[HEADING=1]
I'll go ahead and admit this outright; I'm not particularly the biggest fan of the Visual Novel genre. In fact, I've only played two before, both of which ending in either apathy or in leaving me with an amazingly dull impression. It wasn't until rants, raves and all sorts of various press began surrounding Katawa Shoujo that I began to give it more attention. The idea of an engaging and gripping story about finding true love and overcoming one's perceived disadvantages was enough to have me hooked. Something so emotionally captivating had to be something I must at least try. Not to mention the curiosity that came with the idea of a questionable visual novel being developed by 4chan.
Having piqued my interest, I decided to sink my useless time into the experience, hoping it would create a new found love for VN style of interactive media. The end result is. . . well difficult to place exactly. Despite its loving, romantic and sickeningly sweet narrative, there are still some breaks to find in the, mostly warming heart of Katawa Shoujo.
You take the role of Hisao Nakai, a high school student who suffers a heart attack and is diagnosed with heart arrhythmia after being asked out by a girl he likes in the prologue. After spending several months recovering in a hospital, he is sent to the fictional Yamaku School for the disabled. Of course, being a totally not temperamental oh so atypical high school student, he is reluctant to accept his life in a new and strange setting. As he feels his heart condition only make him feel more alienated, its the help of his friends that eventually heal (or break) his wounded heart.
This overly dramatic description and archetypical style of narrative of course comes complete with his eventual, somewhat rapid acceptance of his new environment as each of the primary characters are slowly introduced and this is where the game truly shines; its characters. Rather than feeling like either cookie cutter or filler in order to create an illusion of choice, its obvious the writers of the game spent effort into the creation of the different character's narrative. A highly commendable feat when accomplished not through the use of ridiculous ecchi fanservice and constant panty flashing (save one scene).
You've got Emi, a headstrong health-nut with prosthetic legs and a passion for running (thus dubbing herself "the fastest thing on no legs") who, ironically is met by Hisao by running into him in the hallway; Lilly, the tall, motherly representative of a class composed of the blind and partially blind with a fondness for eloquence and tea; Hanako, a terribly shy and timid girl both emotionally and physically scarred by her past who rarely leaves Lilly's side; Shizune, the deaf/mute student council president who presents a "take no shit from anyone" type of attitude; Mikado, Shizune's overly enthusiastic interpreter that brings a sense of obnoxious charm everywhere she goes. And lastly, Rin, an armless, short haired girl who loves painting and waxing philosophical regardless of the listener's interest or understanding.
All of these characters present intriguing, well thought out story arcs that manage to, ultimately captivate the reader without devolving said character types into caricatures of exploitation. While some of them do fall into the realm of being somewhat cliche, the exposition gives a unique appeal to each playthrough rather than outright laziness. With these primary characters come a plethora of supporting roles, all as colourful as the main cast and some that need no explanation. It only adds to the game's attributes when there's a character for everyone who plays and with a healthy dose of heartwarming romance that isn't completely shoved in the player's face.
Another aspect to praise should, at this point be fairly obvious. The art direction and animation here is usually beautiful, with only a hiccup or two here and there but it's never anything that manages to take much notice. The little details put into the illustrations really make the characters come alive in their own ways, making their disabilities well detailed but not overly exaggerated to any degree, which I greatly respect the artists doing.
However, I must admit that I have more or less exhausted what praise I do hold for this game. It's such a shame too because what works well here, really works and is something worth expanding upon but ended up on a rather disappointing note. Over the course of the first hour or so of the story is where Katawa Shoujo begins to show its cracks.
This is where our characters are introduced to us. Right off the bat, something feels amiss. I fail to pinpoint exactly where these flaws begin to show but its underlying issue lies within the pacing of the introduction. It manages to feel slow while, at the same time, all over the place, not entirely sure what it wants to do. This aura of a weak focal point soon fades as the player eventually settles on one story, so I chalk this small problem up to narrative difficulties, trying to juggle too much at once.
