VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Katawa Shoujo [Final] [Four Leaf Studios]

First you come for faps, then you stay for feels. The post katawa shoujo depression is real and should absolutely be respected. I went into this as a joke with a friend, and her and I would do silly voices. I ended up finishing it alone and god damn, I was depressed for several weeks after. I wish I could play this game for the first time again

This is the game that set the gold standard for AVN's. Graphics side leaves a lot to desire (this one's 10 years old now), but that is not the catching point. It is the story and this one's has it in spades. The amount of erotic scenes is not very high, and it takes a long time to gain enough trust and familiarity so that a girl and the MC engage in the act of lovemaking (and mostly it is making love).

Good game

I love this game. So much, that I actually went through to get the ending for each of the characters. I did not do all the endings, as I am not on that needs to see the bad ends
The story was so well written that I fell in love with all the characters. The only thing I wished for this game was that one or two of thee other characters in it were romance-able

The seminal classic that every Visual Novel fanatic needs to read at least once, it's been well over 10 years since Katawa Shoujo has been released and it still holds up as one of the best VN's developed by the internet.

This game holds a very fond place in my heart as one of the first visual novels I managed to get my hands on and complete, and after replaying it, it's been a joy to re-experience it with more experience with the medium.

First and foremost, I love the characters. There's at least one girl that will capture your interest. All of them have dreams and goals with their own sets of problems; sometimes tangentially related to their disabilities, sometimes not, but it's never the main reason why. Even the side characters are pretty memorable too. Kudos to all of the writers who worked so hard here.

Hisao Nakai is a very interesting POV character. He starts as a very cynical and bitter guy, but slowly and gradually opens up once he gets on a route. You get to watch this really bitter guy who doesn't know how to deal with his new medical condition to someone who can rely on others and wants to support his friends and loved ones as best he can.

Special shout out goes to the music for this game. It's all great, I would say almost the entire score is memorable. From the wistful and nostalgic title screen music, to the upbeat and relaxed every day tracks. It knows when to let lush romantic strings play, when to be somber and moody, and when to be warm and joyful. All great stuff, definitely worth listening to on it's own.

I do want to talk about some negatives here though, albeit minor issues. This game has several different writers and it shows, but nothing too major. Your mileage may vary with the direction of some routes as well. There are some amazing bad endings that hit you right in the face to call you out, while others are not as impactful, or go in a direction you definitely did not expect from your choices.

I still believe this is an excellent game, no doubt. It's a miracle of game development from 4chan, and the well documented rocky development cycle should have doomed this game, but it didn't. And we have an amazingly written game to show for it (which is a miracle in it's own right considering other VN's this community is aware of). It's been a pillar of the Western Visual Novel scene for 12+ years, and it's been an honor and privilege to be able to still talk about it today.

I wish this game had a continuation, i will miss Shizune and misha, they're both excellent characters and the MC is actually good in this game. i will keep playing further to see what can i learn about the other girls.

This is the gold standard of VN's as far as I a care about. A lovely romance story with a nice collection of surprises and emotions. This was the first VN I ever played all the way back in like 08 or whenever it came out I cant even recall.

The game still holds up, it is a lot less decision making then a lot of other VN's. However it just has a whole lot more heart in it then any other VN I have ever played.

What more is there to say about this game. It was my first ever visual novel back when it came out, and it still stands the test of time. The only disclaimer that I think is necessary is that this is less of a porn game than it is a game with some porn in it. I quite like the sex scenes, but they were not the focus and were included mostly to keep with the conventions of visual novels. So come in expecting a well-written romance with your favorite of the five heroines, not a fuckfest fetish bonanza.

This vn also features a different writer for each heroine. This means that tone, themes, and even the main character's personality can shift quite a lot between each route. So if you're really not vibing with the first heroine you chose, you might find more enjoyment going back and picking another.

All that said, I heartily recommend this game to just about anyone. And if you don't like Rin you're a monster.

This isn't a visual novel, this isn't a game. This is a work of art, a masterpiece. This is so good, you'll forget to beat your dick to it. It's that good. Played it 10 years ago and I still remember it.

