Umineko no Naku Koro ni is my second big, or I should rather say well-known, Visual Novel and I've finally finished every arc/story/episode in this collection and I have only one thing to say. This is probably the greatest story I've ever seen in any sort of media. I thought that I've found everything I could like at this point but I was wrong. Oh, I was so wrong. If "Higurashi" was an incredible story that actually made me there are amazing games within the Visual Novel genre with their own little quirks, then this game made it absolutely sure that I fall in love with the genre, or at the very least, Ryukishi07's writing.
My very first Visual Novel games were always just a casual read, just so that I can chill while playing some other video game. But the "When They Cry" series and in particular this game have proved me otherwise. Visual Novels are an incredible way to tell a beautiful story. And after playing this VN I can for most certaintly say: There's never going to be a story so heartbreaking, with characters so well-written, with music so captivating and enriching the experience in a such a way I never knew was possible, ever again. This is just how much I love this game.
And I just want to say what has probably been said thousands of times at this point. I think everyone should at least try and get themselves to try this VN. Absolutely. Everyone. Doesn't matter if you have experience or even know what "Higurashi" or "When They Cry" even is. You should at least this game a try.
Without love, it can not be seen...
My very first Visual Novel games were always just a casual read, just so that I can chill while playing some other video game. But the "When They Cry" series and in particular this game have proved me otherwise. Visual Novels are an incredible way to tell a beautiful story. And after playing this VN I can for most certaintly say: There's never going to be a story so heartbreaking, with characters so well-written, with music so captivating and enriching the experience in a such a way I never knew was possible, ever again. This is just how much I love this game.
And I just want to say what has probably been said thousands of times at this point. I think everyone should at least try and get themselves to try this VN. Absolutely. Everyone. Doesn't matter if you have experience or even know what "Higurashi" or "When They Cry" even is. You should at least this game a try.
Without love, it can not be seen...
Saku truly is the ultimate way to read umineko, but good luck with finding a way to play it in english unless you own an unpatched switch
I actually have almost no words to express how good of a story Umineko is, and maybe that's for the better considering the nature of this VN
First the obvious stuff, Amazing OST really solid and consistently good throughout it's entirety, amazing Voice Acting specially from BEATRICE's VA Sayaka Ohara.
Now comes the hard part of writing this, the actual mystery and "structure" of the story, also amazing the way it deceives but also leads the reader to the right direction when trying to discover the Truth, always giving not only to Battler but also to the reader new ways to tackle the various events to explain them without magic, and it's just so engaging even though there's no gameplay it's just you reading and viewing the story play out and it's all on you to figure out, to actually think and while it sounds like a pain it's done in a masterful way really and just really hooks the reader and when you do find It's just so satisfying and everything fits in so nicely.
Outside of the mystery there's it's main message of how important is the truth really and I think it's conveyed in a really nice way, and maybe I should stop writing here since if I go any further I might start spoiling the game.
And I think that's all I can say, while I have a lot to talk about it I would probably spoil some things here and there, but one last thing that I have to add is that one of the things that contributed to making me love this Visual Novel is how it tackles on the topic of perspectives with the multiple truths being able to coexist about a single event AKA Schrodinger's cat, theme that I'm obsessed with even though I don't really talk about it.
First the obvious stuff, Amazing OST really solid and consistently good throughout it's entirety, amazing Voice Acting specially from BEATRICE's VA Sayaka Ohara.
Now comes the hard part of writing this, the actual mystery and "structure" of the story, also amazing the way it deceives but also leads the reader to the right direction when trying to discover the Truth, always giving not only to Battler but also to the reader new ways to tackle the various events to explain them without magic, and it's just so engaging even though there's no gameplay it's just you reading and viewing the story play out and it's all on you to figure out, to actually think and while it sounds like a pain it's done in a masterful way really and just really hooks the reader and when you do find It's just so satisfying and everything fits in so nicely.
Outside of the mystery there's it's main message of how important is the truth really and I think it's conveyed in a really nice way, and maybe I should stop writing here since if I go any further I might start spoiling the game.
And I think that's all I can say, while I have a lot to talk about it I would probably spoil some things here and there, but one last thing that I have to add is that one of the things that contributed to making me love this Visual Novel is how it tackles on the topic of perspectives with the multiple truths being able to coexist about a single event AKA Schrodinger's cat, theme that I'm obsessed with even though I don't really talk about it.
Rating tsubasa, hane and saku, I'll review 1-8 once i finish the draft (never gonna happen) but i really want to go in depth with them.
