(Mhh... on the Sakutarō box, I believe you see it in an earlier episode, now that I think about it, but it's just some clever foreshadowing, as the topic is treated in Episode 4. In that case, my favourite scene is the very first instance of that background, when it's absolutely not commented on.)

Yes, I recently finished it again for the third time, with the company of my best friend. It was a very spread-out playthrough, as it took us two years to do the eight episodes.

Although I have an article half written for quite some time, I've never published anything about it yet, so excuse my random ramblings.

I really totally agree with your understanding of the game and the qualities you put forward! For me, it was a mystery game first – that's why I always gravitate around it and not Higurashi no naku koro ni – and I believe it's the most mature take on the Japanese detective fiction discourse. Although it's quite secondary in the narrative economy, so many references to classic works, both from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and the shin honkaku school, are sprinkled, more or less explicitly: I don't remember the episode, but you have this passage about the rules of detective fiction and they are talking about orthodoxy and kind of quoting the seminal Jūkakukan no satsujin. You won't see the reference if you are not familiar with it, but still. Solving the method of the crimes is also very clever and borrows elegantly from classic Holmes stratagems and shin honkaku's locked rooms. It was a treat to see my best friend that invested in solving them and breaking Umineko's greatest mystery by the middle of the fourth episode.

That's all well, but, as you mention, the crux of the matter is the characters. Even after solving the crime, there is still so much more to uncover and that's Ryukishi07's take of the genre. Contrary to a certain school of shin honkaku which argues that mystery is a mechanical puzzle to solve, Ryukishi07 reasserts that clever stratagems are still born from human minds, with their personalities, stories, desires and sufferings – a socially-minded approach we see thrust forward very convincingly nowadays, with Keigo Higashino as a spearhead. They are so many moments of delicate weakness and imperfection with Umineko's characters and it's hard to not empathise with them. I've grown even more fond of Natsuhi and Rosa, this time around, because they are just mothers trapped by love and unable to express it properly in the heaviness of post-reconstruction Japan.

It's first of all a story of love, as the game repeats so frequently and it never lies. It's a deep love for the human condition and the struggle to belong somewhere. That's why I absolutely love Episode 8 – perhaps my second favourite –, because of its representation of the audience. That's the beautiful counterpoint to the reception of shin honkaku: you are monsters if you are just here for the mystery. And this might have been very provocative by the time, but it's the observation shared by all the big modern shin honkaku writers. Kindaichi shōnen no jikenbo has fully embraced the social aspect in the 37-sai series, as did Q.E.D. from the very start. And in the case of Ryukishi07, it's obviously informed by his time as a social worker. I think (spoilers from here onwards) that my favourite scene from the entire series is in Episode 4 when, in the background, you see the box of Sakutarō plushies with Ange and that the game never overtly comments on it. It's heartbreaking, but Ryukishi07 doesn't judge Rosa for it. It's just here, a sad reality, but one you can twist your way, as you mentioned. And that's the greatness of magic.

When I was younger and really much into the puzzle aspect of mystery, I would have chosen the Trick Ending without hesitation every single time. It's the same for my best friend. But well, 'without love, you cannot see it'. Now that we are older, that we have seen what life is like, that we have cared for people that we will never meet again... It will always be the Magic Ending. The box doesn't need to be opened. It's just an everlasting memory for those who were brave enough to read Umineko and I don't even try to coax people into playing it. It's a slice of humanity, imperfect but inviolate, that I will keep with me forever.

About being able to play solo, note that the Duty Support that now encompasses all dungeons was only added relatively recently (6.1, if I remember correctly?) and you could wait in queue for up to thirty minutes, depending on the time of the day. Trials are not implemented in Duty Support, exception made of one particular instance. And this indeed kills the storytelling pace, especially as you are trying to run a full narrative arc (Level 70 Alliance Raids...). The game is still quite accommodating for solo players, but I believe you are right anyway.