Katawa Shoujo

[Link_Bakeneko]

the plot revolves around Hisao Nakai, a normal teenage boy who's life is turn upside down after he suffers from a long-dormant cardiac arrhythmia that forces him to attend a new school for the disabled called Yamaku high school. while there he makes friends and finds love with one of five main girls in the game.

Girls

Emi Ibarazaki
Despite being left with legs amputated below the knee, Emi is perhaps one of the most cheery, happy-go-lucky girls on the entire globe, let alone the school. Not one to be left in despair even after the accident that claimed her legs, Emi views her disability more as a blessing, her prosthetic legs having brought her to the heights of her ability on the track team rather than becoming a permanent obstacle.

Hanako Ikezawa
At a young age, Hanako had a traumatic experience that left her life in shambles. Her father died when their home burned down in an accident, which also disfigured Hanako herself permanently. She is reclusive to the extreme, shunning from all other people to the point of actually panicking from any social contact. Her only trusted friend is Lilly, who has taken Hanako under her wing ever since the two were introduced to each other.

Lilly Satou
Blind since birth, Lilly is caring, responsible and friendly - the perfect foil to Hanako, her best friend, whom she shares an almost mother- daughter relationship with, in addition to her free time often being spent drinking tea alongside her companion. In class she is a diligent student, with her sense of confidence serving her well in her role as class representative of class 3-2.

Rin Tezuka
Since Rin’s arms are tiny stumps due to a severe birth defect and subsequent surgery, she uses her feet and occasionally her mouth to do everything, which includes painting. Because of her disability, using skirts is tough, so Rin is wearing a boy’s uniform at school. Her creativity is matched by her philosophical streak: Rin is fond of occasionally getting lost in thought and giving voice to abstract ideas about man, the universe, and other things that thoroughly confuse people.

Shizune Hakamichi
Strong willed and forceful, Shizune is definitely the leader type. She’s been the class rep, despite being deaf and mute, for as long as her class has had one, and generally takes charge in just about any situation she’s placed in. Shizune is known around the school as a fearsome taskmaster, and skilled manipulator, but also as a fair and just leader.

Shiina Mikado aka Misha
Misha is the interpreter for Shizune and a fellow member of the student council. Cheery, playful, and never one to pull a punch, she happily joins in Shizune’s attempts to get Hisao onto the student council.

Link to the game: http://katawa-shoujo.com/
Link to the wiki for the game(fare warning the wiki has spoilers) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katawa_Shoujo
Link to flow chat for those having a problem getting all the ending: http://meta.filesmelt.com/downloader.ph ... artv27.png

[DogKama]

Your not suppose to add download links.

[Feathers]

Is the VN freeware?

[Link_Bakeneko]

@DogKarma oops! sorry.

@Feathers yes it's free, the game was made by 4 Leaf Studios a small independent group. if you click the wiki link and look under creation you can learn about who the game came to be.

[Kaijin]

The game was indeed a incredibly nice surprise, it's been ages since I happened to play a visual novel that piqued my interest as much as this one.
I definitely look forward to any future work this studio may develop in the future.

.P.S.: It's kind of a shame that Misha didn't get to have a route of her own though...

[Link_Bakeneko]

The game was indeed a incredibly nice surprise, it's been ages since I happened to play a visual novel that piqued my interest as much as this one.
I definitely look forward to any future work this studio may develop in the future.

.P.S.: It's kind of a shame that Misha didn't get to have a route of her own though...

this most definitely won't happen cause the studio said that aren't going to make anything else. but I agree it is indeed a shame about Misha.

[Tsar CUBE]

If the game is free you can put the link. But you have to be 100% certain that it's free. Though for this I know it's free so post the DL link if you want.

[Rezeed]

They site itself gives both a free direct download link and a torrent download link.

[Link_Bakeneko]

no I'm just going to leave my first post on this just like it is, if anyone wants to download the game they can just google Katawa Shoujo.

you know what nevermind, I will repost the link, cause this game needs love.

[Blake81]

After a lot of overthinking (as I wasn't too certain if I'd like it) I finally played this game. And I must say, it's far better than many commercial VNs I've seen.

First of all, the game's writing is superb; as they couldn't rely on too many CGs, so the writer made an astounding effort to convey images and situations with text alone. And this isn't too common nowadays. Also, the story feels very real and touches the right feelings (not to mention that it avoids pretty much every VN-related cliche, and even those it uses, they're played around with or parodied).

