as people want. Whatever this game is, I'm guessing it is actually a good advance, even if it misses the mark. I don't know; I haven't played it; this is my theory from this thread and the article.

 

[TJC]

Disabled people have just as much right to be sexually objectified as everybody else. I don't even know what the problem is.

Thank you, kind sir, for the lulz you gave me


Seriously, this is another case where cultural difference just doesn't cut it as explanation and all I can say WTF? D:

At worst, this is another porn game, only tailor-made for amputee-fetishists.
Seeing how most comments here are positive tho, I'll give them the benefit of doubt and say that they didn't reduce the game to just that.

Seriously tho, who can even stomach that dose of anime? I mean, J-RPGs are as close to novels as games can get; at least, they let me slay monsters and stuff. My dating life is already pathetic enough as it is. Don not want to be blueballed in the virtual world as well.

 

[White_Lama]

For some reason I keep coming back to this game and playing a new story. My interest in the backstories of the girls in it is to big.

I've now finished the stories of Emi (sad story there, made me sad), Hanako (sad story aswell, made me a little less sad) and Rin (damn, this story is immense like hell, made me a bit depressed tough). The stories in this game is really well put together.

Sometimes it's hard to get the girl you're going for, so I pretty much save before any choice I get.



This is the first dating sim (and probably the last, unless another strange dating sim comes along since I'm only interested in the story of the girls disabilities and such) I've ever played and I can't say I'm regretting anything.


Trying to get Shizune / Misha now, we'll see if I end up with any of those or what happens.

 

[chadachada123]

Disabled people have just as much right to be sexually objectified as everybody else. I don't even know what the problem is.

Thank you, kind sir, for the lulz you gave me


Seriously, this is another case where cultural difference just doesn't cut it as explanation and all I can say WTF? D:

At worst, this is another porn game, only tailor-made for amputee-fetishists.
Seeing how most comments here are positive tho, I'll give them the benefit of doubt and say that they didn't reduce the game to just that.

Seriously tho, who can even stomach that dose of anime? I mean, J-RPGs are as close to novels as games can get; at least, they let me slay monsters and stuff. My dating life is already pathetic enough as it is. Don not want to be blueballed in the virtual world as well.

It's not a porn game. There is some nudity, but there is a filter to turn it off. It is a novel, with pictures, plain and simple.

It's done in a very mature manner, and doesn't objectify anyone. Sure, it has cliches, but it's one of the most professional stories I've read, anime or otherwise, and doesn't just throw in fan service like most other Japanese-style media (or any media for young adults, really).

Also, it's not a Japanese game. It was made by a bunch of people from several countries.

 

[chadachada123]

I've played a bunch of the first act, and I must say, this game/story is fantastic. I've never played a dating sim before, or at least one that wasn't 99% porn, and I am very impressed. It has a pretty damn small amount of porn compared to the very deep story that it has, and the visuals are striking, especially the cutscenes.

I must say, though, that I'm a little on edge about one thing. My best friend died with the same heart condition that almost kills the main character of the game two years ago. It's weird, playing it from "his" position, I guess. My friend never knew what he had until his heart gave, just picture the main character never recovering in the hospital. Bleh.

Still, this game is incredible, and I definitely recommend it for anyone that think that the concept is "icky" or something.

 

[Wise_Smiling_Panda]

Hanako...

Spoiler

the one who got burned and saw her family die before her eyes

...had such a heart-rending yet engaging story. It's moments like these that make me proud to call gaming my hobby.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Hanako...

Spoiler

the one who got burned and saw her family die before her eyes

...had such a heart-rending yet engaging story. It's moments like these that make me proud to call gaming my hobby.

That moment came for me near to the end of Rin's path. If you haven't played it, you need to. I guarantee you will feel emotionally drained before the end.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Played it for a bit.

It's not terrible, but it goes on and on and really isn't much of a game per se.
Which is fine if that's the sort of thing you like, but I find it boring.

So ... the "normal" girl runs 'cos she can't handle the PC's disability, so he has to end up looking to broken girls?
I guess that's logical, right?