What doesn't help, however, is its writing style in general. At times, I felt the narration gave far too much exposition, not on the characters, but of utterly useless aspects of the surroundings. I understand it's there to build a scene but there were too many times my immersion was swiftly kicked in the balls by over explanation, bringing me back to dull reality. What's odder still is that while it tends to spend too much time on minuscule details, the structure itself suffers from a lack of discourse between characters. Not only this, but as the story began to progress, it felt more like heavy emphasis was put into the characters than into the actual events themselves, negating what development there is between the people we're watching. This, instead hindering the narrative into feeling all too familiar at times. As a way to compensate, the writers held to the novel aspects of the story presented in an attempt to cover its shortcomings.
This, again took me out of the experience and the lack of inherently imperative dialogue leads itself to coming across as stupid at times. There were instances throughout the story that I was convinced Hisao's disability was instead down syndrome given his dialogue options. Granted, I rarely come out of my own shell long enough to socialise with those weird blobs of walking meat referred to as "humans" to really know how true social dialogue and banter is exchanged but a good portion of it struck me as unnatural and broke the flow of otherwise well played out conversations.
This leads me to the next issue the game has and that is its interaction. Throughout the game's progression, I felt that I had very limited interaction or impact with the story itself. There are only a handful of choices to be made and most either seem completely obvious or entirely pointless. Now, again, I must reiterate that I am new to the VN genre, so I'm more than willing to throw this complaint out the window if it's the case with most. I feel, at this point, I'm just nitpicking at the game in order to find something to ***** about but the little things like this tend to bug me the most in the end. Maybe I'm just a cynical asshole.
However, there is one aspect of Katawa Shoujo that bothered me more than anything else in the game and that would be the obvious elephant in the room here; its use of sexuality towards the end of each story arc. While I did say before that it manages not to resort to pointless fanservice, in the climax (no pun intended) of the individual stories with the main female leads, our main character, assuming you've led him to one of the good endings, finds love and consummates with his romantic companion. Some sort of sexuality is to be expected from a visual novel, but the way it presents itself here comes off as. . . well for lack of a better term, somewhat uncomfortable when taken in context.
Perhaps my prudish nature that I only knew existed recently is to blame but these sex scenes didn't seem to serve a purpose other than to provide wank material for its audience. I'm not averse to sexuality but it just came across as unnecessary when taking into account the game mostly refrained from much profanity or imagery, only to go full on hentai coupled with graphic descriptions when handling these scenes. Then again, I suppose there had to be some form of fanservice somewhere in here but it just feels like a somewhat jarring tonal shift, especially when I originally heard the game's intimate scenes described as "soft core ecchi" at their most graphic.
I felt this would have worked better if it simply, albeit obviously, implied the act had occurred rather than presenting explicit illustrated accompaniment. This only led to confusion on my part as to how an 18+ visual novel got so much mainstream press. I will say that at the very least, it didn't pander to the weirder fetishes out there so those of you looking for amputee hentai can look elsewhere. And with that, these scenes are, in their own right as tastefully done as they possibly could have been. In fact, in its own strange way, they're a commendable feat in that they don't feel like they're written by a 30 year old virgin anime Otaku but rather someone who's actually, you know, had sex before. They can be sweet, loving, romantic and in one instance, kinda funny, regardless of my own level of comfort.
The bottom line for Katawa Shoujo though is that it was a little disappointing to me, by the time I had gotten around to it. This can be put off by my own hesitance and late playing but after hearing it being built up as a template for all Visual Novels to come, it's a bit of a let down. Especially when considering that a lot of its attention comes from its novel appeal, only to boil down to a very typical anime romance story in the end. It didn't revolutionise anything for me, nor did it give me a different viewpoint on the visual novel medium. Will it be brought over more into the west now with this game's success? It's possible but I still kinda doubt it. And with it being heavily monopolised in Japan, I don't really see it leaving anytime soon.
