Saturday, October 25, 2008

Game Review

Warning – some spoilers follow. If you’re planning to play Kana – Little Sister, you may want to skip this post. Also you’re a pervert.

Actually, it’s something of a misnomer to label it a game. Mood music and still images fill the background while the foreground is populated with text. You read the text, click to proceed, and occasionally make choices that determine the outcome of the story. It’s like a graphic version of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, but with incest. Unlike the CYOA series, the story does not feel like a veiled attempt at a morality parable since you have to boff your sister in order to save her life. Below is a SFW screen capture:

Underaged Incest Bunny!

As well as one seriously NSFW.

Kind of like regular porn, I liked everything about it except the part where they have sex. The story is an involving one about two siblings, a brother two years older than a sister who is facing renal failure and most likely an early demise. It explores themes of life and death, living life to the fullest, and how the disadvantaged frequently cherish the experiences that you and I take for granted (actually, more like you).

In a way, the game doesn’t deliver on what it seems to offer, although to be fair the description on the packaging doesn’t guarantee you a chance to have sex with your underaged sister. It’s a びしょうじょ game, which technically means “beautiful girl” but is often a reference to girls under the age of consent. The story starts in childhood when your character is ten and she is eight, but the sex comes (if at all) only after she turns eighteen and you learn that she is adopted. At first I thought the setup might anger some since it fails to deliver the incest / lolly combo hinted in the product description and I thought it seemed that by backing off the taboos the writer seemed like he new the words but didn’t understand the music, but now I think it was a clever way to get the story past the pesky Western censors. Kana isn’t underaged, but she looks like she is because her illness has prevented her from developing, except for her boobs (natch). She’s not really your sister, she was just raised that way. She’s intellectually mature, but easily frightened and emotionally retarded, and outside of occupying a hospital bed she’s experienced as much life as the average six year-old. If having sex with her doesn’t fill your weekly perversion quota, you need to lay off the humans and go for barnyard sex videos. Anyone who knows a good place to find those can leave a link in the comments section.

Overall, I’ll give it 4.5 stars out of 5. The story is moving but there were a couple of inconsistencies as well as some Engrish that makes it unintentionally funny at times. Plus no option for anal sex. The short clipped sentences were a little jarring at first, but they are ideal for this kind of graphic delivery so once I got used to the rhythm I was able to enjoy the prose. Other than the sex parts, which could be removed without seriously altering the story, I’d label it a must-read.

13 comments:

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

What??? No option for anal sex????
How DARE they! ;)

Prata said...

I take it the .5 you removed was for the lack of anal sex option huh? I'd have deducted a full point for that myself. That's just me.

Personally, I love these sorts of games (I mean Japanese games like this one...okay and the incest part as well...), but I don't get a chance to play them too terribly often.

I'm gonna have to go get it now. Thanks!

Grant said...

pq - maybe I just didn't make all the right choices.

prata - seriously, the only reason I didn't go for a full 5 out of 5 was due to a few mistakes and because some of the endings dragged on a little too long. Otherwise the story was extremely touching and well-made.

gfhgvj said...

I as guy with a sister who has renal failure, this has totally put me of my feed. I'll have to read Hustler for a month before I want to have sex again.

gfhgvj said...

By which I mean, nicely done.

Unknown said...

So that means I am not a pervert... well OK I did click the NSFW link.

Joe said...

For the life of me I can't understand why a gaming magazine hasn't snapped you up as a reviewer - if only to see you work the "lack of anal sex" angle into every review you write.

"Lego Batman is an excellent game with the only drawback being that the anal sex between Batman and Robin is implied rather than shown directly on screen..."

Grant said...

matt - as long as I've provided you with a reason to view porn for the next month I feel as if I've done my duty to society.

sj - if you masturbated to the NSFW pic and fantasized about your own family, then you have attained the Japanese level of perversion. Otherwise you're still an amateur.

joe - after the first Star Wars I wanted a game wherein Darth Vader nailed Princess Leia. Having later discovered he's her father, I guess we'll have to wait for the Japanese to produce the game.

Crys said...

boy, i thought it was going to be fall foliage or something. BUT OH NO. all the way down to the last entry on the page -- JBUNNIES.

Anonymous said...

Did you see the milk squirting game for the DS yet? Its weird as hell, I dunno if its been released in north America but Kotaku had a rating on it and the screens were hilarious!

Enemy of the Republic said...

I'm a pervert and I read your review. By the way, I don't get paid for the ones I do on my blog.

paul said...

looks interesting - the story lines always seem bizarre but compelling. not quite enough of a draw to make me start gaming though... pretty pervy though.

are they coming out with a wii version? and what type of controller would you need?

Grant said...

crys - Jbunnies are far prettier than foliage. My part of the country is infested with the latter.

jGrrl - that doesn't sound suggestive at all, so I'll check it out.

eotr - I know. I was kidding about being paid. Although it would be nice.

messiah - it's more like reading than gaming, and the story is compelling. I think the Wii remote will be a strapon dildo with buttons in the testicles.