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

Played this several years ago, now very glad to play it again. Beautiful music, storyline, art, characters, literally everything. Will make you cry like a bitch in both the good endings, neutral endings, and bad endings. I know most games here are lewd, and while this one does have sex scenes, it is first and foremost a lovely dating sim focusing on disabled girls. Hisao, the main character, isn't a self-insert. He has a personality, so I guess be warned of that if it turns you off.

My first VN and this review is probably biased but i can't recommend it enough to play it. I started playing as a joke because it came from 4chan but after a few minutes I got sucked in the story and couldn't stop playing.

The story is amazing and the characters are incredible. Sometimes the writing is a bit iffy but everything else makes up for it.

There is no harem which is great because it can focus on 1 character you chose.

You aren't their knight in shining armor, waiting for you to rescue from their troubles. They have lived their lives without you so far and can continue to do so. They are able to solve their own problems and sometimes your troubles are bigger than theirs.

You are a just a random guy who has an opportunity to hit it off with one of the girls and see how it plays out.

There are only a few sex scenes that aren't the main focus which is probably not what you are looking for on this site. But i just want to say try playing for 5-10 minutes or so to see if it's something for you.

One of the earliest smut VNs I ever played, and one that stuck with me for a long time. A beautiful story, even discounting the beautiful H scenes. All five girls have paths that are at least 'good', with even the path I personally enjoyed least having enough to keep my interest all the way 'til the end.

10/10, would recommend.

The best VN I've ever played, and I've played quite a few. All routes are phenomenal thanks to incredible writing. My fav being Emi, Hanako and the best Lily. I don't know if any other game caused such emotions for me. It's kind of a life changing experience.

However be warned its not a lewd game - its much more about emotions, clever writing and connection with characters than sex with the girls. It is there but playing this for sex scenes would be like using Mona Lisa for a carpet.

On the scale of 1-10 (where 1 is trash, 5 average and 10 masterpiece) I would give it a 10. It has some average graphics and some plots are less interesting etc, but the overall value of the game is that good that it raises above all the flaws into a masterpiece I will not easily forget.

I cried. Every route. Still, I'm happy I accidentally found this game ^_^

+ Marvellous atmosphere created by both visuals and music
+ Touching stories and personalities of all girls.
- (Nothing)

Don't rush it, please!

The best written VN I have played. This game lowkey changed my life (for the better ofcourse) when I first played it a few years ago,
I absolutely cannot recommend it enough to anyone that's into or not into visual novels.

The VN that dared to go where most devs won't.

Actually featuring LIs with disabilities without blatantly fetishizing them.

Cute, funny, touching.

Perfection.

Wish more games would feature love interests that aren't totally flawless supermodel types.

I don't care for the title of the game. I've seen it translated as "Cripple girls" which is gross, (the word Crippled is offensive as fuck) but I've also seen it called "Disability girls" which, while still a bit too on the nose for such an artistic and beautiful game, is at least, ya know, not as bad.

Regardless, this is a 5* VN and a must play, imo.

Played this last year and really enjoyed it. This is probably my favorite VN that I have ever played. It has a very emotion driven story that just sucks you in and does not let you go through all of the paths. I highly recommend this one.

A masterpiece. Like many people, I rolled my eyes when I heard bunch of dudes from 4chan are making visual novel about girls with disability and again, like many of em, I was so happy to be proven wrong. This is not just stories about girls and their disabilities, but also the psychological effect that came with it. Different route also means different approach from Hisao regarding his heart problems. 10/10 I wish I can forget & experience this all over again

v1.3.1 (Final)

I was really grabbed by the premise of the game, and hopeful that it would humanize individuals with disabilities. As it is, it does seem to do that pretty well, but I found the writing to be really uneven. Some scenes are well written, others just meander and don't really go anywhere. Especially the terrible, terrible Kenji scenes. Even though I liked some of the characters I felt like I was fighting through some really iffy writing to get to the parts that would pay off for the characters I enjoyed.

One of my first erotic novels, well written and very different type of characters from any other I've played since, the story's entertaining and the visuals still hold up well. Not alot of sex but the various branches and stories attached to them got me into this genre would love to see a sequel.

Really beautiful storytelling. Worth mentioning not all paths quite feel of the same quality (made by different people), but there is just so much great content here. Mainly story focused, few H-scenes at the end.

Without question, the best free piece of code ever made on Ren'py. Sex is really a little extra here. But when it does, these are scenes to think about. You can even feel awkward during scenes with some girls. The girls are really interesting as characters (well Shizune for the least). The creators really cared about the little details.

There have been lots of reviews talking about all the reasons this thing is awesome. So I'm just going to talk about one bit in particular - something that's easy to overlook but critical to the game's impact. And that's the protagonist.