But again, as I stated before; this is in no way a poorly written story nor a bad experience. However, it must be said that it in no way presents a perfect narrative and, in many ways, falls on its face when attempting to come off as genuine but this is seldom so it's not too big of an issue. I mentioned my feelings for this game are difficult to place and while that's true, upon reflection of my experiences with Katawa Shoujo, I can't help but think mostly positive of the conclusion to the storylines and how it managed to affect me personally. While not exactly what I was hoping for or expecting taking the hype into account, it still is a pleasant adventure that managed to make me shed a tear or two, in particular with Hanako's good ending. Even with its inherent flaws and my own comfort level being shook up a bit in certain instances, Katawa Shoujo still left me with a smile on my face and a bit of warmth in my heart.
Remember that I am now taking requests for reviews, so any suggestions for future reviews or lists you may have, please let me know via PM or in the replies to this review.
Katawa Shoujo
[/HEADING]
Platform: PC/Mac
ESRB Rating: N/A
Developer: Four Leaf Studios
Publisher: Independently released
Release Date: 4/1/2012
ESRB Rating: N/A
Developer: Four Leaf Studios
Publisher: Independently released
Release Date: 4/1/2012
I'll go ahead and admit this outright; I'm not particularly the biggest fan of the Visual Novel genre. In fact, I've only played two before, both of which ending in either apathy or in leaving me with an amazingly dull impression. It wasn't until rants, raves and all sorts of various press began surrounding Katawa Shoujo that I began to give it more attention. The idea of an engaging and gripping story about finding true love and overcoming one's perceived disadvantages was enough to have me hooked. Something so emotionally captivating had to be something I must at least try. Not to mention the curiosity that came with the idea of a questionable visual novel being developed by 4chan.
Having piqued my interest, I decided to sink my useless time into the experience, hoping it would create a new found love for VN style of interactive media. The end result is. . . well difficult to place exactly. Despite its loving, romantic and sickeningly sweet narrative, there are still some breaks to find in the, mostly warming heart of Katawa Shoujo.
You take the role of Hisao Nakai, a high school student who suffers a heart attack and is diagnosed with heart arrhythmia after being asked out by a girl he likes in the prologue. After spending several months recovering in a hospital, he is sent to the fictional Yamaku School for the disabled. Of course, being a totally not temperamental oh so atypical high school student, he is reluctant to accept his life in a new and strange setting. As he feels his heart condition only make him feel more alienated, its the help of his friends that eventually heal (or break) his wounded heart.
Where's my option to ask "Ey, bebbeh girl, lemme holla attcha?"
This overly dramatic description and archetypical style of narrative of course comes complete with his eventual, somewhat rapid acceptance of his new environment as each of the primary characters are slowly introduced and this is where the game truly shines; its characters. Rather than feeling like either cookie cutter or filler in order to create an illusion of choice, its obvious the writers of the game spent effort into the creation of the different character's narrative. A highly commendable feat when accomplished not through the use of ridiculous ecchi fanservice and constant panty flashing (save one scene).
You've got Emi, a headstrong health-nut with prosthetic legs and a passion for running (thus dubbing herself "the fastest thing on no legs") who, ironically is met by Hisao by running into him in the hallway; Lilly, the tall, motherly representative of a class composed of the blind and partially blind with a fondness for eloquence and tea; Hanako, a terribly shy and timid girl both emotionally and physically scarred by her past who rarely leaves Lilly's side; Shizune, the deaf/mute student council president who presents a "take no shit from anyone" type of attitude; Mikado, Shizune's overly enthusiastic interpreter that brings a sense of obnoxious charm everywhere she goes. And lastly, Rin, an armless, short haired girl who loves painting and waxing philosophical regardless of the listener's interest or understanding.
All of these characters present intriguing, well thought out story arcs that manage to, ultimately captivate the reader without devolving said character types into caricatures of exploitation. While some of them do fall into the realm of being somewhat cliche, the exposition gives a unique appeal to each playthrough rather than outright laziness. With these primary characters come a plethora of supporting roles, all as colourful as the main cast and some that need no explanation. It only adds to the game's attributes when there's a character for everyone who plays and with a healthy dose of heartwarming romance that isn't completely shoved in the player's face.
