So, how many times in your life have you walked into a theater expecting to watch a Donkey Show, and instead get treated to Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet?

(I really hope no one can honestly answer that question.)

Let's start with a little back story.

In 2007 an image hit the 4chan /b/ boards, a concept sketch of game characters drawn by Japanese illustrator RAITA. Rather than describe it. Here it is:



It's a drawing of Manga characters, all girls, who are all physically disabled in some way. Starting from the center and going clockwise, you have: A burn victim, a girl with no arms, a girl with no legs, a blind girl, and a deaf girl. The title was "Katawa Shoujo", which roughly translated to english is "Cripple Girls". "Katawa" is an offensive term in Japanese for handicapped people. Like the "N word" in english towards black people, or calling a Jew a "Kike".

Like throwing blood to sharks, the B-tards were all over it. They laughed, made vulgar remarks, and had much horrible fun with the drawing. Then, an idea happened. Someone said, "What if this was really a game?" And, then someone else chimed in saying, "What if this was a dating sim, or a eroge (Dirty) Virtual Novel?"

And, a few dedicated B-Tards set out to make this a reality. The rest of the world grimaced and waited for the horrible results.

About a year ago, the group who had named themselves "4 Leaf Studios" (A nod to their 4-Chan origins), released a demo of what they had been making.

It was the first act of the game.

Many thought it would be a game more offensive then the Columbine Shooter game. Instead, what they found was a serious and well written start to something completely different and unexpected.



There were no objectification of these girls. No vulgar presentation. It was a serious story. And, not only that, but a well illustrated and well written one. Many people became intrigued and wanted more. Jump to January 2012. After almost 5 years of labor, 4L Studios released the full game, free of charge.

Here's a little plot outline. You play as Hisao Nakai. An ordinary 18 year old Japanese High School student. Everything is normal about his life until one fateful day. While confessing to a girl he likes, he suffers a heart attack, and wakes up in a hospital. He discovers that he suffers from arrhythmia, a heart condition that if left untreated can be fatal. After surgery and many months recuperating in the hospital, he is sent to Yamaku, a special school for disabled students. They have live-in dorms and a 24 hour nursing staff to address the special needs of its students.

He arrives not feeling that he should be there. He looks around and immediately sees other students with very visible handicaps and deformities. His condition however, is internal, with makes he feel like he sticks out as one of the only "normal" looking students.

From here the game, correct that, the STORY begins.



Like most VNs (Visual Novels), you are a guy thrown into a situation where you meet multiple girls, and your choices determine which one you will fall in love and have a relationship with. The 5 girls to choose from are all based on that original sketch:

Emi Ibarazaki - Emi is a short, pigtailed girl with light brown hair and forest green eyes. She has prosthetic legs as a result of having lost her legs in an accident and is amputated below the knee. She considers her misfortune a blessing, being able to perform as a star on the track and field team, although she seems to not be too fond of her short stature.

Hanako Ikezawa - Hanako, as a child, suffered in an accident in which her home was burned down. Much of her body was horrifically scarred from the incident and has left her traumatized. Her dark purple hair hangs down across the right side of her face and hides much of the damage. Because of the scarring, she is incredibly shy and has difficulty opening up to anyone except Lilly, whose blindness helps her cope with her appearance.

Lilly Satou - Lilly is the class representative of 3-2, a class composed of blind and partially blind students, and has been blind herself since birth. The tallest member of the main female cast, she has long blonde hair and blue eyes. She is very polite and ladylike, not wanting to intrude on others' private life (including Hisao's reasons for being at Yamaku).

Rin Tezuka - Rin is a girl whose arms were amputated due to a birth defect. To make up for her lack of arms, she uses her feet to accomplish everyday tasks with surprising dexterity. She has short red hair and dark green eyes, and wears a boy's uniform to avoid awkward situations that would arise from using her feet while wearing a skirt. Instead, Rin's odd personality that can only be described as "unique" is what brings about awkward situations with the people around her.

Shizune Hakamichi - Shizune is one of Hisao's classmates, as well as the student council president who supervises every aspect of Yamaku's school festival. She has short dark blue hair and eyes, and wears glasses. She is deaf and mute, communicating primarily through sign language. Her friend, Misha, is almost always at her side, translating everything Shizune signs and signing back to her, allowing for communication with other people.

***

The game is built on the "Renpy" VN game engine, which is open source and free for anyone to use. And, many of the games people have made look very amateur. KS, on the other hand, looks stunning. If you did not know that this was made by a group of people in their spare time for free, you would think this to be a High Profile VN game released by one of the big Japanese Studios.

