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Was the game a success in sales?
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Sort of. Thanks to the hype, -the first tale- sold well, but probably not as fantastically as you'd want from such an expensive project (i.e. plenty of games have matched or outsold ef on much smaller budgets). With financial risk that high, you'd want to be releasing the next AIR, To Heart 2, or Fate/Stay Night (100,000+ sellers).
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nbkz-sakai is arguably an above-average producer (though seeing how he messed up some routes in Wind is quite disturbing), but there's no doubt he's a genius salesman.
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IMO, he's always been more of a business guy than a creator. Regarding Wind, there was no cohesive vision, with drastic scenario shifts between the prologue, main body, and end paths. All character and plot concepts seemed patched together from a marketing checklist (supposedly, Haru no Ashioto is structured quite similarly, although minori contracted good scriptwriters that time, resulting in a highly acclaimed product).
It's probably good that Sakai stepped back to let someone else plan and direct their recent productions.
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Still, one must never mistake success for absolute quality in the 18+ PC software world.
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For what it's worth, ef received praise for many individual components, such as graphics, direction, and even script quality (seems that minori recognized the need for good text, but a carefully crafted script doesn't instantly result in satisfying storytelling).
Unfortunately, opinions on the actual scenario are rather mixed. Some complain that it's short and boring, while others say they can't feel a thing for the characters (not enough time to convincingly develop their relationships. Supposedly, total length is only ~6 hours, with this timespan split among two separate love stories).