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Old 01-04-2012, 09:42 PM   #51
Doppleganger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
he really doesn't have any leg to stand on
Fu fu fu.


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I dunno. If he's not willing to even give the game a fair shot, then there's no reasoning with him. Like, I could understand if he was saying, "I don't want to play because I hate anime-style games." This is definitely an anime-style game, and we'd be lying to him if we told him any differently in a bid to get him to play. But if his reason for hating it is, "I don't think I'm going to like how they portray disabled individuals," then I think he's mistaken.
I didn't want to call him out as insensitive, because that label could be easily thrown toward at the game as well by adamantly preserving the title as "Katawa" for the sake of tradition. We're in a bit of an unusual circumstance here where people are balancing their instinctive revulsion against cultural respect. I think we who can appreciate the game have the moral high ground, although those who denounce it on concept alone aren't totally without foundation, albeit superficially.

My observation of this consideration is that disabilities are an unfortunate reality and have no place being featured in the realm of fantasy. TLC in particular was aghast at the idea that fantasy should feature this idea, even though several manga he reads have characters afflicted with those statuses (namely, Claymore!).

M's a bit more stranger case. I think he's more accepting than TLC, but isn't prepared to take the step forward into playing KS. I got him to admit that Shizune/Lily's disabilities that don't impact their physical appearance aren't hard to dismiss, but he also has experience as one of the girls who lived on his dorm room floor was missing an arm. M has avoided giving an opinion, though, just (politely) declined an intent to play.

Ultimately, I think the distorted premise - "H-game about guy taking advantage of girls with disabilities" - is probably what triggers the "gross" reflex. It sounds pretty depraved and deviant, and that manipulation impression + instinctive apprehension toward disabilities is leading to the repugnance.
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Old 01-05-2012, 12:08 AM   #52
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My input on the whole "it's wrong to play an eroge with girls with handicaps!" thing. I don't think it's a big deal. It has a potentially good story, and characters who actually have circumstances that haven't been used in 1000 things I've seen before, so that's all I need to play it. Some hypocrite moral BS isn't gonna keep me from playing it. Besides, it's not like this is completely new to me. Hell, in One, there's a retarded girl, a blind girl, and a mute.

As for the screaming chubby: I don't dislike her, I just gave her that nickname because it'll take a while to remember her name, and I thought it was catchy. Remember, I'm TERRIBLE at remembering Japanese names.

Also, I think burn victim's burns were caused by someone intentionally. Whether it's domestic abuse or by a stranger, I'll put my money on intentional burninating!
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Old 01-05-2012, 12:32 AM   #53
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I've got some good news and some bad news. ^^;

The good news is,
(1) I've got 14% completion;
(2) I've grown to like Emi, too, so despite her loliness, she's now been promoted to the next rank up from where she last was; and
(3) I appear to have docked onto my first character path!

The bad news is, ...
It appears to be the Emi path! XD

I have no idea how character docking works in this game. I felt like I never did much of anything that had noticeably taken me off of the Hanako path or the Shizune path or the Rin path. The Lilly path, sure, because I should have probably taken her side if I'd wanted to dock onto her path. But I don't remember ever having any choices with Emi and Rin that would told the game "give him Emi over Rin." And I don't remember doing anything much else, either, that would have prevented me from docking onto Shizune's path. I mean, sure, my Hisao never did commit to join the student council ... but he never flat-out perma-rejected the idea, either! I dunno. All I know is, Emi is certainly cute, but I feel like this is Ever17 all over again. Just like with Ever17 where Doppel had me do Yuu first and then said "Now you can try for Tsugumi if you like ," so too here do I feel like I've been given the character who I think is fun and cute and all ... but who isn't my #1 romantic pick either. ^^;

Now, I will say this: it specifically called Emi's path "Act 2," so I'm kind of wondering if maybe there aren't paths for me to dock onto yet anyway. I'm wondering if Emi's path is an obligatory first path (just as Saber's path, Fate, is an obligatory first path in FSN) and if on my second playthrough I'm going to be given some new choices that will determine whether I re-dock onto Emi or whether I branch out into uncharted territory. So we'll see.

Another possibility is that there is no docking whatsoever (wouldn't that be a twist? ) and if you have to play each girl in the order presented: Emi, then Hanako, then either Rin or Lilly (I forget), then either Lilly or Rin ("), and finally Shizune. However, if the order is Emi Hanako Lilly Rin Shizune, then it may just be the case that they listed the girls' names in alphabetical order and that the name order has nothing to do with how they want you to explore the story. Having your partner off with Shizune last, though, would certainly hearken back to the Amagami anime (didn't watch it) where the last girl you go for, Ayatsuji iirc is her name, is the class rep.

==================================
Anyway, an updated ranking:
Girls I'm interested in: Hanako > Shizune > Misha > Lilly
Girls I'm neither nor: Emi (I really like her, but ... she's just too loli for me sometimes ^^; )
Girls I'm not very interested in: Rin

One last thing: Doppel! I may be wrong about Emi's age. Kinda confused on this point. Earlier in the game, when Emi runs into you in the hallway, what Lilly says makes it seem like (or at least, I took it to mean that) Emi is a first year. However, Emi later introduces Hisao to somebody as a guy who is in "their year." (Might have even been Rin on the rooftop, I forget.) We know for a fact that Hisao is a third year (a, he's with Shizune, Misha, and Hanako; b, he said that he's only got one year at this academy, suggesting he plans to graduate shortly), so this in turn would suggest that Emi is also a third year. In which case, she's not so loli anymore since she'd either be 17 or 18.

Come to think of it ... for this game to be legal in the US and other countries, maybe all of the characters are categorically 18-year old third years. (Or will at least turn 18 before their sex scenes.) I just realized that. In which case ... you guys'll have to forgive me / put up with me / grit your teeth every time I call Emi a loli. But what can I say? Seems like they sure set out to make her one.

But yeah. I've warmed up to her. So, even if she wasn't my first pick (or my second ... or my third ), I'm still excited to explore her route, assuming that that is in fact what I docked onto. Then after I do that comes Hanako. Then I might deliberately aim for Rin since I'm going into this expecting not to like her route very much at all. (Will be happy to be proven wrong, of course.) Then I'll shoot for Lilly. And I'll save Shizune, my current second favorite, for last. Seems like a plan. Not unlike what I did with Ever17. (Yuu --> Tsugumi --> Sara --> Sora, where my ranking had been Tsugumi > Yuu >= Sora > Sara, and I deliberately did Sara before doing Sora as I expected to like Sora's route more. In the end, I'm not sure that I did ^^; as Sara's route proved to be much better than I'd feared it would be, but w/e.)
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Old 01-05-2012, 01:37 AM   #54
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Girls I'm neither nor: Emi (I really like her, but ... she's just too loli for me sometimes ^^; )
The only thing she has in common with a loli is BMI.

