I only played Clannad because it was pointed out there were twins, and the same crew also assisted in making Futari de Hitotsu no Koigokoro. Seems all the “twincest energies” that should have been in Clannad, resulted in the creation of Futari. :o
Clannad is really not my kind of title to be honest: and the division of twincest made me upset. So if making Narg sad was the goal they wanted, Clannad got it. When its not a dark eroge and devoid of twincest, I look for moe cuteness. If you discount the twincest, the girls in Clannad didn’t really appeal to me.
Story and characterization were great, especially the psychological ramifications, but I’m not a fan of the setting: I dislike magic taking an excessive role in “school girl” stories. For another example: Da Capo. Not to say I hate magic (far from it; gothic lover here), but too much of it being the fulcrum of the plot is a cop out IMHO, because anything is possible with magic. Something like Sister Princess is the perfect amount and balance to me - it was present, but only to make Chikage unique and give her personality. It did not define anything in the overall plot, nor be a force that brought about a great change.
But I can easily see why Clannad gets such acclaim: just not my kind of thing. And I’m still sore about the denial of perfection. 