D.C. ~Da Capo~ is a 3/10 for me. While no one is going to claim that it is a masterpiece, it seems at a glance to be a "standard" vn with all the general tropes n' junk...... but than you start unlocking routes. There are horrifiying implications that are simply glossed over and never really addressed.
I'll probably get alot of flak for this but Ever 17 is a 5/10 for me and I only finished one and a half routes.I read through Komachi Tsugumis' route without much issue... but than I hit Sora's route and it was soo boooooooooooring. From what I gather most of the fans of Ever 17 were completely blown away by the (final) ending, but that dosn't make a good visual novel in my opinion. A good visual novel should be engaging from start to finish and not feel like you are working for a payoff.
Clannad is a 5/10 for me and one of the few instances in which I would personally recomend the anime over the visual novel. It was just such a mixed bag for me with some routes that I enjoyed, some that pissed me off, and the worst were routes that felt like pure filler. The anime took the best parts of the visual novel and condensed it to a single unbloated narrative. Oh, and the standard bs everyone is happy end that key likes to shove down peoples throats.
If My Heart Had Wings is another 5/10 for me. Ok, setting aside all that crap with the all ages version which I think most people can agree is bs. Only two of the routes (Kotori's and Amane's) did I enojy. The twins were completely wasted and after Ageha's, which was my faveorite heroine at the start of the vn, I absolutely detested her and wanted to slap her. It didn't help that I'm not very interested in engineering so all that very in detailed info about the glider bored me, but still points to the creators for trying to teach people something. Also, no Kanako route
School days was a 6/10. The only reason it is not a 4/10 is because of its' pseudo anime style, which is wicked neat. However, you still have to play as Makoto... who is only able to be a complete a$$hole, a brain dead zombie, or the bare minimum required not to be a despicable piece of human trash.
Also, anyone who dosn't absolutely love MuvLuv Alternative dosn't have good taste
Also, Also, what is with the "it was good but not great" trend going on here we need reasons people.