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One last thing: Doppel! I may be wrong about Emi's age. Kinda confused on this point. Earlier in the game, when Emi runs into you in the hallway, what Lilly says makes it seem like (or at least, I took it to mean that) Emi is a first year. However, Emi later introduces Hisao to somebody as a guy who is in "their year." (Might have even been Rin on the rooftop, I forget.) We know for a fact that Hisao is a third year (a, he's with Shizune, Misha, and Hanako; b, he said that he's only got one year at this academy, suggesting he plans to graduate shortly), so this in turn would suggest that Emi is also a third year. In which case, she's not so loli anymore since she'd either be 17 or 18.
They're all the same year. I think private schools have different coloured uniforms depending on the grade, and green is for senior.

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But yeah. I've warmed up to her. So, even if she wasn't my first pick (or my second ... or my third ), I'm still excited to explore her route, assuming that that is in fact what I docked onto. Then after I do that comes Hanako. Then I might deliberately aim for Rin since I'm going into this expecting not to like her route very much at all. (Will be happy to be proven wrong, of course.) Then I'll shoot for Lilly. And I'll save Shizune, my current second favorite, for last. Seems like a plan. Not unlike what I did with Ever17. (Yuu --> Tsugumi --> Sara --> Sora, where my ranking had been Tsugumi > Yuu >= Sora > Sara, and I deliberately did Sara before doing Sora as I expected to like Sora's route more. In the end, I'm not sure that I did ^^; as Sara's route proved to be much better than I'd feared it would be, but w/e.)
I haven't played much since last night, as I'm still starving, but I have a bad feeling I'm on Hanako's path. I've tried to be cold yet considerate to her so I'd be pretty POed if it happened.
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Old 01-05-2012, 02:14 AM   #55
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Hahahaha, FUCK YOU! Let's trade then. I'm 100% on Emi's path (will discuss more tomorrow as I get further along), so I can give you your Emi and you can give me my Hanako.

Doppel: But she won't have you. You failed to naturally dock onto her path, remember?
Talon: *open mouth, no words*


I'll remember this, Doppel!

(Have you seen the festival yet? As far as I can tell, you don't dock until after it. That, at least, was the case with Emi.)
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Old 01-05-2012, 12:46 PM   #56
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Registering 17% completion right now. Sadly ^^;, it looks like the percent completion is in fact for the game overall and not for each individual act. But the good news (for me, anyway) appears to be that I still have 40-50% of Act 1 yet to explore and I'm only about one-third of the way through Emi's act. So percent completion index be damned, it's looking like I've still got plenty of Katawa Shoujo goodness left in store.

Progress Update, Speculation:
Spoiler: show

Hel~LO!

Hisao has been running with Emi now for about a week. He keeps pushing himself -- or rather, Emi doesn't really seem to understand that someone with cardiac arrhythmia can't become a runner the way that ordinary people can >_> -- and thus far he's had no fewer than two cardiac incidents onscreen and one cardiac incident offscreen. Apparently the stupid idiot hasn't been taking his medicine, either, so the nurse scolded him over this and Hisao resolved to try his best to remember to take them each morning when he goes back to the dorms to take a shower before classes.

At the track meet, we got to meet Emi's mom, Meiko. (1)(2)(3) She's quite the beauty. Through an earlier conversation with the school nurse that then gets completed by talking to Emi's mom, we learn that Emi lost her legs and her father in a car accident several years ago. This'll probably be a huge source for emotional exploration later in the route.

By talking to Emi and the nurse, we've also learned what will likely be the Bad Guy element in Emi's path: and that is life-threatening infection from something that gets into her stumps because she runs so much that she scrapes her stumps against the prosthetic limbs and creates sores or cuts. Calling that right now, then. We'll see if I prove to be right or wrong. But that would be my guess: that Emi's running career and/or life will be jeopardized by a bacterial infection.

Hisao gave Emi his coat in order to keep her from catching a cold, and now it seems that Emi is becoming a little more forward about how she feels about Hisao. I think I just saved while we were up on the rooftop again, the three of us having lunch together as always, but this time Emi plopped herself down right next to me while Rin (deliberately ) sat opposite us.

The track meet scene (and the visit to the nurse that came a little afterwards) seems to indicate that Emi's mom and the school nurse may be having a fling of some sort. That would certainly put my mind at ease about the theory I had that he's a pedo guro stalker who has his eyes set on one of the KS girls and perceives Hisao as a threat to be eliminated, but then again, this development could also be an Emi path-specific one, so who knows. But yeah: the fact that Emi's mom got a text message from "a friend" and suddenly had to go and see them, thereby missing the final few track events, and the fact that the school nurse also claims to have seen most of the track meet but that he missed the final couple of events because he was with a friend, seems to indicate that the two of them hung out.

I was thinking all last night about how I could have possibly docked onto the Emi path. Without looking anything up online, here're some ideas:

Spoiler: show
The Cardiac Crisis Scene:
During Act 1, when you first hang out with Emi on the track for the very first time -- something I think everyone is locked into doing -- you're given a choice. Do you (a) take it easy or (b) attempt to catch up to Emi? I chose to catch up, playing to what I'd do in real life. (I didn't anticipate that he was going to press himself THAT hard! ) So I triggered the cardiac arrhythmia and Emi had to pick me up and carry me to the nurse's office. I'm wondering if this shared experience docked me onto the Emi path. That if I had chosen to simply take it easy that I might have said bye to Emi and then gone and done something with somebody else instead of recuperating in the nurse's office.

The Default Path:
Another possibility is that the choices I made in Act 1 ruled out that I'd get any of the special cases -- which we'll take to be Hanako, Lilly, Rin, and Shizune -- and that insodoing I committed myself to the default path -- Emi's. In other words, it isn't so much that I successfully docked onto the Emi path but rather that I failed to dock onto any of the other dock-onto-able paths. What I'm thinking here might be that:
  • to keep chances for the Shizune path alive, you have to play aggressively in Risk. In other words, you have to be like Shizune: aggressive.
  • to keep chances for the Lilly -and- Hanako paths alive, you have to establish preference for Lilly over Shizune by siding with her in the catfight scene. By trying to play the middleman, I may have lost not only Lilly but also her friend Hanako because the two pair off together so if you lose one you lose the other.
  • as for Rin, I have no freakin' idea. I don't remember any choices that I made that ever would have swung me away from or towards Rin

Doppel, if it helps you, and if you don't mind using a buddy as a guide but you do mind using an official walkthrough as a guide, I can try to remember my own choices during Act 1 so that you can try and get onto the Emi path:

Spoiler: show
I don't remember all of the choices, but of the ones I do remember ...
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself.
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play defensively.
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to introduce myself. (The one time I didn't do what I'd really do IRL. >_<)
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I picked the second one.
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? I tried to catch up. (Like I said, I didn't think he'd do what he did. >_> But IRL, yeah, I would have wanted to at least try.)
If there were any other choices we had which you can remember, mention 'em and I'll try and remember what answers I picked.
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Old 01-05-2012, 01:10 PM   #57
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I'm trying to go for the the student council duo's path right now, since this path seems like it'll be the least interesting. I think I've hit it, since they're waking my guy up every morning and stuff.

Also, what does it mean when that patches heart icon flashes across the screen and it plays a weird tune? Is it the finish of an act or something?

