Crispy™ Jeff Vogel has finally gone off the deep end - reviews Katawa Shoujo

[Nikolaj]

That's a good question, but not as good as "why are you reading it?"

 

[Excidium]

Hanako is the ultimate autist route.

 

[Fowyr]

What the hell is going on here?

Poor blue pony molested by heavily scarred androgynous person?

 

[hexer]

Poor blue pony molested by heavily scarred androgynous person?

NooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[racofer]

Codexers gonna codex.

 

[taxalot]

Somebody sends this man a copy of Hatoful Boyfriend.

 

[Sceptic]

I'm surprised how many people in this thread have (or claim they have) played that game

If HHR can admit to having played it then nothing on this Earth can surprise me anymore.

 

[Night Goat]

http://katawashoujo.wikia.com/wiki/Hanako's_Route

what the fuck am i reading

I just skimmed that article, and found this sentence:

After dropping his things off he bumps into Kenji who reveals his plans to build a fallout shelter in case 'the feminists get their hands on the launch codes.'

Upon further investigation:
http://katawashoujo.wikia.com/wiki/Kenji

He appears to be very anti-social, claiming to be the "last sane man in an insane world." He often rants about feminist conspiracy theories, claiming that feminists are evil and want to rule the world, among other pointless subjects, possibly rivaling Rin's "uniqueness" in that aspect.

Which one of you is Kenji?

 

[FrancoTAU]

The dude made solid RPGs when no one else was, so I kind of look the other way when he makes mediocre smartphone games and pontificates about bizarre topics.

 

[LundB]

I'm surprised how many people in this thread have (or claim they have) played that game

If HHR can admit to having played it then nothing on this Earth can surprise me anymore.

HHR actually mentioned playing it ages ago, in the original LP thread. Here's what he had to say there:

The feedback is universally good on that one, and the writing is supposed to be of exceptional quality. Definitely interested in giving it a try one day. VNs when done right can be quite eerie and touching. I like the idea of humanizing crippled girls who would normally me stigmatized.

I also like that there is an option to skip all the awkward sex scenes.

I wanted to check the game out, and ended up completing one full path. I decided on the girl for which the disability would be the hardest to ignore, Rin, the girl with no arms.

Color me extremely impressed. I couldn't believe how fast you forget about the disability. Most any VN indeed ends up becoming a painful train wreck at some point, and usually stop being tasteful and make you feel wrong, but this was never the case here. Some very interesting characters and dialogue as well. That girl Rin had a pretty interesting, eclectic personality.

If I'd have one complaint, it's that the game is overly syrupy. Everything is enveloped in extreme sappiness, which might grind some people's gears at some point. I like more tense drama, more fear, more everyday malaise in a VN, and it wasn't the case at all here. I get turned off when the VN is always too agreeable for its own good, it's just phony.

In the end, a quite intriguing project that definitely delivers on the hype.

I completed all the routes. My girl loves dramas, and she even looked at me while I was playing one of the routes. She said she found it really cute and was on the verge of tears at some point at the end.

I wasn't moved as much, but I'd say that all the routes are of pretty high quality. It's not a perfect VN, and it gets a bit too verbose at times, but some really nice stuff in there.

Except Shizune's route (the deaf girl with glasses and blue hair). It devolves into some aimless slice of life stuff, and her pink-haired friend Misha is very annoying most of the time.

Don't be surprised, I've said a bunch of times already that I'm a former anime fiend, with occasional relapses, although most of it I now find horrid. She accepts it.

I set all the sex scenes to skip, but I didn't find the content horrid or sleazy in any particular way. I liked it because I like VNs that show how people deal with their own pathos, not for any sleazy reason or anything.

If I might advise you, the girls are friends with one another, so if you aim for a particular girl, you need to be nice with her friend as well. For example, in this case, if you want either Lilly or Hanako, you should preferably introduce yourself, and you should avoid it if you prefer to go for another. Likewise Emi and Rin are friends, and so are Misha and Shizune.

