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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

(Yet Another) Katawa Shoujo review

Apparently, some people here are interested in my take on this little ditty, so I'll just get my two cents in and be gone.

I'm skipping the whole describing the game bits because it looks like the other three stooges have already gotten it pretty much covered.

When I had originally heard about KS some time ago, all I knew it to be was a crippled girl dating sim that got a bit of attention from a certain online imageboard. Soon, some of my associates started playing it as well, so I figured, "What the hell, why not?" I'm not a very clever man, so I'll just describe my experience in the order that it happened, instead of worrying about trying to make a sensible review.

First impressions for Act I were pretty favorable, considering the type of 'game' this is. It was written pretty well, and I could sense the effort those fellows at fourleaf put into the game. Art was pretty decent, and the music worked alright for the scenes. The characters were interesting and I was having a good time of things. Something I noticed was that, although, at times it seems like the choices you make in the story don't really impact that much right away, some of the decisions will end up with much different outcomes from the others. Subtlety is nice, but some might not enjoy that as much as others. Take the statement as you will.

After my decisions were processed from the first act, it seems that I ended up pursuing the path of the energetic track-star, Emi. I won't lie, going through the first scene of this path was quite disgusting for me at the time. It was so sugary-sweet, I felt like someone was injecting pure cane sugar, with a needle, directly into my eye. I actually had to step away for a while. Perhaps I'm just too cynical, I dunno. BUT, I decided that I wouldn't be deterred, and kept trucking. Past the first nauseating scene, things calm down a bit, and eventually I start finding that the rest of this isn't so bad. The story arc rolls on as you get to know Emi better, sharing laughs, tears, and eventually learning of her tragic past, before finally reconciling in each other and going on to live happy lives together(Maybe!). Oh, there's also some sex scenes here and there. (Emi's a bit too loli for my tastes, her MOM though, WHOA-OA) All in all, it was a cute, engrossing little tale of romance between 2 young people, and I was quite pleased with the read.

That was my take on my run of the game, so this is the part where I give my last thoughts on the piece as a whole:

Overall, I enjoyed the story enough to stick it out to the end, considering all I knew about it was that it was Cripple Porn: The Game. The presentation is swell, and the menus and options are all super easy to navigate. If you don't like romance novels or things of that nature, then Katawa Shoujo probably won't sway your opinion on the matter, but I invite you to give it a shot. It's free, after all. I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon. I still feel it's important to remember, however, that it's still a game to try to get into the pants of a bunch of crippled high school girls. Though, if you're like me, you might find the story engaging on its own.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to unlock the rest of the paths and hundred-percenting this tale. 'Til next time.

-shadonickles

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