My Game of the Year for 2016 is on steam now. It has really stuck with me after all these years. I'd recommend the unofficial (HD) Katawa Shoujo patch that you can find here: https://github.com/Ultralavaboy/KatawaShoujoHDPatch

(LATER EDIT) So the previous HD patch above has some minor issues in terms of the art being cropped (og art is in 4:3) and some character animations / transitions being kinda laggy at times.

However this post on the KS reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/yn1jcx/katawa_shoujo_hd_upscale_mod/

and clicking the google drive link ("Download here!") You can download a version that works on HD monitors, is upscaled, but not cropped and using the original dimensions of the images. Plus a lot less laggy. Can recommend both. The github one has no black bars, however the reddit one has no cropping involved and runs a little smoother. Enjoy!

The original resolution of Katawa Shoujo... doesn't really look great on 16:9 monitors in a 2024 era. But literally everything else about this game holds up. Everyone who worked on this is a legend.