PixlBit

So, here we are on the last BaD blog. I gotta be honest, 2015 BaD passed more quickly than I anticipated. Overall, this year was more low key due to my comittment to university, so that's why I only had a few "big" blogs and mostly focused in short blogs, with this week being no exception, given that in 2014 I bloged about my top 5 favorite games on a lengthy basis. That said, instead of a goodbye to BaD 2015, I decided to end on a special note and blog about what might be one of the most iconic Freeware games in the last few years and which I just recently started:

Those who are well versed in the gaming fanbase of the internet may have heard or even played this independent Visual Novel called Katawa Shoujo. Doesn't ring a bell? Then let me explain.

Katawa Shoujo (roughly translated as Disability Girls) is a Romance Visual Novel made by an independent team of members around the world called 4 Leaf Studios (being this their only game) and released for free in 2012. It concerns Hisao, once a normal teen, who is seeing a close friend that was about to maybe ask him for a date, but then had his life turned upside-down when he then started suffering a heart defect known as Long QT syndrome. After long hospitalization, he's told he couldn't continue his normal life at school because of his heart condition, so he has to move the fictional Yamaku High School for disabled children. He's pretty unsure about his new kind of life, but he's then able to find new friends and perhaps maybe love.... I should also say that's there's also erotic content, but the game does include a filter to remove these.

Yeah, seems like a premise you would turn down, especially when I tell you that the team came from none other than the infamous 4chan (now the name of the team makes sence), known for its crass content. You can also imply that because since this is a romance game with erotic content with disabled girls, it seems to like it's going to be very distasteful. Fear not my friend, as this is not the case from what's been told by anyone. Katawa Shoujo is actually considered not only to be respectful to the disability subject, but also breaks free of any stereotype (and I can confirm a bit from what little I played).

So, how did this game came to be? Summarizing its staff page, eventual character designer for Valkyria Chronicles and doujin artist RAITA, released in 2007 a concept art for a doujin, which he called just like the name of the Visual Novel. Once the /A/ board over 4chan looked at the art, there was a sudden unexpected interest in realizing the concept as a game, thus over the five years the development started. There's more on the staff page linked above if you want a bit more of history. What's more impressive is that this may have been done without a budget. No really, they did this all by their own, with their own tools over five years. That's a very nice achievement if you ask me.

A colored and translated version of RAITAS original artwork. Bigger version here.

So yes, that's Katawa Shoujo for ya. So far, I was pretty engaged when I started this VN over two week ago. It has nice artwork, pleasant music and the characters i've met are interesting and fun. Sadly, university has dimished my gaming activity so I haven't played in a while. Looking forward to continue this once my university work gets lighter.

Those interested in the game should go right to the main website, where aside from having more extras and info, you can pretty much download the game (in direct download or torrent form). Hardcore Gaming 101, one of my favorite websites, also has a short but nice article for Katawa Shoujo if you aren't convinced enough.

That's all for today and I hope you enjoyed my tenure at BaD 2015.