Otaku USA Review

[encrypted12345]

Since the devs mentioned this on their twitter, I'll post this up for anyone curious.

Honestly speaking, this is such a bad review that I couldn't help laughing. I get the feeling that I have been forced to read so many classic slice of life novels in high school and college, that I can't tell if something has bad prose or bad pacing unless it's absurdly bad.

Well, discuss.

[Nobody in Particular]

Melodrama? One of the things I liked about Katawa Shoujo is that it had very little melodrama. Also the review completely got the point behind the Hanako and Rin routes wrong. That review did seem a pretty poor one.

I also noticed that they didn't have a single screenshot from the actual game. Just early art or fan stuff. Not very professional.

[encrypted12345]

Melodrama? One of the things I liked about Katawa Shoujo is that it had very little melodrama.

I've seen a few random reviewers accuse this game of having melodrama. All, I can do is to start at the screen and mutter to myself, "Really?"

I know that the difference between melodrama and regular drama is probably subjective, but I honestly believe that those people haven't seen real melodrama before. Most of the events in Katawa Shoujo are pretty mundane and everyday as is typical of the slice of life genre. I suppose you could accuse Rin's route of melodrama which is the only route I think that the reviewer played, but not really. It was dramatic, sure, but it didn't have any illogical plot events or character reactions.

Well, Rin's route is one of the love it or hate it routes, and I guess the reviewer just hated it.

[ziamatt]

"...the shy girl needs to be treated like a timid doormouse...

He obviously either hasn't played Hanako's route, or he missed the point of the route completely. Why is he commenting on her route at all then? I haven't played Rin's route yet so I can't say how accurate his description of her route is, but based on his comments about Hanako's route I'm not sure why I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
I'm not sure what he means by "stereotype" either. The characters have specific and recognizable personalities but they're all fairly realistic I think.

[imperial.standard]

When you play with a jaded emotion, this is what you get unfortunately...

Well, not ALL review can be lovey dovey though.

[Tilting Clock]

I was taught that, in the course of writing a piece of persuasive writing, I need to declare a thesis, arguments, and supporting evidence. I only see the first two here in definite, with abstracted opinion filling in for the third.

Cool review, bro.

[Fretless]

I'm not going to take any review from a magazine called "Otaku USA" seriously.
I'm really, REALLY not an anime guy, let alone a manga or visual novel guy. Most of the stuff that sells and gets heavy praise, such as Bleach and One Piece, I just don't get or despise. For something this good to get a negative review in there...to me, it's just backwards and weird.

[Guest Poster]

"...the shy girl needs to be treated like a timid doormouse...

Somewhere in the world there is a reviewer in desperate need of being shouted down by a timid doormouse.

[Sin of my sins]

I got the impression that the reviewer started the whole game on the wrong foot and stuck with his lame expectations to the very end. He probably mentioned all of the common prejudices connected with visual novels general. I'm not really sure if he even tried to read all the dialogues or is he just plain stupid since all of his interpretations on the paths seem to miss the pole by miles.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and interpretations, but I can't help but feeling this guy is dishing out false information due to his prejudices, and/or the wrong attitude and motivation to play the game.

[gRaViJa]

Worst written KS-review I have read until now.

[Megumeru]

I'm assuming the guy just downloaded the demo or did the review based on 'interview' or third party without actually touching it.

KS devs need to pay these people to give good review (a la Activision)

[Erthel]

It has some valid points, and some misconceptions. He obviously haven't played the Hanako route - to say that you need to treat the shy girl as a timid doormouse.