Completely played through. One of my favorite VNs cannot recommend enough; only thing missing is active gameplay. Each of the routes is excellently written and memorable; played it plenty of years ago and remember all of them rather well, with the exception of Lilly's.

It has been 12 years since I played this game, and I can still remember all the characters and all the details. Walking to the grocery store and hanging out. It takes you into its world and makes you fall in love with the girls...
Top notch, have an open mind and give yourself to this masterpiece!

An absolute classic.
Began as a meme on 4chan and really brought life back into the Ren'py and Visual Novel scene.
But all jokes aside, the characters are done really well, the story is good, there are actual consequences to your action.
Plus the artwork and sex scenes are great, too.
hanako mai waifu...

Truly a masterpiece, I feel like this game doesn't really belong on this site, but then I remember that there's games on here with NO sexual content. There is of course lewd scenes in this, but as with many others, I feel like they're not really necessary.

I started this game expecting just a good visual novel, but what I got was a life changing experience.

I know the premise is kinda weird, but if you haven't played it yet you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

This is a recommendation arising from the desire for more people to know Katawa Shoujo ❤‍ , a game that changed the lives of many and continues to do so.

December 30, 2000 a dojinshi is published on the Internet without attracting attention from the Internet, it contained several sketches of characters including several disabled girls. Six long years passed and a version of those sketches were published in color on the 4-chan website. with more publications at the time (Twitter reditt didn't even exist so to search for something you had to go to the specific page, not even Google helped much).

Whether by luck or thanks to fate, the simple sketch exploded in popularity, with people giving ideas theorizing what a game with that plot would be like: disabled girls in a school.

A website was created only for katawa shoujo and from there hundreds of development teams for the game emerged but little by little all of them disappeared except one, a team made up of only 12 people who would be the ones to start the production of the game. .

But enough of the stories, that can wait, I came to give you a recommendation and that's what I'll do.

Katawa Shoujo seen from the outside many people consider it something "shady" "bizarre" "sick" "fucking a disabled person" and if I only have to deny it so they can play it I will do it.

Notice that I will not give spoilers since you do not need to know the story itself to be attracted to it.
The game, a high-quality visual novel, puts us in a situation in which one day like any other, our protagonist, Hisao Nakai, ends up in the hospital due to a heart attack. Until then, Hisao had had nothing but mundane thoughts about disabilities (like most of us before playing the game) that is until he was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia, a disease that causes the heart to pump more blood than it should, causing a heart attack.

From that moment on, Hisao was in the hospital and the months he spent there, he gradually lost his color, until after 6 months of hospitalization, Hisao was transferred to a boarding school for the disabled called Yamaku, which left him astonished since his life had changed. a 180° turn from his point of view, and normal pessimism invades him.

This is where katawa shoujo and your katawa shoujo begin since the game will change radically depending on who you spend your time with. If you like someone, don't hold back and spend as much time as you want on it.
Katawa Shoujo will completely change your way of seeing not only disabilities but people themselves if you give it a chance, and it will make you wonder if you really aren't open-minded.


Physical or mental disabilities do not have to prevent you from achieving your goals or living a happy life, it may not be normal but without a doubt if I lose both legs it will hurt, but I will remember that I am not the only one and that a little high school girl is an athlete. Even without legs, a crazy girl is a painter despite not having arms and a not-so-serious classmate is the president of the student council despite being Deaf and Mute.

A Game that has changed the lives of many and continues to do so waits for more people who need to see the world and their own lives in a better way.


Remember if you play thanks to this review
That each person helps you ask yourself something
Hanako: can you face your fears?
Lilly: can you see the world that I see?
Emi: can you stand up for yourself?
Rin: can you reach tomorrow?
Shizune: can you tell me what you think?

This was the first game i played with renpy.

This game has a really good story for every girl, a really good story , all ur decision change the game u play, so u can play every route and u won't be disappointed.

First let me preface by saying, that I don't know what Katawa Shoujo is doing here. I have no problem with that fact, but it seems to me like a "1 of these things is not like the others" kind of deal. At any rate, I looked for completed works by weighted rating, and here we are, even though I read Katawa Shoujo a long time ago.

