Favourite Route

[Tezzeret]

Rin's. No contest. The mess of emotions i felt playing her route was incredible and taxing on me. I was either teary eyed or crying for the better part of acts 3 and 4 and i very rarely if ever cry over anything, any kind of media. The only thing that brought me down was seeing Hisao act like such a fuckwad but in hindsight that only made the feels stronger. Imagine being in his shoes, trying to come to terms with never fully understanding her completely and ending with an acceptance of that but accepting his feelings for her take precedence over that. And don't get me started about Rin's problem of wanting to just be herself

The ending scene was probably the best thing in the history of ever.

[Musing]

Agree with the gentleperson above. I also think the wildly diverging opinions on here are absolutely beautiful. I'm not just reading different 'favorite routes'; I'm reading different characters.
This is me:

Rin > Emi > Lilly > Shizune > Hanako

I've never 'played' a visual novel before, and already I believe nothing will top this experience. You goddamn bunch of magnificent bastards.

[pauper]

Simple answer incoming..

Hanako > Lilly > Shizune > Emi > Rin

[hickwarrior]

Haven't finished Rin's yet, but so far.

Lilly>Emi>Hanako>Shizune

To me, Lilly's route is obvious but really speaks to me on a level I can understand well, in my delusional mind. Emi's route was my first route because I wanted Hisao be rational about his heart. It was my first taste and pretty much felt like it had an impact on me. Hanako less so, but that doesn't mean hers was bad at all, because most of my emotions were drained by Lilly's route at that point. However, I did Shizune's route before hanako and it... It just didn't make me feel much. I guess I'm someone who has to be beaten over the head before he has a clue of what's happening emotionally. And, being my delusional self, I got the bad ending on that one.

[ICEheaven102]

Emi, followed by Lily.

[Dalton Kelly]

Which girl/route did I like the best? While this is a very difficult question to answer.......(I really liked them all in their own unique way).....I would have to go with Rin. Her story really touched me and I felt a strong emotional connection with her character. Seeing her curled in a ball in her art studio under the window really pulled at my heart and I wanted to cry for her, because she could not talk to people and was so disconnected from the world. Her views of the world actually appealed to me and I honestly just wanted her to be happy in the ending, again, because she was such a good character. I found myself crying during her route at least three times. Second favorite character would PROBABLY be either Lilly or Hanako. Lilly was a motherly, sweet, and humble character. She also had one of the better endings with some sense that the two had a future together. I also like that your character was constantly confronted with his mortality during her route. The other routes did not really tap into that as much. Hanako, again, was a HIGHLY emotional character. I cried during her route at one point, too. She was such a beautiful person, but she never really can acknowledge it due to her scars. She finally stands up for herself in the end, and there is a sense of satisfaction in that. The only reason she is not my favorite, is because she does not open up to your character til LITERALLY the end. I would have liked a chance to have seen where or how their romance bloomed. I liked Lilly's route okay. Her carefree nature makes it hard to really build that STRONG emotional connection like I did with the other three, but it was still very enjoyable. I liked how they actually included the school's faculty more in her route. Shizune, while my first character to go through, was not so enjoyable. She was distant and never really truly opens up like the others. She is kind of self-centered, but gets better towards the end. The other reason I did not like her route was because of how Misha is left out. (I can probably receive backlash for this....but I honestly found her to be a likeable character, too. I wish she had a route of her own. Why? I am not sure, but I felt like she deserved to get more attention.) haha. I would like more routes to be added soon, hopefully. Hell, a part 2 that goes into the character's college year would be a Godsend. ^^ Sorry for my massive fanboy rant. I just REALLY enjoyed the game.

[TheNightGoesOn]

I share your love for Rin's story. It was my 1st path, and I was exsessivley happy i got the best ending (even though i looked at a flowchart for it. Oh well, i got really cencerned about if I was going to end up with Rin. I cared more about having a good conclusion to the story rather then playing a 'fair game'. And, in the end, I probably wouldn't have directed Hisao to misinterpret Rin to the point where I blow up at her,and get the Bad End, or have the gall to suggest that she should be happy with the "opportunity" that selfish dick of an art teacher forced on her, and get the Neutral End.) Even though i did think Hisao was a being a little pathetic at times on Rin's path, his heart was in the right place, and I made him out to be a sensitive guy, so it was all good.

I'm now taking a departure and going down Shizune's path, and i'm enjoying the straighforward storytelling of it, rather then second-guessing myself on Rin's path. And i also like Hisao on Shizune's path better then Rin's. He's such a smartass on this path, and I enjoy RPing him now.

Though...I get kinda sad every time i go to the dorms and look at the unfinished mural now.

>hoping in vain that the girls paths could run concurrently, so Rin won't have to be alone while I play games with Shizune

TL;DR Enjoy playing Shizune's path, but like Rin and her story more.

[yummines]

i've played through only Hanako, Emi, and Rin's route, but i would say i like Rin's the most.

why?

before ks - visual novels are only for true otaku. i wont go that far.

mrmmm i guess i'll try out this one called Katawa Shoujo. considering i played Monmusu Quest im far past the point of no return.

rin's route on first try.

