Eclipsed

Oh god I think I'm gonna become hella spoiled by Yuzusoft
I forgot that they actually put in the effort to change character sprites to go in tandem with what whatever the characters are currently saying. Bless whoever they hired that has enough OCD to take the time to do all of that.
It actually makes me want to listen to the entire dialogue rather than doing my whole min/maxing sweetspot reading because it really does amplify the reading experience significantly.
~~
Anyways I ended up going for Riddle Joker, cuz I need me some high school superpowers
Friggen' Himawari, bless its the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-cough-Aqua-Best-Girl took a whopping the entirety of Episode One+Two for me to finally settle down and really start enjoying the narrative for what it was, but Riddle Joker was instant hook line and sinker for me and I'm enjoying everything right off the bat.
Protagonist is (first) Satoru Arihara, a combat-capable-but-slacking-in-studies realist high school boy and he's part of a secret organization of "Astrals" who seek to use their powers for the greater good, vigilante style.
His latest mission: to infiltrate the nation's first prominent Astral education/research facility.
He has a younger sister, too. Foster sister. Nanami Arihara. And man, every VN I'm reading lately is making me realize I'm simply the siscon type, godhelpme, Nanami is fantastic. She's the well meaning younger-than-protagonist-but-responsible/mature-enough-that-she-essentially-takes-care-of-him-like-an-older-sister-type, but she's very, very shy/introverted around others and will have her vulnerable moments where she'll call "Satoru-kun" the coveted "Onii-chan" instead. She's also Satoru's partner in crime in the secret organization they're in, so they have that dynamic going on for them as well. Jeez, what more can you ask for in a brother/sister relationship?

I'd go straight back to sleep all day errday, just so I could get awakened again and again and again by such a kawaii sister lel.
 
But step aside Nanami, first impression best girl hands down goes to:

Ayase Mitsukasa.

Anyone who knows me, knows pink is an automatic win, no questions asked. Pink, responsible role model, student council president...all this is about as common and standard as it gets but I shall never tire of it heh.
Now, I would've been fine with Ayase as is because I'm ez, but hoh boy this oughta be fun(SLIGHT SPOILERS):
 

Oh god I think I'm gonna become hella spoiled by Yuzusoft
I forgot that they actually put in the effort to change character sprites to go in tandem with what whatever the characters are currently saying. Bless whoever they hired that has enough OCD to take the time to do all of that.
It actually makes me want to listen to the entire dialogue rather than doing my whole min/maxing sweetspot reading because it really does amplify the reading experience significantly.
~~
Anyways I ended up going for Riddle Joker, cuz I need me some high school superpowers
Friggen' Himawari, bless its the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-cough-Aqua-Best-Girl took a whopping the entirety of Episode One+Two for me to finally settle down and really start enjoying the narrative for what it was, but Riddle Joker was instant hook line and sinker for me and I'm enjoying everything right off the bat.
Protagonist is (first) Satoru Arihara, a combat-capable-but-slacking-in-studies realist high school boy and he's part of a secret organization of "Astrals" who seek to use their powers for the greater good, vigilante style.
His latest mission: to infiltrate the nation's first prominent Astral education/research facility.
He has a younger sister, too. Foster sister. Nanami Arihara. And man, every VN I'm reading lately is making me realize I'm simply the siscon type, godhelpme, Nanami is fantastic. She's the well meaning younger-than-protagonist-but-responsible/mature-enough-that-she-essentially-takes-care-of-him-like-an-older-sister-type, but she's very, very shy/introverted around others and will have her vulnerable moments where she'll call "Satoru-kun" the coveted "Onii-chan" instead. She's also Satoru's partner in crime in the secret organization they're in, so they have that dynamic going on for them as well. Jeez, what more can you ask for in a brother/sister relationship?

I'd go straight back to sleep all day errday, just so I could get awakened again and again and again by such a kawaii sister lel.
 
But step aside Nanami, first impression best girl hands down goes to:

Ayase Mitsukasa.

Anyone who knows me, knows pink is an automatic win, no questions asked. Pink, responsible role model, student council president...all this is about as common and standard as it gets but I shall never tire of it heh.
Now, I would've been fine with Ayase as is because I'm ez, but hoh boy this oughta be fun(SLIGHT SPOILERS):
 

Wait, it's STILL not officially out yet???
I swear at this rate Half Life 3 will come out first

Oh god I think I'm gonna become hella spoiled by Yuzusoft
I forgot that they actually put in the effort to change character sprites to go in tandem with what whatever the characters are currently saying. Bless whoever they hired that has enough OCD to take the time to do all of that.
It actually makes me want to listen to the entire dialogue rather than doing my whole min/maxing sweetspot reading because it really does amplify the reading experience significantly.
~~
Anyways I ended up going for Riddle Joker, cuz I need me some high school superpowers
Friggen' Himawari, bless its the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-cough-Aqua-Best-Girl took a whopping the entirety of Episode One+Two for me to finally settle down and really start enjoying the narrative for what it was, but Riddle Joker was instant hook line and sinker for me and I'm enjoying everything right off the bat.
Protagonist is (first) Satoru Arihara, a combat-capable-but-slacking-in-studies realist high school boy and he's part of a secret organization of "Astrals" who seek to use their powers for the greater good, vigilante style.
His latest mission: to infiltrate the nation's first prominent Astral education/research facility.
He has a younger sister, too. Foster sister. Nanami Arihara. And man, every VN I'm reading lately is making me realize I'm simply the siscon type, godhelpme, Nanami is fantastic. She's the well meaning younger-than-protagonist-but-responsible/mature-enough-that-she-essentially-takes-care-of-him-like-an-older-sister-type, but she's very, very shy/introverted around others and will have her vulnerable moments where she'll call "Satoru-kun" the coveted "Onii-chan" instead. She's also Satoru's partner in crime in the secret organization they're in, so they have that dynamic going on for them as well. Jeez, what more can you ask for in a brother/sister relationship?