This has been well known info for nearly 2 years now, not sure how people are still surprised by it.

 

[SCO]

Not sure why people are surprised HHR is a troll either

 

[Ninjerk]

Much like Jeff I played the game, though I disabled the explicit scenes. And I kind of liked it. Jeff says his wife liked it too, my wife saw a lot of it and found it good as well.

Honestly, he isn't that wrong that it's better and has more merit than endless bald space marine games.

Where I am disappointed, is where he says that there should be more explicit games. Especially since his games are always G-rated and devoid of any offensive elements.

Much like Jeff I played the game, though I disabled the explicit scenes

though I disabled the explicit scenes

disabled

 

[Irxy]

Looking forward to Avadon 3 Emotional Engagement.

Hmmmm, why not, it's not like it could ruin his writing or anything.

 

[Kz3r0]

http://katawashoujo.wikia.com/wiki/Hanako's_Route

what the fuck am i reading

I just skimmed that article, and found this sentence:

After dropping his things off he bumps into Kenji who reveals his plans to build a fallout shelter in case 'the feminists get their hands on the launch codes.'

Upon further investigation:
http://katawashoujo.wikia.com/wiki/Kenji

He appears to be very anti-social, claiming to be the "last sane man in an insane world." He often rants about feminist conspiracy theories, claiming that feminists are evil and want to rule the world, among other pointless subjects, possibly rivaling Rin's "uniqueness" in that aspect.

Which one of you is Kenji?

The game was conceived on 4chan, blatant reference to the fauna there.

 

[Pantalones]

I guess anything is better than being the Uncle Tom of RPGs.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

You forgot something:

If you are going to necro, add something more substantial than a quip.

 

[DraQ]

You forgot something:

If you are going to necro, add something more substantial than a quip.

I'll try:

Much like Jeff I played the game, though I disabled the explicit scenes. And I kind of liked it. Jeff says his wife liked it too, my wife saw a lot of it and found it good as well.

Honestly, he isn't that wrong that it's better and has more merit than endless bald space marine games.

Where I am disappointed, is where he says that there should be more explicit games. Especially since his games are always G-rated and devoid of any offensive elements.

Much like Jeff I played the game, though I disabled the explicit scenes

though I disabled the explicit scenes

disabled

OLOLOL so meta! XDXD

 

[Pantalones]

You forgot something:

If you are going to necro, add something more substantial than a quip.

A couple months is a necro? Get over yourself.

This is better than any thread on the first page by far and did not get 1/4 the attention it deserves.

 

[DraQ]

A couple months is a necro? Get over yourself.

Necro enough for people to be thrown off if you just reply without providing any context.

 

[Turjan]

This is better than any thread on the first page by far and did not get 1/4 the attention it deserves.

Might have to do with the fact that we have a huge-ass current Jeff Vogel thread over here.

 

[Pantalones]

A couple months is a necro? Get over yourself.

Necro enough for people to be thrown off if you just reply without providing any context.

I guess there's nothing left for me but suicide, now.

 

[Turjan]

I guess there's nothing left for me but suicide, now.

We'll all chip in for a nice tombstone.

 

[DraQ]

A couple months is a necro? Get over yourself.

Necro enough for people to be thrown off if you just reply without providing any context.

I guess there's nothing left for me but suicide, now.

Are you hoping someone will

you?

 

[himmy]

A couple months is a necro? Get over yourself.

Necro enough for people to be thrown off if you just reply without providing any context.

To be fair, the necroing did give me the opportunity to fix an image link that went dead from my previous post in the thread so, you know, more forum tidiness, I guess.

 

[buzz]

Yeah, Katawa Shoujo is not extremely awful like others have said. Went into the game expecting cripple fetishization, went out of the game with stories about semi-realistic relationships where a couple work together to help each-other out and where the girls don't just slobber over the beta MC's dick. And the music was nice as well.
Hanako's route was indeed the shittiest one.