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Katawa Shoujo |OT| (VN, Free, Waifus, etc)

XeroSauce

XeroSauce

Member
XeroSauce said:
Doesn't anyone know who started coloring this so I can bug them to finish it:

UdMRa.png


Also I'll get some more stuff up tonight.
Click to expand...

QUOTE-TH FOR DAS NEW PAGE

How is everyone doing?
 
R

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Nocturnowl said:
Ah but you can actually produce the art, it's a step up from where i'm at.
Click to expand...

That's a nice thing to say. I just get frustrated that after say, 5 hours of linework I'm maybe 5-10% done with the line-art. and then painting time. (working on lines right now)
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
RurouniZel said:
That's a nice thing to say. I just get frustrated that after say, 5 hours of linework I'm maybe 5-10% done with the line-art. and then painting time. (working on lines right now)
Click to expand...

Well I guess you've got to put the time in to get something good out of it, coming to think if it this is my main problem, I can't bring myself to focus on just one piece of work for a long period of time, damn impatience!
 
XeroSauce

XeroSauce

Member
Chet Rippo said:
I love these ones.

Ok, I'm stumped. Who is this one supposed to be?

Lilly never wore her safety goggles.
Now she doesn't need them.

Maybe.
I don't know what that card is from, so no.
Click to expand...

I believe that's young Akira, according to the anon that posted it.

Also that's a Magic the Gathering card
 
J

Jazzem

Member
So a little late to the party, but I just 100%'d this :D Did so over the course of about 10 days, which was fair. Granted it might have been nice to have paced the routes out a bit more, as they do jumble together in my mind at times. Still I plan to play through them again...

...and that's because this game was fantastic. It honestly kind of blew me away, especially knowing of its unlikely and troubled production. To have something with such a potentially catastrophic premise (I'm going to wince just explaining it to people...) turn out into something worthwhile...it's quite something. I loved how genuine and believable the characters felt, they're very easy to get attached to because they're so well written. It helped that the school and other locales were very well realized, it was a pleasure to keep revisiting them throughout the routes.

I also dug the presentation, the brief anime sequences were very impressive (especially for a free game!) and I generally liked the art style for the characters. I tend to be hit and miss on the anime aesthetic, but here I found it very appealing and expressive. I agree on the notion that the CGs varied in quality and style a bit though (as good as the best ones are), and some of them made the girls look a bit too young...on the other hand, this does have one of my favourite game soundtracks of recent years. Every song fits their scenario perfectly, and certain tunes do wonders in elevating the game's emotional punches. I am a sucker for a good piano piece though so it's not surprising :p

Guess I'll do a run down of the routes. I won't spoil anything that isn't in a black bar, but I will discuss the nature of the characters, so reconsider reading any you haven't played yet. Anyway:

Emi: Really glad I started with this one, it is possibly my favourite. It had just the right mix of uplifting and sad moments, felt very true to the nature of a relationship. I also thought it was really interesting thematically, Emi being unwilling to open up to people out of fear of things going wrong was quite relatable. The progression of the relationship through the morning jogs was also very well handled and touching, a great way to develop characters. Also really liked the nurse interactions, and was a bit disappointed they didn't appear more in other routes (then again, I guess they wouldn't really have fit).

Lily: Though the pacing could have been tightened (possibly a minor criticism for the whole game), it's impossible not to love this route. It's perhaps the most conventional path, but it's so irresistibly romantic and sweet that I hardly minded. Also introduced my favourite side character in Akira, and I thought it gave Hanako some really nice development. Loses points though as I got the 'neutral' ending like five times before I figured out how to get the best one :p

Shizune: ...hmm. I know I'm saying nothing new here, but I really didn't dig this one. The execution was just odd, a lot of meandering scenes that don't add up to much. I couldn't help but feel a lot of potential was lost, Hisao learning sign language was interesting but not really fully utilized, Misha's
predicament
was interesting but came up too late in the story...this is definitely a good route to do in the middle, for me it's easily the weakest. At least it had a lot of Kenji!

Hanako: A nice one to pick things up again. I thought it was interesting how trying to act like a white knight was the wrong thing to do, and that Hisao was just as troubled as Hanako in many ways. Very smartly thought out and respectful to the characters, drives home how you can't just 'mend' someone like that, but being there for them can at least help them (and maybe even you) keep going. Also,
the bad ending is heart wrenching, so glad I didn't get that first!