'OH GOD STUMP WOMAN U CAN FLYO GAWD MY TEAR DUCTS"

[Mirrormn]

Rin was my favorite path. Hanako, Lilly, and Emi's stories were emotional and enjoyable, but a little shallow overall. Shizune's route was very deep and dependent on subtext, but I found it cold, boring, and unemotional, even after taking the time to understand it fully. Even the bad ending that everyone seems to love to hate didn't affect me at all.

Rin's route was the only one, for me, which both provided visceral in-the-moment entertainment and required substantial thought and reflection after the fact.

[Breaker deGodot]

In terms of character:
1. Lilly
2. Emi
3. Hanako
4. Shizune
5. Rin
In terms of routes:
1. Lilly
2. Hanako
3. Emi
4. Rin
5. Shizune

Lilly's route is a soap opera, but an exceedingly well written one. Her character has some serious (albeit subtle) flaws, but I still like her personally the most. Emi is a really attractive character, but her route is just kind of shallow, and the way her father's death was used as a plot twist just came off as kind of silly. Hanako is another great character (though I kind of prefer girls that act like Emi to those that act like Hanako), but her route is way, WAY too short, and it cuts off just as Hisao's relationship with her was getting really interesting. Shizune rubs me the wrong way as a character at times, but I must admit that her route is easily the most subtle of the five. This is both a gift and curse, because even though her story rewards repeated playthroughs it still comes off as unemotional and even a tad cold. Finally there's Rin, who I have very mixed feelings about. I really want to enjoy her character and her story, but even as well written as it is (and it is quite well written), I just can't feel myself sympathizing with her very much. I feel like that kind of person would drive me crazy in real life. Not to mention the fact that her story was written to be frustrating on purpose, which isn't the kind of thing I enjoy reading very much.

[Jitter]

Oh man I can't say I enjoyed the Rin path. I mean, it was certainly emotional, but more in a troubling way than a rewarding or enjoyable one. I just couldn't shake off the feeling that every time I talked to her, she wasn't really hearing me. I never really understood her, as I would have liked, and trying to develop my relationship with her was excruciatingly difficult due to her emotionally detached behavior. Honestly, I wanted to really love her so much, but I just couldn't do that without understanding her and without her reciprocating for the affection that I showed her. It was agonizing and frustrating the whole way through but I suppose that's a good job by 4ls as I think her story is supposed to entice these sorts of feelings. Anyway hats off to you brave chaps who weathered all that and gave Rin your unconditional love despite not receiving much back in return, you are better men than I.

For what its worth I think Lily's path was the best by some way. As Breaker deGodot said, it was like an exceedingly well-written soap opera. I cried like a baby at the end of that but make no mistake they were tears of joy, and there were more than enough to make up for all the tears of sadness I cried at basically dying trying to catch Lily before she got to the airport and left me forever.

[Mirrormn]

Oh man I can't say I enjoyed the Rin path. I mean, it was certainly emotional, but more in a troubling way than a rewarding or enjoyable one. I just couldn't shake off the feeling that every time I talked to her, she wasn't really hearing me. I never really understood her, as I would have liked, and trying to develop my relationship with her was excruciatingly difficult due to her emotionally detached behavior. Honestly, I wanted to really love her so much, but I just couldn't do that without understanding her and without her reciprocating for the affection that I showed her. It was agonizing and frustrating the whole way through but I suppose that's a good job by 4ls as I think her story is supposed to entice these sorts of feelings. Anyway hats off to you brave chaps who weathered all that and gave Rin your unconditional love despite not receiving much back in return, you are better men than I.

I felt somewhat similar after my first playthrough of Rin's route. In fact, if I recall correctly, in the following day I was pretty convinced that the entire moral and message of the route is that Rin is impossible to understand, and you just have to deal with it. But after a lot of thought, several re-reads, and some discussions on the forums, I came to realize that Rin is actually pretty understandable; that underneath her shell of nonsense and peculiarity, she is just a human being like anyone else, with similar fears and desires. Once I realized this, and started to read through some of the more poignant moments in her route with the full comprehension of how her underlying humanity was influencing her speech and actions, I was drawn to her far more strongly than before. She's been my favorite ever since.

[nemz]

Really? Huh. My biggest complaint about Rin's route is how difficult Hisao kept making everything by constantly misunderstanding the situation. I thought she more or less made sense all the time, so it was quite frustrating to watch him blunder about the place and make a mess of everything.

[Enemy |]

Really? Huh. My biggest complaint about Rin's route is how difficult Hisao kept making everything by constantly misunderstanding the situation. I thought she more or less made sense all the time, so it was quite frustrating to watch him blunder about the place and make a mess of everything.

Pic related

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I didn't feel like Rin didn't make the slightest sense or anything like that, but she was somewhat frustrating.

I have only played through each path once, and Emi as my first (and doing the "what would I do" kind of way) and Rin as my last were the ones I felt most attached to.

[ravenlord]

I like Hanako and her route the best, because it was wonderful to watch her go from bud to blossom. I like how that mirrored her relationship with Hisao, from terror to uneasy to tolerable to like to love. And the path was a steady stream of "two steps forward, one step back", so as I was playing it blind I never knew if the steps back would lead to the bad end or not. Of all of the good endings, I think that her route had the absolute best payoff.

The other paths were all amazing too, but her's was the RL life changer for me and the one I will carry with me forever.