Harlequin 17 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (+Kai)(Ni VNDB) (PS2) Opening movie: (Spoilers are all inside the spoiler box down at the bottom.) (Wall of text detected!) "Everything will be over... when the Higurashi cry." This will be a double review of sorts, involving both Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, which I will call "Ni", as well as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, which I will call "Kai". Ni is the first part of the Higurashi series, consisting of question arcs 1-4 (arc = chapter/story, more or less), while Kai is the second part consisting of answer arcs 5-8. I will call the series in its entirety "Higurashi". Simple! I would like to preface all of this by saying that I read Higurashi with all available patches for it installed. As such, this review will naturally be based on my experience with those patches being active. What all those patches do: replaces sprites and some backgrounds with the ones from the PS2 version, new text font, hides the interface menu buttons, brings back most of the music + sound effects that was removed/replaced in the MangaGamer version. By far the most important patches are the music and sound related ones, which I would recommend everyone to use. I'll explain why further down below in the "Sound/VA/Music" area. Also, I highly recommend reading Higurashi with the typical horror setup; in the dark, alone, at night, with headphones (high volume), and with fullscreen mode on. Good immersion makes a tremendously positive difference, especially so for Ni. I can attest to that, hehe. With that out of the way, let me tell you what Higurashi is all about! Higurashi is a mystery thriller sound novel series. Yes, sound novel, because the music and sound effects majorly sets the tone of every scene for the reader, not so much the visuals. (I'll still call it a VN though, for simplicity's sake) The experience is certainly different compared to other VNs because of this. Your imagination becomes a much more important tool, not to mention your love for reading a great story in general. What is the story of Higurashi? Well, here's a basic version of its overview, which I did not write myself: "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place during June 1983, at a fictional rural village called Hinamizawa. The main character, Maebara Keiichi, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his new classmates, Ryuuguu Rena, Sonozaki Mion, Furude Rika, and Houjou Satoko. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, which consist mostly of card and board games (and punishment games for the loser, usually him.) Hinamizawa appears to be a normal, peaceful, rural village to Keiichi. However, the tranquility abruptly ends after the annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to commemorate and give thanks to the local god, Oyashiro-sama. Keiichi learns that every year for the past four years, one person has been murdered and another has gone missing on the day of the Watanagashi Festival. Keiichi himself soon becomes drawn into the strange events surrounding the Watanagashi Festival and Oyashiro-sama." So, it's about a group of friends and the ominous mysteries that surround the seemingly peaceful and happy environment in which they live. Something very, very strange is going on. Again, that is as basic as you can get. But that's good. The less you know, the better. Simple information is all you should have before starting to read it, because I can promise you that it will be way more fun if you don't know too much about it beforehand. That's exactly how it was for me. In any case, Higurashi is magnificent when it comes to that pure mystery feeling. Not only that, it is also frequently worrying, tense and creepy, making you extremely paranoid about what's going on. These two traits, mystery and suspense, combines into what I like seeing in a VN the absolute most. And yes, Higurashi does it incredibly well, which is one of the reasons why I like it so much of course. You just can't stop thinking about the vast amount of well-crafted mysteries and problems that this brilliant story presents to you. Based on what I've said so far, it probably sounds like Higurashi is all about the ominous mysteries and not much more. But that's not true at all. Trust me... there are many things about Higurashi that ultimately makes it a masterpiece. There are so many different feelings that you get from it at different times in all the eight arcs. For one, friendship plays a huge role in the story. There's plenty of light-hearted comedy and happy times to be had. It's not always "seriousface", and yes that's a good thing. You truly connect with the characters to a great extent over time, as well as get a sense of belonging in the setting in which the story takes place. Also, there's plenty of very emotional and tear-inducing scenes to be found in it, plus empowering ones that are just simply epic. And of course, many, many "What The Hell Is Going On?" moments. Higurashi has a bit of everything. Oh, can't forget: Higurashi as a whole (arcs 1-8) is incredibly long. It took me over a hundred hours to get through, easily. This is a good thing though, because it means that the