For the Emi thing
Spoiler: show
I think the fact that you didn't take it easy jogging with Emi might have scored for her path. I chose to take it easy and the main character gave up jogging and decided to do something else.
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Old 01-05-2012, 01:17 PM   #58
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Yeah. Not looking anything up online, of course, just wanting to speculate with muh bros here , but I agree that that probably is what did it. It actually fits with Emi very, very well because ... (Emi path spoiler? Hmm ...)
Spoiler: show
Emi is the sort of person who:
(1) is always pushing herself to improve,
(2) doesn't take "no" for an answer, and so
(3) disregards medical advice when it comes between her and her dreams.

I think that's kind of the whole point with Emi: that she's going to wind up getting a stump infection because she ran too much. She insists to Hisao that they run daily (though she allows him to take weekends off right now) and she herself runs now twice daily. (She used to run once daily.) The reason she has to go and see the nurse after every morning run is because he's ordered her to and he's done that because he's concerned that she's going to damage her skin and get an infection. And he's probably right. But Emi doesn't care. Or rather, she cares, but she isn't going to let the risk of infection get in between her and her running.

No idea where they intend to take her story, ultimately, but I imagine it might end up being a sort of double-edged moral:
- on the one hand, the moral to Hisao will be "you can't allow yourself to not live life to the fullest just because you're afraid to do something which might get you killed"
- but on the other hand, the moral to Emi might be "you have to know your limitations and take things in moderation. Even for normal people, excess isn't good. You can't run if you're dead. -.- So calm down and run 3-4 times a week instead of running twice daily."

I dunno. We'll see.

Interesting that you think Shizune's path will be the most boring while I think it'd be the second most interesting. But yeah, the waking you up stuff that you mentioned totally did not happen in my Act 1. So if it's happening in your Act 1, then you've probably successfully docked (or at least, you haven't locked yourself out of docking) onto Shizune's path.
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Old 01-05-2012, 03:44 PM   #59
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Oh. My. God. :O

Kenji-related spoiler. Emi path, post-Shanghai, at the library.

Spoiler: show
Does Yuuko like Kenji? :O Dude! She's a bit psychotic, sure, but then again, you're ten times worse! I'd TOTALLY tap that if I were you! Quit being so gynophobic and GO GET 'ER!

Kenji is quite the character, isn't he?

Doppel, I think you're going to have a moe overload when you play this route. ^^;
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Old 01-06-2012, 12:07 AM   #60
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22% completion. Halfway through Act 3. It would seem that each girl's path begins with an Act 2 of her own and works forward from there.

I noticed upon loading up the game last time that little scraps of paper are being added to the main menu screen every time you reach a new act. Everybody gets their first scrap of Hisao from Act 1, it seems, but then you add more scraps as you unlock more acts. My Act 2 scrap of Emi is to Hisao's immediate left and my Act 3 scrap of Emi is to the immediate left of that. A cute little feature, one of the many delightful little things about this game.

Well ... Emi's Big Bad has arrived, it seems.

Spoiler: show
Emi is now wheelchair-bound for, if she's lucky, the next three weeks. She's risking further amputation and the end of her running career if she doesn't let the infection heal.

I also saw the first sex scene of the game. Awkward but only because it's Emi da Loli. The dialogue was fine as was the situation. Katawa Shoujo 1, Kinoko Nasu 0. But there's still a lot of game left and they could screw it up in any of those remaining scenes, so we'll have to hold off on declaring KS the winner for now.

How the sex scene ended was awesome.

Spoiler: show
That is such a Rin thing to do!

A question for bbb (Shizune path) and Doppel (Hanako path): do you guys have either of the following in your stories?
  • Hisao and Mutou form a club
  • Yuuko is on the trail of the Yamaku Cat Burglar
The former feels important to the overall plot, a very Act 1 sort of event; while the latter is just friggin' epic and pains me to think that it may be an Emi path-specific event.
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Old 01-06-2012, 12:45 AM   #61
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Haven't gone very far since I was watching Durarara!! and dealing with low blood sugar, leading to excessive sleeping.

Will make some progress tonight and tell you about it tomorrow morning.
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Old 01-06-2012, 01:56 AM   #62
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I've been working all day, so I haven't had much time to play. I'm at 16% completion and a little ways past Act 2. Neither of the events you mentioned have happened in Shizune's path. There has been very little interaction with the other characters in this path. Shizune played a game of chess with burn girl, and there were some chats with Kenji, but that's about it.

Thoughts about Shizuna's path
Spoiler: show
So far, it has just been student council work. The main guy learned sign language so he doesn't need Misha to translate for him.

I think this path will somehow end up with Misha getting jealous. I don't know if she'll be jealous because the main guy is taking away her friend, or the fact that Shizune is taking away the guy she likes, but the Act 2 animation showed jealousy in her future!


Also, Kenji is amazing. This game seriously needs a god damn Kenji path.
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Old 01-06-2012, 10:47 AM   #63
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Current progress: 7h42m, 25% completion, at the start of Emi Act 4

While not Emiya Shirou-bad, Hisao is a pretty stupid protagonist sometimes. I wrote something way back when I was only part of the way through Emi's Act 2 and registering 17% completion of the game that, apparently:
(1) was a conclusion I reached but not one which was officially made clear (I had thought that it was until very recently! ); and
(2) is something Hisao still hasn't been able to figure out

Spoiler: show
Namely, that Emi lost her father in the car wreck which also took her legs from her seven or eight years ago. Where I am in the game, Hisao is trying to figure out why Emi keeps having nightmares if she doesn't seem that that beat up about losing her legs, how her father died, etc. Not once has he ever thought to himself, "I wonder if ...?" or anything even remotely approaching a hint that he's able to put 2 and 2 together.

He's also not been able to figure out who the Yamaku Cat Burglar is even though it was obvious to the player who it was before Yuuko ever opened her mouth:

Spoiler: show
I mean, for God's sake, man: how could you forget in the span of one day that the book Yuuko was looking for on cryptography just so happens to be the same book you helped Kenji carry into his room?

That stated, I will come to Hisao's defense. As far as VN protagonists go, he's either at or ahead of the curve. I'd probably put him on the same level as Takeshi or Yukidoh from Ever17 and Remember11, respectively, and certainly ahead of Kokoro from Remember11 or Shirou from Fate/Stay Night.

The more I play of this path, the more it's looking like the club Hisao forms with Mutou is a path-specific occurrence. This is a real shame considering the impact the club has on Hisao's life (both present and future). But it seems to have been a plot device which has been leading up to (in universe) teaching Hisao and (breaking through the fourth wall) informing the player how best to deal with Emi if a Good End is desired. So, given this, I can see why it might be missing from the other paths. In fact, come to think of it, if Hisao ends up joining the student council in the Shizune path (which I imagine he would), then I guess I could see how these two things might necessarily be mutually exclusive. Oh well. =\

Spoiler: show
Mutou believes that Hisao has a natural aptitude for science and encourages him to (1) join the Science Club (population: 0 until Hisao joins ^^; ) and (2) apply for college with an intent to major in a science. Hisao ends up doing both. As the path advances, Mutou teaches Hisao about the philosophy which all scientists hold dear and also imparts an important lesson upon Hisao:

If you can't observe something directly, then you have to observe it indirectly -- by observing those things around it which it affects.

