CLANNAD is a classic visual novel (and anime) that has been given a coating of HD paint with the most recent update on STEAM. Regarded by some as one of the greatest visual novels of all time. This is a story that grabs you and makes you want to keep on playing until you see it through to the very end.
How to Download CLANNAD
To download the game from Steam, click on the Download button below this review.
The Game Review
Like all visual novel games, CLANNAD is all about the story. The story here is about a guy called Tomoya who has lost his mother and is a bit lost in his life. He has a rough relationship with his dad and things at school are not great for him at all. Then one day he strikes up a conversation with Nagisa.
They become good friends and she wants to bring back the drama club to their school and gets Tomoya to help her out. This introduces them to more characters and Tomoya’s life becomes way more interesting and complex. This is a slice-of-life kind of story and it is one that hits you in so many ways.
Above all else, there is a real sadness in the story. It does have moments of happiness and even some moments that will make you laugh. However, it is a story that tugs greatly at the heartstrings, and do not be surprised if you end up shedding a tear or two as you are playing through it.
While the main story is most certainly the one with Nagisa, there are other ladies that you get to “communicate” with. The story that you end up getting through depends on the way you react to certain situations in the game. The story will stop at certain points and you will have to make a choice and this is where the story will move in a particular direction.
Once you have played through all of the routes another final one will open up. There is a ton of content here and it is the kind of story that is so strong you will want to see it all. The writing is great and it is brought to life with some fantastic visuals. This is a visual novel that is the better part of 20 years old at this point and it holds up very well.
A reason for that is the latest STEAM version has seen the visuals upgraded to be in HD and they look fantastic. I do wish that there was more animation, but for a visual novel of this age, that is to be expected. It is not just the visuals that have been made better in this version of CLANNAD.
It has this cool encyclopedia-type thing. This is handy and lets you know about Japanese pop culture and other things that you may not understand in the story. They also have added in STEAM achievements which makes what was already a very addictive game even more so.
I loved playing through CLANNAD. I enjoyed my time with this so much, I then tracked down the anime and enjoyed the heck out of that too. If you like visual novels that are quite heavy in their story, you are in for a treat here. It is the kind of game that sticks with you for a while after you beat it and you will be desperate for a buddy to play it so you have someone to talk to about it.