Just a couple more things: I can't do a short review on a "pure" (and somewhat long) visual novel. I'll try my best to be synthetic, but there's a lot to talk about. Second, Katawa Shoujo is NOT a top tier visual novel. I think it's fine that it's highly rated, and I would add that it's an excellent starting point for people who want to "get into" visual novels, but keeping expectations a bit on the subdued side, might be in order.

Moving on to the "meat and potatoes":

- Setting - The entire twist of Katawa Shoujo lies here. You are still in high school with cute girls, but all of them have some sort of disability. The title didn't need anything else to stand out, and they make sure to remind you of things like an "armless girl", having trouble to dress on her own. Your brain will remember Katawa Shoujo, on difference alone.

- Pacing - Everything moves very fast (short heroine routes) and it's well structured. The choices aren't always easy to understand, but common sense gets the job done, and experiencing the not so good ends is intended.

- Lily and her route - The weakest route, but the best heroine, from a romantic POV. Whoever wrote Lilly's route, must be familiar with 90's live TV, and filling up something with nothing, while waiting for an occurrence. The conflict of interest is made apparent in chapter 2, and only gets disclosed by chapter 4. In the meantime nothing happens. Lilly herself is a delight though, "wifey material" by any standards. Lily's disability is the least addressed out of the 5, and it stays on simple "seeing" remarks.

- Hanako and her route - The "white knight syndrome" triggering route, meaning it's impossible to not like, and want to help Hanako. At first it seems like there is nothing there, just a lot of trauma and pain, but this is not true at all, and the final stretch of the route really paints Hanako in a great light. Hanako is a "girl's girl" if you will, and shows some jealousy and assertiveness, when you were expecting a rescued puppy and submission.

- Emi and her route - The more traditional route, with the most teenage like girl. I'd put this 1 above Lilly's, but the theme (fear of losing something precious/ guarded behavior) has been explored to exhaustion in other works. Emi fits an energetic (Genki) archetype, and she just needs red hair and calling you senpai, to be an obvious staple of most romance visual novels. Nothing bad here, just a lot of "non-originality". Emi's disability is well thought out though, with a flair for the dramatic, but good.

- Rin and her route - The reason why you should read Katawa Shoujo, and your only bet at finding greatness in Katawa Shoujo (Read Rin's route first, do as you like afterwards). Rin's route addresses many interesting notions: The difficulty of understanding your own feelings; Why in the end you will always be alone (you can't be "inside" someone else); Trying to find purpose when there's nothing to drive you; Who you are changes even if you try to "stand still" it etc... It's a bunch of philosophical stuff that has no clear answer, but everyone thinks about it at some point.

The beauty of it all, is in the 2 characters and how they are portrayed. Romantically, it's a bit of a stretch, but from a simple perspective of 2 human beings trying to understand each other it's close to brilliant. Rin herself, is also one of the more unique characters you will ever see in a visual novel. I don't know any "artsy people within the spectrum" in RL , but Rin is a likely depiction of such.

- Shizune (and Misha) and her route - This one tries to do too much, without enough "runtime" to back it up. The comedy and slice of life, are much greater than in the other routes. Shizune, Misha (their personalities) and the "triangle" with the protagonist, needed a lot more events to really sink in. On the other hand the essence of the title's setting is properly portrayed, and Shizune's disability is well handled. The girls begin the route working like opposites that attract each other, but they evolve (show more) as things roll by. Misha is immediately likable, Shizune has a lot of good traits, becoming apparent, it works.

- Humor - Not a lot of it and very light. Some chuckles were given, but I'm an easy target. Kenji (the friend), can be funny or exhausting. Shizune's Father is genuinely amusing.

- Visuals - Lots of attention to detail. What you read and what you see match. The dialogues split when more than 1 person talks at the same time, The flashbacks have a dream like palette. The NVL is used correctly on long exposition/introspection etc.. The art itself can't compete with modern titles (even in 2015 there was much better) but it's serviceable (I like Lily's cg's).

- Audio - The biggest problem of Katawa Shoujo is the lack of voice acting. Visual novels need voice acting to really separate them from other mediums. It's very difficult to grasp the true intentions of the writer regarding characters like Misha(who speak for 2), without V.A. Something simple like a "hello", can be delivered in dozens of different ways (ask Samir). As for the music it's very adequate (even moving) but a couple of tracks are loud and out of place. Overall the audio brings the score down, by simple comparison to other titles.

