Technical Information
Developer: 07th Expansion
Distributor: MangaGamer
Release Date: June 17, 2016
The story follows a boy who moves to a small town in the rural area of Japan called Hinamizawa. It’s actually more like a village than a town.
Strange deaths have been occurring for several years, and some people attribute them to a curse.
Higurashi When They Cry Hou is a sound novel divided into eight chapters. The events take place between 1979 and 1983.
In the third chapter, the focus shifts to the backstory of Satoko Houjou.
Final Considerations – Analyzing the Game as a Whole
Graphics and UI
The game features both original art and a remake.
The art style of the remake is very beautiful, while the original is somewhat weird and creepy, depending on the dialogue.
Unfortunately, the characters do not have many poses or expressions, with most of them changing only slightly, giving the game a very static feel.
There are no interaction scenes between characters or key moments. Your imagination will be your guide at this point, just like in a book.
The scenery consists of photos with a painting effect. It looks very rough.
From a functional standpoint, the menus and text are very clear and easy to understand.
However, the menu aesthetic is quite ugly, with an amateurish feel reminiscent of the early 2000s.
The text is displayed across the entire screen, often overlapping the scenery and characters. This reinforces the feeling that the game is more like a book than a traditional visual novel.
Soundtrack and Sound Effects
Great music that conveys the emotional moments very well.
If only the characters had voices, it would have been even better!
Gameplay
Out of the first three chapters, this one was the weakest. :/
The beginning is very slow-paced, consisting largely of slice of life segments (I’m not particularly fond of that style, so I found it quite boring).
Gradually, however, the story begins to take a more interesting turn. I found the climax (Satoko’s uncle’s death) to be quite uncomfortable. I wouldn’t call it disturbing, but it can be unsettling at times.
The description of Keiichi committing murder and dealing with the emotional aftermath was difficult to read.
This chapter places strong emphasis on uncertainty about what is truly happening. Themes such as paranoia, regret, and the supernatural are heavily explored.
I expected the story to take a darker turn and reveal that Satoko had suffered abuse at the hands of her uncle. I was preparing myself for something much heavier, but it ended up being milder than I anticipated.
The narrative maintains its overall high quality, balancing moments of comedic relief with tension.
The game offers multiple save slots, allowing you to save and load at any time. Personally, I found this unnecessary, as the story is linear and, after finishing it, you can replay specific chapters directly.
Upon completing a chapter, additional content is unlocked. This material provides further details about certain elements introduced in the story. While optional, reading it helps enrich the overall narrative.
Replayability and Game Retention
If I were to revisit the series, I would likely skip this chapter.
Although I found the ending unexpected, I didn’t enjoy the overall pacing and felt that the plot twists lacked impact.