I'm gonna assume this scene's oral fixation is entirely unintentional, right?
Another aspect to praise should, at this point be fairly obvious. The art direction and animation here is usually beautiful, with only a hiccup or two here and there but it's never anything that manages to take much notice. The little details put into the illustrations really make the characters come alive in their own ways, making their disabilities well detailed but not overly exaggerated to any degree, which I greatly respect the artists doing.
However, I must admit that I have more or less exhausted what praise I do hold for this game. It's such a shame too because what works well here, really works and is something worth expanding upon but ended up on a rather disappointing note. Over the course of the first hour or so of the story is where Katawa Shoujo begins to show its cracks.
This is where our characters are introduced to us. Right off the bat, something feels amiss. I fail to pinpoint exactly where these flaws begin to show but its underlying issue lies within the pacing of the introduction. It manages to feel slow while, at the same time, all over the place, not entirely sure what it wants to do. This aura of a weak focal point soon fades as the player eventually settles on one story, so I chalk this small problem up to narrative difficulties, trying to juggle too much at once.
What doesn't help, however, is its writing style in general. At times, I felt the narration gave far too much exposition, not on the characters, but of utterly useless aspects of the surroundings. I understand it's there to build a scene but there were too many times my immersion was swiftly kicked in the balls by over explanation, bringing me back to dull reality. What's odder still is that while it tends to spend too much time on minuscule details, the structure itself suffers from a lack of discourse between characters. Not only this, but as the story began to progress, it felt more like heavy emphasis was put into the characters than into the actual events themselves, negating what development there is between the people we're watching. This, instead hindering the narrative into feeling all too familiar at times. As a way to compensate, the writers held to the novel aspects of the story presented in an attempt to cover its shortcomings.
Unlike some characters in this story, I can see that, thank you for pointing it out
This, again took me out of the experience and the lack of inherently imperative dialogue leads itself to coming across as stupid at times. There were instances throughout the story that I was convinced Hisao's disability was instead down syndrome given his dialogue options. Granted, I rarely come out of my own shell long enough to socialise with those weird blobs of walking meat referred to as "humans" to really know how true social dialogue and banter is exchanged but a good portion of it struck me as unnatural and broke the flow of otherwise well played out conversations.
This leads me to the next issue the game has and that is its interaction. Throughout the game's progression, I felt that I had very limited interaction or impact with the story itself. There are only a handful of choices to be made and most either seem completely obvious or entirely pointless. Now, again, I must reiterate that I am new to the VN genre, so I'm more than willing to throw this complaint out the window if it's the case with most. I feel, at this point, I'm just nitpicking at the game in order to find something to ***** about but the little things like this tend to bug me the most in the end. Maybe I'm just a cynical asshole.
However, there is one aspect of Katawa Shoujo that bothered me more than anything else in the game and that would be the obvious elephant in the room here; its use of sexuality towards the end of each story arc. While I did say before that it manages not to resort to pointless fanservice, in the climax (no pun intended) of the individual stories with the main female leads, our main character, assuming you've led him to one of the good endings, finds love and consummates with his romantic companion. Some sort of sexuality is to be expected from a visual novel, but the way it presents itself here comes off as. . . well for lack of a better term, somewhat uncomfortable when taken in context.
Perhaps my prudish nature that I only knew existed recently is to blame but these sex scenes didn't seem to serve a purpose other than to provide wank material for its audience. I'm not averse to sexuality but it just came across as unnecessary when taking into account the game mostly refrained from much profanity or imagery, only to go full on hentai coupled with graphic descriptions when handling these scenes. Then again, I suppose there had to be some form of fanservice somewhere in here but it just feels like a somewhat jarring tonal shift, especially when I originally heard the game's intimate scenes described as "soft core ecchi" at their most graphic.
All of my feels...