Hisao ends up applying this lesson about quarks and black holes to how he deals with Emi. You see, as the route advances, Emi creates a barrier between herself and Hisao, preventing them from becoming more than simple "friends with benefits." Hisao doesn't like this and wants to get to the bottom of why Emi won't allow Hisao to get close. (Obviously it's because she's traumatized by the sudden loss of her father in the car wreck, but unfortunately this is one of Hisao's duncier moments and he's too blind to see it.) So what you're supposed to do, I think, is always take the indirect path towards learning more about Emi. This has already presented itself twice.

First, there was a visit to the nurse. Hisao talks to him about the difficulties he's having with Emi and the nurse then offers to give advice. Choice 1 is "No thanks, I'd rather figure this out on my own." Choice 2 is, "Yeah, sure, I'll listen." I went with Choice #2, as I would in real life anyway, but all of a sudden the moment I do that Hisao starts rationalizing that asking the nurse for advice about Emi is like how scientists study quarks by observing the effects that quarks have on the rest of the system. So I was like, "Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting " and realized I'd latched onto something important.

Second, later on Emi invites Hisao over to her home to have dinner with her and her mom. (Meet the parents! ) During dinner, Emi's mom broaches the topic of Emi's father, asking if Emi will be going to "visit him" this year or not. Emi is upset that her mother is bringing this up in front of Hisao and excuses herself from the table, allegedly to go and use the restroom. You're then presented with a choice: (1) go after Emi or (2) ask Emi's mom for advice. Latching on to the science-y aspect of this path, I picked Option #2. As in the option choice, I was heavily rewarded for my logic (Emi's mom tells Hisao "Heavens no!" when he asks, "Should I have gone after her?") but things happen that I don't want to spoil, not even inside a spoiler tag , and pretty soon after is the start of Act 4.

So as you can see, the club Hisao and Mutou form would appear to play a big role in the Emi path, leading me to now conclude that it's probably absent from the other four paths. But ... *sigh*, it's a real shame. ^^; 'Cause it feels damn near well canon to me. Probably always will. I guess that's what happens when you play a particular path first. You wind up feeling like that path is the canon path and all the others are the What If paths. Although ... with Ever17, I think I felt like the Tsugumi path was the canon path even though it was my second (GO TSUGUMI! ), so maybe I'm speaking too soon and the same will happen here, too.

I have been avoiding spoilers and such, but when reading a thread in the Katawa Shoujo forum's Support forum, I gleaned that there may in fact possibly be Good and Bad Ends to each path, just like you'd expect from most VNs nowadays. To be perfectly honest, I don't really see the room for this in the Library subsection of the Extras section, but I guess it might be true. I could easily see how the Emi path could have had numerous bad ends along the way as well as a good end it (hopefully! ) seems to be working towards in my case. Keep this in mind, I suppose, as you guys play your own paths. Make judicious choices!
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Old 01-06-2012, 02:26 PM   #64
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Emi Path Good End: Get!

Or at least, I think so.
  • The path ended.
  • I saw the ending credits.
  • In the Extras' Library, I have every single Emi event unlocked except for one. (The only one I don't have unlocked comes at the very end of Act 3. My guess is that it may be the Emi Path's Bad End. Otherwise, it may just be a chance to see a different scene with the same outcome.) To clarify, I have every single event for Act 4 unlocked.
  • In the Extras' Gallery, I have every single Emi path CG except for one. (The one I'm missing is Page 2, Row 2, Column 2. In other words, the sixth CG on the second page of the gallery.)
Whether the ending itself was happy or not, I'll leave you to discover for yourselves. (WARNING Image and text in the spoiler box below spoil it!) But I'm pretty confident that it's intended as the Good/True End.

Current progress: roughly 8h20m, 26% completion, back at the main menu

Spoiler: show
Emi makes such a big deal about telling Hisao why she's so depressed, and Hisao is so clueless about it, that his imagination runs wild and he begins to wonder if Emi's part of a cult or something. >_>; In the end, what Uncle Talon speculated way back when at the track meet -- what Uncle Talon had thought Hisao already knew >_>;; -- turns out to be the case: Emi's trauma has to do with the fact that her dad was the most special person to her in the entire world and she lost him on the day of the accident that also robbed her of her legs. She invites Hisao to go with her and her mother to see his grave at the cemetary on the anniversary of the accident. Sentimental moments are had.


But they then go back to Yamaku ... and decide to make love. Lol, what!? On the anniversary of your dad's death ... you decide to celebrate letting people back into your life by fucking with your boyfriend? I realize this is meant to be a very deep and symbolic thing for Emi, but I just couldn't shake how absurd it all felt to me. Bad enough to do it on the anniversary of his death, but you gotta do it right as soon as Mom drops you back off at school? That Emi is one horny bunny.

In the end, Hisao doesn't suffer a second full-blown heart attack in this route. Emi doesn't die nor does she lose her limbs. In fact, after staying off of them for three weeks as the nurse prescribed, she's able to resume her favorite hobby of running perfectly fine. So in this sense, it truly is a Good End and all's well that ends well.

That stated, I can't help but to feel that it felt like it ended slightly prematurely. I guess the writers felt that they had said all that needed to be said? But I wouldn't have minded a little more. Even if it were only to be shown during the ending credits via floating CG photographs or something, I should have liked to have known ...
  • What became of Hisao and Emi?
  • Did Hisao end up going into science?
  • What did Emi decide to do with her life?
  • What about the nurse and Emi's mom?
  • What about Kenji and Yuuko?
I can't help but to shake the feeling that the way this path ended, Hisao and Emi feel like a pleasant boyfriend and girlfriend couple but they haven't sold me on the notion that they're going to wind up married to one another. This is where I honestly have to give Nasu a little bit of credit: as bad as his sex scenes may be , Nasu was able to convince me, in each of the three paths in Fate/Stay Night, that not only did Emiya Shirou like the girl on that path but that he and she were destined to become man and wife. So ... what do I make of this? On the one hand, I feel like I should congratulate the KS team for producing realistic writing. After all, 90% of couples [/made-up statistics] end up breaking up, right? And so maybe Hisao and Emi are one such couple: happy right now but not really marriage material for one another. But on the other hand, as a reader, my heart yearns for soulmates. And if it's a question of how much evidence we got that these two are indeed meant for one another, I ... can't say I felt there was much presented to sell me on this. Even with him meeting her mom. Even with her inviting him to the cemetary. It always felt ... very awkward. As if she'd invited her boyfriend to the cemetary (which I guess is exactly what she did! ) instead of like if she had invited her fiancé.

Oh yeah, I should mention: among many secrets Emi's been keeping that she tells Hisao at the cemetary, one of them is the fact that she's actually a year older than him (and therefore 18 or 19 years old to his 17 or 18 years old). This quite possibly makes her the oldest girl out of the Katawa Shoujos. hahahahahaha

In the end, the Emi path was cute, but it just wasn't for me. Despite some revelations as you play which prove that Emi is anything but a loli, the way she's drawn (short, flat-chested, "cute as a button") really does make her the loli of the KS group. But your mileage may vary depending on how personally you can relate to Emi's story or how much you like girls like her. All of this stated ... I'm eager to dive back in and to dock either onto the Hanako path or the Shizune path. Won't be upset if I get Lilly by accident but will rage if I manage to dock onto Rin's. XFD
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Old 01-06-2012, 08:02 PM   #65
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So, I've started up a new playthrough, and rather than skip through the text entirely, so far I've been replaying the game from scratch, reading each screen as I go, just as though it were my first time reading it. It's not too boring by any means, as it's fun reliving some of the first encounters and some of the witty jokes or comments the scriptwriters wrote in ("with all the elegance of a rhinoceros" gets me every time), but I may start skipping previously-seen text soon. I'm eager to see if the choices I'm making are landing me on a non-Emi path or not and that if they are then whose.

