For those of you who haven't heard of it, Katawa Shoujo is the labor of love of a dedicated group of 4chan users that formed a team they call 4Leaf Studios. It's a visual novel about looking beyond the obvious, and finding your waifu love along the way.

Hisao, the protagonist in the story, is sent to Yamaku, a school for kids with physical disabilities after he has a heart attack and promptly passes out in front of his high school sweetheart. As it turns out, he has a rare heart disease that requires a boatload of medications in order to sustain. He despises everything about this new condition.

But not everything is bad for Hisao. As he gets used to life at Yamaku, he meets a cast of 5 very different girls, each with a different disability.

Rin - An artist girl born with a rare condition that resulted in amputated arms
Lilly - A blind, half-Japanese girl who acts dignified and enjoys tea
Hanako - A timid girl who has severe burns covering half of her body
Emi - A very short track star who runs on prosthetic legs
Shizune - The president of Yamaku's Student Counsil. Needs Misha, her interpreter, around her at all times to relay her sign language to others.

While Katawa Shoujo's validity as a "game" is questionable, it's an incredible piece of interactive entertainment. Each of the girls' paths are very well-written, and the characters have amazing depth to them. I don't normally get very emotional over games, or even books for that matter, but this one certainly hit me hard. I'd highly recommend you give this a shot, even if the art style isn't for you. The sheer amount of polish 4Leaf Studios put into a free thing like this is nothing short of spectacular.

I've been meaning to try this out. Maybe I'll download it tomorrow.

this really interests me, sadly I have no patience for that kind of game hahah--wait




where's America in that world map

It's an H game though, isn't it?


I'm REALLY not interested in H-scenes, and in most cases I've seen before, they're hard/impossible to skip.

I haven't played the game but I've heard you can disable any adult scenes.

I don't know how I feel about an H-game about girls with disabilities. Like, whether or not the creators meant it as some sort of fetish thing

there's gotta be people out there...

it was more of a visual novel, it kind of fell out due to it being a ridiculous amount of work and that i couldn't find artists who would actually help out
also we lost the thread, which had 90% of the information

(01-28-2012, 01:15 AM)Splodiatrist Wrote: It's an H game though, isn't it?


I'm REALLY not interested in H-scenes, and in most cases I've seen before, they're hard/impossible to skip.

The thought of them is a hell of a lot worse than the scenes themselves. The story handles them in a very mature way, such that it feels natural to the relationships. It treats sex as a part of love, not some sort of stupid goal you're trying to achieve, like in some other eroge novels. You can always opt out of them, but I'd consider them a part of the game's experience. You probably won't get any sort of rise from it anyway; the game's killed my sexual drive.

I'd go for emi only because i find phrosthetic legs to be amazing.

(01-28-2012, 01:16 AM)Devicho Wrote: I haven't played the game but I've heard you can disable any adult scenes.

Even if they're turned on, the sex scenes are still disabled.

I'm enjoying this game so far

(01-28-2012, 11:00 AM)X Gamer 66 Wrote:

(01-28-2012, 01:16 AM)Devicho Wrote: I haven't played the game but I've heard you can disable any adult scenes.

Even if they're turned on, the sex scenes are still disabled.

fuck you

(01-28-2012, 01:31 AM)StarSock64 Wrote: I don't know how I feel about an H-game about girls with disabilities. Like, whether or not the creators meant it as some sort of fetish thing

there's gotta be people out there...

Disabled girls isn't anything new. As a fetish subgenre, it's been around for a long time.

(01-28-2012, 01:07 PM)Kriven Wrote:

(01-28-2012, 01:31 AM)StarSock64 Wrote: I don't know how I feel about an H-game about girls with disabilities. Like, whether or not the creators meant it as some sort of fetish thing

there's gotta be people out there...

Disabled girls isn't anything new. As a fetish subgenre, it's been around for a long time.

I'd hardly call this a fetish game. The team did extensive research on each of the girls' disabilities to present them in as realistic a way as possible. I believe they even had a doctor on the team to help them out with gathering the medical info. The original sketch that spawned the game might have envisioned it as such, but the story is tastefully done, IMO. A lot of people have commented negatively about the game without giving it a shot. Those opinions seem to change after a readthrough.