the use of British slang / vernacular in the game kinda throws me off occasionally. some things I know, like "sod off". others, i have to look up like "fracas".
Yes, I'm American. Unlike most, I watch some British TV - various things ranging from Mr. Bean, Top Gear, The IT Crowd and many other shows.
Also, having majored (for a while, at least) in English in college, and being an avid reader, etc. I have a larger vocabulary than your average american.
Still, I think the game should be a little more neutral with regards to slang. This way people from any English speaking country should be able to understand every line, without looking a particular word or phrase, just to understand the meaning.
All that said, it does a pretty good job of not having much slang, considering that i've read that some of the Dev's are from Australia (who i have a much harder time understanding) and other various places around the world.
Emi - 2nd play
What can i say that i didn't say previously? i like her route, Hisao still cant read between the lines, and its a beautiful bittersweet story.
Lilly - 2nd play
Just noticed that in Lilly's path, the student counsel has a laptop, but they didn't in Shizune's...
I almost teared up again at the end of Lilly's path, but i knew what was coming...
I did indeed find out that i was mistaken on a few points from the first playthrough. Yes, Akira does say that she babysits Hideki. I was confused about their relationship the first time and thought they were dating. I must have skipped by those few lines too quickly.
i'm still bugged by the end though...
he could have called her or akira. also, i noticed this time, that when he is having his heart attack at the airport that her ears pick up... did she hear him? or did she go to Scotland, find out (maybe hanako called her?) and came back? did hideki call akira saying that Hisao was coming to the airport? It's left unanswered and vague.
Its still amazing though.
Kenji
Now, i'm less sure about my initial thoughts regarding
the Kenji/Yuuko relationship possibility. At first, I didn't think they could have been together. Now, after my careful read, Its a maybe... Kenji is 20, older then the rest of the students. Yuuko is in a University, so 19-24 years old or so. They could have met at the Shanghai, and she could have not know he was a student - it may have been even before she worked at Yamaku? There are some major coincidences - like similar story-lines about their ex's, the cryptography book, and the fact that he avoids her like the plague. (OR MAYBE KENJI AND YUUKO ARE THE SAME PERSON!!!!!! DUN, DUN, DUN!!!!
) Maybe she still doesn't know hes a student there, and that's a contributing factor to his hiding out so much, and maybe why he steals books from the library. Who knows? There were some inconsistencies that i mentioned previously, but those can be explained around if you wanted to.
I'm still a fan of the Kenji/Emi idea - while there is less contributing evidence, it does line up... and his reaction to her was the worst!
I do kinda wish there was
a Hisao/Yuuko path... I actually found her to be the cutest!
Overall
Looking back, after 2 playthroughs, the stories were great. All of them in their own way.
Would I (and others) have wanted more? Of course! The Dev's gave us SO MUCH to begin with, and with so many little (and big) loose ends, combined with the pure raw emotions of the game, how can we not want to know what happens?
Again, my thoughts are mostly contained in my original post, so i wont repeat them here. My one repeated thought that i'd emphasize: The game was a little too linear. Act 1 was good. Acts 2-4 for each girl became their own independent story-line, with only a little crossover, and cause the exclusion of the other girls as your friends (not counting exceptions).
Unifying events that happened in all paths (like the festival in act 1) would have helped, along with more choices - both large and small, and in between, just to give some variety.
I'm saddened that i have finished KS for the 2nd time. I don't think I'll play it again anytime soon though. I'll keep the game obviously. Playing it the 2nd time, this time in not as of a rush, has calmed my initial feels.
I don't have the need to play again, at least not right now.
KS came to me out of the blue, when i needed it. these past 2 weeks have filled me with emotions that i haven't felt in years. I wasn't depressed, except for a minor bit here and there, but rather i was mostly emotionally numb. I just existed, with my life mostly on pause. Sure i had some personal growth, etc. but it was more of just reactions to external influences in my life.
Examples: I moved out of my parents place a year after finishing college and moved in with my best friend. Only because he needed a roommate, and my parents were starting to demand that i pay rent. Later, I bought my own house at the age of 25. awesome right? well, a mortgage was cheaper than paying rent (thanks recession and horrible housing market!), and my roommate had to move back in with his parents due to unemployment. these and other things would make others think that I'm living a pretty good life, but inside i just felt dead and was just doing the easiest course of actions to live/exist day to day.
Now, I'm filled with a new outlook on life. I'm not sure where i'm going in my life yet, but at least I'm thinking about it.
KS was a glorious time-sink. Almost every spare minute i had at home was spent playing. Feeling those wonderful feels it gave me. I spent time at work thinking about the girls and their stories.
I had a moment of clarity while at work. i was just working on my work, and realized i felt good in a way that i hadn't felt in years. I wasn't waiting for the time to pass like usual. I felt complete. I've needed others in the past to feel that way, but here i was feeling it just by myself. I don't know how to describe it, So i'll stop trying.
I have a date this Friday. I haven't dated in over 4 years. Even if it doesn't go well, I'm trying to live my life again.
Friday evening edit: (since this did not deserve a new post) It was interesting. Girl is cute, we have similar interests, polar opposite political views... Talked a lot about marriage (in general, not with me), etc. I'll probably see her again (kinda have to, since shes my best friend's other best friend), but i don't expect anything to come from it. Well, gotta keep looking!
I'm out of stuff to say, at least for now. I'll be around for a while on these forums, most likely just lurking... You guys have a lot of interesting stuff to say, and i have not read as much as i'd like (been playing too much KS!)