APOLLYON Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 What is it about?I honestly might play this game.It’s a dating game—well, romantic visual novel; there’s some nuance between “visual novel†and “dating game†that I don’t have space to go into here. It was developed and released by a self-assembled group of fans of the idea of Katawa Shoujo who came together as a reaction to a sketch in a translated piece of Japanese fanwork. The sketch, by an artist who publishes fanwork under the name RAITA, posited a dating game where all the girls were disabled—two amputees, a burn survivor, a blind girl, and a deaf-mute girl. The original idea itself was... funny... because a lot of dating sims are as disrespectful of women as society in general is of the disabled. And because it’s pretty easy to slot common stereotypes regarding certain disabilities into the archetypal clichés that infest the dating-game genre. RAITA published the sketch in 2000. The idea lay dormant until some anonymous fan translated the work and posted it to 4chan in 2007.The name of the game translates to Disability Girls, though that’s inaccurate—the word katawa in this context is an unprintable epithet for the disabled, connoting worthlessness. The 4chan anon community, as attracted to conceptual and intellectual perversity as they are to all perversity, went fucking berserk about the prospect of making the game real, and successive threads flooded the forum with ideas and proposals. Eventually a small group of enthusiasts broke off and started their own development forum, taking the name Four Leaf Studios, and got to work.Katawa Shoujo is the best kind of satire—the kind that stands on its own even if you ignore the satiric elements. “This is how you do it, guys. Look, I’m not even being serious and I’m doing it well.†As Blazing Saddles is a great western, The Princess Bride is an excellent swashbuckling fantasy film, Shaun of the Dead is both good romantic comedy and good zombie horror, and Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek movie, so Katawa Shoujo is an entertaining and touching romance. If all well-executed satire is art by definition, then Katawa Shoujo is proof something resembling a video game can be art.http://www.vice.com/...o-0000141-v19n2Another review. Type: Free Download Developer: Four Leaf Studios Download Page (All) Game's Site Just another dating sim designed by refugees from 4chan as a result of an anonymous post on /a/. Also, all the girls are disabled in some way -- Katawa is roughly translatable as "retard" or "cripple;" it's not a nice word. Heartwarming, right?But, shockingly,it's the best portrayal of people with disabilities I've ever seen, far outstripping those you see in the mainstream media, mostly because those are limited to Professor X.The characters are written with love, as people who are not defined by their disability, nor ignorant of it, but overcoming it as best they can. The easy way to write a game like this would be to make the big strong hero show up and save the poor disabled girl, but instead we are obligated -- or given the opportunity -- to appreciate them as complete individuals, just like you or me.The hero himself has a condition, and a good amount of the story is devoted to his own efforts to come to terms with his disability, and the changes in his life it necessitates -- instead of being othering, the effect is to create an overarching narrative of coming to terms with disability. But, more than a narrative, it's a true slice of life -- a life many people may never have lived. There's a force for social change here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anarchy Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 HOLY CRAP...wasnt expecting that lmfao xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted April 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 I guess the rules of the internet apply here.25. Relation to the original topic decreases with every single post.26. Any topic can be turned into something totally unrelated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anarchy Posted April 17, 2012 Report Share Posted April 17, 2012 I actually can't wait to see what the story is going to be for AC3...still need to play Revelations... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted April 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2012 As much as I enjoy the series, and recognize that you enjoy it too, I wouldn't buy Revelations.WHAT?!?!?!?! BUT IT'S A GREAT GAME!!Yeah, but story wise, not a whole lot goes on. Well, a big something happens at the end, kind of, but besides that the plot is kind of empty. It is Ezio's last dance and he didn't make it a ground breaking one. But you do get to play as Altair again, which is kind of fun.Screw it. Buy Revelations. You learn more about Desmond's past, which is actually pretty cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anarchy Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 As much as I enjoy the series, and recognize that you enjoy it too, I wouldn't buy Revelations.WHAT?!?!?!?! BUT IT'S A GREAT GAME!!Yeah, but story wise, not a whole lot goes on. Well, a big something happens at the end, kind of, but besides that the plot is kind of empty. It is Ezio's last dance and he didn't make it a ground breaking one. But you do get to play as Altair again, which is kind of fun.Screw it. Buy Revelations. You learn more about Desmond's past, which is actually pretty cool.Yeah I might just borrow it from one of my friends instead of buying considering my AC1 AC2 disappeared from my house cant collect them now -.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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