I'd go straight back to sleep all day errday, just so I could get awakened again and again and again by such a kawaii sister lel.
 
But step aside Nanami, first impression best girl hands down goes to:

Ayase Mitsukasa.

Anyone who knows me, knows pink is an automatic win, no questions asked. Pink, responsible role model, student council president...all this is about as common and standard as it gets but I shall never tire of it heh.
Now, I would've been fine with Ayase as is because I'm ez, but hoh boy this oughta be fun(SLIGHT SPOILERS):
 

@adam good to hear. Umi is already high up in my first impression best girls. Which, jeez, ever since Hoshimemo's Chinami I thought I would never like the younger relative heroine type but lately it looks like thats becoming one of my forbidden yum yums. I still want that character route, as unneeded as it may be, and in general I ended up deciding to wait for Reflection Blue more 'cuz I know I'm gonna feel really ehhhhhhh going through the entirety of vanilla Summer Pockets solely due to Osborne Effect

@storm Hoh... I looked at the VNDB tags of Summer Pockets. And Nakige is apparently one of them ;-;

~~
I finished "Episode One" of Himawari; apparently the VN is broken into multiple episodes, dunno how many.
First, I get to nitpick the scenario writer who did Himawari and Island. Even though technically these two VNs are almost a decade apart, old habits die hard I guess and they do the same destiny-like "yo this girl looks so damn familiar, just who is she?!" meeting l0l

Oh god please don't let her end up being what Rinne ended up being LOL
We have amnesiac high school male protagonist with a passion for space Youichi meet fellow amnesiac Aries after she crash landed into the area via UFO, prompting Youichi and his bromate Ginga, president of the school Space Club (complete with S;G Okabe chuuni personality), to start pondering about all sorts of wild theories as to her origin and purpose. Is she an alien? Are MIBs going to show up eventually to cover things up? For the meantime, Youichi decides to shelter Aries.

Aries turns out to be surprisingly normal and not alien- she's innocent, naive, childlike. The days go by peacefully...

Y'know, sometimes I laugh at how in the VN realms, characters spend only like a few days or like a week together and all of a sudden that's enough for them to act like they've known each other for entire lifetimes >.>

And then, an actual MIB- or should I say, WIB, appears! Just who is Aries, really?

Aqua's hawt. Even better? She's voiced by the same VA as ISLAND's Rinne- Yukari, who has been my flavor of the month guilty pleasure nowadays. Even better? In Episode Two of Himawari she-


Space (and sunflowers) is the highlight topic of choice in this VN, and Youichi's dream is to make it to the moon. There was an unfortunate rocket launch accident that happened in the town 2 years ago, and this incident is treated as the crux of all issues- it's the source of Youichi's amnesia, which will probably lead into more GOTCHA! revelations regarding Youichi, Aries, and the town's past.
Btw, I'm getting a nasty case of the "it's a small world", cuz like I just went through CLANNAD recently, and Aries is flippin' voiced by the same VA as FUKO ISOGAIIIII. GODDAMIT. CAN'T TAKE HER SERIOUSLY NOW. Guess that VA is the go to for childlike heroines.
And another jab at creator's stagnating creativity: Aqua and Karin are clones
 

I recently read 'Kotonoha Amrilato'.
 

The premise is as simple as it is intriguing: Rin, a regular japanese high-schooler, suddenly finds herself in a bizarre version of her own world after buying taiyaki at a stall on the street. This world is, for the most part, almost identical to her world, but a couple of remarkable aspects stand out: the sky appears to have a pink hue no matter the time of the day (yes, even at night), and all the signs and posters on the street are written in a weird language, whose writing system sort of resembles the roman alphabet albeit with noticeable differences as well.
As you would expect, Rin starts to panic after failing to establish proper communication when trying to ask people on the street for help. Eventually she runs into this young girl, Ruka, who for some reason can speak a smattering of broken Japanese. Ruka then decides to help her out and offers Rin her apartment to stay the night.
First of all, the main focus of this VN is on the struggle to communicate between Rin and Ruka. Most of the text, aside from Rin's inner monologue which is obviously in Japanese/English, is actually in Juliamo, the language of this world... which is actually proper and completely grammatical Esperanto (as a matter of fact they had the help of the JEI, or Japanese Esperanto Institute, to develop this VN), and a translation won't be provided at least on your first playthrough. The reader is expected to feel as lost as Rin does, and to slowly learn the language along with her. A big chunk of your gameplay time will be spent on an in-game Duolingo of sorts. Now, you technically don't need to do well in your tests to procede with the story, and you could theoretically ignore all the language learning stuff. However, the payoff when you are able to understand Rin and Ruka's conversations in Juliamo is huge. It's akin to the very satisfying feeling you get when you are learning a new language and it starts to click, condensed in a ~15h VN.
Language things aside, Kotonoha Amrilato, as the name implies (Amrilato is an Esperanto compound word made up of the root 'am-', related to love, and 'rilato', which means relationship, so literally, 'love relationship') is a romance between these two girls who can barely even talk to each other. Their clumsy efforts are endearing and are sure to warm your heart. The world is also very cleverly constructed and, even though due to its short length it can't spare the time to go tackle the small details, it always feels consistent and believable. It won't be a huge burden on your suspension of disbelief, is what I'm trying to say, barring the fundamental isekai premise, that is. Speaking of which... yeah! this is technically a yuri isekai! Now, I can't claim to have read an insane amount of VNs or having watched a crazy number of anime, but I have the feeling that this combination of genres is not particularly common.
Anyway, the bottom line is, this is one of the most unique VNs I've read. Would I recommend it to everyone? Definitely not. This is only for people who are interested in communication and language (not necessarily Esperanto, as that is just an easy vehicle the VN picked to tell its story: don't expect Esperantist culture) and don't mind to put in the effort just the same way our protagonist does. I would say that if you are big into yuri you should still enjoy it nonetheless, but really, you can only get the whole magical experience this little gem has to offer with some active hard work on your part.

