Still holds up.

Takurou is the funniest dude, highly recommend inspecting everything early on for his descriptions/random bullshit he does.

There being actual adult women with adult problems, completely unrestrained from typical modern-day eroge, is refreshing and can't be understated.

QOL improvements are also appreciated, the original seems like an absolute nightmare to work through without a walkthrough. You can still play in classic mode, though.

Also just cool to see how this would influence stuff like To Heart and ONE, with both of them adding fantasty/scifi elements on top.

Edit: YOU CAN CUCK YOUR FRIEND/BE CUCKED DEPENDING ON YOUR CHOICES. KINO.

EDIT: DO NOT USE THE SCENARIO JUMP, YOU WILL MISS A LOT OF SMALL MOMENTS THAT ADD TO THE CHARACTERS

I've been obsessed with this series since I was 13, starting with the anime, then MangaGamer's original translation, then waiting on the slow releases of the re-translations. Heck, I even had Daybreak on PSP, a fighting game that features Higurashi's main cast, and it was dope as hell.

Literally no complaints, i've even come to love the flaws and think it's part of the doujin charm. I love the lore of the village, every single character, everything is just so fleshed out like nothing else I've seen. Hinamazawa feels like a living, breathing wolrd. I could feel the cold air conditioning in Ooishi's car, the hair raising chilliness of the shrine..just chef's kiss Splended use of sound direction The way Ryukishi utilizes the Key formula in the first half of the game except replacing the romance aspects with more denpa-ish aspects, is just...it works so well.

Of course, things change rapidly in Kai, the horror takes more of a backseat in favor of Ryukishi's worldview, which some may find cheesy and overly shounen-esque, but I honestly love it.

Ignoring my raving and how I personally love everything about it, some things people find flaws in the game is Ryukishi's nature to constantly repeat himself/hammer a single theme in to the point of redundancy, which is valid but like...he does it far worse in Umineko, he's definitely getting worse at it as he gets older, if Ciconia is anything to go by.

Anyway, 10/10 Please read

One of the most cozy games of all time. Lovely characters, simple but enjoyable story, and one of my favorite VN soundtracks I've listened to. A perfect game for a rainy day.

Maeda's routes are a mixed bag with his usual faults, but the world view of the Eternal World is solid and results in some wonderful monologues from Kouhei, the protagonist.

Hisaya's are the best part, especially Misaki and Akane's, the latter of which I think should be saved for last.

The PS1 exclusive heroine now has her route translated, too -- it's not very good but it's cool to finally read ONE's dark history.

>be mion
>win popularity poll
>have no merch

welp

Edit: I added some details about bad reads on this game if you'd like to spoil yourself

Solid little horror work with a neat gimmick and top-tier voice acting. Deals with similar themes and concepts that you'd expect from 07th Expansion works, and unlike prior console release games written by Ryukishi -- this one is actually technically a proper 07th Expansion title.

It's extremely evident Ryukishi worked closely with the sound design and with the facial expressions seen in the game, which are brought perfectly to life by Itaru's wonderfully cute artwork. The two are really an ideal pairing and I hope they work together again in the future.

Also, this has the added benefit of not having the same bloated content as his WtC games or RGD, with each "round" only being around 30 minutes or so long.

The setting is essentially a vehicle for the girls to have heated conversations with each other until they show their hidden feelings for each other, all of which is brought to life via the stellar performances and art direction. There's also plenty of SoL flashback scenes where you get to see the girls interact in a less constricting environment

As for gender roles, it's very in line with with his previous works with very stereotypical, almost old-timey traits (Remember Umineko's whole white horse deal with Battler?)

I think it's very exaggerated and misconstrued, but Umineko fans be like that /shrug

tl;dr: Pretty neat, albeit kinda gimmicky game about girls trapped in a death game. Anyway, cool game!

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Spoilers from this point about bad reads on the game
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A major plot point in this game is completely misconstrued in an attempt to smear it as an awful, nasty little transphobic game, but it feels like a complete misinterpretation of the work.

A center theme is that women/girls are not this idealized, pure image that many men have.
The character this relates to most, being one of the biggest spoilers in the game, relates to the mysterious boy character. This character, who we later learned in named Sora, spent some time with all the main girls and grew close. Being around them he came to a misunderstanding about these girls, in that they are pure beings incapable of anything that isn't butterflies and sunshine. This misunderstanding/idealition leads Sora to wishing for this world he's imaged in his head -- the world of girls.

Things get a bit muddier her, but it's important to realize Sora's wish doesn't come from a place of dysphoria, or even gender dysmorphia -- but under the false pretense that women and girls do not fight or have conflict, that they are always happy and get along, unlike men who only fight. There isn't a crises of gender identity or anything actually associated with the aforementioned. Realizing that is a must.

The work is essentially a criticism of narrowminded views on women, from certain men. The idea is that women are just as complicated, hence the "Kaleidoscope" that Ryukishi beats you over the head with.

Also, the conversation in which most of this happens in is such a batshit setting piece

Basically, Gerosaku is a greatly misunderstood work, that likely had its reputation due to bad reads.
I think if you've enjoyed the themes and elements of his previous work, you'd probably like this.