This is a game where all the heroines have physical disabilities. It's kind of the whole premise. When writing a story like this it's extremely easy to make the protagonist the 'saviour' as fundamentally he can do things they can't. The gallant hero swooping in and rescuing the beautiful heroine from her tragic circumstances is a staple of literature, let alone in a scenario with this premise. But that's not the story the writers here wanted to tell. Not only is it a very cliched story it's a rather patronising one, one in which the disabilities are portrayed as things that make the girls need rescuing. Which raises the question - how do you avoid that?

To be sure, you could simply not write it that way. But instead they took the approach to make the protagonist disabled as well. Putting him on the same level as them. And the disability they gave him was... a heart condition.

I can't quite get over how genius this choice was. He can still do all the things that most people can, making it easier for the majority of the audience to relate. (By contrast, a story with a blind protagonist where the screen is blank the entire time would be interesting. But that's a concept to its own and not the story they wanted to tell here.) A lot of the time his disability isn't really relevant to the plot and managing it is simply a case of taking medication. This keeps the emphasis where it should be - on the heroines. But there's always that looming threat in the background. That if he forgets those pills. If he over-exerts himself. His life could be in very real danger. And even in the best of circumstances he's unlikely to live much past 30.

In doing this the writers completely flip the expected dynamic. The heroine's disabilites have a significant impact on how they live, and exploring that impact gets a lot of attention. But theirs don't pose a direct threat to their survival. And so rather than our protagonist being their saviour, he's the vulnerable one. In all of the routes it's not just him learning to live with his partner's disablity. She's learning to live with his.

I can't remember if it was ever stated, but I always had the thought in the back of my mind that if they got married and had children.. he'd be gone before long. He will never see his kids grow up. He won't be able to grow old alongside his partner. And on her part, she's going into this relationship fully aware of that. She knows that her love will almost certainly die before she's halfway through her life. There's something very melancholy & beautiful in how they all choose to be with him anyway.

Holy shit this is a god tier VN. Like one of the most emotional stories that I have played that includes actual fucking AAA games. The music, tone and script just fucking nails it. The characters feel for the most part real. Except maybe the anime trope nurse and librarian. But there is a real negative to this game. Hanako. If you play her path first like I did you are fucked. Everyone else becomes irrelevant and Hanako is all that matters. Every damn time I start a new play through I end it somehow ends with Hanako. Once you experience her romance their is no other routes in this game. So I suggest enjoying the other stories before getting hooked like I did.

Even though this is a popular game and has plenty of reviews I would like to add mine to the list of them. This game is one that is fully deserving of the Five star rating and a prime example of why VNs are legitimate games/interactive media.

I may have a bias based on the subject matter the game deals with. I know what it's like to feel less than when it comes to a disability specifically in the eyesight department. That's touched on in this game in one of the routes, but this game is more than just that. It's about people dealing with extraordinary trials and struggles in life.

This game came at a very important time in my life that I"m still probably dealing with in a lot of ways. It helped put things in perspective and among other things in my life, helped to change my thought process to a more positive one.

I wouldn't recommend playing this game for the H scenes. It's not that they aren't well drawn and thought out. It's a matter of them being more impactful emotionally than lustful in my opinion. If you happen to read this review all the way through, then I cannot praise this game enough. I've only done 3 of the 5 routes so far because I've really been taking my time with this one.

Coming back to it from time to time to do another route and not rushing it. If you are looking for a well thought out emotional roller coaster, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't play this game. Again it's a top tier VN.

ART

It quite literally changed my life for the better. And there will never be another video game that makes me feel so at ease as I am in the student council.
Great characters, great art, great music, and a part of internet history

When starting this game I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did see allot of dialog on screen, not the most amazing resolution of the artwork (I now know it’s not a very recent game) so to be honest I was not blown away the first 10 minutes but I kept reading the story carefully word by word to find out where it would take me.


Eventually when your interest is piqued in one (or more) character this game turned into a true masterpiece for me which did stand the test of time because of the top-notch writing, pleasing artwork in combination with the great music. After countless of very touching scene’s and interesting dialog the story came to an end for me and made me feel like I did the right thing. I felt good about it, my job was done. This was an emotional rollercoaster of which I did enjoy every moment (yes even the first 10 minutes when you are not emotionally connected with the MC yet looking back at it).

10/10

This game is truly Jazz for the soul, everytime I see it pop up on my files I cherish the memory of playing it for the first time. It mayhaps is light on the reason people play these sorta games but it surely delivers on the story part.

It was my first contact with visual novels and what an amazing experience it was! Amazing story and characters, with every route being worth it and unique, I cannot recommend this enough! A great game that shows new perspectives from people who suffered in life and are just trying to go on, it is mostly light hearted but with pretty emocional moments. Give it a try