Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.6 Tsumihoroboshi 14th Aug, 2005 07th Expansion. Genre: Adventure, Visual Novel. Higurashi When They Cry is a. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai: Original title: ひぐらしのなく頃に解: Aliases: Higurashi Kai, When They Cry 2, Higu2: Length: Very long ( 50 hours) Developer: 07th Expansion: Publishers: 07th Expansion & Alchemist & Seams & Kaga Create Co. & MangaGamer & Entergram, Inc. Hinamizawa Club & MangaGamer & Seams & 07th-Mod Pbsaffran-07.
Title | Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.6 Tsumihoroboshi |
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Developer | 07th Expansion |
Publisher | MangaGamer |
Release Date | June 14th, 2018 |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Platform | PC, MAC |
Age Rating | N/A |
Official Website |
Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.6 Tsumihoroboshi (boy that’s a mouthful), is the latest chapter of the Higurashi When They Cry Hou series. These are based off the original Higurashi When They Cry series of visual novels, that have received a whole new translation and various other upgrades. The thought of playing the VN’s had crossed my mind from time to time, seeing as I’m a fan of the anime series, but now I’m finally getting to jump in head first. So was this game all I thought it would be?
Well, let’s get a negative out of the way first. Let’s just say I’m really glad that I got to play this game with the updated sprites. I think they’re a vast improvement over the previous character models that I’d seen while looking at the improvements. They look closer to their anime counterparts, and are much more visually appealing. I also have a problem with the UI, but that could be more of a personal problem as I don’t like the UI of most Visual Novels. To me it looks bland and kind of lifeless. The text is big and easy to read, but the UI itself just looks generic and uninspired. What doesn’t look bad, however, are the backgrounds. As a huge horror fan, I was really drawn in by how the background sets the mood of the VN perfectly. I don’t know the technical terms of it, but the blurred and kind of scratchy backgrounds are perfect for setting the mood of something like this. It gives the sense of calmness, with just that tinge of unease and I really have to applaud them for that. I don’t have much else to say in this department, the art is really good and the background work really is something to behold for a horror fan such as myself. I would just highly recommend keeping the updated models on.
Speaking of my inner horror fan loving something, let’s talk about the sound design. Higurashi When They Cry has been described as a “sound novel”, meaning it relies heavily on its sound effects and music as opposed to having voice acting. I have a love/hate relationship with this style. Sometimes it’s used really well, but others it’s just assaulting my ears with random explosions and screeching noises. I think Higurashi When They Cry Hou hits almost a good blend, though it does tend to be a bit much after a while. However, the music is really top notch. Especially anything with a synth and a guitar, those are especially top notch. I definitely recommend playing this game (as well as most horror games) with headphones on for the best experience. The daunting tones will really get to you after a while.
The mechanics are pretty simple here so I won’t go into too much detail. You don’t have choices, so it’s a very linear game and most of the time you’ll just be reading. The game supports four different resolutions with up-scaling: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, and full screen. However, since this is an older title, all of them will be in a 4:3 aspect ratio. You can hide the UI and text at will and this leads to some really nice capture moments. It’s a serviceable UI which, while looking a little boring, does the job it’s intended to do quite well. There are very few, if any, typos and everything looks to be working as intended.
Finally we get to the story which, to be honest, was the hardest part for me. I hadn’t played the other titles, I just watched the anime. So I had to do a bit of research from people who had previously played the other parts. Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.6 Tsumihoroboshi is an answer arc, as the whole series is split into a series of question and answer arcs. This arc is the answer arc to the first arc Onikakushi-hen. Comparing it to the anime, it seems to be a little more tame, at least this arc, though it does have some fun twists and turns that I never saw coming. You follow Keiichi Maebara, a new kid in Hinamizawa, and his group of friends in 1980s Japan. Every four years, one person is murdered and one person goes missing just before the Watanagashi Festival. It’s a really interesting story that has a few genuinely good surprises in it. I really enjoyed my time with the game.
After playing for roughly 10ish hours, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game. There isn’t much in the way of replay value since the game is very linear, but that’s in no way a detriment to the game. For about $4 a chapter you get 10+ hours of enjoyment per chapter. If you ask me, I’d definitely try to get into this series if you can. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some catching up to do.
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Overall |
Review copy provided by the publisher
After waiting a year of “TLC and editing” and a month for the mod to be updated, it’s finally here!
Higurashi: When They Cry Hou Chapter 6 – Tsumihoroboshi Review
Platform: PC
Developer: 07th Expansion
Publisher: MangaGamer
Platform: PC
Developer: 07th Expansion
Publisher: MangaGamer
For those unfamiliar with the series, Higurashi centers around Hinamizawa, a mysterious remote Japanese village with dark origins that also serves as a den for supernatural and suspicious activity that is gradually revealed and expanded upon. With each game in the series being a unique scenario that follow the same general events, characters, but with plot points, concepts, and protagonists shift around with each installment. The majority of which begin with a far more innocent and fun vibe that is sharply changed into a more dark and more dismal one during the latter half of the story, when the carefree summer days of the main characters take a turn for the worse.
