I mean what's there to say? It's one of the most revered VNs of all time and there's good reason for that. For most people I think the answer arcs are gonna deliver on an insane setup. It's better paced than the first half, too. Gone is sitting through 2 hours of increasingly unfunny club activities and instead we actually get to know the characters and their struggles.
6 and 7 are the obvious peaks, I absolutely loved 7 from beginning to end. 8 feels a little anticlimactic with how the last conflict just slowly peters out rather than a big bang of an end, but I guess that's warranted given the themes it's going for. The only thing keeping this from a 10 is it's very very hard to sympathize with a certain character after what happens in episode 7 so some of what happens in 8 feels a little hollow, but that could be just a me thing.
Still, this is the best game I've played all year. There's not a shred of gameplay in this entire 50+ hour VN and I stuck through to the end because it's just fantastically written. Excited to read Umineko but I think I need a ryukishi07 tolerance break after I play Rei and Hou+ before I dive into another mammoth VN.

Ryukishi is a hack and a fraud, I can’t believe I spent 60+ hours on this nonsense of a VN just for it to tell me that life is worth living and trust my friends and not some deep methodical pretentious mumbo jumbo. I hate this game.
That being said I love this game. Ryukishi you madman, how did you do it. I started this all the way back in late July and I’ve consistently been hooked on where the story was going to go next. I really love the characters, the uncanny atmosphere, all that jazz. This review is mostly focused on the answer arcs of the series but the question arcs are undeniably just as important to the overall experience.
The contrast of Meakashi to its successors makes for a really damn engaging opener for the answer arcs. The complete brutality of it all while also forming one of the most morally gray characters so far makes for possibly my favorite chapter in the whole series. It can get unbearably brutal at points, but that just means that it is accomplishing its purpose. It’s a story of how the abused becomes the abuser, and the things people will do for love. It’s a story that shows the real horrors aren’t the demons or curses, it’s ourselves. Easily the most tragic chapter of the VN, and I have to admit I got a little emotional towards the end despite what terrible things our MC did along the way.
Tsumihoroboshi comparatively starts an upwards trajectory of hope after the extremely bleak first five chapters, Rena and Keiichi shine their brightest here, making for some of the most hype moments in the entire story, and ultimately the message that this chapter establishes is rather inspiring, it’s about breaking “fate”.
Minagoroshi is….. complicated. I always see the highest praise for this one but honestly I didn’t really get it? It does wrap up a lot of the remaining questions for the audience which is cool and all, but I found this chapter overall to be a bit of a slog for me to go through. Maybe it was burnout? Not sure. The bigger moments still really hit hard but in the end I still can’t put my finger on why I’m not too hot on this chapter. Still good though.
Matsuribayashi is the last main arc of the series, although I still have Rei to go through to properly cap things off. However, this is still a great finale on its own. A liiiiiitle drawn out, sure, but overall pretty earned? We get insight on the core perpetrator, one last section to gather all our clues together for one final showdown, and… a very good showdown at that! The actual ending itself was a tad underwhelming but maybe I’m an entitled ace attorney brat who wants flashier finales or something. Most of what happened I sort of predicted, which isn’t a bad thing, moreso me not imagining the story could organically end any other way, which isn’t a bad thing.
Woah woah woah, okay we’re not done here, because I still have some things to say before signing off. Despite what that star rating will tell you, I must say that Higurashi is NOT a flawless masterpiece!!!! Sorry Ryukishibros but I still got some choice words to say about this man and his stories. The fanservice sucks!!!! Nothing will ever excuse this and I just need to get this out of the way because it is EASILY the most frustrating thing about this VN and it makes me hesitate to call it near perfect. Also yadda yadda yadda the prose can be repetitive and annoying, it’s a dice roll on if you get a raw line or not etc etc etc. I’ve talked to people who consider Higurashi like, high art, and while I can respect their passion, this is far from the best story ever told. It’s just a really really good one that’s impressive, especially considering the context it was released in. Dunno, can’t look at the maid cafe scenes and be like “yooo this is flawless peak that no other writer can achieve!!!” If anything Higurashi is very derivative of works by other writers (the quirky tsukihime inspired visual novel!!!!), it’s a celebration of stories as a whole, while still being unique in it’s own right. Anyway I hope that didn’t come off as hate, because I genuinely love this game so much, it’s one of my favorite long term video game experiences ever, and I love being apart of this community (seriously WTC shitposting is funny af) but I do NOT think it is free from criticism, not even close.

