Well, this was going to have to be posted sometime, and I might as well be the one to do it.
So, in a similar vein to Katawa Shoujo, we see the rise of another promising western visual novel, Cradle Song!
Plot Synopsis wrote...
Cradle Song takes place in a desolate world. A world that has slowly deteriorated over hundreds of years.
But Nathan has no idea about that. His life revolves around trudging to school, listening to lectures, and walking home after having failed to ask Ciri out once again.
Many people live this way: hidden within Virtual Realities and completely unaware of the world outside... though they aren't there by choice.
Nathan and these others are special sorts of people. People referred to by laymen as "power users".
They have the potential to use supernatural abilities, thanks to a stroke of evolutionary luck. However, after Nathan's sponsored escape from his virtual world, he quickly discovers that potential does not always transition into reality. Out of all of his fellow escapees, he is the only one left powerless.
Now, with boundless possibilities before him, will Nathan embrace this new and unstable world, or will he be overwhelmed?
Real life starts now.
Taken from here.
Some extra bits of information, taken from a interview-esque thread on /a/:
-the full game is planned to have 8 immersive routes, each wherein the main character will turn into a drastically different person. In their own words: "We went with a tabula rasa, so he might be disgusting to handle at the start, much like Fate route Shirou. We've got 8 routes planned, and in each your choices mold him into separate, drastically distinct personalities."
-the demo will be out within the year. "Our demo should be out pretty soon, though! At most within one year."
-the game will be made for Linux, Mac, and Windows users.
-the planned price for the completed project is around 10 dollars, or less. "I would totally rather have more people play it than make more money, though. So whatever it is will be definitely under 10 dollars."
-"We don't want to call it an H game. It will have mature content in certain routes is the PR-y answer! We really want to make it accessible, and are considering a SFW mode."
All of the above are taken from answers by Dani, Swiffeh, and Doomfest on /a/.
The preview (it's really, really short) is downloadable
here.
My impression:
The premise is a tried one, but it doesn't stop me from being incredibly engaged by the preview. There is a lot of room for improvement here. The artwork and music are both top-notch, and the user interface is better than that of most commercial visual novels. I can't wait, and they can have all my money.
Some extra stuff like trailers and whatnot:
Also, I cannot stress the following enough:
BUY THE GAME AND SUPPORT WESTERN VISUAL NOVELS. WE'LL BE SHOWING WANT-TO-BE VN MAKERS IN PLACES OTHER THAN JAPAN THAT WE DO CARE, AND IF WORD GETS OUT, THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCALIZATIONS OF MORE VISUAL NOVELS COULD INCREASE. TO THIS END, I PLEAD THAT NOBODY HERE UPLOADS THE FINISHED PRODUCT.