We need more Japanese novel games (especially romance)

CIRCLE Entertainment Tweeted about looking for a translator to bring these kinds of games to the west.

I fully support this. In fact, I believe there ought to be so many available that they're a dime a dozen. For example, if you want romance then there should be something that caters to your need instead of buying a murder mystery in the vain hope that romance appears within because one of the female characters is a cute babe.

By the way, this is not hypothetical! Layton vs Ace Attorney just came out and it's another one of this genre! Where are the romance games!

I'm aware this is all subcultural, but the murder/mystery subculture is a lot better served than the romance subculture.

Ace Attorney 5 is announced! Woo!

I just heard from various blogs and stuff that they're making an all new Ace Attorney! There's no other details besides that but it's great news!

Hopefully it'll come out over here on the 3DS. Actually it could very well be a good fit for the Wii U! Thanks to the controller and the extra screen and microphone it would be a great fit for the Wii U so it would!

Now, the second installment of the not so great spinoff Ace Attorney Investigations may not have been released here but that doesn't mean they can't bring this over.

Remember we're Europe! We love adventure games! You also know from my ravings about Katawa Shoujo that I love visual novels as well! I've purchased every Ace Attorney released over here for the DS so I deserve this! Make it happen!

Completed Katawa Shoujo!

Finally I've completed this!

I must say it isn't my favourite visual novel but it's the one single VN that I've been able to converse with friends about since it was new and we were all excited about playing it at the same time. That's one of the strongest things it has going for it.

So yes now Hanako's path is complete. She's ok but yeah she was never going to be my favourite. Lily's my favourite all the way! I had no spark at all for Shizune because I had absolutely nothing in common with her, unlike the other girls with whom I had at least one thing in common.

Katawa Shoujo: Still doing Hanako's path, thinking about social systems

This game can help you learn about social systems that take place in school. I was kind of aware about them already but this helps reinforce that learning. I think it would be a valuable thing to be aware of, vital even.

The reason for this is so you can have to power to create your own social systems, because the ones in place set by other people goes against a lot of things. The strongest being falling in love. That could go completely against rules of social systems that are in place.

In Katawa Shoujo's case, replaying and taking the various paths helps you to figure out which one you like best and gives you the power to choose.

In real life when you're doing this, try not to interfere with the rights of others :)

Katawa Shoujo: Completed Emi's path, doing Hanako's path now

Emi is quite fun - except of course for that little episode in the shed. That and her small size is the reason why she isn't my favourite. The fun exchanges feel great and it makes her absolutely fantastic company.

Hanako's path I'm playing now. With her being so quiet I'm not hugely interested in her but getting to know her is nice and it's helping me think about a lot of very important things.

Katawa Shoujo: Completed Rin's path, playing Emi's path

Rin's daydreaminess and personality make her very interesting. I do like her but she's far from being my favourite. Experiencing her personality and seeing the way she is makes me think about a lot of stuff. She's a fascinating little thing to look at sometimes. Imagine her breaking out on a dance floor? That would be pretty interesting to watch, seeing her short hair going all over the place while shaking her head.

So I'm starting on Emi's path now. She struck me as being a bit generic but that does change as you get to know her. I love her bubbliness and friendliness and charm. Love it! She'd make for an easy person to talk to and enjoy.

Playing Rin's path now in Katawa Shoujo (part 2)

Hmm... I'm starting to not like Rin as much now. I'm getting more and more fed up with her as her path goes on. I'll see it through to the end though.

Playing Rin's path now in Katawa Shoujo

I like this girl a lot! She's kind of daydreamy and just a pleasure to just hang around with. Talk about everything and nothing. I'd say she'd be great company to help pass time in real life too.

Completed Shizune's path in Katawa Shoujo

I didn't like this girl at all. Some parts of the playthrough were fun like talking with Misha and all the stuff about sign language but overall I'm just not a fan of Shizune's. I'd hate to have her father as an in law *shudder*

Wait until you meet him. He's horrible!

Katawa Shoujo: trying to woo Misha

I thought I'd pursue Misha in a new playthrough but well...

I can't say it because I don't want to spoil anything. It's heartbreaking though.

Completed Lily's path in Katawa Shoujo

This was really nice! She's my favourite...

I mean wow... yes it was really nice....

Well ok um I'm going to play the game again but going on a different route. I'm not sure who to pick this time though... I just liked Lily so much. I should try the others out though.

How about the path of least resistance? ;)

(without getting the horrible Kenji ending of course)

Katawa Shoujo is better than 999 (in my opinion!)

I'm just remembering the 999 game that came out for the DS a little over a year ago. The set up seemed original and well put together but the gameplay system itself was a pain when you went to replay it to get more endings.

Katawa Shoujo I'm still playing and loving. I got a bad end and am now playing it from the beginning once more. It has a nice skip function. 999 had a skip function but it wasn't good enough at all; plus, you had to do the same puzzles all over again. KS' skip function — that is to say Ren'Py's skip function is miles better.

Some things in 999 felt unnatural, particularly the grusome and detailed death descriptions and the approach it took to swearing. KS has swearing too but so far it feels more natural, like it doesn't upset the flow of the story like it does in 999. My knee jerk reaction to these elements appearing in 999 make it seem like there were just put in to sound cool or mature.

Playing Katawa Shoujo

I know this isn't Nintendo related but I love visual novels and adventure games and this is a pretty popular one among circles of fans. After years of demos it's finally got a big release. Just google "Katawa Shoujo" and you should get the official site which has the game available.

Visual novels and adventure games appear on Nintendo formats too of course! These two sentences are just an excuse to mention that and the famous Portopia for the Famicom.

Enjoy Katawa Shoujo though. My favourite girl is Lily by the way :)