EIGHTY
FOUR
HOURS
Clannad for the longest time was considered sort of the de-facto Best Visual Novel. As in whenever discussing what the best VN is, even if no one would pick it, Clannad was the starting point of that conversation. I call it Ocarina of Time syndrome.
I completely understand why it had that reputation. This was maybe one of the first successful VNs with this much artistic ambition. (I am regretfully not well versed in 90s Japanese VNs, something I hope to change soon, but outside of YU-NO I don't know what else would be in contention.) Considering it in its time, it's a landmark achievement.
I also completely understand why that reputation has faded. What holds it back in my mind is, because it was an early 2000s bishojo VN, it was compelled to adhere to all of those tropes. Choices are often inane with no clear purpose for existing. The protagonist is an asshole who relies on women to save him from himself. The women are happy to oblige to absurd degrees. He is simultaneously constantly aroused and also eerily chaste? His first kiss with his wife happens about a week after their marriage. You figure that one out.
The story also often seems confused about where it's going. Without spoiling, the "point" of the narrative was apparently such a secret that I didn't realize what it was until it was happening. The main routes and the after story are essentially different games which isn't inherently bad, but they don't complement each other well. Too often callbacks fall flat in execution. (Credit where credit's due, there's plenty of clever foreshadowing. I recommend not skipping the Illusory World interludes when route-hunting.) I try not to be in the habit of offering specific changes to a work, but in all of the most emotional scenes I caught myself thinking "There is a version of this story where this scene makes me cry. I wish I could see that one."
I did enjoy it. It's just hard to say how much. Maybe someday I'll check out the anime adaptation. Perhaps the story is better suited to that medium?
This is already a really long entry so I'm gonna run up the score and rank all the main story routes from worst to best. I earned the right. Eighty four hours.
Sunohara - lol it's homosexual isn't that gross ha ha kill me
Kappei - What's the opposite of a deus ex machina? Where everything is going well and then out of nowhere there's a nonsense twist for the sake of drama?
Misae - The best part of this route is when it briefly intersects with two others.
Kotomi - "Contrived" is the word that comes to mind.
Kyou - Kyou and Ryou are twins, and knowing that you've already figured out how this route goes.
Koumura - A legitimately endearing story for a character who gets almost no screen time.
Mei - Mei exists in the other routes as an optional B-plot and her dedicated story doesn't really expand on it that much. Unfortunately. Mei rulez.
Ryou - Like Kyou's route except everything goes according to plan. I wish more stories would let that happen.
Nagisa - Even if you don't know the gist of the VN or looked at the cover art, this is pretty obviously the canon route.
Yukine - Structurally unique, and all of Tomoya's gross teenage boy energy is dumped on Sunohara instead. Almost makes me sad it's so short, but that would mess with its pace.
Baseball - The writing is at its best when it's goofy, and this is by far the goofiest ending.
Fuko - Now this is the kind of tragic existentialism I can get behind. Probably the closest the game got to making me cry. Which is saying a lot, considering, yknow. The rest of it.
* Tomoyo - Tomoyo is in my opinion the most individually compelling character in the game. Comparing and contrasting her with Tomoya is some of the best storytelling in here.
Follow me here on backloggd.com to catch my Steins Gate review when it drops in 2022.
FOUR
HOURS
Clannad for the longest time was considered sort of the de-facto Best Visual Novel. As in whenever discussing what the best VN is, even if no one would pick it, Clannad was the starting point of that conversation. I call it Ocarina of Time syndrome.
I completely understand why it had that reputation. This was maybe one of the first successful VNs with this much artistic ambition. (I am regretfully not well versed in 90s Japanese VNs, something I hope to change soon, but outside of YU-NO I don't know what else would be in contention.) Considering it in its time, it's a landmark achievement.
I also completely understand why that reputation has faded. What holds it back in my mind is, because it was an early 2000s bishojo VN, it was compelled to adhere to all of those tropes. Choices are often inane with no clear purpose for existing. The protagonist is an asshole who relies on women to save him from himself. The women are happy to oblige to absurd degrees. He is simultaneously constantly aroused and also eerily chaste? His first kiss with his wife happens about a week after their marriage. You figure that one out.
The story also often seems confused about where it's going. Without spoiling, the "point" of the narrative was apparently such a secret that I didn't realize what it was until it was happening. The main routes and the after story are essentially different games which isn't inherently bad, but they don't complement each other well. Too often callbacks fall flat in execution. (Credit where credit's due, there's plenty of clever foreshadowing. I recommend not skipping the Illusory World interludes when route-hunting.) I try not to be in the habit of offering specific changes to a work, but in all of the most emotional scenes I caught myself thinking "There is a version of this story where this scene makes me cry. I wish I could see that one."
I did enjoy it. It's just hard to say how much. Maybe someday I'll check out the anime adaptation. Perhaps the story is better suited to that medium?
This is already a really long entry so I'm gonna run up the score and rank all the main story routes from worst to best. I earned the right. Eighty four hours.
Sunohara - lol it's homosexual isn't that gross ha ha kill me
Kappei - What's the opposite of a deus ex machina? Where everything is going well and then out of nowhere there's a nonsense twist for the sake of drama?
Misae - The best part of this route is when it briefly intersects with two others.
Kotomi - "Contrived" is the word that comes to mind.
Kyou - Kyou and Ryou are twins, and knowing that you've already figured out how this route goes.
Koumura - A legitimately endearing story for a character who gets almost no screen time.
Mei - Mei exists in the other routes as an optional B-plot and her dedicated story doesn't really expand on it that much. Unfortunately. Mei rulez.
Ryou - Like Kyou's route except everything goes according to plan. I wish more stories would let that happen.
Nagisa - Even if you don't know the gist of the VN or looked at the cover art, this is pretty obviously the canon route.
Yukine - Structurally unique, and all of Tomoya's gross teenage boy energy is dumped on Sunohara instead. Almost makes me sad it's so short, but that would mess with its pace.
Baseball - The writing is at its best when it's goofy, and this is by far the goofiest ending.
Fuko - Now this is the kind of tragic existentialism I can get behind. Probably the closest the game got to making me cry. Which is saying a lot, considering, yknow. The rest of it.
* Tomoyo - Tomoyo is in my opinion the most individually compelling character in the game. Comparing and contrasting her with Tomoya is some of the best storytelling in here.
Follow me here on backloggd.com to catch my Steins Gate review when it drops in 2022.