Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~ is a visual novel by Key that is a direct sequel to Clannad. Unlike the After Story portion of that game, this is a spin-off that takes place if Tomoya had paired with Tomoyo instead, and continues on from that route. One of the more interesting aspects of the history of this game is the number of versions. It was initially released with mature content; then the mature content was removed for an all-ages version and the story significantly bulked up with Tomoya’s voice being added; then Tomoya’s voice was removed and the original mature content was added back in. Finally, it was the all-ages version that was selected to be the one to be translated into English and released on Steam.
Naturally, you should have played and completed at minimum the Tomoyo route of Clannad. In terms of the timeline, it is set one year later with Tomoya having finished high school, while staying as a couple with Tomoyo. There are some parallels to After Story, in that Tomoya has moved out to his own place, and Tomoyo regularly comes around, even to cook and stay the nights. Given his delinquent status, Tomoya has found a full time job at a waste recycling and collection center where he collects and fixes household items. On the other hand, Tomoyo has continued on with her studies.
The prologue sets the scene and that is the pair is living a fairly good life so far. Tomoya has a (somewhat) fulfilling job, and their relationship is going on well. Tomoyo’s younger brother, Takafumi, often comes to visit. It’s filled with small sweet moments interspersed with funny events. Tomoya teases the often serious Tomoyo into doing embarrassing things (including dressing up) and Takafumi pops in at the worst possible moment. Unfortunately, we all know that this sort of life would not last and the “problem” comes soon after.
If you came to this straight after Clannad, then it might be a hard sell with Tomoyo being the love interest. While Tomoyo’s route in the original was one of the better ones, the sheer overexposure to Nagisa may make the concept of anyone else being Tomoya’s destined one tough to accept. Nevertheless, Tomoyo After does a good job at making it feel like a natural extension of Clannad, with new music and aesthetics, but with some small similarities so that it doesn’t feel like a completely different product.
The structure of the plot is that it takes place on a day by day basis. While on some days it can feel like they are dragging it out to fill in the time, it also allows the story to develop in detail. It pushes forward slowly, relentlessly, and you’ll be surprised as how much it would have covered in a few “days” than you would expect. Similarly to After Story, it focuses on motherly love and familial bonds, while at the same time it has Tomoya and Tomoyo enjoying their relationship with each other.
The story cannot only focus on Tomoya, Tomoyo and Takafumi, so new characters are introduced. It can feel a bit of a cheap way to introduce Tomo, and then later on, Kanako, in order to fit with the theme that the story wants to tell, yet still only taking place one year after Clannad. Tomo is cute and someone you’d just want to protect due to her innocence, while Kanako is like the past version of Tomoyo, strong… and a bit rough around the edges. There’s a weak kind of reason on why they start constantly turning up in Tomoya and Tomoyo’s life.
This is a visual novel and the gameplay is predominantly comprised of reading. There will be points in the story where you are able to select from a number of options to progress the story. These choices will dictate the type of ending that you would get, and one of the slightly more annoying things about the game is that you don’t realize you end up picking the wrong choice until the bad end happens many days later. There is another new element where there’ll be a scene with the characters, and you’re able to talk with the characters as much as you want before progressing along.
As always, the peaceful life does not last long. And while you wouldn’t call it soon, eventually, problems will start to crop up. Tomoyo’s past life, when she was still mingling with the tougher crowds, fighting and defeating all, starts to haunt her. Delinquents challenge her out of the blue for the first time in years for some reason. Despite the cheery attitudes of several characters, they are all hiding a painful past. Just like in Clannad, it falls upon Tomoya to open them up and help them move past their regrets. These are the best parts of the game, being the tender moments where they finally come to terms and move on.
The story also continues on the theme of time moving on whether you are ready or not. The lively days that Tomoya is living finishes so quickly, and when he reflects upon that, it rings true. It’s only after that he realizes how much he enjoyed them and is now missing on. It might surprise you but Tomoya is actually quite clever. Often in the story, he studies hard and picks u pa new skill fairly easily. This isn’t to mention his strength from his work and delinquent days.
The humor is pretty spot on. It’s subtle at times, but when it hits you, it’ll make you laugh out loud. The best part is that the jokes work because the game quickly builds up the characters’ personalities and then uses that familiarity to great effect. The music is really soothing to listen to and has some catchy tunes. It comes to the forefront towards the end when the sadder things start happening.
Once the second major arc finishes, the story takes a turn into the unexpected. It’s a surprising change, and the plot device kind of clashes with what came before it. It felt like a cheap clichéd plot twist, and while it tries to trigger nostalgia with Clannad, it doesn’t quite work. It can actually feel somewhat tedious to read through once the arc begins. This last arc, being the main arc that the story has been building upon to, takes a weird turn. It feels different in tone, and has the characters’ personalities feel a bit different to how they were for most of the game. However, all that changes once the second plot twist hits and it hits you hard. All of a sudden, everything that happened before takes on a whole new level of meaning. It’s a shock and you try and contemplate what this means.
The final arc in Tomoyo After feels like a flip of Clannad’s after story. In After Story, it was all about Nagisa, while in Tomoyo After, yes, it is still about Tomoyo and her situation, but there is also significant focus on Tomoya. The final part manages to suddenly drag the tone and atmosphere to a single saddening emotional moment. You don’t know if the couple will have a happy ending, and when the final dialogue is spoken, as a way to motivate the viewer, it really hits home. While it is not as emotionally intense as After Story, it is still one of the harder hitting stories. The ending is vague enough that you can interpret it either way, whether that is happy or sad or bittersweet.
If you’re a fast reader, than the game is much shorter than Clannad, and it’ll only take you around 7-10 hours to complete the true route. There are various bad endings but interestingly, there are a very small amount of choices in the game. Once you hit the last choice, you’re only around two-thirds of the game in.
In addition to the story, there is a mini-game called Dungeons & Takafumis. It’s like a RPG lite, and has hours’ worth of gameplay. The story of the mini-game is that the real Takafumi has been kidnapped and currently residing in the deepest floor of a tower. The other copies of Takafumi has tracked the real one to that tower and enlisted the help of the three swordsmen and the magus (being Tomoya, Tomoyo, Kanako and Tomo).
The gameplay is simple; you do not directly control the characters but sets their actions including when to use skills. As you defeat opponents, you gain loot to help improve your characters as well as leveling them up. You play through in blocks of five floors, and once you’re past a block you cannot return. It is an addictive cycle of fighting, retreating, and powering up. There are various character classes with their own unique attributes.
Even the simple story is quite amusing and funny as you meet the various copies of Takafumi. For a mini-game, a bit of effort has been made with the ending including unique artwork. The hardest part in the later levels is the fact that you cannot control the characters directly. It can be up to sheer dumb luck to try and avoid your characters being surrounded and mobbed to death (when that happens, it is really frustrating and annoying). It is actually a decently fleshed out mini-game that you spend around 3-4 hours completing.
Overall, Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~ is a worthwhile sequel. While it doesn’t hit the same highs as the original, it is still very much its own thing. It is a neat addendum to expand upon Tomoyo’s route from Clannad. However, it does feel very segregated into its three main arcs, but the title is very apt. It is about a wonderful life, the wonderful life of Tomoya and Tomoyo, as they enjoy their days as lovers and as family. It has a feel good message that doesn’t feel cheesy and has a few emotional scenes.
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