Umineko Review by Battlerrules

[battlerrules 10]

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"Without love it cannot be seen."

 

"Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place in the year 1986 during the time frame of October 4 and October 5 on a secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島). The head of a wealthy family named Kinzō Ushiromiya, who lives on and owns Rokkenjima, is near death, and eleven of his family members arrive on the island to discuss how Kinzō's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are five of Kinzō's servants, and his personal physician. After the eleven family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island and shortly after people start to get mysteriously murdered." - Witch Hunt

 

Felt I needed to do a review of Umineko so more people would hopefully read it. (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!). This is a basically a spoiler free review, if you can find a spoiler let me know please and thank you.

 

Story- Without spoiling too much the plot of Umineko like many amazing stories starts off as one thing then completely changes when you get into episode 2. When you first start Umineko if you are big into mystery novels Episode 1 (Ryukishi calls each Umineko Episodes dont ask me why) is almost an exact copy of Agatha Christie's "And then there were none" which was Ryukishi's inspiration for this story but episode 2 and beyond changes that completely and make you attempt to solve the mystery's of Rokkenjima. As I stated the story evolves from episode one and gives you new challenges each episode as well as make you think back to previous episode which makes the story memorable and enjoyable as you continue. Unfortunately since most of the story is a mystery novel I cannot really talk about it much or it would contain heavy spoilers (And then no one will read this review) so I will end it with this. The mystery continues, what happened on October 4, 1986 on Rokkenjima? That is for you to find out.

 

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Art (ORIGINAL VERSION!!!) - As much as a attack people who dont like Ryukishi's artwork when you are reviewing a novel you should try to be as professional as possible even if it may be your favorite novel. The artwork in Umineko is not very well done for its time period. It is arguably worse than the Tsukihime artwork but Tsukihime was released in 2000 while Umineko Episode 1 was released in 2007. So I can go on and on explaining the problems with the artwork in Umineko but I will let the boat driver do the explaining. Some people may also find the background pictures to be lazily done while others might enjoy the unique art style aswell.

 

http://images.wikia.com/umineko/images/5/57/Kawabata.jpg

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Sound- One of the main reasons why Umineko is my favorite novel is the music. The sound effects such as rain, clock chimes are all fine and sound nice but the Background Music is what I care about the most and Ryukishi tried his best to make Umineko a Sound Novel for a reason. The music is by far the best I have heard. Even without Voice Acting the music sets up the mood for each scene whether it be joyful, horror, fear, sadness, love, anger, confusion, mystery and any other emotion I forgot to add. The music in Umineko is some that you will definitely remember and probably put into your MP3 player. I will post some that might help but listening to them while reading as they set the tone for each scene is truly when you will feel the effect.

 

 

 

 

Characters- The cast in Umineko is huge and I mean HUGE. You meet new character each time and learn more things about previous characters each episode as you continue learning about their past as well as their dilemma's, future, and present. The cast increases as you go through each episode as you meet new characters, I cannot describe how many characters their are in Umineko. When you are finished reading Episode 8 you will look back on all the characters throughout the game and it is truly a magnificent thing being able to remember everyone and the trials they failed/succeeded to overcome during your probably 150+ hours of reading. Many of the character are memorable and you will even see sprites of them in other games. *cough cough Higanbana cough cough*. As for Battler he goes through everything you can thing of to find the truth to the mystery. As for the other character you will learn more about almost everyone as you continue reading so their is way too much for me to add here, read it and see for yourself.

 

Overall- Though I love Umineko more than you can imagine it doesn't mean its perfect. Does that mean you should read it? I think so. The ending will definitely put some people off, but others like myself love it. Their are 2 endings for Umineko which one will you choose?

 

EDIT- Thank You Desi for reminding me, you can also use the PS3 patch for Umineko which includes better art and voice acting. I actually havent played it myself but if art is the only thing keeping you away from Umineko you have your answer.

 

SCORE - 9 / 10

 

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Edited December 3, 2012 by battlerrules

[Harlequin 17]

Ooooh yes, this sounds great of course, battler. I do like the idea that the story transitions into something else. And yes, understandable that you can't talk too much about it, considering what it's about.

 

Umineko may very well be the VN I'm most looking forward to when it comes to pure mystery stuff (how many times have I said the word "mystery" or "mysteries" lately???)

 

As for the artwork... I'll have to ponder about whether to use the original or the PS3 art later on. Might just go with the original art. Oh well, we'll see! And yes, the music sounds great. No doubt it fits well with the situations and epic moments presented (as it should!)

 

One more thing... I'm glad to hear that it takes a really long time get through all of the episodes. Me likey long VNs.

 

Nice!

[desi 53]

I will eventually get to this...... eventually. But will play Higurashi before it.

 

Oh..... and the boat driver ...........

[iLoveTsundere 10]

the nice boat is the driver i should also pick up Higurashi EVENTUALLY™ to tackle the boat.

[radiantmadness 11]

GLORIOUS ZEN ZEN DAMEDA ZEN, anyway well done battler:)

 

EDIT: Battler, the patch also adds voices which is more importent than the upgraded art in my opinion. This is the very beginning of the game, just listen to Kinzo's voice (note that this is a old version, and the crackling is resolved) with the patch

and the ending of episode 2 (this one is a spoiler if you haven't played the game!!!)

Edited December 6, 2012 by radiantmadness