Almost crudely offensive even in name, the game owes its existence to the Internet denizens occupying the black hole of morality that is /b on 4chan – a claim few games if any could echo. Literally translating as “Disabled Young Girls,” Katawa Shoujo is a game that takes place at a school for disabled high school students. By this merit, Katawa Shoujo could be considered a success – just not in the way in which it was intended to be. Characters, setting, and scenarios have to be borderline perfect in order to have any hope of breaking out beyond the niche audience that most visual novels typically cater to. With such a limited focus, the probability for catastrophic failure is high. With such a simplified presentation in addition to existing in an age where expertly directed CG cut scenes are the norm instead of the exception, the success of a visual novel hinges solely by the virtue of the narrative. Simply put, it is a power point presentation with a story. The experience, much like any product classified as a visual novel, is predominantly filled with a whole lot of dialogue, static images, and… not much else. When removed from the expectations that calling something a game implies, Katawa Shoujo flourishes and fails due in part to an ability to ignore popular conventions in service of that experience. Katawa Shoujo is not so much a game as it is an experience.
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