No, there’s still no release date. However, Sekai Project has graced us with several new details on the status of the CLANNAD Official English Release in their most recent Kickstarter update.
First, Dangopedia, the in-game encyclopedia for Japanese cultural terms and concepts, is finished and has been completely integrated! Here’s how it will work: As the reader progresses, certain words will be highlighted. Upon coming across these highlighted words, a notification will also appear at the top of the game window, with a link taking you to the Dangopedia entry.
The achievements for the Steam version of the game are almost finished, and they are still currently working on the integration of achievements into the physical version. In both versions a notification similar to the Dangopedia ones will appear upon completion of an achievement.
Due to the nature of being linked to save data, however, only a single player will be able to unlock achievements. In other words, as of right now, once an achievement has been unlocked for one player, it cannot be unlocked by another player who is starting from the beginning of the visual novel. SP reports that they are looking into a workaround for this.
While it is not finished yet, the team is also working on a menu page where the player will be able to view all of the achievements that have been unlocked. This will join Dangopedia on the title screen, as seen in the first image above. Dangopedia will also be included on the right-click options menu.
The CLANNAD guidebook, which mirrors the one included with the Key 10th Memorial Box, is just about ready as well. One of the only parts left is a backers credit page; an email with a survey will be sent out shortly to ask for backers’ preferred names and counties to be printed in the book. This is not mandatory, however, so if you would rather your name not be shared with the other backers, you are not required to complete the survey.
Unfortunately, this update was not all good news though. Due to unforeseen setbacks with the layout of the guidebook and with the MABINOGI arrange album, shipment of the physical rewards will now have to be delayed. While the Steam launch is still seemingly on track for November, Sekai Project regretfully expects delivery of physical goods around the start of the new year.
Not to leave us with a bad taste in our mouths, though, they have received a sample of the tapestry, which, to quote the update, “looks absolutely gorgeous!” And I have to say I most certainly agree. They were happy to share a picture of it with us.
So what are your opinions on this update? Do you like the achievement function, or do you think it will break emersion in the story? Obviously a delay is always disappointing, but sometimes it cannot be helped if you want to release the best product possible. Let us know your thoughts!