I felt this would have worked better if it simply, albeit obviously, implied the act had occurred rather than presenting explicit illustrated accompaniment. This only led to confusion on my part as to how an 18+ visual novel got so much mainstream press. I will say that at the very least, it didn't pander to the weirder fetishes out there so those of you looking for amputee hentai can look elsewhere. And with that, these scenes are, in their own right as tastefully done as they possibly could have been. In fact, in its own strange way, they're a commendable feat in that they don't feel like they're written by a 30 year old virgin anime Otaku but rather someone who's actually, you know, had sex before. They can be sweet, loving, romantic and in one instance, kinda funny, regardless of my own level of comfort.
The bottom line for Katawa Shoujo though is that it was a little disappointing to me, by the time I had gotten around to it. This can be put off by my own hesitance and late playing but after hearing it being built up as a template for all Visual Novels to come, it's a bit of a let down. Especially when considering that a lot of its attention comes from its novel appeal, only to boil down to a very typical anime romance story in the end. It didn't revolutionise anything for me, nor did it give me a different viewpoint on the visual novel medium. Will it be brought over more into the west now with this game's success? It's possible but I still kinda doubt it. And with it being heavily monopolised in Japan, I don't really see it leaving anytime soon.
But again, as I stated before; this is in no way a poorly written story nor a bad experience. However, it must be said that it in no way presents a perfect narrative and, in many ways, falls on its face when attempting to come off as genuine but this is seldom so it's not too big of an issue. I mentioned my feelings for this game are difficult to place and while that's true, upon reflection of my experiences with Katawa Shoujo, I can't help but think mostly positive of the conclusion to the storylines and how it managed to affect me personally. While not exactly what I was hoping for or expecting taking the hype into account, it still is a pleasant adventure that managed to make me shed a tear or two, in particular with Hanako's good ending. Even with its inherent flaws and my own comfort level being shook up a bit in certain instances, Katawa Shoujo still left me with a smile on my face and a bit of warmth in my heart.
It's sure to bring a few happy tears to your eyes, so I'd recommend bringing
your favourite pillow to cry in while playing.
your favourite pillow to cry in while playing.
Movies:
Best Movies of the Decade [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.164045-Best-Films-of-the-Decade-Warning-Extremely-Long-Review] I Inception [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.215806-JK-Reviews-Inception] I Oldboy [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.236848-JK-Reviews-Oldboy] I Thirst [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.238393-JK-Reviews-Thirst] I Noroi [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258713-JK-Reviews-Noroi] I Ghost in the Shell [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264848-Poll-JK-Reviews-Ghost-in-the-Shell?view_results=1] I Top 25 Favourite Films [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273264-JKs-Top-25-Favourite-Films#comment_form] I Kodomo no Jikan (series) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.283845-JK-Reviews-Kodomo-No-Jikan] I Super 8 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.291002-JK-Reviews-Super-8] I The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 2011 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.336504-JK-Reviews-The-Girl-With-the-Dragon-Tattoo-2011]
Games:
Bayonetta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.169030-JK-Reviews-Bayonetta-Warning-May-Contain-Spoilers] I Game of the Year 2009 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163760-Celebration-for-My-5000th-post-Game-of-the-Year-awards] I God of War III [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182952-JK-Reviews-God-of-War-III] I NieR [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.203204-JK-Reviews-NIER] I Castlevania: Lament of Innocence [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206361-JK-Reviews-Castlevania-Lament-of-Innocence] I Maximo: Ghosts To Glory [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.212014-JK-Reviews-Maximo-Ghosts-To-Glory] I Kingdom Hearts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.229506-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts] I Kingdom Hearts II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.230725-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts-II] I Assassin's Creed Brotherhood [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.248762-JK-Reviews-Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood] I Top 12 Games of 2010 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.252471-JKs-Top-12-Best-Games-of-2010] I Bioshock [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.262110-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Bioshock] I Fallout: New Vegas [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.266849-JK-Reviews-Fallout-New-Vegas] I Silent Hill 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.270928-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Silent-Hill-2] I Dragon Age 