The artwork is clean and crisp, and there are even some animated scenes that look Hollywood quality. The writing is also at a wonderfully professional level. Some bits read like a teenage romance novel, but that cannot be helped I guess, given the nature of the game. For the most part, the characters are well conceived, and given believable personalities and history. It can be long winded at times. A lot of writing went into this. Each full path takes 2 - hours if you are reading it through for the first time, and not skipping anything. There are multiple paths, not only with which girl you choose, but there are multiple ending for each. A good, a bad, and a neutral one. It is done well enough, that in a few character path, you will genuinely care about these people and their lives.

That is what caused me to write this review. I want you to know, that not only is this game better than expected, it is a wonderful thing to experience. So far, I have played through 3 of the girls paths. The first one played through was Hanako. She oozes with "Kwai" or cuteness. Her story, and helping her come out of her shell was a touching story that choke me up at points.

It was Lily's path that really got me. I cried manly tears at the end, as it is one of the best love stories I have ever read or seen. It really moved me.

There is one of word of warning, this is a hentai game. There are sex scenes, though you can disable them in the options. I just want to address that. Now, as note, that sex in the game is not really the point. Unlike other Eroge, there is only one or two brief scenes for each character. And, most of them you will not see until the final acts of their paths. Also, they are tastefully done and fit the story. They do not feel out of place or thrown in. I'm not really sure how to explain this, but you almost don't want to see them when they arrive. Not because they are dirty or demeaning, but because they seem like private moments to be shared by the characters, and you feel almost like you are intruding by watching them. That is something I have never said regarding a eroge game before, but it's the truth.

These are not, erotic porn scenes, as they are simply scenes of the characters consummating their relationships.

I give this game a full-hearted 9 out of 10.

Do not let this game scare you away by it's origins. Do not let this game scare you away by its concept. It is GOOD game. And, you will have enjoyed the time you spent with it.

If you wish to try it, you can download the game from 4L Studios for PC, Mac, or Linux here:
http://dl.katawa-shoujo.com/gold/

(At the moment, there are only Torrent links. However, 4L Studios will eventually put up direct download links as well.)

I believe everything after the "***" break, is my opinion and therefore would qualify be a review, would it not?

Also. There is not much to review gameplay wise when it comes to VN games. They all play EXACTLY the same. You read, you make a choice. It's like a computer version of "Choose Your Own Adventure". What technical content there was, I noted. (Writing, Artwork, and Animation.) I didn't mention the sounds, as there really isn't any of note other than some background music which sounds like every other VN, and the rare "thump" or school bell.

Plus, with an infamous game like this, I wanted to explain what is was, as much as if I liked it or not, as it was completely different than the majority's expectations of it. I want people to give this game a chance. As most would run at the words "4 Chan" & "Game" together in a single sentence.

Animation Quailty:

Judge for yourself:



I would call that professional quality. Also, known commonly as "Hollywood" quality.

The Writing is excellent for a VN. Probably the largest reason for this, is due that is was originally written in English. So, you don't have the translation issues, that most VN have. Since, they don't have to translate from Japanese to English, and lose the finer nuances of the writing between languages. There is no simplifying. There is no need to substitute words or phrasing so that you can understand it.

Judging the writing on its own, and not as a VN, if this was a book, after sampling the first chapter, the writing is done well enough that I would happily continue reading the rest of it.

I believe I already mentioned that the characters are well developed and written, that you care about them. That means that the writing is fleshed out enough to give you a good insight into not only what they are, but who they are inside. Their personalities, their hopes, their dreams, what they feel and what their disabilities have done to them on the ego and superego levels of their psychic apparatus, not just how the physical challenges are present in their lives.

The writing goes beyond what is expected for the genre. This is not a simply repeat of the stereotypical Eroge formula of "You are a guy thrown into a situation where you have numerous potential targets for your sexual desires and deviance. And, who are eager and more than willing do be the object of your desires." The goal is not to simply conquer a love interest and get laid. The goal is to find someone who can bond with the main character, and together they learn to become better people for themselves and each other. How to work together to conquer the issues that hold them back as people, and allow them to accept who they are, and how to not let their disabilities be a crutch that holds them back in life and from their ultimate dreams.

I am sorry that my initial style of writing a review did not live up to all's expectations of what a review should be in their personal opinion. I did feel that my review conveyed everything that I wanted to say about the game, and share with others.

So, here, allow me to give you all a review style you are more familiar with:

(Everything is on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being perfect and 1 being a worthless piece of human excrement.)

Graphics = 8 (Its pretty)
Sound = 5 (Its there.)
Gameplay = 2 (You press one button for 99% of the game, then make a choice once in a while)
Replayability = 9 (There are multiple paths in not just love interest choice, but each one as multiple endings)
Fun Factor = 9 (If you like a good romantic story, you will enjoy this game.)
Story = 10

Final Score = 9*

*The final score is not a simple mean of the individual scores, but rather a rating based on the overall experience of playing the game.

There, does that make you all happy?

You weren't nice enough to any of the girls and got the "Kenji"ending.