Rin: Great route to finish on! That's partly due to the challenge of both the story and decisions, but also how
satisfying the payoff is
. I was worried I wouldn't like it due to possible similarities with Shizune's route, but the characterization of Rin was excellent and honestly quite engaging. She's a difficult character to describe, which I think illustrates how complex and fascinating she is. They could have made her look a bit less like a child in her CGs though :p

So in terms of preference, it probably goes: Emi>Lily>Rin>Hanako>Shizune. Given that I plan to revisit this game though, I do wonder if that order will change down the line, especially as I suspect my fondness for the Emi route is helped by me having done it first.

So yeah, kudos to the people who gave so much of their time and efforts to make this game, I really did quite love it :D (and it helped me get through starting a horrendous new job!)
 
T

Typographenia

Member
Jazzem, a lot of your thoughts echo my own, in regards to pacing, writing, and so forth.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one sad to see less of the nurse in other routes, haha.
Shizune was one of my favorite characters, but her route didn't feel like it did her or Misha the justice of what had been built up in my mind from the other routes up to that point. It didn't feel like the writing fell completely flat or anything, but it just didn't live up to the potential of the characters in her route, I felt.


How did you feel about the way they handled Hisao's heart condition? It sort of bothered me that only Emi and Lily's paths really tried to do something with it, personally.
 
J

Jintor

Member
Typographenia said:
How did you feel about the way they handled Hisao's heart condition? It sort of bothered me that only Emi and Lily's paths really tried to do something with it, personally.
Click to expand...

I always liked that it wasn't, uh, exploited in every one of the paths. It was always present, it was never ignored, but it was made clear pretty on that it was manageable if Hisao didn't do anything terrible.
 
J

Jazzem

Member
Typographenia said:
Jazzem, a lot of your thoughts echo my own, in regards to pacing, writing, and so forth.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one sad to see less of the nurse in other routes, haha.
Shizune was one of my favorite characters, but her route didn't feel like it did her or Misha the justice of what had been built up in my mind from the other routes up to that point. It didn't feel like the writing fell completely flat or anything, but it just didn't live up to the potential of the characters in her route, I felt.


How did you feel about the way they handled Hisao's heart condition? It sort of bothered me that only Emi and Lily's paths really tried to do something with it, personally.
Click to expand...

Ahah, yeah having looked around I seem to share a similar overall view to many that played the game :) Though it is interesting seeing which characters and routes others favoured, everyone will take away something a bit different from a game like this.

It is a testament to the characters and general writing that the at-times slow pacing didn't bother me much, with the exception of Shizune's route. And if the pacing was to be either slightly slow or fast, I'd rather it be slow given the nature of these stories.

I have to admit that I was mixed on Shizune as a character, as she and Misha could be annoying at times. As you say though, she had promise for a much better route, and I think another rewrite may have helped that. It's as if they just dump all the interesting characterization at the end without giving it the time it needs, which was instead taken up by a lot of stuff before that wasn't particularly consequential (seriously, what was the point of
her dad
being there?).It doesn't bring the overall game down as the other routes are so strong (and to be fair it's not as if the route isn't without its moments, it does have Akira after all :D), but it is striking how much lower I regard it compared to the other paths. I hope that a replay down the line might improve my opinion on it :)

I'm not entirely sure on Hisao's heart condition, I thought it came into play in other routes in the sense that it was affecting him psychologically as opposed to physically, which could be seen as emphasizing how it's only a problem if he wants to make it one. I also think it helps further convey his isolation, in how he's not used to his condition like the other students are to theirs. Now that you mention it though, it is perhaps a bit odd that it didn't come up *that* much.
 
T

Typographenia

Member
You're all a bunch of deformed weirdos! Keep your noseless faces away from me!

Jazzem said:
I'm not entirely sure on Hisao's heart condition, I thought it came into play in other routes in the sense that it was affecting him psychologically as opposed to physically, which could be seen as emphasizing how it's only a problem if he wants to make it one. I also think it helps further convey his isolation, in how he's not used to his condition like the other students are to theirs. Now that you mention it though, it is perhaps a bit odd that it didn't come up *that* much.
Click to expand...
I can agree with you on most of what you're saying.
It did always momentarily surprise me when they would bring it up after long lapses of no mention of pills, pain, or the like, though. I guess it's better to let it enter more naturally in the story than try to push it, but I wish it would have been utilized a little better in some of the other paths.
 
XeroSauce

XeroSauce

Member
Alright so if people starting pointing to KS to claim that it's disgusting can I just point back at the Team Ninja thread?

Ugh.
 
T

TCKaos

Member
Any runningbros in here? Just started week 6 of the Bridge to 10k program. Running for sixty minutes was much easier than I thought it would be weeks and months ago. Especially fifty pounds later.

I can't believe a VN got me to get fit.

A VN about a guy with my heart condition, even.
 
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