And so my journey into the odd world of Visual Novels begins. Feel free to block me if I become a pretentious VN elitist because of it. There's so much to see, not just from 07th, but from KEY Visual Arts, Type Moon, Leaf, etc. Words cannot describe how excited I am to further dip my toes into the medium.

Do I recommend this? Well….. I suppose? The first chapter is free on steam so there really is nothing to lose trying this. There are poor aspects of the writing you’ll just have to bear with, moments that will make you go “Ryukishi what the fuck is wrong with you,” but I think if you can brute force those aspects, you have a wonderful story that has earned it’s place in the visual novel industry. I don’t care that the OG artwork is corny, I don’t care if the story gets silly, it’s HIGURASHI: WHEN THEY CRY. It's a genuinely passionately created piece of media. I eagerly await to try Ryukishi’s other works in the future, for When They Cry once more.

Nipah~

Man I love unreliable narrators - the VN

Seriously though, adore Higu, I might be more fond of Umi but all the characters here are great (I love them) and it's theme about being there for the people you love, sifting past miscommunication and misunderstandings, just to be there for them, regardless of anything, is honestly a really beautiful message that gets me choked up thinking about it. I definitely also want to reread it at some point too

Ok. First of all I cried in literally all answer arcs(but i cried in Tatarigoroshi and Himatsubushi too, lmao). And apart from Minagoroshi(that's probably the most loved arc, but that's the one I liked less of the answer arcs, to me almost the only good part of it is the end.) I loved all other answer arcs. Every arc has it's flaws, but the peak fiction parts are so good that it doesn't even really matter much in the end. Really good!
Meakashi: 8.5
Tsumihoroboshi: 9.0
Minagoroshi: 7.5
Matsuribayashi: 9.0

while far from perfect, higurashi's answer arcs are an incredible subversion of what could have been a bog standard mystery novel, instead going for an incredibly earnest story insisting upon the importance of communication, friendship, personal growth, and atonement. i think, despite how raw and unpolished the experience is as a whole, the ideas it's trying to convey land incredibly well.

i didn't really "get" this until certain real-life experiences of my own, and i think it's long past due to revisit higurashi as a whole again.

Note: This is going to be a largely personal and reflective piece of writing similar to my piece regarding Higurashi When They Cry’s first half - so if an intimate conversation about myself just as much as it is about this game isn’t your thing, totally valid and understandable. Oh, and this is going to talk about the “Saikoroshi” chapter of Higurashi Rei as well, as I feel it’s best discussed in tandem with the Answer Arcs here - so spoiler warning for all of Chapters 5-8 and Saikoroshi. Also, a content warning for topics of mental illness, self-harm, abuse, and all that entails. I love you and I cannot thank you enough for your time in advance. You aren’t alone.

One of the most difficult things about depression centered around traumatic episodes is that they often chip away and rob you of the things you enjoyed most around those times. It’s been a very difficult journey to reclaim some of my favorite memories, experiences and works of art over the last few years, and I've found it harder than ever to commit to projects or engage with artwork and see it to completion on my own. Anyone who knows me can tell you that’s pretty out of character; I’ve got a penchant for dropping everything to fully embibe myself in some new fascination on a seeming whim, to completely commit to a new horizon and engage with it with a sincerity and passion I’d previously considered reserved only for that which came before it. That stopped a few years ago, and like I said, it’s been a long journey back up that hill. That would’ve been an impossible task without the support group of closest friends I’ve learned to rely and count on since the recovery process began. I’m fortunate to have a friend-group in which I have been positioned to host events and discussions around media - film, music, games, literature, the works - and show up for my ardently patient, curious and brilliantly kind and courteous friends and bring my a-game each and every stream, each and every discussion, each and every day. We’re more than just a hangout group, though - we’ve weathered trauma and pain, grief and loss together. It is a castle held up by each and every stone in the wall. That’s why I was even able to force myself through Higurashi in the first place - because of my friends, because of the fact that I owed them the responsibility to be myself, to express and to feel alongside them, and not to shut myself out and isolate, to mull and wade in my own self-destruction and pity. This was and has been, as I said, a period of recovery - this was the story of my atonement and my growth. Of course, I didn’t know that Higurashi would shed itself to me, Ryukishi’s arms extended, and that I would find my own answers somewhere in this nearly three-month experience. I didn’t know that I had the single most impactful and reflective experience of my adult life with a work of art in front of me. Strange how that happens - just when it’s needed.