Spoiler: show

Just look at the look on her face. :3

I really like Shizune and Misha. Misha's a little obnoxious, sure, but she's cute-obnoxious as opposed to bad-obnoxious. But Shizune's the really interesting one. "Tsundere" isn't quite the right word to describe her. In fact, I'm not so sure she fits any of the traditional Japanese character archetypes for harems. Shizune is smart, aggressive, prim, stubborn, and kinda cute. She's sort of like an amalgam of the stereotypical class rep character, the geek character, and the tomboy. But ... she's none of these. Calling her any of these would be to completely misrepresent what she is. She's ... interesting. She also feels very real. I feel like I've known girls like her irl. Which makes it all the more surprising that there isn't a Shizune archetype in anime or manga. If KS becomes popular in Japan, then maybe there will be!


How can you not love this duo?

Part of me wants to dock onto Shizune and Misha now, but part of me wants to save them for last. 'Cause I'm most interested in Hanako's route, period, and I really don't want to do Shizune followed by Hanako, leaving two of the likely weaker routes (Lilly and Rin) for last. I think going forward my plan is to do Hanako, Lilly, Rin, and finally Shizune. (lol alphabetical order, but it's just a coincidence, I promise.) I may switch Rin and Lilly around, but that'll entirely depend upon how I'm feeling once I beat Hanako's route and also on how easy or difficult it is to get onto Rin's path without using a walkthrough. (I suspect that the first step to getting onto Rin's path is to ask "Why?" when Mutou asks if you want to introduce yourself to the class or not. Seems like something Rin would do, which is probably why it's a Rin path-favoring choice. But beyond that, I have no idea. Maybe you just have to piss off all the other girls? lol)

This time, I'm going to try and keep a closer eye on the choices I made. I'll copy and paste the list from before and I'll put in bold any new choices which I'd forgotten existed the last time I wrote up the list. This should help you guys dock onto the Emi path if you so choose. (Although I agree with BBB that it's very probable that there's this one, single choice which determines whether you dock or don't dock onto Emi's path.)

(You can read this if you have completed Act 1 and/or are interested to know how to dock onto the Emi path. No Act 2+ spoilers inside.)
Spoiler: show
Emi Playthrough:
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself.
  • Don't ask any questions, ask about Shizune's deafness, or ask about the library? I chose to ask about the library.
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play defensively.
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to introduce myself.
  • When Kenji asks if the girl who ran from me (Hanako) was cute, say yes or no? I said yes.
  • Wait for Shizune and Misha, read my book, or go over to talk to Hanako? I chose to talk to Hanako.
  • The nurse asks me if I'm going to take exercising seriously. Choices are "Yes" or "Maybe." I said "Yes."
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I picked the second one.
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? I tried to catch up.

Current Playthrough:
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Don't ask any questions, ask about Shizune's deafness, or ask about the library? I chose to ask about the library. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play aggressively. (Different from Emi time.)
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to apologize. (Different from Emi time.)
  • When Kenji asks if the girl who ran from me (Hanako) was cute, say yes or no? I said yes. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Wait for Shizune and Misha, read my book, or go over to talk to Hanako? I chose to talk to Hanako. (Same as Emi time.)
  • The nurse asks me if I'm going to take exercising seriously. Choices are "Yes" or "Maybe." I said "Maybe." (Different from Emi time.)
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I told Shizune to leave both of us alone. (Different from Emi time.)
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? This event was completely skipped this time! :o
I chose to say I'm not taking exercise seriously just to make sure I don't re-dock onto the Emi path. ^^; But given the nurse's negative response and the fact that it didn't seem to have any other immediate effects on the plot, I'll probably not pick that option again in the future. ^^;

Looking forward to reading your guys' status reports tonight. It feels like it's more or less just been me these past 24 hours. =\ Not entirely, I realize, but ... really looking forward to hearing what you guys think. The more non-spoiler impressions you can share (so that I can read 'em now), the better. That's why I'm tryin' to do for you guys, too. Put the spoilers where they have to go but leave the rest outside for you to enjoy and relate to.

EDIT: Just had lunch with Hanako and Emi. Updated my list of Act 1 choices (both from my first playthrough as well as from this playthrough) accordingly.
EDIT 2: Just had my first run with Emi. One forgotten-about choice presented itself; has been added to the lists above.
EDIT 3: Updated list to match the one which will come in a second next post. Won't be updating this list further: look to future posts for newer list updates.

Last edited by Talon87; 01-07-2012 at 03:20 PM.
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Old 01-07-2012, 03:53 PM   #66
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Lilly or Hanako, here we come! ...?

So, I'm about 2˝ hours into my next playthrough. I'd say I'm roughly two-thirds of the way through Act 1. My percent completion of the game is now registering at 28%, a few percentage points higher than when I completed the Emi path. (Given all the new twists I've been taking or been strung along, but also given how most of the material in Act 1 is common to all paths, this is not surprising.)

Things are happening quite differently this time around given some of the choices I've made. I'm not sure which triggers trump which other triggers quite yet, but it's definitely clear to me that the Emi path appears to be something you're eligible to dock onto only if you haven't acquired too many pro-Shizune or pro-Lilly&Hanako points. Too many of the former (which I've never done yet, it seems) and you're likely invited out to lunch with them and bit by bit begin to become a part of their lives outside of school as well as inside of it. Too many of the latter, and you begin to unlock some of the scenes I've borne witness to today. Not to mention: some Emi scenes were just flat-out missing! Including the very trigger we previously suspected was required to dock onto the Emi path! Click the spoiler box for more details.

(safe to click if you've ever completed Act 1 with Hanako or Lilly; I'd say it's still pretty damn same imo if you've ever completed Act 1 with any of the girls period, especially if you're wanting to find out how to get onto the Emi path)

Spoiler: show
First, let's address the missing scene. I don't know if it's because of successfully docking onto Lilly or Hanako's path or whether it's because I told the nurse "maybe" when he asked me if I was going to try to exercise regularly, but ... I never got the second Emi jog scene. The one called "Exercise," the twenty-ninth event in the Act 1 Library listing. ("Twenty-ninth": I counted all named and starred spaces but did not count things like "Prologue" or "Act 1".) So ... if you see that event in your own Library listing, that's the one I'm saying got totally skipped over this time. :o And if you're not seeing it? Because your name is Doppelganger and you think you docked onto the Hanako path? Yeah: it's probably because you didn't see it, 'cause the game never even gave you the chance to see it. If bbb and I are right that this scene is crucial for docking onto the Emi path, then it seems that we can conclude something about how Katawa Shoujo's path scheme works:
If too pro-Lilly and Hanako, Emi and Rin paths are closed to you. Shizune path is also closed to you once you side with Lilly in the catfight.

