Some advice for my first playtrough?

[OtakuNinja]

For the first time I recommend not using a guide. See where your path takes you, and take it from there You will notice that some girls like to hang out together, so for your second playthrough you might want some variation and hang out with another group to keep everything fresh. I would say the average route is about 5 hours.

You will recover, but you will never forget it. Heck, I'm still here 9 years later

[Razoredge]

One advice: Do a blind playthrough, take the choices you really want to take, and see where you're going. Blind playthroughs for first runs are, IMO, the best option.

[Oddball]

Play through it completely without a walkthrough.

Don't check for a walkthrough or even to see what scenes you're missing until you think you've got all the endings.

Then go back and see what you've missed.