Plus, the story is very gripping; you just want to know more about your favorite girl, about how she feels and how to make her feel better. The reason I don't often play too many ''pure VNs'' (those without some sort of gameplay element) is because they often bore me to death, even if I like the theme; at some point, I notice I'm just skipping text until I get the H-scene. And such a thing didn't happen to me for a single moment in this game. You sincerely CARE about the story, the protagonist (which is pretty much the antithesis of your average VN protagonist), the girls, and even those minor characters whom only show up a couple times.

Also, even these minor characters themselves are very well made and likable. From your weird, paranoid and conspiracy-theorist dorm neighbor (he's pretty much the comedy in this story) to the cute freckled girl from the library (she deserves her own VN, hah), they all have interesting and likable personalities which make them nice additions to the overall story.

So, if you enjoy a good, romantic story, with a touching and sometimes heartwrenching plot that will make you smile as much as it'll make you cry, then I strongly recommend you Katawa Shoujo.

That aside, there's Hanako:

Spoiler: show

hanako_emb_timid.png

She touches all my ''Protect Her!'' buttons.

[Kaijin]

Also, even these minor characters themselves are very well made and likable. From your weird, paranoid and conspiracy-theorist dorm neighbor (he's pretty much the comedy in this story) to the cute freckled girl from the library (she deserves her own VN, hah), they all have interesting and likable personalities which make them nice additions to the overall story.

In the unlikely case that ever happens...It'll probably be a prequel explaining the relationship between her and the conspiracy cuckoo guy (the novel hints here and there that those two were together in the past, and the cause that lead the guy to think of everything lacking the Y chromosome as the epithome of everything evil... is said relationship, even if the novel doesn't specify how it came to end).

Anyway... you sure discovered this one late huh.
But better late than never, otherwise you would have ended up missing quite a hidden jewel.

[Jinouga87]

I knew about this game for a while thanks to JewWario's review of it. It's one of my favorite videos by him.

Here it is if anybody wants to check it out of you haven't already.
[youtube]SS-m0yq5x7Q[/youtube]

[Blake81]

Well, there be a man who said it better than me, hah.

So far, I've only finished Hanako's route (not sure of which ones I'll take next, hah) but, at least for my conception, her H-Scene didn't feel forced at all. Heck, I dare say I've seen lots of VN with H-Scenes that felt more out of place; even scenes in good ones like Utawarerumono and Kamidori felt more forced than KS's.

Btw, I once heard rumors (think it was back on MGU) that the same group who made Katawa Shoujo was making another similar VN. Except this time, instead of girls with disabilities, it had girls with mental and psychologic issues. Did that ever went beyond an idea? Or does anyone ever heard anything about it?

[Blake81]

Couldn't contain myself to post this little fact I just learned about this game, or more precisely, the doujin artist RAITA whose one-page idea became the inspiration for this game.

It seems that RAITA (Honjou Raita) was also the character designer of a very unusual RPG known as Valkyria Chronicles, which I've played and is epic beyond words. (Don't expect any ecchi or stripperific female characters here, tho. The game is very serious, too.)
Just dropping this cool trivia here, heheh.

[Gamergirl64]

Alright, I never intended on revisiting an old topic, but I really have to say something about this game.

Blake told me about this game, and being the disability advocate that I am, I decided to check it out for curiosity sake. Now that I just finished Hanako's route, I've just gotta say...

Disability or not, I genuinely like this game!

Now, I've grown up around those with disabilities. As a kid, I was always put in the special ed program because of my own "developmental disability" known as Autism. So at an early age, I learned how to interact with characters like the ones in this game. Heck, even now I have good friends with disabilities. To me, they've always been normal people.

Taking the role of the main character though, I found it interesting, seeing how he learned how become friends with some of the characters. After living a normal life and not having anyone with a "disability" as a friend before, seeing Hisao go through the trial and error of learning how to "interact" with the girls (only to find that treating them like anyone else is the best way you can go about it) was a different experience for me.

I chose Hanako first, because she seemed to be the most interesting to me. The more I got to know her though, the more relatable she felt, as I've also dealt with some serious social anxiety (I've found ways to deal with it, but I still have one hell of a time trying to keep my cool in uncomfortable social situations). However,

Spoiler: show

When Hanako had the panic attack in the classroom that played out almost exactly like how the ones I had in high school played our, I almost cried. I've had an experience like that, and it's really not fun. You use up all of your energy trying to fight it and keep the tears down, but you end up feeling powerless because you can't stop it from happening, and you want to disappear because everyone starts staring at you.

With that said, I might go for Lilly next. Or Rin, I don't know. Heck, I might end up purposely going for the "no girlfriend" ending, for curiosity's sake. Blake told me what happens, but I might anyways, for the heck of it.