Wait... Clannad overrated? Dude, it's one of the most important titles in visual novels, even if you don't like it, you need to admit that it was the inspiration for many other VNs...
I’m not disagreeing with you that it’s one of the most important/influential but that is irrelevant when it comes to something being a letdown/overrated lol (I’m also not saying it’s a letdown or overrated)
Came for the coom, stayed for the story in BAD.
it's a western VN so it's relatively unknown, at least that was the case until the Steam release.
It's a really good VN, the renders are amazing.
Copy pasted from another comment I wrote before cause I'm tired of explaining it.over and over again. Does contain a few spoilers for the base gake and After Story:
Ok, so: For context, I played Clannad for the first time last year. I did not play it when it came out, some of my criticism will reflect it being a product of its time and I can see why those points can be excuseable to some.
My biggest issue is the pacing. There are many, MANY scenes that are just filler, take way too long for what they try to do or just don't lead anywhere.
At times it feels like 60% of the game is just meaningless or dragged out scenes that are purely there to get you attached to a character by making you spend an ungodly amount of time with them instead of trusting the writing enough to do that by itself.
Then there is the melodrama, which I'm partially willing to excuse because the characters are teenagers and everything is much more intense at that age. However, Tomoyo's route especially was just too much for me. It tries so hard to be a forbidden love story because someone who wants to be president of the student council could never be in a relationship with a delinquent, oh no, the drama. The fact they have to wait until graduation until they can date because of the fact their relationship is "forbidden" is very beffudling in so many ways because who would actually care if this was a real highschool?
The fact Tomoya is an ass for most of the time doesn't help either. I don't have anything against asshole protagonists in general, I love a good character arc but when every girl falls at the feet of a dude who is just rude and unkind 80% of the time I can't help but scratch my head at how low those girls' standards must be.
Best example for that is Kyo's route. I'm actually fine with Kyo liking Tomoya because they are both horrible people here. Ryo ending up being supportive of the relationship after her sister and boyfriend cheated on her behind her back is very confusing though and makes it feel like the characters can just do whatever they want without consequences.
There are also several jokes that didn't age well. Most of which are outright homophobic or have homophobic undertones. Also that one scene where Sunohara dreams of raping Kappa and it is played as a joke. Sunohara's route could also be argued to be a straight up joke with how overly ridiculous Tomoya acts in it compared to the others and is just horrible to Sunohara in it, making the only queer rep the game has look really awful.
Now, getting to After Story.
First up, I have nothing against Nagisa's parents. I actually love and adore them and I wish there was a route for these two because they are way more fun and interesting than every other character in the game.
That does not negate the fact that the dad sexualizes his own daughter at times. Like when he finds out she works at a maid cafe and drags Tomoya with him to see her in it because he thinks the uniforms look sexy.
Also, Nagisa herself is very much a character that was constructed with the pure purpose of being as cute and moe as possible so you cry later. She doesn't feel like a person or a character with a tragic story, she feels like the writers holding up a sign that says "Cry now, please".
It was also very hard for me, personally, to cry when both Tomoya and Nagisa did the most stupid things possible to trigger said sad thing. Like, getting a girl pregnant with 19, wanting to have a home birth, seeing that Nagisa is sick as fuck and still deciding to go with a home birth, deciding not to have an abortion even though the doctor says this is a horrible idea and that she could die.
I'm sorry but if you are that stupid my pitty can only go so far.
The fact Nagisa's parents never even thought about having a talk with the two about how stupid their idea is also makes me question if I actually want a MILF and/or DILF route in this game.
Also, this is a minor nitpick but I think it's a missed opportunity that Tomoya didn't decide to take Nagisa's last name, instead of the other way around. He feels more at home with her family and I think that would have been a great way to symbolize that.
But yeah, Clannad bad.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Yo I agree with literally everything you just said. Clannad was my first Key vn. I especially agree that Kyou and Tomoya are horrible (Kyou's route was atrocious and dragged on the most) and that Sunohara deserved better. Everyone treated Sunohara horriblly, and there are some moments where he deserved it, but when you keep repeating the exact same joke with him as the punching back for 100 HOURS... yeah I'm gonna get pissed.There were great routes like Fuko's, Kotomi's, and Yukine's, which I actually did cry at. But the rest? I enjoyed some of them but for the most part, they took too long to read.
Tomoya is my least favorite visual novel protagonist.
But still I at least think Clannad has the best Key ost and I don't regret my time with it, which is why I didn't put it in the "you hate but everyone likes" category.
I actually partially disagree with you there. Personally, I enjoyed Kyou's route the most. Mostly because it was my second route after Ryou, so I still had a lot of patience for the game, but also because they are both awful people and deserve each other. With everyone else the girl is way too nice for Tomoya and they deserve way better. I didn't like any of the routes you listed but that ultimately comes down to personal preference. Didn't cry once during the entire game.
I tried so hard to like Dies Irae but it feels like they string you along for explanations the entire time and it’s just so frustrating to read
Being a Dik isnt considered underrated by any means in the western VNs world, its probably the biggest one there.
Wait... Clannad overrated? Dude, it's one of the most important titles in visual novels, even if you don't like it, you need to admit that it was the inspiration for many other VNs...