Aaand I feel jipped again LOL 

I finished Himawari.

Asuka's route for me was like
An anthill
Compared to the Mount Everest that was Aqua.
See, there's this enforced playorder thing
So the writers know that you know all about the plot shenanigans that Episode One and Two foreshadowed, with Aqua's route being the route of choice to conclude them, so there's no need to regurgitate all that jazz again.
So what does that leave for Asuka? 
Absolutely NOTHING!
It's like they ran out of gas. Here I thought there would be one last curveball, an Episode Three, a true end, grand finale, idk, something! But Asuka's route ended up being as standard of a heroine route as one could imagine.
Asuka herself is a decent heroine though, I'll honestly just take anyone over Aries, so she was a solid 7/10 enjoyment.

Yeah, sure Asuka.
What's truly frightening, I'd say, is getting all hyped up after finishing Aqua's route and wondering just what the writers could cook up next, but then you appear with all your mediocrity and make me depressed.
 
~~
Even Aqua becomes strangely philosophical during Asuka's route:

WTH, WDYM AQUA?? YOU AND YOUICHI HAD LIKE THE BEST ROMANCE EVER.

~~
Neglected to do a misc. thoughts/spoilers so I'll do one now. It'll only cover Aqua though LOL
Here, have some Techno '48. Though, it should really be renamed into Night of Aquarius or something . This BGM was totally made for her.
SUNFLOWER SPOILS


~~
Whew, my fingers are tired. 
I've been wondering just wtf I could read next, as is the norm when I finish a VN. I kind of want the standard high school romance setting with a pretty cast and SOME plot going on to keep me entertained.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Ah!
Yuzusoft.

Haven't checked them out since the Noble Works and Dracu Riot! days
It's a tossup between Riddle Joker's high school supernatural powers and Senren * Banka's countryside fantasy. I'll end up reading both anyways, Yuzusoft is always yummy, but for now I'll preview both and see which one I wanna read first

Aaand I feel jipped again LOL 

I finished Himawari.

Asuka's route for me was like
An anthill
Compared to the Mount Everest that was Aqua.
See, there's this enforced playorder thing
So the writers know that you know all about the plot shenanigans that Episode One and Two foreshadowed, with Aqua's route being the route of choice to conclude them, so there's no need to regurgitate all that jazz again.
So what does that leave for Asuka? 
Absolutely NOTHING!
It's like they ran out of gas. Here I thought there would be one last curveball, an Episode Three, a true end, grand finale, idk, something! But Asuka's route ended up being as standard of a heroine route as one could imagine.
Asuka herself is a decent heroine though, I'll honestly just take anyone over Aries, so she was a solid 7/10 enjoyment.

Yeah, sure Asuka.
What's truly frightening, I'd say, is getting all hyped up after finishing Aqua's route and wondering just what the writers could cook up next, but then you appear with all your mediocrity and make me depressed.
 
~~
Even Aqua becomes strangely philosophical during Asuka's route:

WTH, WDYM AQUA?? YOU AND YOUICHI HAD LIKE THE BEST ROMANCE EVER.

~~
Neglected to do a misc. thoughts/spoilers so I'll do one now. It'll only cover Aqua though LOL
Here, have some Techno '48. Though, it should really be renamed into Night of Aquarius or something . This BGM was totally made for her.
SUNFLOWER SPOILS


~~
Whew, my fingers are tired. 
I've been wondering just wtf I could read next, as is the norm when I finish a VN. I kind of want the standard high school romance setting with a pretty cast and SOME plot going on to keep me entertained.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Ah!
Yuzusoft.

Haven't checked them out since the Noble Works and Dracu Riot! days
It's a tossup between Riddle Joker's high school supernatural powers and Senren * Banka's countryside fantasy. I'll end up reading both anyways, Yuzusoft is always yummy, but for now I'll preview both and see which one I wanna read first

So, I finished two more VN's...

