Do girls like / play this?

[swiftdoll]

EDIT: Judgement is done! I'm keeping it! \o/ Thanks for all the civilized input people, and not turning this into a flame war as I was a bit afraid at first :)

I am heavily contemplating right now whether I should refund this or not.
I have 1.7h playtime, and while finding it uninteresting so far I am painfully aware it's anything but enough to make a proper judgement on the story. I also read it really starts off very slow.

While I haven't played VN's before, that's a part I don't mind. I get it's more like reading a book, and I do greatly enjoy my j-doramas and occasional animes&mangas. This is basically why I chose this title, and the incredible high ratings&play hours of people.

What I didn't realize was how strongly it was aimed for guys. I am really not sure I will enjoy the dating part through only male perspective, and to top it off the 3 female characters I've been introduced so far super creepily were _all_ insecure over sensitive weirdos mumbling nonsense. Is this the fundamental (rather sexist) theme it will stick to the whole time, or is there more realistic variations to the female personalities and behavior to be expected?

The main characters behavior also annoys me, and I have disliked all of the music (!) so far, despite everyone here raving about how good the soundtrack is. Maybe the music gets better? Or maybe it's just not my cup of tea..

I noted lot of girls do like the Clannad anime, but didn't really manage to find female opinions on the game itself. I normally wouldn't care, but I normally don't play one gender dating sims either..

I usually don't refund anything, but yeah this is a rather expensive title just to be dissapointed on. But to make it even harder I see people who considered Mass Effect one of the best games there is - which is also my top game of all time - saying they loved this. Sigh. I can't make a decision.

[legacy_1]

I cannot tell you whether it's good or not because i never played the vn and your tastes are probably different from mine. Some of them are long as s*** Do you personally like clannad? if not, it might not even get you interested.

Not mention,anime and mangas always has a ton of pictures whereas vn does not. That could be affecting why you might not like it either as well because there's not enough going on visually.

When you look to others for opinion on certain products, you ask why they like it not because they think it's good without any real explainations. Also, you should consider who you're asking but that doesn't really help on the internet so much.

It's heavily focused on a male audience due to their consumer base in anime/mangas/games. Majority are guys but not to say the least that the female base is rising. Companies focus on where the money flows in the best. It's like this if you want to see it, girls buy a lot of make up and clothing, whereas guys tend to buy video games and what not. This doesn't apply to everyone of course.

Honestly, if you don't like it, I would consider refunding it. Just because someone else likes it doesn't mean you will, nor should affect your decisions to do so.

[swiftdoll]

Thanks for your input but honestly you are not answering a single question I made.

[legacy_1]

Originally posted by swiftdoll:

Thanks for your input but honestly you are not answering a single question I made.

True, I can't answer it because i don't play it lol. About the title question, i have no idea about it. Mostly hear guys talking rather than girls.

[swiftdoll]

I'm thinking maybe I should just give it a go to be able to review it properly, lol.

I wish it simply had optional voice over for the main character. Would make a world of difference already and make it much more accessible to all genders without any distinctive changes. (cause then I would be watching someone else's story, instead of trying awkwardly to adapt to a totally wrong identity)

Interesting poll btw from just one single anime site https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/poll.php?id=97
Females make 41%, that is anything but a small percentage for companies to ignore.
In fact, in Japan the highest selling mangas have the smallest gender gap in readers (some top selling even have more female readers than male, forexample Bleach and One Piece). In North America around half of the anime convention attendees are female. Simply put, the more inclusive you are, the better the sales.
Time to drop those old urban legends, Legacy_1 ;)

[legacy_1]

Originally posted by swiftdoll:

I'm thinking maybe I should just give it a go to be able to review it properly, lol.

I wish it simply had optional voice over for the main character. Would make a world of difference already and make it much more accessible to all genders without any distinctive changes. (cause then I would be watching someone else's story, instead of trying awkwardly to adapt to a totally wrong identity)

Interesting poll btw from just one single anime site https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/poll.php?id=97
Females make 41%, that is anything but a small percentage for companies to ignore.
In fact, in Japan the highest selling mangas have the smallest gender gap in readers (some top selling even have more female readers than male, forexample Bleach and One Piece). In North America around half of the anime convention attendees are female. Simply put, the more inclusive you are, the better the sales. :dollars:
Time to drop those old urban legends, Legacy_1 ;)

Now is a little different but like i said it's on the rise if anything. Majority of guys bought their products back then. Clannad is pretty old.

Statistics don't show what kind of mangas they're buying (unless you had specific statistics) but only that they're being bought. Also, manga statistics doesn't equate to the visual novels' consumer base of females.

[swiftdoll]

It's not that old, I'm looking manga sales statistics from around 2010. Things don't change that much in mere 5 years

[legacy_1]

other than getting off topic, hope someone answers your question lol

[AkaMidori]

I'm playing through it now and I am replying because I don't think you are going to get a clear answer from other people. Most people love this game for the nostalgia.