It is a hurdle to be a traumatized person, yet to love and to be loved. There exists some paranoia and constant state of doubt that can, like a crack of lighting, strike down any moment of peace and clarity and bring about questioning, self-talk, and confusion. To hear and comprehend that you deserve what you have but, not unlike tasting something bitter, feel your body reject the notion and spit it back out. Sometimes this coagulates into anger, or resentment, sometimes into defensiveness and a desperate clawing-out of social situations. To be hung up on your thoughts in these times, and to believe the things you tell yourself creates a tunnel-vision in which your suspicions turn to truths, your doubt becomes your sword, and your world gets smaller, and smaller, and more and more hopeless without anything actually happening. It’s hard to understand that people outside of your fucked up little maze you’ve splayed out for yourself might perceive you as something more than your illness defines. You take everything at a second meaning. It’s amazing what we can do to ourselves; or, I guess, what our heads are allowed to do to us. It’s been a hurdle to know and understand deep, intimate love, to drop the shields and let that vulnerability show even when the results typically turn out rancid. God knows I’ve got scars. I’m sure a lot of us do. You can see some of them, some you can’t - and I really hope the former never ever come back by my own hands. It’s an impossible feat to comprehend that someone could find beauty around, and yes - even in - that scarred skin, that scarred heart… but this was always a story about miracles, even before we had the means to see that. Love conquers all. Trust and love are the blade and shield of absolute truth and miraculousness. Higurashi is not a story solved with all the guns, cleavers, knives, or baseball bats in the world - it’s the warm, tender feeling of fingers wrapping around one another and the pulling of muscles to form a ring of smiles.

When I retrace the memories and allow myself to step out of the first-person and look at the majority of my adult life thus far, I realize that so much of my time has been spent in the pursuit of absolvement - both from actions, attitudes and situations I have participated or acted upon, as well as - and equally as much - ones beyond my control or centered around my self-perceived place inside them and guilt squared around them. It has taken years to be able to look at situations I’ve carried guilt about - both punishing others just as much as those where the hammer fell down on me - and be able to say with a level of confidence and assuredness “this was not me, and it was not my fault”. If anything, that’s been the harder trial I’ve had to face than to accept accountability and own up to it where it counts. I’m lucky enough to have both grown up around people whose tremendous mistakes and self-centered actions had immediate and scarring ramifications on the lives of myself and others, but to understand those mistakes as well as my own and be taught the throughline of action to consequence and be shown that I’m capable of that the same as anyone else is. Accountability and the opportunity to amend are two of my key values - integrity interloping with both of them - and they’re the foundation of all of my most trusted and intimate relationships. I have made plenty of mistakes for which I’ve paid dearly, and I’ve had actions taken upon me that have left just as many marks. But it was through a series of steps towards recovery in the aftermath of someone else’s impacting decisions that tore my life apart where I began to understand that growth and acceptance can come from anywhere. I’ve been through things I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, but I’m glad some of them happened, because they became moments of introspection where I needed to whittle everything down to the basics and build myself back up with the spotlight of my caring, earnest, and worried friends cast on me - I needed to prove myself and earn my way into a new way of life, regardless of where that situation came from or how it came about. The cycles of manipulation and abuse continued to spin my trajectory and yet, with the hands of my friends who so often reached out, I was able to pull through and see the other side. In recovery from trauma I found a new lease on my existence and equanimity for so many roads I’d taken, so many lives I’d led, so many decisions I’d made, and so many times I’d considered what the cost and point and keeping up with trying even valued. It was my wake-up call and ironically something I’m honestly kind of glad went down. The cycle broke. Despite everything. No longer on the losing end - it was a miracle forged by extended hands. Mine became a game with no losers.

The resonance of these values and the wake and rebirth of these values and this lease on existence are found ubiquitously through the dynamic with the entire group of people I shared the experience of Higurashi When They Cry with. There is emanating selflessness and kindness and humility coming off of each of these people who I’m fortunate to have spent these 160 hours with - and knowing that this story and this experience left a lasting, profound impact on the group at large is something that is said without the need for words. There aren’t many times I can think of in my life where a totally world-altering experience like this that I’ve had has been shared with and immortalized with a group of people like this before, but it’s one of the most powerful feelings - or, perhaps waves of constant feeling - I’ve ever experienced. In a voice that speaks directly from screen to screen across over fifteen years, Ryukishi broke it down and provided the most succinct measures of our progress and our being to us - ours can be a game without losers; you don’t need to go to school, and it can’t teach you art; atonement is personal and internal first and foremost; your legacy isn’t defined by immediate attention to your craft; your communities and your relationships are your proof of your worth. All of these are takeaways we collectively needed to have and sit with. It’s a set of experiences which speaks to the heart of what our purpose in engaging with artwork as a collective is, with the people we do it with, the way we choose to do it. Atonement came and passed through this group all throughout the experience and continued to be a means for us to look towards our better selves - whether these were aspirations for the future or an unclouded look at what we already were.