Gekkou no Carnevale is the first one. It's a bit of a mixed bag and therefore it took me quite a while to finish it. That said, I only finished Rebecca's route. I also wanted to play Lunaria's route, but it was blocked by Noel's and and Anna's routes and I didn't really have any motivation to go through these. Noel was too loli and Anna... not exactly the brightest light to phrase it carefully. And with the massive technical issues this title came with, like using the mouse interface freezing the game, skipping not working correctly, etc. I just had no motivation for a skipping session just to get to Lunaria's route.
Nevertheless, let's start with the good things. The protagonist is actually a really cool guy. Not your typical teenage brat, but a fully grown-up adult. Furthermore, the voice acting of the protagonist and also most of the other male characters is top-notch, which is a pretty rare thing, at least for non-otome VN's. It's one of the very rare VN's where I didn't switch off the protagonist voice.
Plot-wise it has a fairly interesting scenario with a mix-up of werewolves, living dolls and the Italian mafia. The werewolves are a mafia clan called Oruma Rossa and their arch enemies are a hunter-force called Luparia consisting mainly of several particular powerful and ancient silver dolls. Romeo, also a werewolf and once part of Oruma Rossa, is now a simple taxi driver living now together with Anna, a living doll. He left them in turmoil because his true love was killed and is now hunted by both Oruma Rossa and Luparia.
The VN is rather chuuni focused, with lots of fighting scenes. The writing is decent for the most part, but the pacing of the story left a lot to be desired. For example, there were too many fights without a clear resolution or consequences. A good fight isn't just about showcasing an entertaining action scene, but also about it's 'impact' on the story. Carmelo was actually a fun antagonist, but if you have to fight him for the god knows how often time, then it gets quite annoying after a while. I also didn't really get that much werewolve vibes from the story. Overall it felt more like super mafiosi vs. power dolls. The story parts I liked most were the beginning and the puppet master arc around Lunaria and Davide. Those had a fairly good pacing and interesting twists and characters.
The weaker story parts of the VN were certainly the slow pacing, rather limited plot development and some questionable antagonists. Luparia in particular felt like a bunch of lunatics led by a chuuni edge lord. Perla was almost the only character that didn't suck from them. Ourma Rossa was better, especially Valentino and Gugliemo, while Silvio was also more on the annoying side. He had some good moments towards the end though. The VN also had a tendency to throw in random H-scenes with questionable context, which was quite annoying.
Obvious technical issues aside, I didn't like that they used photographs as backgrounds. Some of the heavy edited night locations looked quite decent, but the daylight scenes looked far too pale and didn't fit at all to the colorful character sprites. At least they didn't blur the images down. Sprites and CG's were pretty decent for the age of the VN though. Music wasn't bad, but got very repetitive after a while.
Heroine ranking: Lunaria > Rebecca > Noel > Anna
Overall rating: 6.5/10 (I would have given a 7, but the technical issues were simply too annoying to ignore) 

Next one is Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai - one of the August classics. I want to keep this one short since there's actually not much to say about it.
It's a fairly decently written (club) slice of life VN with likable characters, but a rather thin plot even for a moege. Although there was some 'Shepherd' plot teased, it pretty much went nowhere. At least in the heroine routes I read and that covers the main heroine. It's possible there's an after-story though, which goes a bit deeper into that. Didn't have any motivation to go through all character routes just for that though. Routes itself weren't too long and didn't offer much, but at least didn't overstay its welcome. I played the ones of Tamamo, Maho and Tsugumi. Senri and Kana were too loli and I didn't like Nagi enough to play her route.
Character art feels a bit old-fashioned nowadays, but interface and backgrounds were pretty good. Music was okay for what it was. Overall, I expected a bit more from the title considering it was a fairly popular VN in Japan, but it was still on the okayish side.
Heroine ranking: Tamamo > Maho > Senri > Tsugumi > Kana > Nagi
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Himawari really is a VN that can only be appreciated as a whole, not by the sum of its parts. For some reason it really took me some time (Had to finish both Ep 1 + 2; a week) to get into the "honeymoon" VN reading phase where I spend my days itching to get home so I can read some more.
Episode One was (enjoyment factor) a 5/10, a SoL sloggy grind with one of the most meh poster heroines ever via FUKO ISOGAIII Aries, with Ginga's discount S;G Okabe personality running the show not really helping either. Episode Two was a 6/10, intriguing, liked the setting/narrative change, but overall experience ruined by LOLOL YOU THOUGHT AQUA WOULD BE 100% GRISAIA YUUJI COOLIO??!! NAWWOPE!!! Watch her flail around like a headless chicken and get trolololol'd by one sided upside-down-spade shenanigans. Exaggerating, but yeah. Don't fall for the get overhype :)!!!! -> get disappoint :(!!! trap.
These two episodes combined however finally set the stage for Aqua's route, and at the end of the day I now appreciate Episode Two because it was what sowed the seeds that ultimately culminated into the rather heartfelt (and delicious!) romance between Youichi and Aqua. 9/10 enjoyment factor. 



I enjoyed Aqua x Youichi so much, I actually don't want to read the next heroine route (it's an enforced play order). Considering everything that happens in Himawari up to this point, these two MUST be the canonical pairing, right...? The story HAS to be made for them. So why wasn't Aqua's route meant to be played last...? Guess I'll find out.

@Asuka I don't play too many gameplay/rpg VNs, last one I played was like Yumina the Ethereal years ago which had some dungeon crawling bits that I loathed (I just hate dungeon crawlers in general and can't fathom how people find them enjoyable). I guess if you just want the story try looking for a super easy/story mode setting, if not then go look for handholding walkthrough, and lastly screw everything or ggez just gitgud
@Vernon hehe, the best thing about Kyou route is how many times you get to hear her classic frustrated "AHH mou!!!"
~~
Finished Episode Two of Himawari
...

