No Spoilers Here
Suitable for those under 18
Initial Impressions:
Ohoho Higurashi….what can be said about this VN except that it is amazing. It is essentially about a normal little town
where a young boy named Keiichi moves to and makes some new friends and everyone
is happy right!? Wrong! Before you know it you find out that the town
has a darker history and a conspiracy that stretches back years!
Characters:
Keiichi Maebara: What can be said except for that the guy is a god when it comes to the ladies. I mean seriously, this dude must have some amazing cologne or something because he has nothing but beautiful women around him all the time. He is not really the brightest bulb on the tree but he knows how to talk and liven up the mood and he can always be counted on to help his friends in their time of need.
Rena
Ryugu: Cuteness personified is a good way to describe Rena
Haoooo. Any guy would want to take her
home that’s for sure and her speech patterns are just adorable. She is not only cute but smart as well and
excels at anything she sets her mind too.
She is also a really good cook and is extremely loyal to her friends.
Satoko
Houjou: Ohoho…Satoko is another member of the group and she
loves setting traps. If Keiichi is a god
with the ladies then Satoko is a goddess when it comes to setting the most
simplistic yet diabolical traps you’ve ever come across. At first I did not find her character to be as
great as the others but as the story developed she grew on me and became my
personal favorite of all the girls in the novel.
Mion
Sonozaki: She is definitely not a woman you want to cross
that is for sure. She is the leader of
the club and all of the friends and enjoys playing games and watching the loser
suffer a humiliating punishment. She considers
anyone who tries to hurt one of her friends to be an enemy and is also rumored
to be a decent cook as well despite her tough personality.
Rika
Furude: The most adorable little girl in the village and
she knows it too. She is another member
of the club and enjoys playing games with her friends and using her cuteness to
hide her high level of intelligence. She
is the quietest member of the group but she knows when to speak up when she
needs too and knows just how to avoid the more deadly of the clubs punishments.
She and Satoko are particularly close because of their ages and she looks after
her almost as if she were her sister.
Mi.nipa
Story:
Story
is what makes up the heart of a Visual Novel and Higurashi has more heart than
most others out there that I have read. 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. While reading Higurashi you’ll be scared,
confused, furious, and even laughing uncontrollably and the rollercoaster ride
will not stop until you finally make it through the last arc and realize how
great a novel Higurashi really is at its core.
For those of you who have seen only the anime there is still so much to
be had and I will still recommend you take a trip back to Hinamizawa at least
one more time. You could even do it with
the PS 2 version if you want because it has some extra content not present in
the PC version that could prove very interesting indeed. Also, if you really want to get the full Higurashi experience I also recommend that you watch Higurashi 'Rei' as well as it takes place shortly after the events of 'Ni' and 'Kai'. While the first and last episodes are essentially fanservice episodes 2-4 continue to develop Rika's character a bit as she struggles to solve yet another mystery in the town of Hinamizawa.
Before:
After:
Artwork: This one is difficult because there was really not much in the pc version to go off of. If there was anything I might have enjoyed seeing more of it would have been a few more CGs. Ultimately though the story was so good that it made up for this completely and I think letting the imagination run wild actually helped a lot with adding to the mystery and suspense. Although if you really want to get the best experience I would recommend using a few of the patches that are made available out there as well, especially for the sprites unless ham hands are your thing then the old ones should be fine. Above is an example of the old sprites versus the newer ones in the latest patch if you did not already realize.
Music: Ohoho...Where to start on this one? The music in '...when they cry' did the job of setting the mood well enough but 'Kai' is really where things were taken to another level entirely. It was perfect for every scene in the VN and was so good that most of the tracks now have a new home on my phone so I can listen to them while I'm on the road. The one responsible for some of the best tracks in Higurashi was Dai and I must say that he brought Higurashi to a whole new level with his amazing tracks. He has also lent his aid to other works, Umineko (cough), so try to check them out if you get a chance. I don't want to spoil you on the music but here is one that is pretty good at setting the mood. small sample Just listen to this one in a dark room with headphones and you will see what I mean. I would seriously avoid the other tracks though as it will spoil you very quickly but to each his own.
Final Thoughts: Higurashi definitely does not have a lot of fancy CGs or voice acting. In fact it is rather primitive in a lot of ways. It is also not for everyone. But if you want an amazing experience that covers the entire breadth of human emotions that will leave you with something to think about afterwards then this is the Visual Novel for you. My thoughts went one way but yours very likely went a different way. So now I leave the rest to the readers. What are your thoughts on Higurashi? What did you think about while you were reading through it?
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