story can be very detailed and allows for great character development. It's a big plus for me personally. Now for some more specific tidbits about this awesome mystery VN! Visuals/Art - Not exactly an important part of Higurashi. The original PC novels were made so that music and sound effects would take precedence over visuals. You do have backgrounds and sprites, so sure, they can definitely strengthen the effect of certain scenes (...). In fact, I really like the PS2 sprites myself. They've got a pretty cute art style to them. The backgrounds are kinda nice too. CGs? There are none in the original novels. However, if you use the PS2 sprite+background patch...well, who knows. One thing I should tell you about is the text speed. Yes. The text speed itself can heighten the impact of a moment. Because you see, the speed of the text in Higurashi is not the same constantly. It sometimes changes depending on the situation. Are you reading something foreboding? Then the speed might get really slow... or fast. You may think this is a small thing - and it kinda is - but it certainly makes a difference. Not all VNs have this kind of effect. Since the text and the story it tells is so important for Higurashi, this is worth mentioning for sure. Higurashi uses the NVL style - text is shown over the background and there's no dialog box present. Personally, I like this style a lot. I get more immersed in the story with it for some reason. The system menus are simplistic but working. There's a fairly large amount of save slots available. Sound/VA/Music - Very good music! And there's quite a large amount of different songs in total too, especially if we count both Ni and Kai together. This is necessary though I think, because the music in Higurashi is largely responsible for setting the mood in each scene, so you need many different songs for the many different situations. And guess what? It does it brilliantly. The (cheerful/sad/epic/ominous/gloomy/creepy) atmosphere is very, very good thanks to the music. In fact, I would daresay that every single song in there is memorable in some way, because they were all put in such great and fitting moments. That goes for happy songs, ominous songs, emotional songs, etc. All of it. It's nice to listen to outside of the VN as well, but mostly so after you've already went through a scene in which a particular song plays. Though there are some exceptions to this of course. Sound effects also help strengthen the mood and atmosphere immensely, which was quite a surprise for me personally. It's remarkable just how much difference a simple sound effect can do when it plays at a perfect time. The same thing is true for music as well, in that the VN starts/stops songs perfectly depending on the situation. Now you know why the music and sound patches are the most crucial to get! The more fitting music tracks and sound effects there are, the better. Seriously - you'll want those patches in particular! It's important to note that Kai has much higher quality music in general. For one it just sounds clearer, but also, most of the songs are simply a lot more special and more awesome/beautiful than the ones found in Ni. Doesn't mean of course that the music in Ni is bad. But yea the OST in Kai is considerably better, for sure. There's no voice acting in the original PC novels and there's no patch to "remedy" that. Normally I'd say that this is a weakness, but for Higurashi it's not really a huge deal to me. It would be cool to have, but that's all. Characters - The characters and their development are VERY important for the overall story in Higurashi. They all have their own quirks and traits that makes them stand out from each other. To me, they are all likable and/or memorable and interesting. They are definitely a strong point for Higurashi. I love 'em! The playing field sometimes changes a whole lot from arc to arc. I need to point that out especially because this is technically a double review, with both Ni and Kai. Therefore I won't go into too much detail at all about specific characters and their changes, importance, etc. But in any case, here are at least five main characters that MangaGamer decided to put up on their site: Maebara Keiichi - The main protagonist in Higurashi. A charismatic and energetic guy who is good with words. In a lot of ways he's a very "typical" lead male character, but... he's good! I for one like him at least. He can be surprisingly funny at times. Ryuuguu Rena - She's more or less the cover girl for Higurashi. Sonozaki Mion - A tomboy class representative girl, who often calls herself "Uncle Mion". She leads the club activities that the group of friends partake in, and hands out (comical) punishments to the losers of those activities. She enjoys teasing others, but especially so Keiichi. She's great! Houjou Satoko - The mischievous trap master girl. Yes. She tends to mess around with Keiichi a bunch, usually by making him fall into her silly but superbly set traps. I didn't like her as much as the others at start, but she definitely grew on me a lot over time. O ho ho ho! Furude Rika - A silent, reasonable and intelligent little girl who likes to comfort people by patting them on the head. Everyone likes Rika! She's very