Summary
Brilliant - don't be put off by the descriptions on the website
The Good
Firstly, buy this game. Seriously, buy it. This game will change the way you think about life, death, love, your ambitions and goals, your health, and much else. I had heard of grown men reduced to tears by this game, and intrigued, I decided to buy it.
There is no denying that Kana is a unique game. Of course, there are other games in its genre, but the vast majority of them are 'lots of girls: choose one and seduce her'. This game is incredibly different. No other game has affected me like this; in fact, I can't think of many games that have really induced any emotions in me (video games don't scare me much). Trust me, after playing this game through, there will be A LOT of emotions flowing through your mind. I'm disappointed to say the game didn't make me cry, although I was feeling pretty choked at the end.
The two main characters in the game - Taka, yourself, and Kana, your little sister, who is suffering from a disease called 'chronic renal insufficiency disorder'. As Kana spends most of her time in the hospital, she hasn't really experienced much of life, and when she does come out of the hospital, it's up to you to guide her. Its hard to say much about the actual content of the game without giving away some spoilers, and trust me, its better to find out for yourself. But as the game reaches a close, it really does become melancholy and despondent. From the title and description, you can probably guess this title deals with incest. This is a major part of the game, I admit, but not in the way most people would realise. Instead of making a big deal of all the sex in the game (this is a bishoujo game after all), it is integrated into the story, and adds to the emotional intesity of the game. I might add there is virtually no *actual* incest in the game, and it is more to do with the characters' feelings and confusions. Speaking of feelings and confusions, Kana really brings out the character's anxieties and feelings. Especially on the 'intellectual' set of endings, D.O. has really made an effort to make Kana's feelings a large part of the game. To give one example, at one point you see Kana completely broken down, absorbed in self-pity about how she'll never have a normal life, and you're put in the difficult poistion of trying to bring her to her senses.
As this is an interactive fiction game, there are 6 endings that you can get, dependent on the choices you make throughout the game. You can group the endings into two categories, and within each category there are 3 endings. The first category differs quite a bit, and the second, called the 'intellectual route' hass more similar endings. Each ending is amazing, and you will want to unlock them all. I haven't got around to unlocking all of the intellectual endings yet - they depress me too much.
Visually, Kana is well made, and crisp and clear, apart from some times when Kana just looks weird - sometimes she looks older than she's supposed to be. The music is good as well, but I also suffered from the BGM bug, where I didn't hear any of the music ingame.
If you absolutely hate the 'clickathon' genre of game, you will detest this game. But if you mildly dislike it, then I definitely recommend you buy this game, as you will love it, even though there is not much of an 'interactive' element to it.
I can't say this enough - BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!
The Bad
There is ONE thing which really bugged me about the game. That is, the erotic scenes. There's a girl, Yumi, for whom there are 3 sets of scenes. These are pointless, and merely take away from the amount of people who would otherwise be willing to enjoy this game. The erotic scenes do add intensity and emotion to the game, but I feel the game would have been just as good had the scenes merely been implied, rather than explicit scenes that are there. Putting them in makes it classified as an 'adult' game, and thus puts most people off the game. Trust me, if you're looking for an erotic game, this is not for you. Go play X-change or Critical Point or something.
The Bottom Line
This game will change the way you think about yourself. Don't be put off by the descriptions or the packaging. I believe this is a game that EVERYBODY should play, and were it not for the erotic scenes, and people's general aversion to anime-style graphics, this would be hailed as one of the best games created.
