Technical Information

Developer: 07th Expansion
Publisher: MangaGamer
Release Date: May 14, 2020

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.
This is the final arc of answers and brings a conclusion to the story.

Final Thoughts – 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

The longest and most exhausting game in the series, in my view. It was the most difficult to finish because there are many dull moments that didn’t grab me as much. I lost my rhythm several times, taking over a month to complete the reading. :/

Several details are provided about various moments from previous games, as well as an explanation of Takano’s childhood and what led her to orchestrate everything in Hinamizawa.
At one point, you’ll have more interaction with the game! That was good because it made me think and turned this chapter into a slightly more interactive experience than just an e-book.

Finally, we have a conclusion, but I have reservations.
I found some moments too forced, even for a fictional story of this kind. Sorry, folks, but Ryukishi07 clearly wanted to show that unity and friendship can make miracles happen… but it’s hard to swallow how a group of children managed to defeat a group of adult men accustomed to “tactical operations”.

The revelation about Satoshi’s whereabouts was also very underwhelming. A boy is kept in a hospital and no one suspects anything? Morally, that just doesn’t hold up.

But most of all, I hated how Takano survived and continued her life under her original name. I developed a lot of animosity toward her in the previous chapter. A woman so full of egoism, greed, and hatred should at least have died.

Replayability and Game Retention

I’m sure that now that I know what happens from start to finish, when I reread everything, I’ll have a different perspective on each chapter and will be able to catch many details that previously passed me by. I think this will make me appreciate the work even more for its meticulous construction.

Despite the flaws, I think Higurashi is a story well worth experiencing for fans of suspense and psychological horror.