Sitting at the heart of this story, or maybe more aptly, surrounding this story, is a girl in need of help. Her poems, her conversations, her defense mechanisms, her sifting of the fragments in search of her answer. She sits outside the realm of the fictional work of art she seeks desperately for her reflection in, still drowning in the drink of grief and isolation. Her eyes see only apathy and destitution - as she sees it, she was born into a life of constant sorrow and she might as well take the ride the ticket she was bought offers. She couldn’t possibly the hands she might’ve had extended to her, even as she watches Rika and Hanyū harden their resolve and attend their perfect June of 1983. When the show is over, when all is said and done, and even Takano gains a second chance, Bernkastel sits alone, staring at her reflection in the pool of wine and the fractals of art, fiction and life spread out on her empty floor. There came an understanding by the time Saikoroshi was said and done - for a moment, I was her. For just a slim period of time, I sat there, draped against the floor in her lonely witch’s lair, on the vast shores of destiny and causality, searching for myself. Higurashi When They Cry stared us both back in the face. The difference lies in my surroundings - my friends. My future. My willingness to change. My responsibility. My awakening. My atonement. The accompaniment of the keys to my next summer. My answer. Tears were shared, laughs were had, hugs and thanks and stories and reflections were made. A door to a brighter future, my true route, my perfect ending, was open. A fistful of fragments containing future lifelong memories, 160+ hours of intimate joy, mystery, grief, tears, smiles, gratitude, shock, pride, sorrow, and unending, limitless, borderless, time-transcending, and yes - miraculous love in hand; I clutch in my grasp my favorite period of my adult life, my now-most treasured and beloved work of fiction, and the most incredible experience this medium has yet to offer me, and with my other hand, I begin a daisy chain of holding hands, smiling through tears, from one friend to the next, hopefully reaching all the way from here to Hinamizawa, marching forever into the next perfect summer.

“The storyteller makes no choice;
Soon, you will not hear his voice.
His job is to shed light,
And not to master.”

An idea, a feeling and a parasite... what are their differences?

Putting ourselves in the shoes of flawed people who commit heinous acts, Higurashi seeks to elucidate their motives and justifications so that we build sympathy towards these characters, which shows us that the most difficult person to trust and forgive is ourselves.

A perfect world doesn't exist and shouldn't, living without sin is a sin in itself. So how can we seek forgiveness for our mistakes? What would guarantee us that? A miracle? A God? The time? No, but our own efforts.

We don't seek help for fear of getting hurt, because we think it's useless or because we think we need to deal with our difficulties alone, without depending on others or because we think we're a burden to someone. However, remember that asking for help is already an action in itself.

Thank you for everything and goodbye, Hinamizawa.

I could not imagine after playing chapter 1 that i would finish the eighth with a very different sight of the entire series.

This is a review of the Answer Arcs, again i did one for each chapter even if not that complete, but it's more like the series as a whole.

Higurashi is a series that changed a lot from the start to the end. Many people can be very upset about it, and they are not wrong (flashbacks of danganronpa v3). There are a lot of very big inconsistences or incomplete arcs, like characters being ignored, when they were very important before. So if your focus is in a entire well written storyline, you can be left dissapointed. Even with lots of highs and lows, it's was a reading i enjoyed.

Ryukishi07 said many times in the Staff Extras that his work it's to challenge you, the player, and try to create a world where the story can be made complete. All chapters are pieces of this big puzzle, and if you are not satisfied with the ending he gave, you can make your own, be it a good or a bad one. After all they been through i was happy with the ending, even if it's not that good in a objective sight.

Higurashi When They Cry is an experience that everyone who can endure almost 100 hours of text will like, less or more than me, or drop it after the first chapter. If you endure, i know there is something in this big puzzle that you will remember the series for. Be it happy, sad, angry, boring or epic moments, the memories will be there for you to create the perfect ending they deserve.

Con esto, después de casi 4 años de haber empezado al fin hoy he terminado el último capítulo y que decir? Mi opinión es una unpopular opinion pero que pienso de Higurashi? Especialmente de este answer arc?