I feel slightly jipped.
They done Aqua dirty here. The entirety of Episode One you are disillusioned into thinking Aqua'd be this enigmatic, cold hardcore badass, which she still is technically, but she was totally someone's private evil fantasy and the amount of times she's put into awkward, vulnerable, outright provocative positions and sheds her tough exterior for the whole lovesick stuttering mess of a damsel in distress routine was downright disappointing. I get it, it's to fulfill whole "cold on the outside, warm on the inside" trope but forgive me if I just wanted a full 100% awesome this time around.
Here, I'll do her some justice and hype up what her story should've focused on more of.
First, here's a somber space theme:
^It was apparently only 20 sec so I extended it, which holy hell I didn't even notice that during the VN, but apparently most of the BGMs on Blank Note's side were about this length. They're an amateur group, so kudos to them for making a bunch of catchy short themes for this VN.
 
This is Aqua:


Naturally, a character of her stature would have the following goodies:


 

 
See? Pretty interesting sounding stuff right? The times her story focuses on subjects like this, it gets pretty good.
BUT WHAT DO WE MOSTLY GET?


~~
Ultimately tbh Episode One and Two were kinda sloggy to go through, I'd say they're both 80% mundane SoL and 20% intriguing backstory/revelations. Episode One gives you the Muv Luv Extra treatment, only there to establish the characters and very sparsely carrot dangle some bigger picture plot shenanigans. Episode Two covers the backstory of said bigger picture shenanigans but through a different perspective and leaves more to be desired as it focused on more... erotic matters.
Looks like I don't get instant access to Muv Luv Alternate / Episode Three though: look at this Scene Select; Episode 1 & 2 only cover the first 3 Tabs! Jeez I'm slacking, and there are 8 Tabs wtf.

I'm guessing Tabs 4-6 will be heroine specific, cuz I'm currently on Aqua's, and then finally 7-8 will be the finale. I dig it. Feels like a good length. Can always appreciate a VN storywise that does the whole Part 1 - SoL Part 2 - Backstory Part 3 - Finale to get you invested.
P.S. Aqua's helpless damsel in distress girliness in Episode Two is forgiven for pre-Episode Three's:

That's how you do it. Just make her pure moe as FUH if she's not going to be badass
 

Himawari really is a VN that can only be appreciated as a whole, not by the sum of its parts. For some reason it really took me some time (Had to finish both Ep 1 + 2; a week) to get into the "honeymoon" VN reading phase where I spend my days itching to get home so I can read some more.
Episode One was (enjoyment factor) a 5/10, a SoL sloggy grind with one of the most meh poster heroines ever via FUKO ISOGAIII Aries, with Ginga's discount S;G Okabe personality running the show not really helping either. Episode Two was a 6/10, intriguing, liked the setting/narrative change, but overall experience ruined by LOLOL YOU THOUGHT AQUA WOULD BE 100% GRISAIA YUUJI COOLIO??!! NAWWOPE!!! Watch her flail around like a headless chicken and get trolololol'd by one sided upside-down-spade shenanigans. Exaggerating, but yeah. Don't fall for the get overhype :)!!!! -> get disappoint :(!!! trap.
These two episodes combined however finally set the stage for Aqua's route, and at the end of the day I now appreciate Episode Two because it was what sowed the seeds that ultimately culminated into the rather heartfelt (and delicious!) romance between Youichi and Aqua. 9/10 enjoyment factor. 



I enjoyed Aqua x Youichi so much, I actually don't want to read the next heroine route (it's an enforced play order). Considering everything that happens in Himawari up to this point, these two MUST be the canonical pairing, right...? The story HAS to be made for them. So why wasn't Aqua's route meant to be played last...? Guess I'll find out.

@Asuka I don't play too many gameplay/rpg VNs, last one I played was like Yumina the Ethereal years ago which had some dungeon crawling bits that I loathed (I just hate dungeon crawlers in general and can't fathom how people find them enjoyable). I guess if you just want the story try looking for a super easy/story mode setting, if not then go look for handholding walkthrough, and lastly screw everything or ggez just gitgud
@Vernon hehe, the best thing about Kyou route is how many times you get to hear her classic frustrated "AHH mou!!!"
~~
Finished Episode Two of Himawari
...

I feel slightly jipped.
They done Aqua dirty here. The entirety of Episode One you are disillusioned into thinking Aqua'd be this enigmatic, cold hardcore badass, which she still is technically, but she was totally someone's private evil fantasy and the amount of times she's put into awkward, vulnerable, outright provocative positions and sheds her tough exterior for the whole lovesick stuttering mess of a damsel in distress routine was downright disappointing. I get it, it's to fulfill whole "cold on the outside, warm on the inside" trope but forgive me if I just wanted a full 100% awesome this time around.
Here, I'll do her some justice and hype up what her story should've focused on more of.
First, here's a somber space theme:
^It was apparently only 20 sec so I extended it, which holy hell I didn't even notice that during the VN, but apparently most of the BGMs on Blank Note's side were about this length. They're an amateur group, so kudos to them for making a bunch of catchy short themes for this VN.
 
This is Aqua:


Naturally, a character of her stature would have the following goodies:


 

 
See? Pretty interesting sounding stuff right? The times her story focuses on subjects like this, it gets pretty good.
BUT WHAT DO WE MOSTLY GET?