Tsumihoroboshi serves as the second in a series of “answer” scenarios that aim to explain and detail the true origins and ramifications seen in the first four installments. Though, unlike the fifth chapter, Meakashi, Tsumihoroboshi does not really follow or reinterpret an existing scenario. Instead it crafts a unique tale that offers insight into the psyche of the enigmatic Rena Ryuga. Detailing her background and general history while also constructing a tale rich with paranoia and suspense, in a move that harkens back to the very first scenario, Onikakushi, in many ways.
What ensues is a spirally conspiracy driven story that hops around between a series of perspectives, most notably those of the original protagonist Keiichi and Rena herself, as new information is learned about many pre-existing factors all through a story punctuated by a slew of compelling twists that go to introduce and advance the greater narrative of the series. Maya 2017 for mac crack. All while on its own easily being among the better entries in the series thus far, with a number of excellent character moments and a steady pace that does not dilly dally too long with anime style shenanigans. Before culminating in an ending chapter that represents just about everything good and wonderful about this series in one concise adrenaline and emotion filled package.
If it sounds like I’m gushing about this game, it’s because I genuinely loved seeing the story progress, and how I cannot really think of any major gripes or hang-ups I have with this specific chapter. Sure, not everything from Onikakushi is explained in detail, it weirdly insists that late June is not a part of summer, and the story does introduce a lot of concepts that are clearly red herrings of sorts meant to mislead the audience prior to the final chapters. But there was no malicious child abuse, questionable sister complexes, frustratingly paced twists, or anything comparable to the hang-ups I had with earlier installments.
In fact, the game in certain ways feels like a culmination of everything that came before it with not only a number of call backs and references, but as a sequel, despite not following the same “canon” as the previous entries. One of the things that I love the most about sequels is their ability to call back and play with concepts introduced in prior installments, referencing or even subverting them in order to create a more interesting interconnected story that offers the audience a unique perspective.
My favorite example of how this is implemented, and the most obvious one, regards the five main characters. They had been through a lot in the prior games, and that is reflected here with their bonds having been hardened greatly and put to the test in a story that, at least partially, is about the bonds one forms and the power of friendship in a way that is considerably less cheesy and more heartfelt than it might sound. Furthermore, at this point I believe that both the original writer and the translation team for Higurashi really began hitting their stride, with the writing on display being at a higher level than prior entries, and the composition of certain scenes being exceptional.
Moving on, as has been established in prior reviews, Higurashi is technically known as a sound novel, which is basically a visual novel with a lighter emphasis on the visuals, as the original release of the game consisted of expressive yet amateurishly drawn sprites for the main characters, blurred photo backdrops, and a lot of black screens. Alternate sprites are made available for the western releases by MangaGamer, featuring newly drawn sprites by an artist known as Kurosaki. I personally do not care much for the glossy look many of these sprites have, the and the more exaggerated features some of them, as if the artist was trying to give the characters more sex appeal, which is a very odd choice considering how little sexualization is in the series itself.
Personally, I prefer to play these games using the 07th Mod, a tool that effectively turns the PC version of Higurashi into the more recent Playstation 3 (and Switch) release, which features a 1080p resolution, new anime-esque sprites, new backgrounds, CG artwork for specific scenes, and full voice acting for every character. It’s Japanese voice acting, obviously, but the experienced voice cast is able to bring the cast to life with each line, and it goes a long way to improving the overall atmosphere.
Since its inception, the mod has undergone numerous changes and improvements, with the more recent releases going so far as to introduce lip synching and a new visual perspective that is akin to a more traditional visual novel. I actually found this traditional look to be quite beneficial for dialog scenes, with it including names of the speakers and offering a better view of the characters. Though for a lot of lengthy exposition or monologue scenes, I prefer the original sound novel style presentation.
As the screenshots show, I am quite fond of this alteration as it places a great emphasis on the newer assets, though I am a bit bummed that the mod now switches between the HD and Kurosaki art instead of the HD and original art. I liked being able to switch over to see the potato people sprites from the original release, if only because it was interesting to see how the game’s presentation was updated over time. Also, the original sprites are cute.
![Watanagashi Watanagashi](https://cdn.steamgateways.org/668350/ss_77b7c9aa4af40951586f861be7c64a9d0a8c476e.600x338.jpg?t=1552080371)
Higurashi When They Cry Hou
Carrion: deluxe edition download free. Regarding the soundtrack, the Higurashi series is one that has regularly improved on the audio front as time went on and new tracks were introduced. This mentality is continued with Tsumihoroboshi, though in doing so many of the happier and more iconic tracks of this series has seemingly been replaced with ones that better support the more dour and dire storyline that is being told here. They, much like the voice acting, do an excellent job at elevating the atmosphere and general feel of the game.
Higurashi Watanagashi
Through its highs and relative lows, the Higurashi series has found numerous ways to impress me over the years I have been reviewing the recent western releases, and Tsumihoroboshi is likely my favorite entry in the series thus far. With an intriguing and suspenseful story held up high by a cast of well established characters, filled with many excellent moments and gripping reveals that left me eager to see things through to the end. All of this, paired with the presentational enhancements of the 07th Mod, I can safely say that I am excited to see how the initial saga concludes with the next two scenarios. Hopefully they won’t take a full bloody year to come out…