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.276414-JK-Reviews-Dragon-Age-II] I Infamous2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.300006-JK-Reviews-InFAMOUS-2#comment_form] I Catherine [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.312121-JK-Reviews-Catherine] I Deus Ex: Human Revolution [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.314275-JK-Reviews-Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution] I Dark Souls [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.319053-JK-Reviews-Dark-Souls] I Batman: Arkham City [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.324411-JK-Reviews-Batman-Arkham-City] I Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.329980-JK-Reviews-Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-3] I Top 13 of 2011 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.337857-JKs-Top-13-Games-of-2011] I Final Fantasy XIII-2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.345192-JK-Reviews-Final-Fantasy-XIII-2]
Music:
Equilibrium's ReKreatur [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.204108-JK-Reviews-Equilibrium-ReKreatur] I Devin Townsend's Deconstruction & Ghost [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.307243-JK-Reviews-Devin-Townsend-Deconstruction-Ghost]
Best Movies of the Decade [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.164045-Best-Films-of-the-Decade-Warning-Extremely-Long-Review] I Inception [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.215806-JK-Reviews-Inception] I Oldboy [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.236848-JK-Reviews-Oldboy] I Thirst [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.238393-JK-Reviews-Thirst] I Noroi [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258713-JK-Reviews-Noroi] I Ghost in the Shell [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264848-Poll-JK-Reviews-Ghost-in-the-Shell?view_results=1] I Top 25 Favourite Films [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273264-JKs-Top-25-Favourite-Films#comment_form] I Kodomo no Jikan (series) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.283845-JK-Reviews-Kodomo-No-Jikan] I Super 8 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.291002-JK-Reviews-Super-8] I The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 2011 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.336504-JK-Reviews-The-Girl-With-the-Dragon-Tattoo-2011]
Games:
Bayonetta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.169030-JK-Reviews-Bayonetta-Warning-May-Contain-Spoilers] I Game of the Year 2009 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163760-Celebration-for-My-5000th-post-Game-of-the-Year-awards] I God of War III [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182952-JK-Reviews-God-of-War-III] I NieR [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.203204-JK-Reviews-NIER] I Castlevania: Lament of Innocence [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206361-JK-Reviews-Castlevania-Lament-of-Innocence] I Maximo: Ghosts To Glory [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.212014-JK-Reviews-Maximo-Ghosts-To-Glory] I Kingdom Hearts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.229506-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts] I Kingdom Hearts II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.230725-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Kingdom-Hearts-II] I Assassin's Creed Brotherhood [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.248762-JK-Reviews-Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood] I Top 12 Games of 2010 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.252471-JKs-Top-12-Best-Games-of-2010] I Bioshock [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.262110-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Bioshock] I Fallout: New Vegas [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.266849-JK-Reviews-Fallout-New-Vegas] I Silent Hill 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.270928-As-Per-Request-JK-Reviews-Silent-Hill-2] I Dragon Age 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.276414-JK-Reviews-Dragon-Age-II] I Infamous2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.300006-JK-Reviews-InFAMOUS-2#comment_form] I Catherine [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.312121-JK-Reviews-Catherine] I Deus Ex: Human Revolution [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.314275-JK-Reviews-Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution] I Dark Souls [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.319053-JK-Reviews-Dark-Souls] I Batman: Arkham City [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.324411-JK-Reviews-Batman-Arkham-City] I Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.329980-JK-Reviews-Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-3] I Top 13 of 2011 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.337857-JKs-Top-13-Games-of-2011] I Final Fantasy XIII-2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.345192-JK-Reviews-Final-Fantasy-XIII-2]
Music:
Equilibrium's ReKreatur [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.204108-JK-Reviews-Equilibrium-ReKreatur] I Devin Townsend's Deconstruction & Ghost [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.307243-JK-Reviews-Devin-Townsend-Deconstruction-Ghost]
Remember that I am now taking requests for reviews, so any suggestions for future reviews or lists you may have, please let me know via PM or in the replies to this review.