If too pro-Shizune, Emi and Rin paths are again probably closed to you. (Speculation.) Lilly and Hanako paths are also closed to you once you try to play the middleman in the catfight.

If too indecisive, Emi and Rin paths remain open to you, all other paths close.
This seems to be the case, in any event. Rin probably requires you to pick bizarre options since she's so bizarre herself (e.g. asking Mutou "Why?" when he asks if you want to introduce yourself to the class or not; or choosing to neither have lunch with Shizune and Misha nor to go and talk to Hanako but to instead just sit in class reading your book), but Emi's probably a bit more straightforward:
  • screwed up with Shizune by not aggressively pursuing? check
  • screwed up with Lilly -and- Hanako by not siding with Lilly in the catfight? check
  • okay great, come running with me. ^-^ And I'll decide if you're my type or not.
Okay, enough about that. So what did happen to me instead?

Heaven. ^-^

I go off with Hanako and she is just the cutest thing ever. We try to find Lilly but she's nowhere to be seen. I then tell Hanako that she's probably up in Class 3-2 (Lilly's classroom) working on her class's project for the school festival. Sure enough, we're right. And I get to see a room I'd never seen before but been wanting to see: the classroom for the blind students. And sure enough: there's Kenji, just as I'd suspected. When Hanako approached and Kenji changed his tune, at first I thought "Aw HELL no! D:", thinking Kenji had a thing for Hanako and was going to be my competition this route. :< Then he leans over and starts whispering "Nice plan, bro! " and going all feminist conspiracy on us again and I breathed a sigh of relief. In any event, Hanako seems to be warming up to me, so that's good.

I'm still not sure if I'm on the Lilly path or the Hanako path, but I'm thinking it's the Hanako path because ...
(1) simply the fact that I've spent more time with Hanako than with Lilly so far. (But that could be Act 1's fault, not the path's.)
(2) the fact that I told Kenji that I think Hanako is cute

Number 2 is probably a flag for the Hanako path. It doesn't mean you'll necessarily dock -- see: my last playthru -- but it probably preferences you for Hanako over Lilly. Meaning that if you want to get onto the Lilly path, perhaps you have to tell Kenji that you think Hanako isn't cute (awwwwww ) when he asks. Still be nice to Hanako every other time and maybe that's how you get onto Lilly's path. Just a thought.

Other differences ...

I should point out that Emi is still in my Act 1 path, but small details have been adjusted. In my last Act 1 playthrough, for instance, her invitation to have lunch with her was something we'd previously arranged. (She offered to make me lunch as a way of apologizing for what happened on the track.) This time, she runs into me when I exit class to go and get lunch and is like, "Are you doing anything for lunch today? Come! " (You're not given a choice. lol)

Another change ... last time, I helped Rin complete her mural a bit. (In hindsight, this is probably because Emi and Rin pair together, just like Lilly and Hanako seem to, so this is probably an event you need to see if you're aiming for the Rin path.) Well, this time I did no such thing. In fact, it's precisely because I was with Hanako helping Lilly's class on their project for the school festival: whereas last time, because I ended up pissing off both Shizune and Lilly, I ended up spending my afternoon helping Rin work on her mural some more. (It's event #27 in the Act 1 Library list, called "Things You Can Do.") So because Hisao can't be in two places at once, that event got skipped over this time. Which is perfectly fine by me. Like I mentioned, I was going to blow a gasket if I accidentally docked onto the Rin path next, so this suits me just swell.

Here's my updated list of choices:

Emi Playthrough:
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself.
  • Don't ask any questions, ask about Shizune's deafness, or ask about the library? I chose to ask about the library.
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play defensively.
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to introduce myself.
  • When Kenji asks if the girl who ran from me (Hanako) was cute, say yes or no? I said yes.
  • Wait for Shizune and Misha, read my book, or go over to talk to Hanako? I chose to talk to Hanako.
  • The nurse asks me if I'm going to take exercising seriously. Choices are "Yes" or "Maybe." I said "Yes."
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I picked the second one.
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? I tried to catch up.

Current Playthrough:
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Don't ask any questions, ask about Shizune's deafness, or ask about the library? I chose to ask about the library. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play aggressively. (Different from Emi time.)
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to apologize. (Different from Emi time.)
  • When Kenji asks if the girl who ran from me (Hanako) was cute, say yes or no? I said yes. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Wait for Shizune and Misha, read my book, or go over to talk to Hanako? I chose to talk to Hanako. (Same as Emi time.)
  • The nurse asks me if I'm going to take exercising seriously. Choices are "Yes" or "Maybe." I said "Maybe." (Different from Emi time.)
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I told Shizune to leave both of us alone. (Different from Emi time.)
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? This event was completely skipped this time! :o

Okay guys, this isn't funny any more. Doppel, you promised a status update -- a lengthy one! -- two nights ago when you told us you were going to play all night. Yesterday came and went and now it's 4pm on Saturday. What happened!? And bbb! I'm eager to learn how your adventures with Shizune and the screaming chubby have gone since the last time you spoke. Who's your next target?

Last edited by Talon87; 01-07-2012 at 04:00 PM.
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Old 01-07-2012, 05:54 PM   #67
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I finished Durarara!! so I haven't been sitting on my arse doing nothing! Let me finish of Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star and I'll get on track again.

That said, I might have to take back what I said about Hanako. From what people are saying, once Hisao "breaks through" her shyness, there's apparently pure love waiting for him.

Promising.
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Old 01-07-2012, 05:59 PM   #68
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>I finished Durarara!!
So, you watched some crappy anime that you ended up hating instead of playing this awesome game that you promised me you'd play ... mmhmm, mmhmm ...

>Let me finish of Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star
:<

Well, bbb: I guess it's just you and me. We're the only true Katawa Shoujo fans here.
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Old 01-07-2012, 06:17 PM   #69
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I had no idea I would end up hating Durarara!!, I did mention Baccano! was one of my highest rated shows, no? It's disappointing but momentum carried me through it.

Momentum doesn't happen much with me anymore, but it's happening now with PCSS. I'm not going to lose this. If I really focus on KS I could surpass your rate of play and that'll happen right afterward.
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Old 01-08-2012, 12:36 AM   #70
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I haven't been making much progress myself. I've been trying, but good god the little I've been home lately, I've been too tired and pissed off to play. I'm nearing act 4 of Shizune's path, and hopefully my pace will pick up on my upcoming days off.
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Old 01-08-2012, 10:49 PM   #71
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Have found my free time chewed up in the past 36 hours by this Pokemon tournament Lonely Cubone threw together, but now as things settle down and I seem to have figured out my team, I'm getting back to what I've been dying to play all weekend: more Katawa Shoujo.

Unfortunately, I seem to have maybe discovered my first personal taste of the Ren'Py Glitch Gremlins. Here's hoping that that isn't the case, but in any event, here are the two oddities I've noticed. Maybe you guys can clue me in as to whether I'm crazy or not.

