Might wanna put KgNE in the back then, but ... if you want some strong cliffhangers ... Yea, KgNE is the way as if you seen the anime, the visual novel is about 10 x heavier, more content to fill, and to keep you dragged until you finish it.
I might go for KgNE in favour of Kanon for the sake of variation; while I like Key, there are some devices that I could lvie without.
I am still trying to figure out, why Tear of Tiera had Eroges scenes in the game. WHY!!!!!!! They should have work on the Game engine more!!! THe combat needs more!!!!!!!
Ok, I'm just gonna give up on the terminology now :'( Really though, the combat is just there to fluff things up; unless you're playing on the highest setting you can basically go through the game with close to no mercenaries while relying on auto-battle, and even on impossible you just need to level a bit. Utawarerumono is a much better game, sadly.
Edit: I'd try actually changing your locale to see if it works.
+1. OT, I'm torn whether I should applaud your taste or view you as a competitor; first Kagami and now Hitagi?
