“Even if I don't cry when I'm sad, I might do it when I'm happy. That's just the kind of person I am.” - Nagisa Furukawa

CLANNAD is arguably one of the most famous and influential visual novels out there. It's earned a cult following for sporting some of the saddest, most bittersweet stories guaranteed to pull your heartstrings and wring your tear ducts. Yet, it's not all melancholic gloom. The story is beautifully harmonised with cute moments of moe and romcom. The Kickstarter for CLANNAD's English translation fetched a whopping $500,000 USD, the highest on record for a visual novel as far as I know. That should stand as a testament to how many people loved the game, despite it being more than a decade since its Japan release.

The game follows a wide cast of heroines with numerous possible routes, including the soft-spoken introvert Nagisa, tomboyish prankster Kyou, studious beauty Kotomi and innocent loli Fuuko. Every character is memorable and unique in their own way.

One of the most contentious aspects of the game is its art. For most, it's something that they'll either love or hate. I'll admit that I didn't enjoy the art too much at first, having been spoiled by the anime studios of 2010 and beyond, but it eventually grew on me. If I had to describe the art I'd say that it's unpolished, but endearing, much like the art of Higurashi When They Cry.

(Random fun fact: In The World God Only Knows, Katsuragi Keima's 2D waifu "Yokkyun" was based off Nagisa's artwork from CLANNAD.)

Another controversy was raised over the price of the game upon its Steam release. Commanding a $50 price tag for a game over 10 years old?!

While the pricing is undeniably steep, what most critics fail to notice is that CLANNAD is the longest visual novel on Steam by far, with no titles coming close except perhaps Muv-Luv. The game easily takes 50 hours to complete, and I must applaud Sekai Project for coming up with a quality, error-free English translation of so much text. Also, the game was released in its entirety, and not in episodic/chapter format unlike numerous other VN titles on Steam, a practice which I'm very keen to support!

Overall, if you enjoyed the anime (or even if you didn't), consider getting this VN for a much more fleshed-out story and some unbelievably immense Niagara Feels.

Thanks for reading till now. Have a uguu~

100% Meme Orange Juice is a zesty and refreshing multiplayer experience if you're weary of the unhealthy toxicity plaguing most titles today.

The game shares great similarity to Mario Party. There's so much randomness and luck involved, whether or not you win essentially boils down to whether RNGesus-sama is beaming down on you that round. Resigned to the predeterministic fate of their 2d avatars, players don't type nonsense like "gg ez" or "git gud", since they're more than likely to wind up at the bottom come the next round.

The game is very relaxing and easy to play. All each player has to do is roll a dice and watch their waifus duke it out in a battle for numerical supremacy. No need for exp grind, trained reflexes or mechanical skill. There is minor strategy involved in terms of cards you can play, but Lady Luck can easily ruin your illustrious keikaku on a mere whim.
*Translator's note: keikaku means plan

The art serves to draw in a niche community of anime fans, so there's plenty in common to talk about whilst playing. Last game I played everyone was spouting JoJo memes and the inevitable omae wa mou shinderu.

All in all, this leads to a chill and friendly gaming atmosphere that's almost impossible to find in an online game. I recommend this game to all the weebs out there.