I agree with you that the main character is a total unlikable a*s*s. He's supposed to be though.
The more you play the game, the easier it gets because you can skip the intro(the first few days). I think you will really like the game once you get to the end of storylines- there's less choices and the plot develops the timid girls into more complex characters. I can't honestly say that it's not sexist or that the girls are ever developed into great women- but there are admirable traits displayed by many of them.
Sadly, due to the nature of the game and the story, you do tend to "fix" the lives of the girls; but the guys around you also have routes and stories that you end up fixing as well.

I would say you will end up liking this game, but there's obviously a huge time and money investment. I am playing through family-share so I was able to get around it and enjoy it for free.

[swiftdoll]

Hey thanks AkaMidori, I appreciate it.
Hehe well we always play the heroes anyway, so that's not really an issue. Just the first 3 female characters introduced behaving literally borderline mental is what irked me, while the males were just normal. I sincerely hope rest of the girls are different and not made bat****crazy straight out the bin..

The game is 65% off now on the winter sale, what I've seen that's the cheapest so far, so a good time to get it if ever.

[Kasugano-Sora]

I bought this game as soon as i went through the anime.Not only because it really tells a impressive story,but it does reflect some small emotive part of life.So does it's also called the story of life.

The front part of it is mainly about the campus life,which may not suit your appetite.For this part is just like a daily record.And it truly bored me in the first time.I just play it like reading some kinds of light novel.

But once you arrive at the latter part of it,it'll jump to a totally different story.And it's normally known as The After Story.It's this part that made this game so famous.The difficulty to make a living,the pain of losing your beloved, the reunion of a family,ect.Both sorrow and felicity,hope and despair will fill this story.More or less you'll be touched by some of the scene.

So i strongly recommend you to hold on to the After Story part.As for the main character,though he's not a good guy at the beginning.But he'll go through all the happy and painful things,and may grow up to be someone you like in the end.

VN's always contain several Lines,in which different stories are told.And it all depend on whatever choice you have chosen.So you can choose a female character you like and devote yourself in just the girl.I personally love Nagisa best.

And of coures the front part is strongly aimed for guys,for it is familiar with Galgames.The after part may probably aim for all range.I'm sure you wont't regret playing it.

The soundtrack is also a highlight of this game.I'm not sure if you have heard all the soudtrack in this game.But i may share you my favourite music to you,and see whether you like them or not.潮鸣りand 小さな手のひら in game,时を刻む呗 and メグメル in anime.

Last to your question. There are girls around me who don't like this game at all,and girls who cried playing it as well.I think the point is,whether you like this game or not.If the answer is yes,then you can just relax and enjoy it.If not ,you may just put it aside and walk away.Don't let others influence your judgement and just question yourself to find out your own mind.

[swiftdoll]

No worries, I am quite strong in my own judgement :) Just the time frame for deciding refund or play is way, way too short to form a proper opinion on this.

The info about changing aspects and evolving main character between the front and After Story is very crucial to me in this matter, thank you kindly.

Nah I only heard what was playing through the first ~hour and a half. While I guess none of the music is really what I would normally go for, those songs you referred to defo are much better, at least.

[Tomato & Egg]

This is a really slow game actually and you don't get the most beautiful and impressive part until you play all the 9 routes and spend 60-100 hours already. (just my experience, I used the Guide to clear all the routes to get the After Story and I still need to spend about 100 hours if reading all lines at least once). All the characters develop sooner or later in the game but it depends whether you can bear them until they start to progress and mature (this is how life is like)

If you are still wondering, maybe watch the anime first because the anime sums up the game fairly well although watching the anime will take away the surprise and emotional impact the VN gives. The anime has 48 episodes and takes you around 16 hours. If the anime does not fit or touch you, the VN is unlikely to fit you too.

[Kasugano-Sora]

I'm glad that i can help you!Hope you enjoy it.

[Boost Me;-) minimis]

Originally posted by swiftdoll:

Thanks for your input but honestly you are not answering a single question I made.

Its because the characters are unrealistic.
One girl even wants to setup /says she loves dramas even tough she never even saw one??
i disliked the romance because all of the girls feel totally unrealistic. And i dont mean just the accasional b-baka! idiocity of dialogue but the whole story arcs feel completely random with random character developments trough deus ex machinas we never see.
In my opinion clannad is pretty overrated but i see why many like the after story story.

[Boost Me;-) minimis]

Also i want to edit that this game is very long and has many routes but rewards you with a several stories. But the question is should you "waste" 60 hours + to see them? In my opinion there are much more better books, visual novels and stories in other form of media that are far more complex and innovative. I only watched the anime and played the game because i got started into the anime thing and it was one of the mayor popular things to watch back then but even i didnt like it that much then as a kid.