Tomoyo After ~It's a Wonderful Life~ (Steam)


Tomoyo After is a visual novel and sequel to CLANNAD. This story takes place if Tomoya pursued a relationship with Tomoyo, and follows their life starting shortly after that ending. You can play this before CLANNAD, I suppose, but you'll not understand many of the references. This VN does have choices for you to make along the way, which can lead to several endings. There is a "Best" ending if you make the right choices. There is also a completely optional side game called Dungeons & Takafumis, which is a small and rather cute little strategy game if you want to give that a whirl.



Newly working Tomoya is having a great relationship with his new girlfriend. She stays over, cooks and cleans for him, they tease each other and laugh and frolic as the young couples do. Unfortunately, Tomoyo's younger brother likes to show up unannounced and catch them in embarrassing moments while making himself perfectly at home. And oh yeah, a girl also shows up who demands ice cream and likes to make terrible jokes and also hang around like she owns the place. But wait, that's not all! Turns out that Tomoyo and her brother have some family drama when a little girl is brought to the house who is an illegitimate child of their father!



Yes, this does sound like a soap opera, but luckily is told better. Tomoya and Tomoyo agree to watch this little tyke, named Tomo because of course she is, to help prevent family drama after Tomoyo's brother, Takafumi, took drastic measures to keep the family from falling apart. Raising a child is a big responsibility though, and soon they have to make decisions about what's best for her. The story also deals with the personal stories of some of the side characters as well.



Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Takafumi: Tomoyo's younger brother. He's goofy but kind and very open towards those he cares for. Big in to computers and the creator of Dunegons & Takafumis.
Tomo: A friendly little girl who was abandoned by her mother and brought to live with Tomoyo and Tomoya.
Tomoyo: Tomoya's love, she's a very headstrong and determined person, but also very caring and much softer this time around.
Tomoya: Our protagonist, a man who accomplishes anything he sets his mind to, but is also very goofy and not very serious until he needs to be.
Kanako: An old friend of Takafumi's, she's very bossy and loud and also really loves ice cream.

Overall I enjoyed this visual novel. I didn't like it as much as I did CLANNAD or some other VN's, but it was definitely worth my time. It had many feels and, although I jokingly said it sounds like a soap opera, it's very well told and has a good sense of humour about itself as well, which I really enjoyed. It made me laugh out loud a few times, so I had a lot of fun with it. Dungeons & Takafumis is also quite fun. It's definitely not to the standard of an actual Strategy RPG, but for a side game in a visual novel, it's very well done and worth checking out if you think it might be your deal. While it had its faults, it was a nice, touching story with a mostly likeable cast of characters and I enjoyed my time spent reading it.

Verdict:
LIKED IT