Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,204
|
Post by Mozenrath on Aug 8, 2009 1:44:09 GMT -5
Ohh, okay. Sort of like a text Dragon's Lair? Not really, I think. Never played Dragon's Lair before so I don't know. It's just like most Visual Novels. Oh. I have never played one, but was curious. I just want to wait until I get my own computer. I don't want people thinking all I do is play eroge games.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 8, 2009 1:48:45 GMT -5
Not really, I think. Never played Dragon's Lair before so I don't know. It's just like most Visual Novels. Oh. I have never played one, but was curious. I just want to wait until I get my own computer. I don't want people thinking all I do is play eroge games. Well, it's not really an eroge. Eroge are usually the more hardcore stuff, plus the demo version of Katawa Shoujo has no sex scenes. Plus, Katawa Shoujo is a visual novel, so the possible scenes are probably not as hardcore as eroge.
|
|
Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,204
|
Post by Mozenrath on Aug 8, 2009 1:50:08 GMT -5
Oh. I have never played one, but was curious. I just want to wait until I get my own computer. I don't want people thinking all I do is play eroge games. Well, it's not really an eroge. Eroge are usually the more hardcore stuff, plus the demo version of Katawa Shoujo has no sex scenes. Plus, Katawa Shoujo is a visual novel, so the possible scenes are probably not as hardcore as eroge. Hmm, well, this might be my first visual novel then!
|
|
|
Post by Janitor From Mars on Aug 8, 2009 4:00:42 GMT -5
What's this girl's disability? Deaf mute. Dude, totally not cool. The Japanese suck.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 8, 2009 4:52:15 GMT -5
Dude, totally not cool. The Japanese suck. *sigh* Just woke from my nap... One, the game's not Japanese. The game is set in Japan, but the ones who made the game are not Japanese. Hell, either way, the Japanese suck is a sucky comment. And what's wrong with a deaf-mute character being used in the game, hm?
|
|
erisi236
Fry's dog Seymour
... enjoys the rich, smooth taste of Camels.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
Posts: 21,904
|
Post by erisi236 on Aug 8, 2009 9:39:26 GMT -5
Shizune is the most awesome character anyway! Respect her authority!
|
|
B.B.M
Hank Scorpio
Scavenger Hunt All-Star
Where did the Lime go?
Posts: 7,404
|
Post by B.B.M on Aug 8, 2009 9:41:16 GMT -5
And what's wrong with a deaf-mute character being used in the game, hm? I would explain, but the last time I did that, Void told me to stop.
|
|
|
Post by Dangery Scubba on Aug 8, 2009 11:07:15 GMT -5
I for one am very glad that, at least with the demo, the game has portrayed those of us with disabilities as every day normal people as best it can given the subject matter. The disabilities are after all, only a problem if you make them one. As I've said to Cthulhu before, KS has made me look at myself in an interesting light. Being that I do have a disability I'm all still as human as everyone else and that makes the most difference to me. In more ways than one I have the game to thank for me "getting" that.
I've played through every scenario the demo has and none of it was exploitative or ridiculing in my opinion. I doubt my opinion will change once the full game is released. After all, we have sex too.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 8, 2009 13:01:02 GMT -5
And what's wrong with a deaf-mute character being used in the game, hm? I would explain, but the last time I did that, Void told me to stop. Cripple porn again? Well, nothing wrong on being iffy about the idea. Nothing wrong about liking it, either. Anyway, here. One of the developers in Katawa Shoujo talking about the cripple porn (how I said it sounds a bit weird) and stuff: When you submerge into the viscous, milky translucent ocean of cripple porn for a year or two, the question of social acceptability tends to fade away. "Cripple porn" (I really like that phrase) raises eyebrows even amongst people accustomed to the trends and oddities of modern Japanese or Japan-derived media, but in a context where showing 13 year old school girl's panties is actually not a standard practice, the concept of KS (when put in crudest possible terms, like I did) seems like an equivalent to shock image sites or something. That's why it's cool when people who are almost completely outside of the anime/manga subculture meet Katawa Shoujo. So the thing I've been wondering about is how a person with practically no exposure to our subculture would receive KS. The odd thing here is that it even happens, but the explosive popularity of Act 1 almost guarantees that it actually does happen (a mindboggling thing in itself). In fact, I even know of one case, because one of the devs gave Act 1 to his father so he could see what his son's been up to lately. I haven't heard back what dad thought about it yet though, so maybe he is now disowned or something. As for the rest, I think almost everyone on the planet is aware of Japan's reputation as some kind of a horn of plenty of weird and creepy things. Similarly, a lot of people on the internet are aware of 4chan's reputation as some kind of a horn of plenty of depravity and mindless comedy. So when "people from 4chan" make a "japanese style porn game" about disabled people, the ingredients for a catastrophe seem to have been thrown in one pot. What does it taste like to you, normal person? What made me write something about this was a bunch of (in this context) normal people meeting KS, in other words a quick post about KS on contexts.org (an American sociology publication) "sociological images" blog. From what I gather, people stick labels on KS very quickly (having not played the game, obviously), though do not condemn it at all or anything like that. Still it hit me that the labels and preconceptions are almost solely negative, or at least cautious. "4chan", "fetisistic", "exploitative", "ridiculing" and so on. It's sad that KS does have a glass ceiling that it will never be able to break through because of what it is, but that is the road we chose. Anyway, the big question is whether KS is abusive of disabled people or not. Unsurprisingly, the question arises from the fact that the game focuses on portraying disabled people, and that there is graphic sex in the (full) game with said disabled people. The portrayal of disabled people and their sexuality is a tough nut to crack. Apart from Hanako, the KS girls don't really pander to the "protect me" -moeblob category and are hopefully a bit more than just their disabilities. As for the sex, expectations vary wildly. KS is expected to be both a fetisistic porn fantasy game, and a story that feels true, with romantic feelings and tender, if a tad awkward teenager sex. Can't both have the cake and eat it too, so we have to place ourselves somewhere in the rainbow of the sex-spectrum between these two extremities. It's quite well known that we are gravitating away from the "porn" angle, and KS never was a true fetish project (as in, abusing the disabilities in a sexual way). The reasons for that are weird and tangled, but basically what can be said is that porn is terribly bland, boring and out of place in your average visual novel. Thus, not obliged by a sales department, we are free to try to do things in a way that feels more natural to us. Mind, being exposed to visual novels probably has brainwashed us at least partially to abide by the convetions of the medium, even without realising it. Still I do think we at the very least keep from abusing the disability aspect in the sexual scenes. Meanwhile in the deep end of the pool, what if all sexual themes would be dropped from KS? Would it still be fetisistic, ridiculing or exploitative? Some people say that the mere fact that KS focuses on disabled people, spotlighting them as "others" can be interpreted as fetisistic and disabled people as subjects to ridicule. Sure, there might've been ways to deal with the disability theme better and lift it into central role through something else than a cripple school, twist threads of sharpest social critique inside the text and all that jazz. But you know, we are really making a romance game here, a story about a guy and few girls and their emotions and happiness and sadness during one summer of their life. For a long time now, I've thought it doesn't matter one bit whether they are disabled or not. -Aura, -----------------------
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 8, 2009 13:17:57 GMT -5
Shizune is the most awesome character anyway! Respect her authority! Wrong! It's Rin. There is a lack of individual pics.
|
|
|
Post by Dangery Scubba on Aug 8, 2009 13:40:57 GMT -5
Yes, Rin. Rin always. Until Lilly shows up.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 8, 2009 13:46:31 GMT -5
As for their personalities (character? not sure what's the right word...), I rank them like this:
-Rin -Shizune -Misha -Lilly -Emi and Hanako -Kenji
Of course, Rin is my choice, like Shizune is Erisi's, and I guess Lilly is Scubba's choice.
|
|
|
Post by Dangery Scubba on Aug 8, 2009 13:53:46 GMT -5
Rin and Lilly are pretty much tied as far as I'm concerned. I didn't care for Rin till near the end of her path and then it was all "Awwwwwww" from there. Hanako, Shizune, Misha, Emi and Kenji follow in that order.
|
|
erisi236
Fry's dog Seymour
... enjoys the rich, smooth taste of Camels.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
Posts: 21,904
|
Post by erisi236 on Aug 8, 2009 14:28:05 GMT -5
I like Rin and all, but I just think of her as "one of the boys" more then a potential girlfriend. All of her double talk would leave me confused anyway.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 9, 2009 13:05:42 GMT -5
I like Rin and all, but I just think of her as "one of the boys" more then a potential girlfriend. All of her double talk would leave me confused anyway. Rin's way of talking isn't a big problem for me, since I'm confused at everything by default. Can't deny that she hasn't got that potential girlfriend vibe, but I got a gut feeling that's telling me the opposite. Plus the last scene with her during the school festival was cute.
|
|
|
Post by Dangery Scubba on Aug 9, 2009 13:10:25 GMT -5
I like Rin and all, but I just think of her as "one of the boys" more then a potential girlfriend. All of her double talk would leave me confused anyway. Rin's way of talking isn't a big problem for me, since I'm confused at everything by default. Can't deny that she hasn't got that potential girlfriend vibe, but I got a gut feeling that's telling me the opposite. Plus the last scene with her during the school festival was cute. It really was. Undoubtedly my favorite ending besides Shizune's. I got the same feeling from Rin though as Erisi did. But the ending made it feel like she wasn't as lost in her own world for once. Or something like that.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 9, 2009 13:15:14 GMT -5
Rin's way of talking isn't a big problem for me, since I'm confused at everything by default. Can't deny that she hasn't got that potential girlfriend vibe, but I got a gut feeling that's telling me the opposite. Plus the last scene with her during the school festival was cute. It really was. Undoubtedly my favorite ending besides Shizune's. Both endings were the best, I think.
|
|
|
Post by Dangery Scubba on Aug 9, 2009 13:18:25 GMT -5
It really was. Undoubtedly my favorite ending besides Shizune's. Both endings were the best, I think. Absolutely. None of the other endings seemed to have so much emotion put into them as those two did. Though I also really liked Hanako's as well. Probably because of the chess stuff.
|
|
|
Post by aka Cthulhu on Aug 9, 2009 13:32:27 GMT -5
Both endings were the best, I think. Absolutely. None of the other endings seemed to have so much emotion put into them as those two did. Though I also really liked Hanako's as well. Probably because of the chess stuff. I liked Hanako's as well, for a different reason. The "floor game" thing; I kinda do the same thing, usually unconsciously.
|
|
|
Post by Dangery Scubba on Aug 9, 2009 13:46:21 GMT -5
Absolutely. None of the other endings seemed to have so much emotion put into them as those two did. Though I also really liked Hanako's as well. Probably because of the chess stuff. I liked Hanako's as well, for a different reason. The "floor game" thing; I kinda do the same thing, usually unconsciously. Oddly enough, me too..
|
|