The former 2 honestly have really good side stories and now that theyre voiced they got even more enjoyable.
Now saku is short but is such a great addition to the story that i cant help but feel it elevates it all even higher.
Theres an english translation for the switch version on github which has all of the main/side stories and most of saku translated, I manually translated the rest and would never do that again.
https://github.com/ooa113y/umineko-catbox-english/issues/3
The former 2 honestly have really good side stories and now that theyre voiced they got even more enjoyable.
Now saku is short but is such a great addition to the story that i cant help but feel it elevates it all even higher.
Theres an english translation for the switch version on github which has all of the main/side stories and most of saku translated, I manually translated the rest and would never do that again.
https://github.com/ooa113y/umineko-catbox-english/issues/3
This is logging for both Our Confession and Last Note without accounting for the rest of the story.
I was pleasantly surprised with both stories, much much moreso than half of Tsubasa and Hane. I never expected Last Note in particular to give closure to a character I believed never to be far far out of the realm of possibility towards being brought up again so boy that was a ton of bricks and a half. I've seen a few people describe it as "Ange's Saikoroshi" and I.... honestly feel that's an apt description, especially in terms of content. It manages to handle similar themes but in that same Umineko vein I'd come to expect from the series.
Our Confession was really cool, being that it was another possible fragment blatantly shown off... but what really made it tick for me was the meta conversation between /those two/ at the end. Not quite as thought provoking or emotional as Last Note, but still a worthwhile addition and read.
It's absolutely insane to me that after 4 and a half years after finishing Umineko I just so happened to finish Saku's side stories on October 4th after my reread and somehow that WASN'T a premeditated decision. Not only that, the 4 year anniversary since Ciconia Phase 1 (and Saku) was released as well. Only one conclusion can be drawn from this fact: Ryukishi if you don't give us news I will die I need it inject it into my veins my guy I'm fading ... slowly, slowly
I was pleasantly surprised with both stories, much much moreso than half of Tsubasa and Hane. I never expected Last Note in particular to give closure to a character I believed never to be far far out of the realm of possibility towards being brought up again so boy that was a ton of bricks and a half. I've seen a few people describe it as "Ange's Saikoroshi" and I.... honestly feel that's an apt description, especially in terms of content. It manages to handle similar themes but in that same Umineko vein I'd come to expect from the series.
Our Confession was really cool, being that it was another possible fragment blatantly shown off... but what really made it tick for me was the meta conversation between /those two/ at the end. Not quite as thought provoking or emotional as Last Note, but still a worthwhile addition and read.
It's absolutely insane to me that after 4 and a half years after finishing Umineko I just so happened to finish Saku's side stories on October 4th after my reread and somehow that WASN'T a premeditated decision. Not only that, the 4 year anniversary since Ciconia Phase 1 (and Saku) was released as well. Only one conclusion can be drawn from this fact: Ryukishi if you don't give us news I will die I need it inject it into my veins my guy I'm fading ... slowly, slowly
this release is the best umineko experience one can have
Gonna use here given it has contents of every Umineko arc
Then again, do I need to say anything? This is a masterpiece. Nothing to add, nothing to remove.
Then again, do I need to say anything? This is a masterpiece. Nothing to add, nothing to remove.
The best way to read Umineko by far.... If you can read Japanese.
The "new" Umineko Saku chapter is an ultimately short, but great addendum to the story that introduces a satisfying mystery. Solving this new game sheds some light into one often ignored aspect of the original narrative and it compliments it so well that it makes the original better in retrospect.
UPDATE: The mad lads actually released an English translation. If you have a hacked Switch, you should definitely read it. If you are on PC, well, I'd still recommend Umineko Project over this due to all the unfortunate changes in music and such, but for reading the side-arcs or if you just want the most complete single release, this is definitely the way to go.
https://github.com/andOlga/umineko-catbox-english
The "new" Umineko Saku chapter is an ultimately short, but great addendum to the story that introduces a satisfying mystery. Solving this new game sheds some light into one often ignored aspect of the original narrative and it compliments it so well that it makes the original better in retrospect.
UPDATE: The mad lads actually released an English translation. If you have a hacked Switch, you should definitely read it. If you are on PC, well, I'd still recommend Umineko Project over this due to all the unfortunate changes in music and such, but for reading the side-arcs or if you just want the most complete single release, this is definitely the way to go.
https://github.com/andOlga/umineko-catbox-english