Katawa Shoujo is out.
Play it. Or don’t.
EDIT: I was going to wait for the Japanese translation, but betatesting for MangaGamer has somehow warmed me to the idea of playing an eroge in English. Plus, the trial looked decent.
I know that KS has a large, vocal fanbase. And I’m aware that people enjoy its writing. From what I recall of chapter one (which I read about two and a half years ago), it certainly seemed to have decent characterization. Also, I liked the sprites. But I didn’t think the writing was unusually good. Okay, it’s better written than an average Newgrounds game, or one of the lesser G-Collections titles, but I can’t remember any moment or scene which seemed to improve on the best translated or western visual novels. Though I could just be forgetting…
Anyway, I’ll get around to reading the whole story, and then maybe I’ll start to like it.
Well, I hardly think an English language fan-created title is exactly going to be competing with WA2 and Subarashiki Hibi, but in the free doujin eroge sphere I definitely think Katawa Shoujo holds its own. I consider it an incredibly impressive collaborative effort from what I’ve read so far and the production values easily meet or surpass the majority of free doujin works.
I’m not really sure what you’re comparing this to, to be honest. I don’t recall saying anything about the writing being unusually good, or complimenting the game on its writing - which I think is serviceable, but I have a pretty high barrier when it comes to good writing. Good scenario is different, good narration is different, good story is different and they’re all important but I never categorise them as writing and rarely specifically praise writing unless it really is good. Anyway, I’m not in a position to praise the writing or the story because I really have to read the entire thing to do that.
Though I did think, in the English freeware sphere, Gakuen Redux had rather good writing, even though it was effectively a translation (from Dutch? I can’t recall). It carried the mood which is what is most important.
EDIT: Oh fine.
[size=200]DISCLAIMER[/size]
Despite the fact that I have provided a link to the freeware eroge title listed above, I am in no way endorsing said title. Specifically if you are looking for the next Ayakashibito or Kimi ga Nozomu Eien this is most likely not it. If you only have time for eroges equal to or better than Himawari then Katawa Shoujo is probably not worth the download.
If, on the other hand, you want to kill a few hours playing a cute little title a bunch of people on the internet put a bunch of time into, it probably won’t kill you to check it out.
All I can say is it has some of the worst art I’ve ever seen mixed with mediocre writing.
[size=200]RUNNING DOES NOT MAKE YOU TRANSPARENT.[/size]
[size=200]BLIND GIRLS CANNOT PRANCE AROUND LIKE THEY ARE NOT BLIND[/size]
[size=200]PICK A SHADING STYLE AND STICK WITH IT[/size]
I’m disappointed that you’ve never played Renai Shousetsu Monogatari. Anyway to me the art is generally better than the writing.
That art is intentionally bad,so it’s hilarious.
I don’t think it’s intentionally bad, just that the author decided to draw the art himself this time and… well, he’s much better at the writing =P
Not that I can talk, I probably couldn’t draw stuff even that good.
I thought it was pretty good… Kenji was hilarious and I liked Hanako’s route, anyways. I’ll try Shizune’s route next. It killed a lot of time and I was entertained.
I had no previous knowledge of this game, I have no opinion on 4chan or wherever these guys are from because I’ve never been there, and I have no problem with the sensitive subject matter.
So I guess that makes me completely and utterly unbiased when I say: This game is okay.
For an amateur game, I think the art’s pretty amazing in a lot of CG. The paper dolls and backgrounds are a bit rough, but eh. Still impressive. As for the scenario, I’ve played Rin’s route so far, and it completely went above and beyond my expectations. I think the writing’s quite well done: it carried a lot of emotional heaviness/impact, dealt with some dark issues, and was able to really convey the burdens of the characters. I am thoroughly enjoying it!
Heh, I started with Rin’s route too. Probably my favorite.
Do you want me to link to some actual well done amateur cgs?
I’d love to play great free distributed English releases if you got anymore. I just personally loved Katawa Shoujo. Nothing will change my opinion on the game, however. I loved it.
No need, I’ve already played ???.
but yeah, I don’t think the point is necessarily that this is a particularly exceptional work among doujin eroge in general as much as it is an original English language eroge of unparalleled scope. That by itself would still impress me even if the art was worse than it is now.
in between WA2CC and HHG I’ve finished two routes (Emi and Rin)- both really felt like something was lacking- I didn’t feel the full extent of the story’s inherent dramatic potential was really used. I’ll need to play more routes as well but I’m also starting to suspect that the whole disability motif that underpins the setting is underutilised. Seems that, with limited changes, the stuff I’ve read could have been shifted over into a ‘normal’ setting where none of the characters have physical disabilities. I do hope I’m wrong because this would be a tremendous waste of potential.
I had a feeling that the whole point (in some routes more so than in the others) was that the further the story progresses, the more focus shifts from disabilities to personalities. If that was intentional, it came across very well. The protagonist himself learns to cope with his own condition and accept his new life through interaction with other characters. I thought it was nice.
True, but if this were the case for the routes I had played it didn’t come across that well- although Emi and Rin have relatively unobtrusive (compared to Lilly and Shizune) disabilities so that could be part of it- and I’m reading Shizune’s route at the moment and it seems to be doing a better job in general. Time will tell if it stays that way.
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/01/0 … wa-shoujo/
1.Laugh at funny 2ch comments
2.Look at retarded Shitaku comments
I’ll try and put this as politely as I possibly can:
That’s. Just. Fucking. Sad.
Seriously.
A Japanese demo has been available since May 2010 showcasing how tastefully the developers handled the notion of being disabled, and yet we see these knee-jerk reactions from, for lack of a more accurate description, superficial twats pretending to be politically correct? This isn’t anywhere near the same as Equality Now objecting to Rapelay; this is more akin to Fox News insisting that Mass Effect or some harmless Facebook game is evil incarnate. I find it especially ironic that 2channers feel “offended” on the disabled’s behalf given the number of racial slurs they hurl against Koreans and Americans in the very same breath.
Then again, this is coming from the same group of people who were offended by Aya Hirano’s having a personal life, so I shouldn’t be surprised…
They can’t have trolls now?
Sankaku is, afterall, extremely well-known for their selective reporting. 