A fine enough puzzle game with fun writing and great character designs. Has really high potential if the creator ever goes for it.

Great excuse to sell your pancake recipe with a game add-on.

Also, Lucifer is the best one.

Shizune was supposed to be the best girl with the best route, dammit.

Look, shelve for a moment what origins it had and the preconceptions that arises from that.
Katawa Shoujo is a very sweet and pleasant game that treats its subject matter with much more respect than you'd initially expect, and it's clear that a lot of love went into it. It's a novice work from many hands and it has a lot of messiness from that, sure. One look from its history will certainly attest to that.
However, it's that messy love that makes the entire game worth partaking. You go in expecting a horrible game with low-brow humor, but get punched in the gut by the girls and their backstories. The writers successfully made each character feel "real" to you.

For many, this was their first entry into visual novels as a genre. For me, this was my first conventional one and I'm glad for it. It's messy, and the multiple writers certainly makes each route stand out in its variance of quality, but I have never doubted each writer's love for the characters they were writing for or the overall experience they were trying to make. The messiness adds to its charm, which charmed many. I don't regret my time with it at all.
Even if Shizune was fucking ROBBED of her place as best girl.

Ah, well, at least Lilly's right over there. Stabbing me in the heart.

(Half a star less than perfect only because I assume that P5 Royal would have that set.)

Makoto's swell.

The game's really good, too.