I won’t repost everything I posted about the different girls’ routes but here are at least my conclusion about the game, for what it’s soever worth.
Conclusion: it was a more than average game. In fact, I may even be inclined to suggest it wasn’t bad. But not exceptional; probably not even striking enough that I’ll remember fondly much of it in a dozen new galgames. The stories were of good quality and refined, the girls were pleasant with whom to interact, the music was good enough. Overall, it was a high-production. I especially liked the movies (one for each girl, in addition to the OP? Wow), and the main page changing with each new chapter opened. OTOH, the bad points were IMO the irregularity of the quality, look and feel of the CGs, Hisao himself whom I didn’t like in most routes (not to mention with whose decisions and thoughts I foremost disagreed but, then, that’s often the case with ren’ai protagonists so that’s OK), and the major theme, which I still think as funny, silly and weird. Though not ill-exploited, I guess.
Game score: 7.5.
P.S. My favourite girl remains Misha. She doesn’t have a route and it’s perfect that way since, considering her background story, a route would go against her personality but…
I finished it myself as well (a little while ago now). Favourite girl was Lilly, although her route left much to be desired. Still likely the most solid route in KS though.
Hanako’s route seemed like it was going to be the good one, but then it ended halfway through =P
Definitely think it’s an above-average work, although I don’t want to compare it to commercial eroge because comparing it to bad titles is patronising and comparing it to good titles would destroy it- and it doesn’t deserve that, for what it is (a freeware, fan-made collaborative work) it is excellent. I think I agree that it’s not really memorable, possibly partly because it doesn’t feel all that unusual a story. However, the intention (as far as I can tell) was not to make that, it was to make an English eroge and make it well. In that regard I think it’s an unqualified success. I’m also very happy that it’s apparently been popular, introducing more people into the genre. Eroge are the best medium of multimedia literature and their relative unpopularity is a tragedy.
In conclusion: my favourite OELVN before playing Katawa Shoujo was Gakuen Redux. My favourite OELVN after playing Katawa Shoujo is still Gakuen Redux. I’m definitely not making any comment about the sort of direction people should take things here; it’s just that certain titles speak to me in a way others can’t.
If you’re ever in the Montreal area, good sir, I’d like to buy you a drink.
Consider my curiosity piqued. I don’t agree with what you said about Lilly’s path (I consider Rin’s to be more solid and less cliche, if much less accessible). But, given what you’ve said about both Katawa Shoujo and Gakuen Redux, I’m really wondering what kind of bar an OELVN would have to set for Gakuen Redux to remain your absolute favorite.
My short VN spree continues! Whee!
Edit: Okay, that was interesting. I liked the overall story of Gakuen Redux, but the execution left a lot to be desired. The first half of the story kept me decidedly bored, the writing read like a bad Russian-to-English translation, I personally did not like the protagonist, and the majority of the characters were poorly developed given the lack of dialogue and their being filtered through the protagonist’s eyes. Once Ione entered the picture, however, the story became much more interesting despite the many, many grammar and spelling errors; Ione was easily the most fleshed-out character in the story and I wouldn’t be surprised if I fell for her in real life. I feel a bit cheated by the rushed ending - the buildup to the climax was excellent, but the scene cut away from what would have been a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming just two lines of inner monologue too soon. The time-skip epilogue felt like it was quickly slapped together, resulting in a disappointing wrap-up to the story. Said another way, the “what” was good, but the “how” was terrible.
I can admire the vision behind Gakuen Redux; the story, while familiar, put an original spin on the usual “if I could do high school over again” premise - easily more attention-grabbing than Katawa Shoujo’s “life in a new school (with a twist)”. It’s a shame that the execution was so underwhelming. If you’ll pardon my choice of words: my favorite OELVN before playing Gakuen Redux was Katawa Shoujo, and my favorite OELVN after finishing Gaken Redux is still Katawa Shoujo. I can understand why you would like it, and I don’t deny that I was sucked in once the plot finally hit its stride, but the laborious first half and hastily-put-together ending prevented it from overtaking KS in my eyes. Still, I have to thank you for introducing me to such an interesting story (even if it didn’t leave me satisfied in the end).
I’m going to admit it: I went into this with LOW expectations. I knew what the doujin source was, and that it was an evolution of a 4chan joke. Plus no twincest.
I am very impressed with the finished work. Not to say there were zero flaws, and some areas could have used improvement, however for everything that it is… I enjoyed the experience. I would have paid real money for this. I tip off my hat to the extra work performed: for example the animation sequences were a complete surprise and unexpected for a project of this kind. That alone gains a huge amount of my respect. Considering the low resources, chaotic nature of the manpower involved, and the monetary investment return expected: Katawa Shoujo is more than an outstanding piece of work.
Is it the best eroge I’ve ever played? Not at all. Is it better than 50% of the eroge I’ve ever played. Hell fucking yes. There’s a lot of eroge garbage out there. I’ve paid $100 for that garbage. This is not garbarge… and it was free. In the end, when all is said and done: I’ve got no serious complaints. If there ever was a donation event for this project, I’m truly sorry I missed it.
Katawa Shoujo was more than I expected, a worthwhile experience, and did everything the original doujin source dreamed… above and beyond even.
Did RAITA ever have an official statement about the project?