adorable to say the least. Mi-... Nipa-* Of course there are many more characters. Most of them are extremely crucial to the storyline itself too, just like the club members that I mentioned above are. I need to stress once more that the playing field changes over time when it comes to the characters of Higurashi. Things do not always stay the same way. Keep that in mind, alright? And no, I'm not going to explain exactly what I mean by that. Just... keep it in mind anyway. Plot/Story - Perfect! The number one thing that makes Higurashi a masterpiece. It has such an interesting, intricate and engrossing plot that, in the end, any "negatives" that the VN might have are absolutely meaningless because of it. Yes, that's how good it is. I got absolutely swallowed up by it myself. This is at the very top for me, as far as storylines go. It blends several elements really well, such as suspense, comedy, emotional moments (it has successfully made me teary-eyed and even cry more than once), action, mystery, and more. Of course, what you get and how much you get of each element varies a lot depending on which arc you happen to be on... As I've said before, Higurashi consists of two VNs, Ni and Kai. Ni contains the questions arcs 1-4. This is the first part of the series. These arcs are called "questions arcs" because they are the ones that will introduce you to Hinamizawa and the immense amount of mysterious problems surrounding this rural village. You become familiar with the environment and the various characters while reading through these arcs, while at the same time, the mysteries continue to pile up more and more. And let me tell you... it is so much fun. You get plenty of opportunities to think and ponder about all of it, which is very much deliberate. That's what these arcs are meant for. The paranoia that you experience in these arcs is goddamn immense - borderline overwhelming. I'm serious. Take your sweet time to form your opinions and theories about what is happening in Hinamizawa, and then move on to answer arcs 5-8 in Kai. Kai is the second and final part of Higurashi. It contains the answer arcs 5-8. They are called "answer arcs" because many answers are given to the numerous mysteries in these arcs, but some new mysteries are also presented at the same time. I admit that I was first worried about Kai not being as interesting or fun as Ni, and yet, I ended up loving it even more than Ni. Unexpected, to be honest. It may or may not be the same for you when you decide to read Higurashi. I can't really talk too much about Kai though. But it is the grand finale to the story that is already excellent from the very beginning. And an epic finale it is indeed. All arcs in Higurashi are excellent. There is not even a single arc that feels "weak". Sure, some arcs are a bit better and more powerful/meaningful than others, but none of them are bad or boring in some way. At least they weren't for me. Each arc has several things that makes it special and important. So in a way, the entirety of Higurashi is entertaining from start to finish, and that's certainly quite a feat considering the length of the series. Have you watched the anime of Higurashi but not read the VN? That's a bit unfortunate if that's the case. Now, from what I have heard and seen so far, the anime is not bad. It's decent/good. But still, what I can tell you for sure is that the story in the VN is far more detailed. Plus the mystery feeling that you get from it is miiiiles better than what you get from the anime. So if you have not been spoiled by the anime already, then you should be happy about that fact and go read the VN right now! No walkthroughs or route orders are needed. No significant choices are made in Higurashi, and so it actually counts as a series of kinetic novels as well. That said, you often reach checkpoints of sorts while reading. When you reach a checkpoint, you almost always get the opportunity to read so-called "TIPS". TIPS are basically small scenes and moments in which you receive details and extra information about a wide variety of things. It could be a page from a notebook/diary that someone is writing, or a conversation between two characters about something in particular, etc. It's quite a unique extra feature that comes with Higurashi, and yea, I like it a lot. Also, after finishing an arc you get access to the "Scenario Jump Mode" for that specific arc. With that you can jump to any day you want on that arc, if you feel like re-reading a certain part of it or something. There are other extra features as well... oh yes, there are some nice surprises to be had. But I think they should remain surprises too! Screenshots (click the thumbnails) - Final words - Oh man, in case it hasn't been obvious enough already - I LOVE HIGURASHI. Everything about it. The series as a whole is more or less legendary to me now after finishing it. Hinamizawa itself is an amazing setting that I will never forget. Neither will I forget all the awesome characters, or the wonderful music that fits in extremely well with all the memorable moments. I did not expect to like it this much really, yet that's exactly how it ended up in any case. But I guess it's not too strange though, considering that the story itself is of the mystery variant. It's just that Higurashi manages to handle all those numerous mysteries plus everything else so frikkin' well. And as such it's just perfect for me. Higurashi frightened me, made me cry, made me paranoid, made me despair, made me happy, made me laugh... and much more. Would you enjoy it as much as I did? Possibly! Do you prefer an amazing story and great characters more than anything else in a VN? Then Higurashi is definitely for you. Even better if you like mystery stories. In fact, if you have the same preferences as me, then there's a good chance that it will even become a favourite of yours in the end. