Ph.D. Student at NC State Univ. mwang42@ncsu.edu
Personal Review: Poor writing turns a realistic-themed literature into a long and smelly soap opera. Some may argue that Clannad should not be judged by today’s standards. After all, it is an old game from 2004. However, I find this argument unconvincing.
First, writing techniques and scriptwriting skills do not develop as fast as graphics technology. Many core scriptwriting techniques were already very mature decades ago. Take the plot of a pregnant woman’s death as an example. The death of Ruijue in “The Family” or the death of Huniu in “Camel Xiangzi” are far more reasonable and profound than Clannad in terms of plot foreshadowing and textual expression. These works were written long before Clannad, but their text and narrative can still touch people’s hearts.
Furthermore, even if not compared to those literary classics, the quality of Clannad’s text is relatively poor compared to games of the same era or even earlier. Here are a few examples: “White Album” from 1998, “Utawarerumono” from 2002, FSN released in the same year, and “Parfait” released the following year. These works are superior to Clannad in terms of text quality and reading experience.
Furthermore, Clannad’s formula has already been used in Air, but Clannad inherits all the shortcomings of Air without Air’s brevity and poignancy. Therefore, it is difficult to convince me with the excuse of it being an old game. A good script, no matter how many years have passed, should be able to make people feel its power.