Recent reviews by Jai Kaizen

To describe this game to me in one sentence:
...







ORE WA DAISUKI DAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!


P.S. Will do full review when finished, so see ya in five years. :D


Edit: It's been a bit more than five years but atleast I've finally 100% the VN, and since then I've had time to reflect on matters.

First off, still highly recommend this to anyone interested in Visual Novels along with the rest of Studio Key's works in general.

CLANNAD puts us into the POV of Tomoya Okazaki (technically you could change the name but it would ruin the existing voice acting so YMMV), a curmudgeonly delinquent in his final year at a well-to-do high school. Dealing with traumatic events involving himself and his father, Tomoya finds his own future bleak and uncertain. He goes through the paces of going to school, hanging out with his friend and fellow delinquent, Youhei Sunohara, and staying out late at night until reluctantly going back home to his alcoholic father. Things seem at a complete standstill for him until he meets a girl stuck at the bottom of the hill before the school gate. And it is here where his life's path is finally set in motion.

After prologue, starting on April 15th, the game has you go through sets of choices that lead down different branching paths. A good portion do involve interactions with the prior mentioned girl, Nagisa Furukawa, and her goal of joining/restarting the drama club. But this Visual Novel also includes other colorful characters whom Tomoya can learn more about as a person and possibly date them by their epilogue's conclusion.

CLANNAD is considered a bit of an oddity amongst visual novels featuring multiple girls in that it has NO adult/lewd content. While there are a notable amount of implications and dirty jokes, mostly as a result of yourself and Sunohara, it does demonstrate how much people play this for the story and interesting characters rather than for sex appeal. Not to say other Key VNs can't/haven't already do both, but CLANNAD was released for all ages from the get-go, keep that in mind when looking through their other works and spin-offs.

Personally, I related heavily with Tomoya when I had first heard of the CLANNAD/After Story anime circa 2012, and it is fair to say I wouldn't be who I am today without it or the VN. It has given more of an appreciation for emotional writing, character interaction, and drama as a whole. I am honestly convinced I would have made even worse choices as a result of never falling down the rabbithole of anime and manga too, but I digress.

I am sincerely grateful to Sekai Project for kickstarting an official english release of CLANNAD HD, so others don't have to scour the internet for a fan made translation like I did. (But if you can't afford it due to financial reasons, I ain't judging. Yar har.)

Overall, an experience I'd spend 13 orbs of light to witness all over again.

9.5/10

It is a kickass 2-D hacknslash game with RPG elements. It even references games ranging from Castlevania to Resident Evil 4. Combined with fast paced combat and an AMAZING soundtrack, I suggest people buy this game.

P.S. You also have a talking sword