Spoiler: show
Glitch 1: I distinctly seem to recall that, in the Gallery section on Lilly's page, I had formerly been able to see the following. (I do not remember whether they were all in one picture slot together or whether they were split. I will indicate a theoretical split by numbering them):
1a. Lilly, alone, eyes closed, seated at table
1b. Lilly, alone, eyes open, seated at table
2a. Lilly sat on the left having tea, Hisao sat opposite her on the right
2b. Lilly sat on the left having tea, Hisao and Hanako sat on the right, Hisao now off-center and scooched further away from us and Hanako off-center sitting closer to us

Image "2b" in the list above

Not only did I see this second image (2a and 2b) in the game, obviously, but I distinctly recall seeing it in the Gallery too. However, now when I look at my gallery, it's missing. All I see are 1a and 1b. I have zero other pictures with Lilly in them until you get towards the final pages and find the catfight picture. Is this a case of fictitious memories? Have I invented a memory of something that never really happened? Or am I right? and do one of you, or both of you, have this image in your own galleries? (Please tell me the row and column and page number, too, if you can.) 'Cause even though it's not the biggest deal in the world, I'm stressin' out over it. [/ocd]

Glitch 2: All of my previous menu choices from former playthroughs have been checked off in the checkmark box ... except for one. Ominously (I say this because I still don't seem to have docked onto the Hanako path ), it's the one where you have three choices: 1, wait for Misha and Shizune; 2, read your book; or 3, go over and talk to Hanako. I 100% chose to talk to Hanako last time, yet the checkmark did not show up. All three boxes were empty. I've since clicked it again but am too paranoid to go back and load it lest it be a glitch which somehow derails me from getting onto the Hanako path I so desperately want to go get onto. But I will go back and take a screencap if (1) I still fail to get onto Hanako's path (which is seemingly eerily more likely ) and (2) if it's still empty despite now having been clicked on two different playthroughs.

Put these two factors together and what I'm wondering is ... do I have some sort of glitch (Glitch 2) that is preventing a Hanako path trigger from activating? And so even though I superficially play through the Hanako trigger event just fine, the game doesn't think I triggered the flag and therefore I don't get the CG (Glitch 1)? Could this explain why I spent lunch with Emi and Rin again instead of having lunch with Hanako? Could this explain why I seem to be being corralled down the Lilly path even though I've done nothing to spook off Hanako? I dunno. But I thought I'd ask you guys for confirmation. I know you can't confirm Glitch #2 yet since neither have you have beaten the game, but Doppel at the very least, if not also bbb, should be able to confirm if Glitch #1 is really a glitch or not.


EDIT: Glitch #2 appears to have gone away (I went back and checked), and also, I just needed to keep playing more, it seems. Looks like I successfully docked onto the parent Hanako+Lilly path and that I was given a choice between the two child paths, Hanako Path or Lilly Path, just recently. Will discuss more in the next post.

Last edited by Talon87; 01-09-2012 at 01:08 AM.
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Old 01-09-2012, 01:37 AM   #72
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Soo ...

It turns out that the Hanako+Lilly parent path starts off Hanako-heavy and winds up Lilly-heavy. Naturally, I panicked and feared the worst: that I had gone from Hanako+Lilly to Lilly Only and was heading towards a Lilly playthrough. I like Lilly, don't get me wrong, but I've been aiming for Hanako since I first read this thread years ago. But it turns out, much to my relief, that once you successfully establish to the game, "Yes, I am in fact onboard with the Hanako+Lilly path," it then presents you with a choice between the two lovely ladies, thereby determining which of the two child paths you're going to take.

But ... I didn't find this out immediately. You see, I actually, at the last second, made a choice I wouldn't ordinarily make, just to see what it would do, and ... it triggered the Ultimate Bad End. I was so caught unawares by this, it was so completely unexpected, that adrenaline was pulsing through my veins for like 10 minutes straight as I read this text. You see ...

... I unlocked the Kenji path.

"Kenji Path" spoilers follow! Click only if you have witnessed the Day of Despair!
Spoiler: show

I shat bricks.

So here I am, walking up the hill to school with Lilly and Rin, when all of a sudden the girls pause and comment on my heavy breathing. The game gives me two choices: I can either tell them, "Don't worry, I'm fine" or else I can tell them, "Yeah, it's my condition, sorry." Ordinarily in a game like this, it's pretty obvious that you'd want to pick the second of these two options. It shows that you trust these people, that you consider them something more than strangers. In particular with romance visual novels, it typically +1's your chances of winding up with the girl you're saying this to. It's precisely for that reason that I said "Aw HELL no! D:" and decided to go with the first choice. Why is that? Because like I said, I was with Lilly and Rin. Rin I knew I wasn't gonna wind up with, but Lilly I might. Hell, Lilly I was certain I had been paired up with despite my best efforts to partner up with Hanako! D: So if the game was going to give me an opportunity to put distance between myself and Lilly, then by golly was I going to take it!

Well, after I told them that I was fine, we had a very awkward conversation and then went back up to the school and abruptly parted ways. The next day I went to school and nothing happened any differently from when I played the Emi path. So I suspected nothing. I was like, "It's okay. We're about to go to the festival tomorrow. It's cool. Surely I'll run into Lilly or Hanako or something, right? Right?"

Wrong. I wake up the next morning and there's Kenji, as before. So I tell the program to Skip Text, perhaps for the second time ever, and lo and behold, it comes to a screeching halt ... with Kenji and I still talking in the hallway. "Have I reached a choice?" I wonder to myself. "Do I get to pick the girl I'll be spending the day with? :3" No, I don't. Instead, Hisao realizes that he doesn't have a date for the festival at all and so ... he concludes that he may as well spend it with Kenji. D: XFD

~THE MANLIEST DATE OF THEM ALL~

This happens because you fuck up all of the paths beyond repair. Because I had sabotaged the Shizune+Misha shared path ... and because I had sabotaged the Emi path ... and because I hadn't done the necessary hocus-pocus to dock onto the Rin path ... and because I had done everything in my power to tell the game I'm interested in Hanako and to get on her good side by buttering up her onee-sama Lilly ... the game pretty much decided, "Okay, Talon either gets the Lilly+Hanako parent path or else he gets nothing at all." So when, on the hill that night, I told Lilly "Oh, it's nothing" when she asked about my heavy breathing ... that was me driving a stake through the heart of the Lilly+Hanako parent path. XD By not opening up to Lilly, by pushing her away, the game said, "Okay, he's rejecting that path too. So we'll have to put him somewhere else." But when you have nowhere else to go, XD, you wind up stuck with Kenji.

So anyway, Kenji declares that we're going to spend the festival up on the school rooftop. When I join him, he's got blankets, pretzels, and whiskey.

The rest, you'll have to explore for yourself. I don't want to spoil you if you haven't done it yet and I don't want to bore you if you have; but I will say, when Kenji reveals what his #1 secret is (pictured above) and the music gets all ominous for the remainder of the game, I was shitting bricks. It was like "HOLY SHIT, this totally is what I expected was going to be revealed after I beat all five main paths and a secret sixth path was maybe possibly going to reveal itself! :O [/wishful thinking]" Without saying who she was (*cough**cough*
Spoiler: show
YUUKO
*cough**cough*), he reveals that the two of them had sex. And as he explains all about the war on feminism, I just kept thinking one thing over and over--

"I'm gonna get raped, aren't I? "

So imagine my horror when Kenji keeps advancing towards me on the roof as I try to get away from him. And imagine my terror as Hisao leans on the rickety fence, desperate to escape Kenji's experiment with homosexuality. And imagine ... yeah. You know the rest.