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - READ IT. Both Ni and Kai! Pros: Lengthy, amazingly well-written overall plot, massive amount of mysteries, awesome atmosphere, good suspense and sense of mystery, unforgettable characters, excellent and fitting background music and sound effects, terrific handling of music+sound, TIPS system + other nice extras, Hinamizawa itself (my #1 favourite setting in any VN so far), good variety and amount of special and memorable moments, all arcs are great (= entertaining from start to finish.) Cons: No voice acting (would just be a bonus to have though as an OPTION, nothing more) Harlequin gives Higurashi no Naku Koro ni a rating of... 9.8/10 (Follows the rating scale on VNDB) ... and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai a rating of... 10/10 (Follows the rating scale on VNDB) Remember, this is only my opinion and experience with these visual novels. Here's the spoiler box with some spoilerish thoughts and impressions I got from reading Higurashi. Do not touch it if you have not fully read ALL of Higurashi (Ni+Kai) already: Reveal hidden contents I can't fit everything I want in here, sorry - only a few things. It might look a bit messy: You know, there are a staggering amount of scenes that I remember being surprised by. And they happen as early as arc 1 of course. For example, the very first "demon eyes" by Rena. I had my head close to the monitor at the time, and when those eyes showed up on her, I actually freaked out quite a bit. They were scary. They STILL are, but mostly so in an awesome way now. I simply didn't expect to see anything like it at that point. It was a tense moment in general though, with Keiichi questioning her directly if they were hiding something from him... yea. That suspense continued for the rest of the arc. Mion and Rena coming over to his house and giving him ohagi - with a needle in one of them (not actually true of course)... Rena showing up with a cleaver in hand (red screen), then "chasing" after Keiichi... There were a lot of worrying moments like that in arc 1. Flap flap... I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry... The mysteries continued in both arc 2 and 3. In 2 you were introduced to Shion (whom also ended up being the killer in this arc as well as arc 5). "Kee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee" *SUDDEN CREEPY CG OUT OF NOWHERE*. Her "confession" in the Sonozaki house with Rena and Keiichi was pretty damn tense, and of course after that - the Sonozaki torture room scene... oh dear. The ending was really sad, with Keiichi getting stabbed when trying to give her the doll... it was such an innocent act from him, but due to the unfortunate Hinamizawa Syndrome that plagued Shion's mind and previous situations, it didn't end well. And yes, what Ooishi told Kei afterwards in the hospital made me go "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING OOISHI??" In arc 3 we get to know about one of the biggest obstacles that Rika+friends has to face: Satoko's uncle, Teppei, coming back and snatching Satoko away, turning her into a weak-willed and sad form of her self. The entire last half of this arc was filled to the brim with WTF. Satoko's crazy breakdown in the classroom... Keiichi getting a sudden killer instinct... Keiichi coming back to school after his murder of Teppei, only to find this classmates telling him that he was at the festival with them all the time (they were faking it) - that made him even more paranoid. Then Satoko tells him that her uncle is still alive (she was already at a high level of the syndrome at this point and thought that Teppei was alive when he really wasn't). Suffice it to say, this made ME more paranoid as well, not just Keiichi. Of course after that Keiichi finds that Teppei's buried body is gone (Sonozaki took it away), and starts questioning whether it was all actually a dream or something... which it wasn't in reality. Aaaand fast forward a bit - the Great Hinamizawan Disaster, aka "GHD". That was completely mind-blowing. I had no words. I just kept reading with an open mouth until the very end of the arc. A "volcanic gas" disaster... all of Hinamizawa dead... and people who had previously lived in the village went mad/delusional as well. Yea, that made me go "WHAT THE FUCK". The 4th arc wasn't exactly that major, but some very interesting things are shown at least. For one, this is the first time we meet the badass Akasaka Mamoru - although he's not that much of a badass until the later arcs of course. Oh, and, Rika's "mischievous" face is shown for