- Writing - Really, really good, but far too prim and proper for the setting. It feels like some characters are training to have tea with the queen in the Victorian era (I'm kidding). I even learned a new word "corrugated". With that aside, Katawa Shoujo is very competent and highly descriptive: The hand is dainty, the arm is lanky, the finger wags, the movement goes gingerly. Lots of adjectives to convey nuances, lots of care and endless revisions of the text (that's a guess), and a bit too heavy on the modal adverbs. There's no spark of genius here, but hard work needs just as much praise.

- H-Scenes - They are just there. You don't read Katawa Shoujo for them. Let me be clear, they went the "realistic" way. All those VN tropes you can think of don't apply here. No build up, no proper placement, duration, quantity etc... They delivered something different, and did their own thing. It's not a turn-on in any way. Sometimes it barely makes sense.

- Score - I'd say this is an 8/10, and I recommend it if you want to try it as your first visual novel. Do note that this 8/10, is not the same 8/10 I would give to one of the "graphic novels" (differentiate) you might find here. VERY different standards, I'm far more demanding when looking at Katawa Shoujo (I know visual novels, I'm still learning about the others).

P.S: There's a lot more to be said (visual novels need more detailed reviews in my opinion), and the vast majority is very positive. I only become this "analytical" with stuff I like. Go give it a read.

This game is beautiful. It is so damn wholesome and I love it. It is honestly one of my favorite stories of any VN, especially Emi's route. She is just so well written that I was actually getting a tad emotional during my playthrough. I can't wait to play through the rest of the routes

Timeless classic with a really neat backstory.

I've played this in 2012, and I still remember the communication issues from Rin's path, or the iconic bad end from Hanako's.

A great piece of art, wholeheartedly recommend reading.

A classic. Was one of my first novels, completely broke me for several weeks. A beautiful, beautiful project. A word of warning - it is not a porn game, obviously, but a romance novel. What an amazing game.

I genuinely don't think that there is anything I can say that hasn't been said yet, so instead I'll just share some genuine thoughts.

The development hell that this game went through and the whole conceptualization of it is nothing short of a miracle. The fact that a rag-tag group of people on 4Chan could create one of the most memorable, gripping & emotionally wrecking stories I've ever playing is just.. mindboggling. Never mind all of the random, "stock" background pictures that were taken by some dude in Japan. Never mind some of the art which may be a little.. sub-par at times. Never mind any of the other shortcomings, which would be subject to quite a lot of ridicule nowadays. This game is an absolute must play, even if you're a horny fiend looking for the next wank on this site.

Take your time with it. Don't rush through the dialogue - you won't get anywhere. Really analyze the characters and their connection to the MC and the world around them. Trust me, it is going to hit you so, so much harder if you genuinely pay attention to things.. There are enough games on this site that'll get you a quick fap, but please, for the sake of your own sanity - don't try it with this one.

If you're anything that even resembles a human being, you'll likely cry. Or, at the very least, get shivers down your spine as the beautiful music plays over a soul-wrenching scene. Your mind is going to be filled with thoughts, theories and, most likely, sadness for countless nights on end after playing this.

Play it. It's free, even on the original site. Always has been, and always will be. This is the product of genuine passion & love created by a random group of people that, for the most part, had absolutely nothing to do with each other before starting development.

Thank you, Four Leaf Studios. It's a shame that they never ended up being a proper studio afterwards and instead decided to part ways. You rarely see this type of passion put into a product nowadays (let alone by total strangers..), and they could've been precisely what the VN genre needed.

Absolutely heartwarming for good endings <3....

Pros: multiple endings, beautifully crafted characters with very well defined personalities and struggles, very unique plot, mostly a casual plot but some of the most wholesome shit VNs here have to offer, Music is so well crafted and selected, writing is absolute gold.

Cons: NONE.

Verdict: Play it already! Must play for people wanting to dabble with JVNs!! Game actually teaches you how to view and treat others that you might think are different from you. It's their normal and you should treat them as just humans rather than something broken. Absolute gold VN!