~~
Ultimately tbh Episode One and Two were kinda sloggy to go through, I'd say they're both 80% mundane SoL and 20% intriguing backstory/revelations. Episode One gives you the Muv Luv Extra treatment, only there to establish the characters and very sparsely carrot dangle some bigger picture plot shenanigans. Episode Two covers the backstory of said bigger picture shenanigans but through a different perspective and leaves more to be desired as it focused on more... erotic matters.
Looks like I don't get instant access to Muv Luv Alternate / Episode Three though: look at this Scene Select; Episode 1 & 2 only cover the first 3 Tabs! Jeez I'm slacking, and there are 8 Tabs wtf.

I'm guessing Tabs 4-6 will be heroine specific, cuz I'm currently on Aqua's, and then finally 7-8 will be the finale. I dig it. Feels like a good length. Can always appreciate a VN storywise that does the whole Part 1 - SoL Part 2 - Backstory Part 3 - Finale to get you invested.
P.S. Aqua's helpless damsel in distress girliness in Episode Two is forgiven for pre-Episode Three's:

That's how you do it. Just make her pure moe as FUH if she's not going to be badass
 

Currently playing Clannad. The anime was a large part of my childhood and I'm glad I'm finally able to play it. Starting off with Kyou's route and I'm loving it so far.

Well, I have read the original and after the ending you will definitely appreciate the definite edition. Trust me

I also tried my hardest... not to cry ;-;

~~
Missed opportunity btw not having Town, Flow of Time, People as the VN's title theme btw. I would've always looked forward to booting up CLANNAD if I had this boppin' theme to listen to:
 
First thing's first: my original statement of being a seasoned veteran and not knowing how CLANNAD garnered 9+/10s ultimately held true for me. I give it an 8. LOL PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME, DON'T WORRY, 8 ON VNDB = VERY GOOD! AND CLANNAD IS VERY GOOD!!! SoL is just not my thing anymore. Totally for the record though, if I read this say, 5 years ago, I definitely would've given it an instant 9.5+/10 and slap it in my hall of fame in a heartbeat. I'm just old nowadays.
CLANNAD is a story about a high school male protagonist, Tomoya, who was raised by a single failure of a father. He attends one of the most prestigious schools in the town, Hikarizaka, due to his exemplary basketball skills. Unfortunately, due to a scuffle with his father one day, Tomoya ends up injured and loses his ability to lift his right shoulder, forcing him to quit basketball. Losing his way in life, time stagnates for Tomoya as he goes about his days meandering without purpose, becoming labelled a delinquent by his peers in the process. Until one fateful day where he meets a girl underneath the sakura blossom trees...
*Checks VNDB* jeezus christmas my synopsis sucks LOL
But yeah, this VN is essentially 100% pure SoL about a high school delinquent boy going about his days, trying to find his way in life. If you come here expecting late game Little Busters Key Magic Tragics or Rewrite uber narrative shifts I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed; late game for CLANNAD is simply high school delinquent transitioning to post high school life and dealing with the trials that await. Coming of age slice of life is the name of the game here, and CLANNAD is probably one of the best in the business for this type of narrative. So make sure you're in the mood for this before you spend an extended amount of time on this like me (cough 1 month; my first save file is literally May 18 and today is June 17 ggez) 
That being said, finally time to talk about Absolute Spoilers:


~~
I'm totally gonna watch the anime next, and I'll update this post on my thoughts on whether newcomers who are thinking of getting into CLANNAD should read the VN or just watch the anime.
I did watch the first episode though, and as someone who spent a month reading CLANNAD, I can already tell it's gonna be INSANELY good. All of the character introductions are ON POINT, everything from Tomoya x Nagisa's fated encounter; Ryou's clumsy shuffling fortune cards; Kyou's uber powerful dictionary throwing prowess; Tomoyo's ass kicking badassery; Tomoya x Sunohara's ridiculous bromance; even Sanae's "my bread is only good for... x" QQ.. Everything is EXACTLY as I would've imagined it to be animated. The animated world bustling with people feels alive compared to the limited 200X VN sprites. They even use the VN BGMs, same VN title OP song for the anime OP, and Nagisa's theme from the VN gets lyrics and becomes a flippin' Dango song for the anime ED. The heart and soul of VN CLANNAD is there in the anime.
Oh, and Tomoya sounds hawt voiced. It totally makes sense why all the heroines fell for him now 
 

Nagisa Furukawa


^Miss little CLANNAD poster heroine in her prime right here, making everybody proudz :')
I've been slogging through CLANNAD for several weeks now, and it's only during Nagisa's route that they finally officially dump the OP on you, so saving her route for last I was like l0l really??

 
Her route though was... surprisingly average; not much to say. Nothing special or out of this world happens. But at least Nagisa in general finally grew on me. I disliked her meek softspoken personality at first but she becomes less reserved and speaks her mind more often later on while maintaining that same slow, gentle demeanor. Very wholesome to be around.
...Which is why it is absolutely hilarious that Tomoya pervs out on her at the randomest moments. He's a pretty reserved protagonist overall in that aspect, so I just burst out laughing here:

Really, Tomoya?? You're with one of the more wholesome heroines and this is what you scheme?!  
Out of all heroines I'd rank the route quality Kotomi > Tomoyo > Nagisa >= Fuko >= Kyou/Ryou > Others
Speaking of the others, sorry I ran out of gas and had to speedrun Misae, and literally Ctrl-skipped skimmed through Kappei. Just gib me them lights!
 
 

~~
And so... I've finally reached Awesome Stuff. Wish me luck.
 

