CLANNAD PC Review by Lolinia of We Touch Games – Developer: Visual Arts/Key – Publisher: Sekai Project – Genre: Visual Novel
CLANNAD is a visual novel that almost needs no introduction. Created by the minds over at Visual Arts/Key and, eleven long years after its debut, finally brought over to the West by Sekai Project, CLANNAD spans the hearts of many as one of the greatest stories ever told by Key. Originally unvoiced, CLANNAD eventually grew to the point where not only it gained voices, but also spawned an anime adaptation and a spin-off game. With over one hundred hours of content for fast readers (more for slow readers such as myself), CLANNAD is an extraordinarily well-done visual novel that sets a high bar for standards of content. Many thanks and appreciation to Sekai Project for the review key!
Visually, the backgrounds of CLANNAD can be stunning. With the new HD upgraded images, certain images pop on your screen with great clarity. However, the sprites are a slightly different story. Having also been updated to a new HD resolution, certain ‘deformations’, if you will, were left untouched. While the sprites look glorious in HD texture-wise, aesthetically-speaking they appear just as they did eleven years ago. While some (including myself) call this CLANNAD’s ‘charm’, it just seems like for the purpose of upgrading the game, it could’ve been touched up more. Mouths lowered, eyes fixed, etc. The default font is readable, but sometimes disappears due to the clear text window. (I later found out that you can create a dark background for the text background, but simply calling it “Window Mode” made me overlook that check box as I thought it was for the game’s screen brightness in windowed mode.)
Audio-wise, the game is absolutely amazing with only one minor issue. There are hardly any sound effects. Yes, there are onomatopoeia in the text to represent the sound, but very few in the actual audio. It feels weird to have everything around you have sounds except the sound effects. However, to make up for that, the music score is extremely well done. Tracks were updated and touched up to bring even more emotion out of the game than before. In addition, the audio tracks for the voice acting are done very well. One can spend hours upon hours listening to the tracks of CLANNAD. The music is very pleasing and well-coordinated for the game.
From a technical standpoint, the game is very sound. Capturing it in recording programs may prove to be a little difficult, but overall, everything is well put together. The Dangopedia is a new feature in CLANNAD. When reading through the game, when certain terms are come across, they are added into an encyclopedia index for the player to garner more knowledge about certain things in the game. References that may not make sense when you first read them may make much sense after reading its entry. This is very helpful for those who may not know Japanese folklore that is referenced, such as the story of Taro Urashima. You can also change the main character’s name in text if you wish, though that does not change the audio.
Overall, CLANNAD is a very good game. Enjoyable, tons of replay value as there are many routes, and a great story. For the price of $49.99 USD on Steam, it is a rather expensive treat for most. However, minor issues aside, the game is worth full price with how much you get in total. The updated resolution, the Dangopedia, the hours upon hours of story, and the impactful music make CLANNAD worth shelling out the funds to get it. However, I still recommend waiting for sales if you’re not a diehard fan of the series and don’t know if you’ll this game.
Lolinia gives CLANNAD a Drastik Measure 8.0 out of 10.0.
