I feel like writing at any kind of length on each Higurashi chapters will get more difficult as time goes on, but I'll try; Tatarigoroshi takes what's to love about both games - the slowly coalescing paranoia of Onikafushi and the familial/historical drama of Watanagashi and fuses them in a way that still manages to remain novel and poignant.

One thing I've noticed as I've gone through the first 3 chapters is the trajectory away from a complete reliance on the supernatural. Oyashiro and curses still exist in the game, no doubt, but the most arresting and horrifying moments gain that distinction by being entirely real things, terrible unspeakables that happen every day in the walls of homes like ours. Without going in-depth, Tatarigoroshi uses the low fantasy world of Higurashi to explore these themes in an intelligent and heart-wrenching manner.

One gripe I had with this chapter is the pacing is probably the worst of any Higurashi chapter thus far; when it's good it's GOOD, but the slice-of-life segments feel a lot less substantial than previous chapters and the transitions between various aspects of the story can sometimes just come off as purely coincidental, rushed or odd.