Higurashi When They Cry Ch 1 | Original Artwork
The original artwork makes you appreciate how much effort they put into the new version.

One of the more interesting aspects of this sound novel is the art style. The difference between the backgrounds and the character art was a little incongruous. However, they do have the option of reverting back to the original art and then I saw what a large difference it made with the new one. So after that I kept with the new style and was very thankful for it when things got very serious. It definitely puts you much more into the mood they are trying to convey to not have quite so cutesy pictures talking about cold-blooded murder. But the backgrounds remain filtered pictures of a small mountain town in Japan. It was kind of fun, as an outsider, to see so many pictures of normal Japanese life, even if they were a bit fuzzy. So, overall, I ended up liking the art direction, even if it took a while to get used to. The sound effects were also quite nice, and though they were well done by quality, they were rather sparse throughout. One of my only major complaints is with the music. The music operates on a very short loop and so even within the relatively short length of this story, it can get really old. I honestly spent far more time with the music turned off and a fitting popular band (Tool was my primary choice. It’s that kind of story folks.) playing in the background instead.

Higurashi When They Cry Ch 1 | Bleak Story
It gets pretty gruesome here in this small town.

My other criticism for this title is a very personal one, so I will not take too much off of the score, but I need to say something about it because it ended up being my major takeaway from this whole experience. That criticism has to do with the story, but not in the actual quality or the translation. In fact, the quality of the story is above average, and the translation was extremely good, one of the better ones I have seen in the visual novel genre. This is a very old sound novel, having been originally released in 2002, so time has definitely helped the translators come up with a spot on interpretation. So my criticism doesn’t lie there; it is actually in the content.

You will notice in the above description that this title is marked as “all ages”. I really hesitated to put that there without a disclaimer. Frankly I would have much less problem with a teenager playing the latest eroge that I played (which was 18+) than I would with them playing this. This story features the death of teenagers described in gory detail, and it will still be called all ages as long as you don’t happen to show a female nipple while snuffing their life out. I have a personal problem with that. I do not blame MangaGamer for this. I know the system that they are operating in. But I cannot remain silent about it, both because it will never change if we stay quiet, and also because that ended up being my overriding feeling coming out of this experience. I’m not saying this shouldn’t exist, I was glad to experience this story, but this is far more adult in nature than showing nudity. Teenagers have sex, get used to that. I don’t want to ever be used to them killing each other, though. But I won’t go farther into it, this is a review, not an opinion piece.

Higurashi When They Cry Ch 1 | Tips
Tips will fill you in on some details glazed over in the main story.

Even if the overall experience was rather disturbing, it was still a worthwhile one to have. I am still definitely recommending this one to horror fans, and I’m also looking forward to (and dreading) the next chapter in this tale. It was actually longer than I expected a Chapter 1 to be, at around 7 hours. There is no more replay value to be had than there would be in re-reading a novel, something that I still routinely do, but when you finish you are given complete access to all the tips found in the game between each chapter, a chapter select (from the 12 available within this particular story), and a cast discussion of the events that occurred in the game. Rather small bonus features for a visual novel given that there are no CG or scene entries, no music tracks (not that I minded that much), or any other bonuses. But you still get your money’s worth, especially at $5.95 for this sound novel. Good luck finding a more entertaining way to spend 7 hours with that low of an entry fee. So if you are a fan of mystery and horror, or you want to find out whether you would be into that within this visual novel genre, this would be a good place to start. And then, if you find that you like it, there are still more chapters awaiting you already localized and published.

Review Score
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Review Copy Provided By Publisher

William Haderlie
Born in the 1970's, I've been an avid participant for much of video game history. A lifetime of being the sort of supergeek entrenched in the sciences and mathematics has not curbed my appreciation for the artistry of video games, cinema, and especially literature.