Summary
Touching story... no game
The Good
As a hentai product, "Kana" is a clear winner. You want good-quality hentai scenes (though still pictures only)? Then "Kana" delivers. The erotic scenes surpass every other hentai game. Famous games like
Cobra Mission or
Knights of Xentar or even the finest of
Illusion don't even come close to "Kana" in this aspect. Not too many sex scenes, so they come as a reward. And they are never cheap. They have a dark, almost desperate passion, which is much more convincing than any overblown sexuality of regular large-breasted hentai heroines. "Kana" uses eroticism as a medium of expression rather than an addition that would stimulate people to get interested in the game. And all the sex scenes have everything to do with the story.
It's a pity "Kana" is sold together with some meaningless hentai dating-sims or downright perversities without any sense or value, that it can only be bought online (I had to order it from United States). "Kana" takes itself seriously. It tries to put some meaning into this deplorable genre. For that, it should get the minimum respect of separating it from pure masturbatory material for guys who for some weird reason prefer monstrously-proportioned drawn girls to normal porn... or even the real thing. Which is kind of scary, actually.
The only "gameplay" in "Kana" are some decisions (highlight an option and click on it) that will eventually lead you to one of the six possible endings. You can be more discreet and less romantic with Kana and tend more towards Yumi, thus getting Yumi ending; or you can be totally engrossed in the relationship with Kana and ignore all other things - this will lead to a "True" endings I haven't yet seen. In a weird way, "Kana" even has some "replay" ("re-read"?) value, which unfortunately cannot be said about most "mainstream" adventure games.
"Kana" has a serious story - a surprisingly serious story for a hentai game. It has real emotions and some scenes are genuinely moving, I certainly can't deny that. At its best, "Kana" is touching, and playing it gives you this cozy feeling of watching a TV series or a movie that goes for the heart rather than the brain; prepare some popcorn (dark chocolate in my case, actually), sit down, relax, and purify yourself with a good melodrama. You know the feeling, right? "Kana" can be like that.
What else? The backgrounds are nice. For some reason I liked the music, even though it was simplistic and sometimes quite annoying. But it was catchy and oddly appealing the way only Japanese pop is. The intro is really nice. Loved the rain shots, loved the opening song.
There are some cool extras to the game, like the ability to view any of the endings (after you have achieved them, of course), view character CGs, read character profiles, and listen to the game's music.
The Bad
As always let's begin with the small stuff:
Man, "Kana" really screams "low budget".
Most modern hentai games have voices. "Kana" doesn't. I don't understand why. If voices disturb someone, it should be possible to turn them off, but why should they be omitted in the first place?
There is absolutely no animation in "Kana". Not even animated intro and ending. Sometimes there aren't even enough character graphics, often you talk to people while staring at the background picture.
I was somewhat disturbed by the game's music. It is too repetitive, and there are too many happily-sounding pop-like tunes. Okay, they are nice and catchy, but the game is just too dark and serious for them. I was also annoyed by the strange decision to let music slowly fade away and then to start it again from the beginning.
Like I said: low budget. As in, hardly any budget at all.
Okay, now I have to state it as clearly as I can: there is
no gameplay in "Kana". Except the 25-30 "decision points" that pop out throughout the game, you literally do nothing in the game. Nothing at all. You can even let the game scroll the text automatically for you. You simply read the text, looking at the pictures. I know it is a hentai game, but come on... even the stupid
Three Sisters' Story had more gameplay. There, you could go to different locations, look, ask questions, think - not that any of that was really a challenge, but at least you had an illusion you were playing an adventure game. In "Kana", you
don't play a game, period.
Look, I love cutscene-heavy, movie-like games, I like light superficial gameplay (well, don't mind it, actually), but... I want to play at least a little bit. Not just have a "choose your own adventure" thing. I'm funny that way.
At this point "Kana" fans will probably tell me that it's not about that at all. We are supposed to drop all those expectations we usually have for a video game and just enjoy the groove. Right? It's not about gameplay or anything; it's about a touching story.
Alright. "Kana" does have a touching story. It's good, it addresses a lot of issues, etc. But here is the problem: it's poorly written. Not awfully, but poorly for sure. There are
way too many descriptions of what's going on in hero's mind, so many repetitions, pointless remarks, redundant information - and all of that is not even nicely written. Typically bad Japanese melodramatic stuff. I don't care if that happens in silly Japanese RPGs or
Metal Gear Solid or anything, because I like flashy cinematics and ridiculous over-the-top stories and soap opera and everything; I find those games
fun, so I don't take them too seriously and I know that taking them too seriously would ruin the pleasure. Super-spies, genetic mutations, mighty magic artifacts... Yeah, bring it on. With corny dialogue, please. But "Kana"? Come on. The topics it touches deserve a better treatment. And with the treatment it got, the story deteriorates into a low-quality TV series.
What would happen if "Kana" were a real adventure game, not a hentai "digital novel"? What if it had some real interaction? Dialogue options? Maybe even puzzles? I don't know. It probably would have been a really great game. But even then, I'd expect them to work on the writing to match the seriousness of the topic.
The Bottom Line
Yes, yes, I know. Most "Kana" fans will probably call me a heretic unable to understand a game that transcends its medium and so on. But guys, this is the simple truth: "Kana" is neither well-written enough to be a great book, cinematic enough to be a movie, and (remember it's a
game review) interactive enough to be a game. Would I consider it great if it had the same interactivity but were better written? Maybe. But it had to be
bloody extremely well-written to make up for the lack of, well, game. As it is, "Kana" is most certainly way better (story-wise) than other non-interactive hentai crap, but is still not good enough to be "the book among video games". Many games have better writing and better stories
and they are games. "Kana" is touching, it has its moments, but... I want to play, guys. I'd rather play the much less ambitious (story-wise), but much more entertaining (gameplay-wise)
Des Blood 4 if I'm in the mood for a hentai game.
Oh, and if I want to read, I can make a whole list of books that are better written and even more touching than "Kana". Really.