the first time too... love it! We also get to hear about her premonitions about what's to come (which is all correct, due to her having seen all of it many times before). The only thing that she couldn't explain in detail was her own death... since that's something that she just can't remember in detail after each time loop. She just knew that she would almost certainly die in the 58th year of Shouwa - again. Arc 5 was really good for Shion's backstory with Satoshi, as well as some emotional moments with her. Especially the ending was very sad. "I'm sorry that I was born." She realized that she was wrong for blaming Satoko for Satoshi's disappearance. Satoshi actually wanted Shion to take care of Satoko. But it was too late at this point for her... and yea, in this arc it is revealed that she was the murderer in both arc 2 and 5, even though the arcs had some slight differences between each other. (example: Shion was saved from the bikers in arc 5 by Satoshi and Keiichi, but in arc 2 she was the one who did the saving) By the way, when Rika went over to the Sonozaki house in arc 5 in order to pacify Shion with the syringe (C-120 type), she decided to kill herself instead of being tortured to death by Shion... again. She gets cornered and ends up getting injected by her own syringe. That made her weaker since the syringe she carried isn't supposed to be used on someone who is not on a high level of the syndrome. She knew she was gonna get tortured once more if she was captured by Shion like this, since that's exactly what happened to her in arc 2, so she kills herself instead. Important to note also is that this is the second time the GHD does not occur. Both times Rika is killed by Shion. Well, after arc 7/8, you know why the timing of her death is of great importance to the "GHD" (Emergency Manual #34...) and the people responsible for it. Seeing Rena's descent into madness and paranoia in arc 6 was very interesting... and sad of course. The hostage situation at the school was reeeeally intense and epic. It was quite different from anything else in the previous arcs. (Rika fighting with a mop!!!) Oh, and the rooftop scene with Cleaver Girl Rena and Metal Bat Keiichi was really special and at the end of it, tear-inducing too. Rena managed to overcome the paranoia created by the disease and all seemed well after that... until the GHD happened, that is (lol). This arc was a turning point of sorts - a turning point towards happier times for Rika and her friends. Keiichi managed to remember his past crimes from arc 1, and was also able to help Rena on that school rooftop. But yea, the GHD happened either way since Rika's death at the hands of Takano and the Mountain Hounds was not interfered with in any way. Yet this arc was still different from the rest - Rika realized that too. The extreme paranoia caused by the syndrome was actually beaten this time. A significant victory had been achieved. But not a complete one... Arc 7! Hanyuu! AU AU AU AU! Au* Nano desu~! Huge surprise to see her! And wow, she's so great and mega moe! Even better that she's an actual god while still being so cute (although she does have a menacing, god-like side that she sometimes shows too). The true identity of Oyashiro-sama! And also, direct proof that the series has something supernatural in it. With the revelation of Hanyuu, several things are explained, such as; the extra footsteps that L5 syndrome people hear (Flap flap...), the stomping sound that both Tomitake and Shion heard in the shrine storage, the "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" from Keiichi in arc 1, aaand some other stuff. Both arc 7 and 8 are ultimately the *true* answer arcs, in my opinion. Everything comes together in them. The group of friends realize that they should all seek help from each other and not just keep things to themselves - even Satoko realizes this in arc 7, when her friends (+many others) help her get rid of her mean bastard of an uncle. Before even that though, everything seems to go well for Rika and her friends; Keiichi doesn't doubt anyone, Rena's doesn't end up killing Rina and instead talks to Mion about her problems, Keiichi gives the doll to Mion which in turn means that Shion won't be jealous of her sister and won't go on a killing spree, etc. In other words, Rika kept "rolling a 6 on the dice" several times in a row in this world - until Satoko's uncle showed up, that is. But they even managed to beat that obstacle together. At this point the group of friends were very strong together, and it seemed like nothing could possibly go wrong anymore, but... The death of Tomitake. It happened once more, at the hands of Takano and the Mountain Hounds. Let me just say that Takano was the most suspicious from the very beginning, more or less. Seriously. You couldn't be sure that she was responsible in any way for what's happening, but she was definitely suspicious the whole way through, so I can't say it was a huge surprise to see her inject Jirou with the H-170. What was surprising on the other hand was seeing her being called "Major". *MAJOR* Takano!?!? Well, the last half or so of arc 7 was incredibly epic. Sadly for the friends it didn't end so well this time around either, despite