A review

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NomadicElectron

A review

Post by NomadicElectron »

I just wanted to give a bit of feedback to the staff. Sorry, I'm incredibly long-winded.

First, I will have to come clean by admitting a few things:
I'm not a fan of VN/dating sim type games. I've played a handful and found they tend to be poorly written stories that are there solely to pad out time until you get to see the h-scenes and then, the end.
Also, I wanted to admit that I downloaded this game as kind of a joke. I had never heard of it before it was released but when it was I read somewhere that an independently-made game where you try to get burn victims and amputees in the sack and it was made by a bunch of people from 4chan I thought "Oh man, that's bound to be hilarious!" because, well... I'm a prick that would normally find something like that funny, I guess.

Then I started playing. I was impressed. First, simply on an aesthetic level. I underestimated the quality I would find because it was a smaller, independent game rather than a studio-made game with teams of pro artists and programmers and whatever else. I was dead wrong. The quality of the game aesthetics - music, art, animation, menus - all far exceed any of the studio-made counterparts I've played. Without realizing it I started taking the game seriously almost immediately. I forgot why I had started it just a few lines of dialogue into the game. I started playing seriously and, apparently, chose Emi as the first path I took. I was bummed because atheletic sporty types aren't really my type (I was hoping for Hanako) but I went with it. Playing through more I started to also appreciate the writing. Most other VNs I've played just seem like they were hastily translated and cluttered with stuff that didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. The writing in KS flowed well and was engaging. So much so that I found myself thinking about the storyline with Emi, which I had to leave half-finished so I could sleep and go to work, during my work day and when I got home until I was able to continue playing it. The story kept me on the edge of my seat and at the end of it, I have to admit, I cried. I even got the good ending. The only nitpick I really had about the whole storyline is that the word choices did get a little... thesaurus-y at times. For example, ministrations might be a word I use in some situations, but felt a bit out of place in a scene where I was having buttsex with a paraplegic girl in a sporting goods supply shed. But, really, that's just my opinion (and a nitpicky one at that) and the storyline was absolutely beautifully written. Oh, and I also appreciated the very obscure MST3K reference in the title of the "Hooray For Socks" chapter.

After that, I did the Hanako storyline. My initial interest in playing it waned after playing Emi because, like other people in the forums here have said, I didn't feel right, it was like I was cheating on Emi. But eventually I did it anyway, and damn am I glad I did. Although, I did feel slightly gypped that the only h-scene in Hanako's storyline made me feel like a monstrous rapist afterward, I felt the end scene made up for it. Yes, I cried at that one too. And then I went back to Hanako's storyline to get the bad ending. Once I got it I came to a conclusion: FUCK COMPLETIONISM. I don't ever want to see something like that again. Only going to try for good endings from now on.

I'm actually sad to see 4LS won't be doing any further projects like this together in the future. I was enthralled far beyond what I thought I would be with the final project and want to congratulate all of you on putting out what is possibly the finest VN of all time (based on my limited knowledge of the subject.)

TL;DR - The game was so good it turned an asshole like me into a total pussy. Thank you.
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