Visual novels are an excellent way to tell a story interactively without having to create actual gameplay. Katawa Shoujo is especially great for this, and while it's hard to recommend, it's a charming experience. There are many characters and while there are many translation issues, the stories are nice and warm.
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Jan 04, 2012 Katawa Shoujo is a bishoujo-style visual novel set in the fictional Yamaku High School for disabled children, located somewhere in modern Japan. Hisao Nakai, a normal boy living a normal life, has his life turned upside down when a congenital heart defect.
Meaningful relationships
We know that Japanese visual novels tend to be slices of life, scoring with chicks and going out with big-breasted women. But this game is about what's on the inside, and how the hardships of life change the way the characters see the world.
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The main characters in the game represent different disabilities, and by getting to know them you also get to understand them a bit better. This title is meant to make you reconsider and inspire a new love for yourself and your body.
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You can choose different paths for which relationship you will build and that also adds to the replay value. Once you start a relationship path with any of the characters, you get to talk more and understand them better.
It's not all about the looks
Even though the game repeatedly reminds us that what matters is on the inside, it has some beautiful art. This is also a nice thing to add to a game where you'll mostly see still scenes.
It's hard to recommend, but it's still a great story, told nicely with great art. Even though you don't really get to play much, the choices you make matter.
Keep plot details out of your submission titles.Released on January 4th, 2012Spoiler Tags (work in your inbox): spoiler(/s '1+1=2')results inYou will be banned if you choose not to mark relevant posts as NSFW.What counts as NSFW in this community?People might have different ideas of what NSFW means, but. we should set the standard at skimpy or revealing outfits, lingerie, and characters in advanced states of undress.Hate the way I run things?:.Is your comment not appearing? Did you include a link to a file-sharing site or image host? See for details. First off, come join us over on. We just got awesome flair recently, show off your KS love.So in general, the question is: Are you looking for something similar to KS or something in a different direction?If you want something similar:Grisaia no Kajitsu: Very similar to KS thematically, in that the protagonist goes to a new school and interacts with the girls there. The main difference is that the school is for students who have gone through mental trauma and can't live in the outside world anymore.
The big thing to warn about is that GnK is much longer than KS, and there are fewer choices.Kira☆Kira: Another slice-of-life game, this time about the protagonist being roped into joining an all-girls punk band. Their band gets popular, and they end up going on tour. Romance, comedy, and a crazy upbeat soundtrack ensue. The one thing to warn about with this one is that the translation was done by MangaGamer before they really took QC seriously, so it's 'not great' to say the least.
Personally, I like the story so much i can overlook mediocre translations, but it could bother you.Little Busters!: Another slice-of-life comedy, about the protagonist and his friends deciding they need to form a baseball team to become closer.And in the really good, but a different style of game than KS:G-Senjou no Maou: A Thriller about a cat-and-mouse chase with a criminal mastermind. Gripping story that keeps you reading.Fate/Stay Night: High Fantasy story, set in a modern day setting. MC gets roped into participating in the Holy Grail War, where mages fight to claim the Holy Grail by summoning familiars. It's the the current most popular VN on vndb.And since it's coming, so i feel like mentioning it: Planetarian: A short kinetic novel (no choices) about a traveler in a post-apocalyptic city stumbling across an abandoned planetarium.
Pretty sure reading this was the hardest I've cried at a game. Doing Makina's route.I've been wondering lately about VN's like KS and GnK: how much is how you feel about the VN and the characters determined by the order in which you end up doing the routes?That's hard to say; I think it'd be less so for GnK, simply due to the sheer length of the common route. A lot more of your overall enjoyment of the game will be determined by your enjoyment of the non-route specific stuff when there's so much more of it. Comparatively, my understanding is that the ratio of common to route material for KS is much much smaller. Generally, if a game is not released in the US, most people are okay with pirating it.
I'm not sure what this subreddit's stance on piracy is, but that's what I would recommend. Fuwanovel.org is a repository site for torrents of Japanese VNs with fan translations.If you really are morally against pirating, it's always possible (but a ton of work, and quite expensive) to, then apply the translation patch yourself.Also, if you want to wait, it did just get picked up for a Steam release in the US. No definite timeline for that though, so I wouldn't expect it this year. Maybe by spring 2015. I read a bunch of freeware visual novels from 2005 through 2010. Quite a few of them left a good impression on me. Reading A Midsummer Day's Resonance was a memorable experience, and it helped me reconsider what a VN could be.
Reading Winter Shard wasn't always fun, but I appreciated how the story could be bleak and unsettling. Playing RE:Alistair was entertaining, and it reminded me of things that I enjoy in women's fiction. Playing Heartache 101 was relaxing, and reminded of the things I wanted from untranslated '90s romance games.Since 2010, I've started a few computer visual novels (both commercial and free), but completed almost none. Likewise, I've played only two or three computer games since then. Because I have broadband access now.
I find it difficult to focus on a story or a game for more than a couple minutes.Also, for SunnyZ606: the VNDB will provide links to creators' sites and fan translation pages. It has never hosted any free, commercial, or fan-made downloads. It has never provided links to pirate sites.
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