them fighting so hard. Really sad and depressing seeing them getting shot by Takano one by one. That was definitely one of the most emotional and memorable scenes in all of Higurashi. Right before the ending credits they realized that they also needed Hanyuu to hope for the best and to not be a bystander anymore... loved that moment too. Emergency Manual #34 in effect is then shown. The true nature of the "GHD" is revealed. And with this, the reason for Keiichi not dying from the "GHD" in arc 3. Let's wrap this up, shall we? It's getting too long - I LITERALLY can't fit everything I want in here. So to sum up arc 8: IT WAS AWESOME AND SUPER FUN TO READ THROUGH! Takano's backstory, the planning against the Mountain Hounds, the mountain battle with all the traps (you shoulda brought some artillery and nukes with you Okonogi, yes...), the badass moments (Akasaka especially - ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNITION!), Rika's special miracle (grabbing Takano's bullet and thus stopping it from hitting Hanyu), etc. etc. The happy ending was achieved! Nomura didn't succeed with her plans! Rule X, Y and Z = gone! And hey, even Shion got her loved one back, although admittedly he won't be up and running anytime soon. But still, Shion is happy at least! Hanyuu gets to stick around too, au*! There was a secret ending to get as well afterwards in the kakera puzzle, with Tanashi Miyoko not losing her parents and as such never becoming a villain in the first place, thanks to Frederica Bernkastel ("Rika"). How to get it: Higurashi Matsuribayashi Wikii - check further down on that page. FIN Edited October 18, 2013 by Harlequin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
battlerrules 10 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) Still very surprised you liked it this much. I thought you would like it but a 10/10 never would have imagined you would like it this much. VERY VERY glad to see, probably your best review so far imo. Not sure if you know but one of the reasons why Higurashi Kai has better music is because since Ryukishi was just middle class with Ni he actually could only use only free non copyright music online. (The only people who also worked on Ni were his brother, himself, and his mother and father did advertising). Most stores wouldnt even carry his game because he was a nobody. But once Ni became popular after it spread online then it started selling very well so he was able to spend more money on Kai. Edit- Forgot to add which lead to Kai's success and then when Umineko was released at C72 it sold out in 30 minutes because Ryukishi would never have imagined it would be that popular. Also needed to add that the music in Kai was done by fans of Ryukishi who sent him music, Dai being the most influential as most of his music is in the game. Edited February 11, 2013 by battlerrules Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ryu 15 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) http://i.imgur.com/DkFBS8N.jpg Edited February 10, 2013 by Ryu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gerard the Lone Wolf 10 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Quote (The only people who also worked on his game was his brother, himself, and his mother and father did advertising). *Salute* Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harlequin 17 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) battlerrules said: Not sure if you know but one of the reasons why Higurashi Kai has better music is because since Ryukishi was just middle class with Ni he actually could only use only free non copyright music online. Now THAT... I was not aware of. Remarkable. He sure as hell picked some incredibly fitting music for this story then, seriously. It sounds great because it fits so well with each scene in there. But sure, it's definitely not as great as the music from Dai in Kai. That's one of the reasons why Kai was even better than Ni for me by the way. battlerrules said: when Umineko was released at C72 it sold out in 30 minutes Oh yea, read about that some days ago actually... kinda crazy. Well I'm very happy that he's doing so well now. He deserves it. Edited February 11, 2013 by Harlequin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radiantmadness 11 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 the review is even longer than expected, haha! Well done Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harlequin 17 Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) Since I can't really add anything more to the first post (character limit reached), have to do it like this... A cool little present for those who have finished Higurashi completely (don't open unless that is true for you): Reveal hidden contents As you might be aware of by now, the PS2 sprite+background patch barely adds any CGs from the PS2 version (Matsuri) at all - just a few. Of course those few alone were very nice surprises (KEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE), but I thought that maybe you're interested in seeing all other CGs as well... Well, here is a Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri CG pack: Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni_Matsuri_CG.zip Enjoy! There