Si como dije en mi review del question arc que era la parte más decente de Higurashi, el answer arc es la decadencia... Tenían tanto potencial para seguir con lo que habían planteado en el question arc, pero en vez de eso decidieron irse por algo totalmente diferente y escupiéndole a la cara a todos los que nos gustó el tono y ambiente de terror de la primera parte para pasar a ser una historia que de terror ya no tiene nada, lleno del poder de la amistad y cambio radical en la manera de pensar de los personajes y un guion sumamente hipócrita y hey, entiendo que cada persona tiene sus valores morales y manera de ver las cosas, pero al leer el guion de higurashi me doy cuenta de los valores morales de Ryukshi debido a que fueron metidos a la fuerza en Higurashi y eso hace que muchas de las acciones y las cosas que dicen los personajes caiga en la hipocresía o sin sentido.

Admito que los 2 últimos capítulos fue lo más decente del answer arc, pero en la recta final del ultimo capítulo todo volvió a decaer y se sintió un final tan artificial y vacío, siento que hubieran podido crear algo mucho mejor sin cambiar el desenlace final

Ni hablar de lo complejo y prostituido que esta franquicia (casi o más que Persona 5). Demasiados relanzamientos con nombres diferentes, cosas que se agregan, cosas que se quitan, spinoffs, historias expandidas, mangas, anime e incluso un puto gacha, en serio??? Y todo esto se debe a lo que más me desagrado de higurashi, el gimmic de que existen múltiples mundos y que nosotros solo vemos pocos de él... Como detesto eso, prefiero mil veces más que el mundo se desarrolle en uno solo porque al tener ese gimmic hace que los sucesos ocurridos en otros mundos sean intrascendentales o de plano no tengan el peso emotivo, puesto que al fin y al cabo puedes crear un nuevo mundo y listo.

Igualmente Higurashi fue una parte importante para mí, no recuerdo si fue la primera VN que empecé a leer, pero si no fue la primera entonces definitivamente fue la segunda y fue parte esencial para que de ahí en adelante las VNs fueran mi hobbie principal hasta el día de hoy, una lástima que al final se convirtiese en algo decepcionante para mi...

Para ir terminando solo dire que leanlo con el 07th. mod. No sé cómo Mangamer considera lo que hizo como un remake cuando en todos los sentidos es inferior a la versión lanzada hace casi 20 años para la ps2, especialmente en lo que respecta al estilo artistico el cual el de Mangamer es horrible (no me refiero a los originales, esos tienen su encanto, sino a los que crearon específicamente para esa versión. No se si se lo comisionaron a alguien occidental, pero incluso si fuese así hasta en latam tenemos a artistas pequeños que emulan mucho mejor el estilo japones), en cambio el que incluye el 07th. es hermoso

Volveré a leer alguna obra de Ryukishi? Ahh complicado... Normalmente cuando una obra no me convence simplemente no continuo con la saga o con las demas obras del autor, pero a pesar de que Higurashi fue un poco decepcionante, no niego que sea una obra objetivamente buena y si me interesa leer trabajos posteriores de Ryukishi para ver si encuentro algo que de verdad me llene personalmente. Con respecto al otro contenido de Higurshi si lo terminare de leer, al menos las VNs y el anime que funciona como secuela, pero los mangas y demás no lo haré... Ya llegué a este punto así que no terminar las demás obras sería un desperdicio, además de que si estuve leyendo en paralelo los Console Arcs y admito que algunos capítulos me gustaron más que la obra base, pero eso ya lo dejaré para el próximo año.

one of the most major artistic slam dunks ive witnessed yet in my short life. irons out every single unfortunate element of the question arcs, and has given me a story ill remember until the day i die. finally, a game to surpass toby fox's hit indie classic "undertale", in my estimation. i joke but the philosophy imparted in these answer arcs has noticably improved my life as of recent. im no longer scared to connect with people i felt i have severed the possibility to connect to. i wont push people away when i dont need to anymore. thank you, ryukishi07

ratings for each individual chapter

onikakushi: 9/10 (retroactively a 10 cause of tsumihoroboshi)
watanagashi: 9.5/10 (retroactively a 10 cause of meakashi)
tatarigoroshi: 10/10
himatsubushi: 9/10
meakashi: 11/10
tsumihoroboshi: 12/10
minagoroshi: 11/10
matsuribayashi: 10/10

one of the most profoundly empathetic, emotional, and beautiful pieces of art ever created. the earnest, genuine belief that everyone, no matter the sins accumulated in their lives, deserves redemption. that we need to strive to love, instead of hate. trust, instead of fear

the principle belief that happiness is a necessity