I definitely agree about it being a missed opportunity. I can't say much about the VN as I still haven't finished reading it, but this is one of the best VN songs I've come across. It is SO good and emotive. Within a minute of listening I always wind up feeling melancholic lol.

@poltroon Yeah, that's totally my impression I got from just watching ep1 of CLANNAD- that it was able to condense the best parts. Cuz the VN really drags at times. Err, a lot of times, actually.
Really looking forward to banding together the cast. The isolated thing really irked me and was probably what made me gave the VN an 8 lol
@Bredan np, glad you enjoy reading them. They do take some time to create but overall I enjoy making them. It's one of the best ways for me to get closure on a VN before I go into post read depression 😂
 
 
 

@poltroon Yeah, that's totally my impression I got from just watching ep1 of CLANNAD- that it was able to condense the best parts. Cuz the VN really drags at times. Err, a lot of times, actually.
Really looking forward to banding together the cast. The isolated thing really irked me and was probably what made me gave the VN an 8 lol
@Bredan np, glad you enjoy reading them. They do take some time to create but overall I enjoy making them. It's one of the best ways for me to get closure on a VN before I go into post read depression 😂
 
 
 

@Eclipsed Thanks for your posts, a pleasure to read for someone like me that had gone through Clannad so many years ago. Just wanted to say it, cause those detailed posts + screenshots seem to be a lot of work.

@Eclipsed And there you have CLANNAD. I've never actually read the After Story to completion. I don't think I have it in me.
I'd love to hear your impressions on the anime as well, because I think it takes all that is best in CLANNAD: i.e., they do the Kotomi route thing and join all the school characters together rather than keep them constantly isolated from one another.
It neglects CLANNAD's side characters and stories, but as you put it, they're there more for thematic reasons the anime would be unable to replicate regardless.

I also tried my hardest... not to cry ;-;

~~
Missed opportunity btw not having Town, Flow of Time, People as the VN's title theme btw. I would've always looked forward to booting up CLANNAD if I had this boppin' theme to listen to:
 
First thing's first: my original statement of being a seasoned veteran and not knowing how CLANNAD garnered 9+/10s ultimately held true for me. I give it an 8. LOL PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME, DON'T WORRY, 8 ON VNDB = VERY GOOD! AND CLANNAD IS VERY GOOD!!! SoL is just not my thing anymore. Totally for the record though, if I read this say, 5 years ago, I definitely would've given it an instant 9.5+/10 and slap it in my hall of fame in a heartbeat. I'm just old nowadays.
CLANNAD is a story about a high school male protagonist, Tomoya, who was raised by a single failure of a father. He attends one of the most prestigious schools in the town, Hikarizaka, due to his exemplary basketball skills. Unfortunately, due to a scuffle with his father one day, Tomoya ends up injured and loses his ability to lift his right shoulder, forcing him to quit basketball. Losing his way in life, time stagnates for Tomoya as he goes about his days meandering without purpose, becoming labelled a delinquent by his peers in the process. Until one fateful day where he meets a girl underneath the sakura blossom trees...
*Checks VNDB* jeezus christmas my synopsis sucks LOL
But yeah, this VN is essentially 100% pure SoL about a high school delinquent boy going about his days, trying to find his way in life. If you come here expecting late game Little Busters Key Magic Tragics or Rewrite uber narrative shifts I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed; late game for CLANNAD is simply high school delinquent transitioning to post high school life and dealing with the trials that await. Coming of age slice of life is the name of the game here, and CLANNAD is probably one of the best in the business for this type of narrative. So make sure you're in the mood for this before you spend an extended amount of time on this like me (cough 1 month; my first save file is literally May 18 and today is June 17 ggez) 
That being said, finally time to talk about Absolute Spoilers:


~~
I'm totally gonna watch the anime next, and I'll update this post on my thoughts on whether newcomers who are thinking of getting into CLANNAD should read the VN or just watch the anime.
I did watch the first episode though, and as someone who spent a month reading CLANNAD, I can already tell it's gonna be INSANELY good. All of the character introductions are ON POINT, everything from Tomoya x Nagisa's fated encounter; Ryou's clumsy shuffling fortune cards; Kyou's uber powerful dictionary throwing prowess; Tomoyo's ass kicking badassery; Tomoya x Sunohara's ridiculous bromance; even Sanae's "my bread is only good for... x" QQ.. Everything is EXACTLY as I would've imagined it to be animated. The animated world bustling with people feels alive compared to the limited 200X VN sprites. They even use the VN BGMs, same VN title OP song for the anime OP, and Nagisa's theme from the VN gets lyrics and becomes a flippin' Dango song for the anime ED. The heart and soul of VN CLANNAD is there in the anime.
Oh, and Tomoya sounds hawt voiced. It totally makes sense why all the heroines fell for him now 
 

I also tried my hardest... not to cry ;-;

~~
Missed opportunity btw not having Town, Flow of Time, People as the VN's title theme btw. I would've always looked forward to booting up CLANNAD if I had this boppin' theme to listen to:
 