ain't all that many in total, but still, it's pretty cool. More presents: - first song that plays: Remembering that overwhelming sense of mystery that Ni had yet...? Heehee. - first song that plays: The Club VS The Mountain Hounds - awesome! With the being the Super Badass Akasaka Moment! And this song: was actually missing in the VN thanks to MangaGamer and unfortunately wasn't added in the music patch either :/... it's supposed to play at the point when Takano proclaims as herself as a god at the end of arc 7. Now, there are many great songs in Kai, so... ENJOY! - not as good as the Kai OST, but it's still kinda cool... might as well take it! (PSST! You can download the FULL Matsuri OST HERE! - that youtube playlist does not contain all of the songs) Thank you radiantmadness for sharing these playlists with me! Some funny/interesting/awesome Higurashi-related videos to check out: - sung by Shion's & Mions's voice actress! Higurashi anime OPs 1-3 (Ni + Kai + Rei] Rika's United States of Nipah~ OMOCHIKAERIIIIII! (I wanna take you home!) I WANT IT!!!! A TRANSLATED VERSION OF IT!!!! ... Although I have to say that the sound effects+music is still not nearly as good as what we're getting in the PC version of the game. So yea, it's almost only the voice acting+mouth movement and other visual effects+CGs+additional arcs that I want from Matsuri. http://i.imgur.com/UDtoQ5O.jpg Now - ON TO UMINEKO WITH YOU! Did you know that Umineko no Naku Koro ni is actually "When They Cry 3"? Higurashi Ni is 1, Higurashi Kai is 2, Umineko Ni is 3, Umineko Chiru is 4. Yes. ^^ I've put together a complete package of Higurashi! This is EXACTLY what you need if you feel like reading Higurashi with as many patches applied as possible: Higurashi - When They Cry COMPLETE All arcs (1-8), all patches, working. Fully updated as of - 20th of February 2013. part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 Check the README.txt EDIT: http://higurashifix.wikia.com/wiki/Translation_Patches was fairly recently added to the Higurashi tweak site. I personally do not know how good/bad this patch is right now. Supposedly it fixes some grammar and spelling of the MangaGamer translation for the first 1-4 arcs of Higurashi. This patch is currently not in my pack of the game, so if you want to download and use it you can do so with that link. To use it: Extract all of the files to the arc 1-4 game folder. Edited September 1, 2013 by Harlequin translation patch notice Quote Link to post Share on other sites
someguy withaname 10 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 This novel was absolutely amazing. I can't believe how much was done with so little. You are an awesome person for recommending this one Harle it was a masterpiece. Reveal hidden contents This novel hit all of the right emotions for me as I read it. I remember laughing whenever the club was doing some sort of crazy activity. I cried when I found out about the truth of the events in the first arc and when Shion realized that she failed to keep her promise to Satoshi. I was furious and felt exactly how Keiichi felt when Satoko fell apart in class in the third arc and I couldn't do anything to help her. I was confused when I was trying to unravel the mysteries behind the murders in Hinamizawa throughout the entire novel. I was conflicted about the idea of a sacrifice always being needed and how our world relates to that idea. I even felt sympathetic and remorseful towards Takano who could have taken a different path if life had been more kind to her. The writer did an amazing job with this novel and made Hinamizawa a place that I did not ever want to leave. Even with the lack of voice acting and a decent number of cgs the writer still created a world as vibrant and awe inspiring as any of its competitors and in my mind at least, even better in a lot of ways. The music was also equally amazing, especially in Kai, and really set the mood for every event in the novel. It was so good in fact I even downloaded it to my phone so I can listen to it while I'm on the road lol. I only hope I can read more novels like this one in the future. I hear that Umineko is supposed to be really great so I am going to try that one next. I have purposefully not read anything about it so I don't even know the basic premise of it and I only have opinions of others to go on. If it is anything like Higurashi I already know it is going to be amazing too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ale137 13 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 you did well, there are two or three spoiles that can really ruin the game. About higurashi, that game has an evil curse, i keep telling my self i was only goint to read until the next checkpoint and when i come back to my self 4 hours passed and i was around half of the story. Like pringles, you cant just read a little. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Virsia 10 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 (edited) 1st time i play it i got my ass handed to me and of course i would say this one is EPIC!!!!!! Edited February 28, 2014 by Virsia hi.. mi... tsu... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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