This is my first experience of a visual novel, and so I got Emi's Path and man i must say that the story telling was really well done. I did not expect certain things like Emi, being very physical very early into the relationship, but it was all still good. I must say that this made me want to try out other visual novels and see how they are.
Posted Apr 15, 2013, 3:51 AM UTC
Emi's path is very frequently the first one someone reads (a combination of few of us turning down expert medical advice when given and not wanting to be a wuss in front of a girl a head shorter than yourself :P ), but it fills that role very well.
Between it's early physical contact, Emi being a very strong character who takes the initiative often enough and the early hinting at later issues, this path subverts VN tropes pretty well. You expect sex, you end not knowing what the hell to feel. Despite there having been sex.
One thing I'd advise is to see the "other" endings. The bad ending is a small change from the Instant Replay ending (but in itself well worth it, though you need to watch it emotionally separate from the good endings, so do something else beforehand), but the two good ending approaches are different, and despite only being a single scene it makes a world of difference in how the actual ending "feels".
(Neither is better, IMO. Though I think Instant Replay is the more likely way it'd go.)
interesting i was not fully aware that there were so many ending for each character. Ill be sure to check it out.
Oh! Well in that case, the briefest non-spoiler primer:
Each character story has at least two endings. There's an additional Act 1 ending (which does not continue into a character path). While the endings are frequently labelled the "good", "neutral" and "bad" endings, that's quite the misnomer in some cases. Plenty good endings will still leave you sad or teary, one specific neutral ending is generally seen as crushing, and some bad endings seem like stepping stones on the path to a good outcome.
The general consensus is that it's worth seeing them all, but you would ideally have some time between them so the feels from one ending don't spill over into the other ones.
Emi has two endings, and two different ways to get one of her endings. The split happens when you are having dinner, and either talk to the mum, or go after Emi.
Rin and Hanako have three endings each.
Lilly and Shizune+Misha have two endings each.
okay thanks this is good to note now, so that i can see at least the other ending for Emi some other time. Good idea about spacing out the ending, I would have not thought about it.
Don't know if you want a walkthrough to help guide you on your way, but this one is really good. If you want to discover on your own, be sure to make plenty of Saves.
just to let you know man, when the aforementioned split between good and bad ending happens, if you choose the choice that leads to the bad ending, you still have a chance to get the good ending. This is one of the things that makes Emi's path unique.
You enjoyed the anal in the shed, admit it.
Anal with Legolas in a gym shed is the best story to tell of KS.
lol oh man that whole scene.
Yeah, the writing in this story is superb, especially considering that the writers were all strangers before-hand.
Consider checking out r/visualnovels Katawa Shoujo is a phenomenal visual novel, but there's a whole lot of others to experience
One thing that bothered me about Emi's path, look at her eyes when she's on the track getting ready to run. Still, I understand how difficult that can be, so no harm done.
This just perfectly described my own KS experience.
have you tried other Visual novels after KS?
This image gets passed around a bit. Most people would recommend "Clannad", "Steins;Gate", "Ever17", and one or two more than I can't remember off the top of my head.
Personally, I'd recommend "Yume Miru Kusuri: A Drug that Makes you Dream", "don't take it personally, babe, it just aint your story", "Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo", and, if you have a DS "999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors". Those are all fairly entertaining VNs for 'beginners'.
Edit: I know I really shouldn't use quotation marks around the names of the VNs, but it makes it more easily discernible where one link ends.
Don't Take It Personally Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story is free, but while you're on Christine's site, the money for Analogue A Hate Story is really well-spent. It's different for a VN in that it's story is entirely passive and not even strictly sequenced, but it does a lot with it.
I actually purchased Analogue a few months back and never got around to playing more than ten minutes of it, might need to throw a few hours at it tonight.
I got it on a steam sale and fucking love it.
999 is phenomenal. Play it. Shameless plug for r/999 of which I am moderator.
How excited are you for Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward? It's one of the four games tempting me to get the 3ds.
Get. This. Game. Then get the next and enjoy the subsequent mind explosion. They're both absolutely amazing in my opinion.
Remember that Don't Take It Personally is a sequel to Digital: A Love Story, if I remember correctly. Digital is awesome.
It is a story-wise sequel? I mean Analogue: A Hate Story seems like a sequel but obviously has nothing to do with it, but I may have to finally read Digital. :)
Don't Take it Personally Babe had such amazing moments. Speaking of which, what's Kendall's middle name? :P
just curious what makes a person a beginner in VNs? Or a better question is what is a veteran VN player?
A beginner is just someone who has not played a lot of VNs, if Katawa Shoujo was your first experience I'd say you're most likely a beginner.
It's more a state of mind than anything, a beginner wouldn't likely be interested in a VN like Kana
imoutobecause it has more difficult topics as main story points, such as the main character and his terminally ill sister falling in love. Beginner VNs tend to have more easily approachable, and more easily follow-able stories.+1 for Yume...drug VN.
It was an easy favorite to KS, I think the only time I stopped on my first play through was when I had to go to class. Highly recommended.
Another I would say is "Saya no Uta" (on phone, so I cannot double check name at time of post.. Will edit later). It's a bit creepy.. okay A LOT creepy. But the story is really good, and it has a satisfying ending for sure.
Saya isn't exactly as approachable as Yume, but it was pretty entertaining.
Haha, no. more like 100+
I didn't make the image, but I've noticed some of the estimates are off.
Each storyline of Yume Miru Kusuri took about 8-9 hours on auto play, I think the Rin storyline of KS would take 8-9 as well. Kana Imouto took me right around ten hours, again, on auto mode.
Kamidori took me 70 for my first playthrough.. and I was skip moding through a lot of text.
Ever17 is good.
Oh god @ Narcissu though. THESE TEARS, MAN
I was planning on doing Narcissu after Kana
Imouto, but for some reason I couldn't really get into Narcissu... I think I'm going to give it a better try after I finish Katahane.I second the Sharin recommendation. There really are some gems in this genre.
Unfortunately, no. I just recently read KS and I want things to kind of... Sink in more? Reflect on things more? I plan on rereading parts of KS soon, because I think I missed some things.