Katawa Shoujo - amazing visual novel

Yay a thread for this! I'd been following KS for about 2 years. I've read through Shizune, Lilly, and Hanako so far. Just recently I started on Emi's path and am pursuing Rin's last.

The soundtrack is easily the best thing about this game. I would enjoy it far less if not for it. All the music synchs up phenomenally with the scenes they're attached to. It's difficult to explain in wordd, but the soundtrack is so fitting. Especially the jazzy music playing during the scenes with the Nurse. Shadow of the Truth during the reveal scene from Lilly's sister Akira was jaw-dropping and made the scene have so much more impact. Sarabande from BMV1010, Musicbox seemed pleasant and inconsequential until it's reappearance during a scene in the end of Lilly's path and in that context it was tear inducing for me. Concord (played often alongside Lilly scenes) is very mellow and pleasant, highly enjoyable to listen to. Ah Eh I Oh You (Nurse's office) is a good tune as well. For me personally the song which had the most impact (tied with Lilly and the music box) was Painful History during Hanako's scar reveal in Act 4. I must have stared wide-eyed at the image for nearly ten minutes thinking to myself. That scene was so jarring it made me wince at first glance. That response is hard to find of me real-life let alone in fiction. There's still Emi and Rin's paths left unread. I hear a lot of people extol the Rin path as the best alongside Lilly's.

Shizune's path I was a little disappointed in, but in the end it was happy and upbeat. Shizune's personality was so intense, but I feel like it didn't probe into her character much other than showing off that. It did Misha justice at times especially with the unexpected reveal about her. I feel Misha told more about Shizune than Shiichan herself. The inside joke about drills made me laugh a ton.

Lilly's path blew me away. The word choice and how well conveyed her personality was I felt was excellently done. So far she's the only character I got a real solid sense of by the end of the story path. Considering films, books, anime, and comics nothing has ever been as moving as the music box scene near the very end of her story path. The idea of something minor coming back in such a meanginful way put a firm punctuation in that scene.

Hanako... It's hard to find a coherent thought to describe it with the scene Whispered Touch still lingering in my memory. During her path I found myself rolling my eyes at her treatment and how she was coddled by Hisao and Lilly. It wasn't until late in Act 4 I felt as if Hanako really began to be filled out. For a long time I felt as if the Lilly path did Hanako more justice than her own until Whispered Touch. Cute, but a little cliche is how I would describe it until Act 4 then it stands rather powerfully on it's own. On a personal note I suffer from Panic attacks and the scene involving such during her story path struck me pretty hard. Reading the author's view from the point of view of the onlooker's opposed to the one suffering the panic attack opened myself to something I'd never realized. It showed me how much I affect those around me, led me to understand why some see me rarely, and why the ones who stick around now are so important. Those who stayed after having to deal with my panic issues are treasures to me. I'm disgusted it took a story to bring that to my attention, but I'm thankful it did. Today I spent a lot of time calling people and thanking them for being so considerate with me for the past several years.

Emi I've just begun and Rin will be the last. I'm overjoyed at the existence of this story. It gave me some perspective I didn't have before on how to treat other people and how other people treat me, the reasons behind it as well. It's my first VN and I'm a little sad to see some's take on it. I highly encourage everyone to give it a go. It's made me smile a lot. In my world of uncertainty that counts for a lot.

Katawa Shoujo is worth the time.