laneyface
2017
Just wanna say that I dedicated myself to never allowing a single cent to be paid to this game on my half until they released the dragon ball skins and I had no other choice than to cave in. Idk how much I'm joking when I say this is the most fun I've had while playing a video game and that scares me
As of now, Ciconia is a fantastic representation of the "children shouldn't have to suffer because of the vendettas made by the generations before them" theme we see in When They Cry visual novels. It offers a variety of perspectives on gifted children programs, mental illness in response to military training, and the responsibilities we have to the countries we're born in. Despite having only one chapter as of now, Ciconia is incredibly captivating with a superbly diverse cast and beautifully tragic story. I'm always down for a story about how the military glamorizes itself to convince young people into enlisting and then forces them to fight battles that they'll never benefit from. Too bad the next part of this will probably release when I'm dead.
Without love, it can't be seen.
Where to even begin with Umineko. It shaped me in the most formative moments of my teenage years. It's stayed with me even as I'm now in my twenties. I cried for a full hour interrupted when I finished it for the first time. Ricordando il Passato and Thanks for Being Born are two of the greatest tracks produced for any series ever. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to say that an anime visual novel made me the person I am today?
Umineko is about love. Umineko is about generational trauma. Umineko is about forgiveness. Umineko is about how it's okay not to forgive. Umineko is about recovery. Umineko is about gender identity. Umineko is moving on. Umineko is about happiness. Umineko is about religion. Umineko is about what we have the right to know. Umineko is about understanding.
The most important thing Umineko tells us is that no matter what, giving up is the worst suffering you can impart onto yourself. Giving up is such a hopeless thing that it doesn't even qualify as losing. It's an apathetic cease of existence. No matter what, keep living. There will be someone out there who sees you for all your ugliness and decides to love you. There is no person so miserable that they can no longer obtain happiness. All it takes is two people. As long as two people can understand each other, the once small worlds we lived in can become so vast.
There are so many things I can say about Umineko. I can talk about the exhilarating mysteries and fights, I can talk about the captivating characters, I can talk about the beautiful soundtrack, I can talk about how much its shaped me. But really it's something you have to experience for yourself. The 120 hours is well worth it.
Where to even begin with Umineko. It shaped me in the most formative moments of my teenage years. It's stayed with me even as I'm now in my twenties. I cried for a full hour interrupted when I finished it for the first time. Ricordando il Passato and Thanks for Being Born are two of the greatest tracks produced for any series ever. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to say that an anime visual novel made me the person I am today?
Umineko is about love. Umineko is about generational trauma. Umineko is about forgiveness. Umineko is about how it's okay not to forgive. Umineko is about recovery. Umineko is about gender identity. Umineko is moving on. Umineko is about happiness. Umineko is about religion. Umineko is about what we have the right to know. Umineko is about understanding.
The most important thing Umineko tells us is that no matter what, giving up is the worst suffering you can impart onto yourself. Giving up is such a hopeless thing that it doesn't even qualify as losing. It's an apathetic cease of existence. No matter what, keep living. There will be someone out there who sees you for all your ugliness and decides to love you. There is no person so miserable that they can no longer obtain happiness. All it takes is two people. As long as two people can understand each other, the once small worlds we lived in can become so vast.
There are so many things I can say about Umineko. I can talk about the exhilarating mysteries and fights, I can talk about the captivating characters, I can talk about the beautiful soundtrack, I can talk about how much its shaped me. But really it's something you have to experience for yourself. The 120 hours is well worth it.
This review contains spoilers
It's not just a horror visual novel where they all suffer.
Higurashi has some of the best, most dread inducing horror scenes I've ever seen in any horror media- visual novel or no. Ryukishi07 uses the storytelling of unreliable narrators as an avenue to make his audience understand the full force of the mental distress the characters are experiencing. Without us recognizing it, we're sympathizing with Keiichi while he murders his friends. We're sympathizing with Shion while she kills her grandmother. We're sympathizing with Rena while she's killing two people. Higurashi, ultimately, is a story of understanding. Higurashi devotes itself to the simple lesson "when you're going through something and having extreme thoughts, talk to someone about it" and operates with it on such a complex, relatable, and emotional level. It subverts it's horror elements and, despite the grizzly experiences the characters go through, pursues a happy ending. I couldn't think of a better outcome for this story. To say "they made a miracle happen and got a happy ending" is such an optimistic and pleasantly childish way of describing a horror story- but it operates well with the series. Because they are children. Because there's nothing wrong with children finding happiness, no matter their background. Because children shouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to be happy. Because children should be allowed to have miracles.
Good fucking vn.
Higurashi has some of the best, most dread inducing horror scenes I've ever seen in any horror media- visual novel or no. Ryukishi07 uses the storytelling of unreliable narrators as an avenue to make his audience understand the full force of the mental distress the characters are experiencing. Without us recognizing it, we're sympathizing with Keiichi while he murders his friends. We're sympathizing with Shion while she kills her grandmother. We're sympathizing with Rena while she's killing two people. Higurashi, ultimately, is a story of understanding. Higurashi devotes itself to the simple lesson "when you're going through something and having extreme thoughts, talk to someone about it" and operates with it on such a complex, relatable, and emotional level. It subverts it's horror elements and, despite the grizzly experiences the characters go through, pursues a happy ending. I couldn't think of a better outcome for this story. To say "they made a miracle happen and got a happy ending" is such an optimistic and pleasantly childish way of describing a horror story- but it operates well with the series. Because they are children. Because there's nothing wrong with children finding happiness, no matter their background. Because children shouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to be happy. Because children should be allowed to have miracles.
Good fucking vn.
2001
When I finished this game for the first time I walked into the kitchen and just felt sad standing there by myself. Good story. Pyramid Head is fine.
2011
I have like a -80 win streak on this fuckass game and I keep coming back like it's my toxic high school ex.