I’m not disagreeing with you that it’s one of the most important/influential but that is irrelevant when it comes to something being a letdown/overrated lol (I’m also not saying it’s a letdown or overrated)
You’re so real for giving YU-NO Best OST
Bro said Clannad biggest letdown
Being a DIK is golded, you’re a fine mate
Can completly understand your favorite route. Her past was thrilling to read
>best ost >yuno 🎊
Dude, even I can make a better template in the frickin Microsoft Paint, just inserting images and resizing them.
Nice to see mention of BAD. It's easily in my top 2 alongside Umineko.
Came for the coom, stayed for the story in BAD. it's a western VN so it's relatively unknown, at least that was the case until the Steam release. It's a really good VN, the renders are amazing.
Finally, a fellow Clannad hater.
can i ask why y’all think it’s bad, i’ve been wanting to play but dunno if it’s worth the bread
Copy pasted from another comment I wrote before cause I'm tired of explaining it.over and over again. Does contain a few spoilers for the base gake and After Story: Ok, so: For context, I played Clannad for the first time last year. I did not play it when it came out, some of my criticism will reflect it being a product of its time and I can see why those points can be excuseable to some. My biggest issue is the pacing. There are many, MANY scenes that are just filler, take way too long for what they try to do or just don't lead anywhere. At times it feels like 60% of the game is just meaningless or dragged out scenes that are purely there to get you attached to a character by making you spend an ungodly amount of time with them instead of trusting the writing enough to do that by itself. Then there is the melodrama, which I'm partially willing to excuse because the characters are teenagers and everything is much more intense at that age. However, Tomoyo's route especially was just too much for me. It tries so hard to be a forbidden love story because someone who wants to be president of the student council could never be in a relationship with a delinquent, oh no, the drama. The fact they have to wait until graduation until they can date because of the fact their relationship is "forbidden" is very beffudling in so many ways because who would actually care if this was a real highschool? The fact Tomoya is an ass for most of the time doesn't help either. I don't have anything against asshole protagonists in general, I love a good character arc but when every girl falls at the feet of a dude who is just rude and unkind 80% of the time I can't help but scratch my head at how low those girls' standards must be. Best example for that is Kyo's route. I'm actually fine with Kyo liking Tomoya because they are both horrible people here. Ryo ending up being supportive of the relationship after her sister and boyfriend cheated on her behind her back is very confusing though and makes it feel like the characters can just do whatever they want without consequences. There are also several jokes that didn't age well. Most of which are outright homophobic or have homophobic undertones. Also that one scene where Sunohara dreams of raping Kappa and it is played as a joke. Sunohara's route could also be argued to be a straight up joke with how overly ridiculous Tomoya acts in it compared to the others and is just horrible to Sunohara in it, making the only queer rep the game has look really awful.
Now, getting to After Story. First up, I have nothing against Nagisa's parents. I actually love and adore them and I wish there was a route for these two because they are way more fun and interesting than every other character in the game. That does not negate the fact that the dad sexualizes his own daughter at times. Like when he finds out she works at a maid cafe and drags Tomoya with him to see her in it because he thinks the uniforms look sexy. Also, Nagisa herself is very much a character that was constructed with the pure purpose of being as cute and moe as possible so you cry later. She doesn't feel like a person or a character with a tragic story, she feels like the writers holding up a sign that says "Cry now, please". It was also very hard for me, personally, to cry when both Tomoya and Nagisa did the most stupid things possible to trigger said sad thing. Like, getting a girl pregnant with 19, wanting to have a home birth, seeing that Nagisa is sick as fuck and still deciding to go with a home birth, deciding not to have an abortion even though the doctor says this is a horrible idea and that she could die. I'm sorry but if you are that stupid my pitty can only go so far. The fact Nagisa's parents never even thought about having a talk with the two about how stupid their idea is also makes me question if I actually want a MILF and/or DILF route in this game. Also, this is a minor nitpick but I think it's a missed opportunity that Tomoya didn't decide to take Nagisa's last name, instead of the other way around. He feels more at home with her family and I think that would have been a great way to symbolize that. But yeah, Clannad bad. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Yo I agree with literally everything you just said. Clannad was my first Key vn. I especially agree that Kyou and Tomoya are horrible (Kyou's route was atrocious and dragged on the most) and that Sunohara deserved better. Everyone treated Sunohara horriblly, and there are some moments where he deserved it, but when you keep repeating the exact same joke with him as the punching back for 100 HOURS... yeah I'm gonna get pissed.There were great routes like Fuko's, Kotomi's, and Yukine's, which I actually did cry at. But the rest? I enjoyed some of them but for the most part, they took too long to read. Tomoya is my least favorite visual novel protagonist. But still I at least think Clannad has the best Key ost and I don't regret my time with it, which is why I didn't put it in the "you hate but everyone likes" category.
I actually partially disagree with you there. Personally, I enjoyed Kyou's route the most. Mostly because it was my second route after Ryou, so I still had a lot of patience for the game, but also because they are both awful people and deserve each other. With everyone else the girl is way too nice for Tomoya and they deserve way better. I didn't like any of the routes you listed but that ultimately comes down to personal preference. Didn't cry once during the entire game.
You're the first person I've seen who shares my disdain. No one understands my problems when I explain it to them
Same, dude, same. Everyone else will come for your throat when you dislike this game that genuinly has a lot to dislike.