First thing's first: my original statement of being a seasoned veteran and not knowing how CLANNAD garnered 9+/10s ultimately held true for me. I give it an 8. LOL PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME, DON'T WORRY, 8 ON VNDB = VERY GOOD! AND CLANNAD IS VERY GOOD!!! SoL is just not my thing anymore. Totally for the record though, if I read this say, 5 years ago, I definitely would've given it an instant 9.5+/10 and slap it in my hall of fame in a heartbeat. I'm just old nowadays.
CLANNAD is a story about a high school male protagonist, Tomoya, who was raised by a single failure of a father. He attends one of the most prestigious schools in the town, Hikarizaka, due to his exemplary basketball skills. Unfortunately, due to a scuffle with his father one day, Tomoya ends up injured and loses his ability to lift his right shoulder, forcing him to quit basketball. Losing his way in life, time stagnates for Tomoya as he goes about his days meandering without purpose, becoming labelled a delinquent by his peers in the process. Until one fateful day where he meets a girl underneath the sakura blossom trees...
*Checks VNDB* jeezus christmas my synopsis sucks LOL
But yeah, this VN is essentially 100% pure SoL about a high school delinquent boy going about his days, trying to find his way in life. If you come here expecting late game Little Busters Key Magic Tragics or Rewrite uber narrative shifts I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed; late game for CLANNAD is simply high school delinquent transitioning to post high school life and dealing with the trials that await. Coming of age slice of life is the name of the game here, and CLANNAD is probably one of the best in the business for this type of narrative. So make sure you're in the mood for this before you spend an extended amount of time on this like me (cough 1 month; my first save file is literally May 18 and today is June 17 ggez) 
That being said, finally time to talk about Absolute Spoilers:


~~
I'm totally gonna watch the anime next, and I'll update this post on my thoughts on whether newcomers who are thinking of getting into CLANNAD should read the VN or just watch the anime.
I did watch the first episode though, and as someone who spent a month reading CLANNAD, I can already tell it's gonna be INSANELY good. All of the character introductions are ON POINT, everything from Tomoya x Nagisa's fated encounter; Ryou's clumsy shuffling fortune cards; Kyou's uber powerful dictionary throwing prowess; Tomoyo's ass kicking badassery; Tomoya x Sunohara's ridiculous bromance; even Sanae's "my bread is only good for... x" QQ.. Everything is EXACTLY as I would've imagined it to be animated. The animated world bustling with people feels alive compared to the limited 200X VN sprites. They even use the VN BGMs, same VN title OP song for the anime OP, and Nagisa's theme from the VN gets lyrics and becomes a flippin' Dango song for the anime ED. The heart and soul of VN CLANNAD is there in the anime.
Oh, and Tomoya sounds hawt voiced. It totally makes sense why all the heroines fell for him now 
 

I also tried my hardest... not to cry ;-;

~~
Missed opportunity btw not having Town, Flow of Time, People as the VN's title theme btw. I would've always looked forward to booting up CLANNAD if I had this boppin' theme to listen to:
 
First thing's first: my original statement of being a seasoned veteran and not knowing how CLANNAD garnered 9+/10s ultimately held true for me. I give it an 8. LOL PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME, DON'T WORRY, 8 ON VNDB = VERY GOOD! AND CLANNAD IS VERY GOOD!!! SoL is just not my thing anymore. Totally for the record though, if I read this say, 5 years ago, I definitely would've given it an instant 9.5+/10 and slap it in my hall of fame in a heartbeat. I'm just old nowadays.
CLANNAD is a story about a high school male protagonist, Tomoya, who was raised by a single failure of a father. He attends one of the most prestigious schools in the town, Hikarizaka, due to his exemplary basketball skills. Unfortunately, due to a scuffle with his father one day, Tomoya ends up injured and loses his ability to lift his right shoulder, forcing him to quit basketball. Losing his way in life, time stagnates for Tomoya as he goes about his days meandering without purpose, becoming labelled a delinquent by his peers in the process. Until one fateful day where he meets a girl underneath the sakura blossom trees...
*Checks VNDB* jeezus christmas my synopsis sucks LOL
But yeah, this VN is essentially 100% pure SoL about a high school delinquent boy going about his days, trying to find his way in life. If you come here expecting late game Little Busters Key Magic Tragics or Rewrite uber narrative shifts I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed; late game for CLANNAD is simply high school delinquent transitioning to post high school life and dealing with the trials that await. Coming of age slice of life is the name of the game here, and CLANNAD is probably one of the best in the business for this type of narrative. So make sure you're in the mood for this before you spend an extended amount of time on this like me (cough 1 month; my first save file is literally May 18 and today is June 17 ggez) 
That being said, finally time to talk about Absolute Spoilers:


~~
I'm totally gonna watch the anime next, and I'll update this post on my thoughts on whether newcomers who are thinking of getting into CLANNAD should read the VN or just watch the anime.
I did watch the first episode though, and as someone who spent a month reading CLANNAD, I can already tell it's gonna be INSANELY good. All of the character introductions are ON POINT, everything from Tomoya x Nagisa's fated encounter; Ryou's clumsy shuffling fortune cards; Kyou's uber powerful dictionary throwing prowess; Tomoyo's ass kicking badassery; Tomoya x Sunohara's ridiculous bromance; even Sanae's "my bread is only good for... x" QQ.. Everything is EXACTLY as I would've imagined it to be animated. The animated world bustling with people feels alive compared to the limited 200X VN sprites. They even use the VN BGMs, same VN title OP song for the anime OP, and Nagisa's theme from the VN gets lyrics and becomes a flippin' Dango song for the anime ED. The heart and soul of VN CLANNAD is there in the anime.
Oh, and Tomoya sounds hawt voiced. It totally makes sense why all the heroines fell for him now