Katawa Shoujo: HNNNGGGGGGG!!!

Saiga, in case you're curious, the route order I did (I think) was Lilly -> Shizune -> Emi -> Hanako -> Didn't like Rin enough to do her route. I mentioned that a lot of people don't like Shizune or her route, but personally I don't really share the sentiment. People get upset at her competitiveness and sort of 'bullying' tactics, but I have to say that as the other four routes show, Hisao only gets involved with her and the student council if he actually wants to.

The order I completed them in was Hanako>Lily>Emi>Shizune>Rin.

I did Emi and then just finished Rin. I think you're missing out by skipping Rin's, Arha. It is a very lovely story.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."

People tell me how funny she is and they tell me how tragic her route is. But you know what? I could never get invested in her character. I liked Shizune. She was funny and kind of charming in her own way. Lilly was a nice person and I actually really like that kind of character. Emi was okay. Not great, but I could at least appreciate what the focus of her story was since it's something you rarely see addressed. Hanako... was cute, I guess. Didn't really think much of her route so that's all I can say. But Rin? She never really made an impression on me. At least I wanted to see how Hanako and Hisao developed as a couple.

Spoilered not because it's spoilery content but because I don't want to prejudice anyone regarding Hanako. Slogging through Hanako's route was enough of a chore for me at times. When I don't feel invested in the story or the heroine, reading a route just feels like a pain. I'm just not really willing to do that with Rin.

edited 26th Apr '12 4:40:16 PM by Arha

I only really found Rin's first few bits especially funny. More than that I found that I could relate to her. Having it follow up to Emi's (relatively) super happy route was nice as well.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."

Even if I feel people don't understand me or something like that, I can't really relate to Rin. I will admit, though, that that may be because I never went and, you know, played her route. If I could relate to any of the KS heroines, it would be Shizune, but not really. None of them really resonated with me or struck close to home. Few characters really do strongly remind me of myself, even the ones I truly love.

I think I can relate to Hisao the most, Rin second, and the others less. That's not to say I don't find their stories interesting even if I can't relate as much to them; it just means I see less of myself in them.

I have to say, Hisao's interest in science made me quite happy.

See, I find it very easy to empathize with pretty much any given character, but Rin especially. The themes of inability to understand and be understood from both her and Hisao's narratives just clicked in a meaningful way for me.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."

Oh, I can empathize with any of them just fine. It's just that Hisao and Rin both remind me of aspects of myself more than the others.

I don't think Rin's route was my favorite, though. It's hard to pick — I liked Rin's, Emi's, and Lilly's stories all about equally — but if I had to choose one, it'd be Emi's.

As far as routes go, the four I did weren't really that amazing. Where KS shines is its characters and interactions.

There are few characters I can't empathize with, Bear. Even if I don't care about their issues or whatever, I can still find them cute or entertaining. Rin just somehow managed to slip past all the safety nets and land in my indifference.

Maybe empathize was not the best word. And I'm not trying to convert you, if that is how it seems; just outlining my own interests.

And I have quite literally no context to judge how poorly or well the routes work compared to other such works.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."

My order was Emi, Lilly, Shizune, Rin, Hanako.

My favorite route in order of best to least: Lilly, Emi, Hanako, Rin, Shizune.

Neither goony beard-men nor rainbow-haired she-twinks will stand in the way of my dreams!

To be on the other side of the conversation here, I find no issue with Arha having decided to skip Rin's route. Not only is Rin a potentially very annoying character, but the overload of choices to make on that route just makes it all... boring.

(Although contrast to Arha, Rin wasn't my least favorite main character; that position goes to Shizune.)

I feel kind of bad for skipping two routes. Well, actually I skipped Shizune's route and got a bit over halfway through Emi's. As I mentioned before I found Emi's route awkward because she looks like my little sister and I just don't like competitive, bossy types such as Shizune.

I can empathise the most with Hanako. I don't have burns, but I went through something similar that made me what I am today.

I have no beard. I have no beard, and I must scream.

Your tragic beardlessness, I presume? My sympathies.

Uh... eh?

Unless you're someone who saves each time to try out each and every choice and see how it plays out, that really shouldn't be the case... unless you aren't really invested, I guess. I was, and each time I had to make a choice, I was tense like crap because I was living in the constant fear of messing things up. Which I didn't want. Really didn't want. Which only made it all the harder on me because there's no way NOT to mess things up.

I had that issue the first time (although no, I wasn't particularly invested in it anyway), but it just got worse as I started heading for 100% completion.

I save at every choice, but I still like the route. Though I prefer Lily by far.

I'm the kind of person who saves at every choice, and I try everything out. I'm a completionist in that case, as I don't want to miss any scene or throwaway comment.

Though in the case of Rin, even if I still hold the same opinion, I just hit the "skip unread" option and skimmed a lot of text...

The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.

Yes, Rin's route is a little annoying for a completionist. But still, she's an interesting enough character to make up for it.

To some, she is.

Ahh, this didn't add to my watchlist again! Weird.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to go about playing this. I'm somewhat of a completionist, and is there anything in-game that will let me know when I've gotten 100% completion? And how long will that take to do?

I'm not sure if I should save at every choice or not.

@Arha so you didn't do the neutral route?

edited 28th Apr '12 1:00:55 AM by Saiga

From the main menu, go to extras and then to library. That will tell you what percentage of the game you've finished.

Thanks, does that cover every choice and whatnot?

edited 28th Apr '12 1:01:20 AM by Saiga

I think it's just every scene. As a fellow completionist, I did every choice anyway.

As for the time thing, it took me between three and five hours per route.