CLANNAD (Steam)


CLANNAD is a visual novel, meaning it is basically a... text that you read and that has pictures. Like a... novel that is visual. This particular one is very choice intensive and you will find yourself making a number of dialogue choices in a number of different situations. Depending on those choices, you will open up new scenes and endings. This game has many endings and, for each "good ending" you complete with a character, you'll receive a light orb. You need to obtain a certain amount of light orbs and complete certain character routes to obtain the "After Story" section of the novel, which I will cover later.



CLANNAD is about a teenage boy named Tomoya who feels disenfranchised with his life. Having an unhappy home environment, Tomoya stays out late and wakes up late, making him tardy for school. He generally wastes his time while in school, sleeping or skipping class, and only goes the minimum amount he needs to to not get kicked out. He and his friend Sunohara are known as the delinquents of these school and waste their lives away. One April day, however, Tomoya meets a girl at the bottom of the hill leading up to the school. This is where our adventure begins as Tomoya makes decisions that will affect the rest of his life. The rest of the story varies widely depending on which route you are pursuing. There is also a somewhat separate section called the "Illusionary World" that you will see sometimes as you progress.



There are many different character routes and many different dialogues depending on what you choose to do when. It's very open and it makes it so that pretty much every playthrough is different in some way. There are a number of romantic options for Tomoya to pursue, as well as a few non-romantic storylines to learn more about certain characters. You'll amass a list of terms you can look up, some music you can listen to from the main menu, and several CG images you can look at as well. the game is really quite indepth and I have just completed all routes clocking in at 63 hours. The game also keeps track of your progress so you can go back, replay, switch things around, and skip previously read text if you just want to get to the new stuff.



The After Story is quite extensive in its own and follows the story of Tomoya and Nagisa's life after the previous CLANNAD story. It follows them as they complete high school, move in together, go off in to the work force, and have a child together. The After Story also wraps up a few other character arcs. You'll need to play through it at least 3 times in order to get the "True Ending" by amassing more Light Orbs. It is essential to get as many light orbs as you can if you want to see the True Ending. I would recommend a walkthrough for this game if you intend to see everything it has to offer.



Characters:
(In order of favourite to least favourite)
Yukine: A sweet girl who hangs out in the old reference room and tends to societies deliquants. She is very upbeat and positive and gives everyone the benefit of a doubt.
Fuko: A tiny girl handing out starfish carvings to get people to her sister's wedding. She is weirdly arrogant and zones out a lot.
Mei: Sunohara's younger sister. Very level headed but can roll with the punches and tell some jokes with the best of them.
Sanae: Nagisa's mother. Very gentle and caring, although kind of a cry baby. Also not good at innovating bread flavours.
Ryou: A shy girl and the class president of Tomoya's class. She is either very good or very bad at fortune-telling, depending on how you look at it.
Tomoya: Our protagonist. A deliquant with a good sense of humour who is generally very upfront about his thoughts and feelings.
Akio: Nagisa's father. Very goofy and brings a smile to people's faces. A good father overall and a good husband. Kind of a creepy though.
Nagisa: A very shy girl who motivates herself to school with promises of food. She's somewhat seekly but has a strong constitution.
Sunohara: Tomoya's friend and fellow deliquent. Difficult to rank because he can be a jerk or the voice of reason depending on your route. Always good for a laugh, though.
Koumura: An old teacher at the school, he cares deeply about the students and wants to see them succeed.
Kappei: An odd young man who likes to prove his masculinity. He's rather blunt and a bit offbeat.
Tomoyo: A girl with a bad reputation of fighting from her old school, she's tryng to turn things around and make her way on to the school council.
Kotomi: A somewhat childish but very intelligent girl with some odd habits.
Misae: Sunohara's dorm mother, she's level-headed and works hard to deal with her rambunctious dorm students.
Ibuki: Fuko's sister and former art school teacher, she also taught Nagisa.
Kyou: Ryou's twin sister. Much more lively and aggressive and not afraid to push (sometimes violently) for what she wants.
Naoyuki: Tomoya's father. The two of them do not get along very well, and he is shown to be somewhat naive.
Yoshino: A man with a secret past who does physical labour around town. He has a kind heart and is known for saying some very inspirational things at odd times.

Overall I really enjoyed this visual novel. The degree to which I enjoyed it varied pretty widely from route to route though, so I am glad I got to try them all and see everything it had to offer. The art was a bit off-putting at first, but in the end I didn't notice it much anymore. The story was pretty solid and there was a large cast of characters. I don't think I disliked any of the characters, really, so it was pretty strong. There were a lot of very touching and/or very emotional moments and there were some tears sometimes. I enjoyed the concept of how making one different decision could impact your life in such a meaningful way. I enjoyed it and will probably play it again in the future.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT