CLANNAD

I have not cried in probably 2-3 years, this game broke my streak. Such a beautifully made game.

This is the first visual novel that made me cry... and I still don't fully understand why. Looking back, most of the stories are fairly simple, and some of the plot twists are easy to predict. But somehow, this novel still knows exactly how to tug at your heartstrings. Just look at the ending of Kotomi's route, with that message appearing in different languages as it makes its way across the world... And that's not even mentioning After Story... But at the same time, there are plenty of genuinely funny moments here. Just look at Sunohara and his interactions with everyone around him. Whenever he appears on screen, you know things are about to get chaotic in the funniest way possible. In short, if you enjoy emotional visual novels, this game is absolutely worth playing. Oh, and one more thing: there are a lot of choices. Over 106 hours, I made around 236 choices (yes, I counted them out of curiosity), and I'm sure I still didn't find all of them. Sure, not all of those choices have a major impact on the story, but it's still impressive. Final verdict: 101/100 dangos.

I recommend watching the anime series and its OVAs (not the movie) instead. The VN has more content, for obvious reasons, but that doesn't necessarily make it better. I found several routes unsatisfying and quite bland. Even some of the main routes felt unsatisfying given how disconnected they all seemed. I prefer the fact that the anime attempted to mix everything together into a central story that connects various characters in a more satisfying way, despite the compromises they had to make.