The Day of Despair.

So after I got the Bad End to end all Bad Ends , I loaded up some old save files to see if I could address the glitches in my earlier post. (I was able to verify that the checkbox is now showing up filled-in for Glitch #2, so I crossed that one off the list. Unfortunately, try as I might I can't get the Lilly+Hisao+Hanako luncheon CG to show up in my Gallery, so that glitch is going to stay put until someone confirms that I'm crazy and that there was never any such CG in the gallery to begin with. ) And then I loaded up the save file on the hill, picked the other option -- the option anyone would normally pick but which I'd avoided because I didn't want to lock in to Lilly ^^; -- and things suddenly developed much, much differently. I was so certain, though, that I was going to wind up on the Lilly path. Until ... until the game presented me with that wonderful option to go to the library instead of going to the front gate.

Tomorrow, gentlemen, I have a date at the library. Details as it happens. ;D

EDIT: Forgot to include and update the lists of choices made. Now provided below.
Spoiler: show
Emi Playthrough:
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself.
  • Don't ask any questions, ask about Shizune's deafness, or ask about the library? I chose to ask about the library.
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play defensively.
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to introduce myself.
  • When Kenji asks if the girl who ran from me (Hanako) was cute, say yes or no? I said yes.
  • Wait for Shizune and Misha, read my book, or go over to talk to Hanako? I chose to talk to Hanako.
  • The nurse asks me if I'm going to take exercising seriously. Choices are "Yes" or "Maybe." I said "Yes."
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I picked the second one.
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? I tried to catch up.

Current Playthrough:
  • Introduce self to class or opt not to? I chose to introduce myself. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Don't ask any questions, ask about Shizune's deafness, or ask about the library? I chose to ask about the library. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Play Risk defensively or aggressively? I chose to play aggressively. (Different from Emi time.)
  • Introduce yourself to Hanako or apologize for disturbing her? I chose to apologize. (Different from Emi time.)
  • When Kenji asks if the girl who ran from me (Hanako) was cute, say yes or no? I said yes. (Same as Emi time.)
  • Wait for Shizune and Misha, read my book, or go over to talk to Hanako? I chose to talk to Hanako. (Same as Emi time.)
  • The nurse asks me if I'm going to take exercising seriously. Choices are "Yes" or "Maybe." I said "Maybe." (Different from Emi time.)
  • In the catfight scene, tell Shizune to leave me and Lilly alone? or tell Shizune to leave me alone? I told Shizune to leave both of us alone. (Different from Emi time.)
  • When running on the track with Emi, take it easy? or try to catch up to her? This event was completely skipped this time! :o
  • When walking back up the hill, tell Lilly and Rin that I'm fine? or explain why I'm breathing so heavily?
    • if you choose "I'm fine," you unlock the Kenji Path! The Day of Despair!
    • if you choose to explain your heart condition to them, then things are still good. This is ultimately what I went with on Playthrough #3 ... 2.5. ... whatever you want to call it.
  • Hisao wonders whether he wants to go to the library (Hanako) or to the front gate (Lilly). I picked the library, of course!

Last edited by Talon87; 01-09-2012 at 01:59 AM.
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Old 01-09-2012, 02:53 AM   #73
big bad birtha
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I just finished Shizune's path. I'm pretty disappointed in it. Like, not much happened at all. It was nice how it explained Sizune and Misha's mindset, but that's about all that went on. I really hope the other paths aren't like this.

Next, I'll go for Emi's path, since it seems like it'll be the second least interesting.
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Old 01-09-2012, 01:31 PM   #74
Talon87
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Hanako Path: Successfully Activated ^-^

(YouTube video inside. By all means, please click if you don't consider it a spoiler to see the opening video to a path.)
Spoiler: show
BORKED

I don't see any path being capable of matching what I'm about to embark upon. What an opening. So epic-sad-ominous with that music and how the camera swirls about so professionally-looking and stuff ... only to then have that d'awwwwwwwww furtive eye shifting moment at the end. Hanako is too cute. You just want to make her happy and have her re-enter the light. Realize that she doesn't have to live in the shadows.

But boy, I sure do wish that that piece that plays from 0:18 to 0:34 were longer. That's just ... oh man. Really epic stuff. Here's hoping its extended version is one of the only two songs I have yet to unlock in the Jukebox.

I'll repeat what I said inside the spoiler box: I don't see any path being capable of matching what I'm about to embark upon. This is going to be good. If the floor is pulled out from under me, the fall is going to be far and heavy indeed. ^^; But I have confidence that it shan't be! Onward!

Discussion about the end of Act 1 as you dock onto the Hanako path:
Spoiler: show
It was surreal to see Lilly's class's booth again. The first time I ever saw it wasn't in the Emi path, from which it was absent, but in the Kenji path. And in the Kenji path, because Hisao is in such a miserable mood, he takes one look at the booth and says all manner of negative things about it. So seeing it a second time took me by surprise and I had to try and erase my impressions from the Kenji path in order to enjoy it. ^^;

It was a cute scene to see the blind class running a noodle stand. I was disappointed in them, though, that so many of them shirked their responsibilities and left it all up to Lilly and the other small handful of the class's most responsible students. It was good to see Miyagi track down and recruit some of the other students to help Lilly out.

I get the impression that if you pursue the Lilly path Hisao opts to volunteer to help man the station. In fact, even with my desire to dock onto the Hanako path, I half expected him to do just this. It felt really weird going to look for Hanako instead. But ... I guess I'm glad? ^^; Because w000000000000000000 Hanako Path!

Hanako was absolutely adorable all throughout the reminder of this path. Interesting foreshadowing that she probably had a very close bond with her father and that he was probably the one who used to play chess with her. Even though Hisao claims he isn't good, the fact that he's better than both Lilly and Hanako probably means that Hanako is going to see some of her father in Hisao. We'll have to see how things develop from here, though.

Naturally, I'm very curious about this route and have loads of questions I look forward to answering for myself as I play through the path. Questions like:
  • How did the fire start?
  • Who all was damaged or lost in the fire? Was Hanako raised by her dad alone? Or did she lose both of them in this fire?
  • Who raises Hanako when school's not in session? Did one of her two parents survive? If not, is she staying with relatives or is she a ward of the state's?
  • If Hanako is at least partly responsible for the fire, to what degree does she blame herself?
  • How young was Hanako when the fire happened?
  • How will Hisao help bring Hanako into the light without forcing her into it against her will? (Like, what specific approach[es] or event[s] will he perform?)
  • What are the various ends like for this path?
Lots of questions, and I'm hopeful that they're all going to be answered spectacularly. Having completed the Emi path, I have confidence that the team is capable of at least giving me an Emi-quality set of answers. But I'm hoping for more ... and I'm thinking I just may well get it.
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Old 01-09-2012, 05:12 PM   #75
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Congrats Talon.

I need to do some serious application work today, but I'll promise to play when I can!
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