First 50:51. Akumajō Dracula (Famicom Disk System)
52. Castlevania (NES)
53. Classic NES Series: Castlevania (Game Boy Advance)
54. Guardian Heroes (Xbox Live Arcade)
55. Metal Slug (Neo Geo MVS)
56. Metal Slug 2 (Neo Geo MVS)
57. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo MVS)
58. Soul of Darkness (DSiWare)
59. Code of Princess (3DS)
60. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
61. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
62. The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bōken (Famicom Disk System)
63. Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC)
64. Shan Gui (Steam)
65. Space Fury (ColecoVision)
66. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle (ColecoVision)
67. Gateway to Apshai (ColecoVision)
68. MURI (Steam)
69. Pink Hour (Steam)
70. Pink Heaven (Steam)
71. Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet (Steam)
72. Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (Steam)
73. Haunted House (Atari 2600)
74. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
75. Alien (Atari 2600)
76. Xenophobe (Xbox - Midway Arcade Treasures 2)
77. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600)
78. Ghost Manor / Spike's Peak (Atari 2600)
79. Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi (Steam)Higurashi is a massive murder mystery media franchise that began with visual novels and later branched to manga, anime, non-VN video games, and a live action adaptation.
My first exposure to the series came some years ago, through the manga. The plot (of which the VNs and manga are identical, naturally) involves a high schooler named Keiichi who moves to a sleepy Japanese hamlet in 1983. He befriends four young ladies and seemingly leads quite an idyllic life. However, on the eve of the town's annual festival it's revealed to Keiichi that one person is murdered and another goes missing each time the festivities are held. The sources of the murders and abductions are unknown, some claim supernatural forces while others suspect the villagers themselves. In the days that follow Keiichi's friends begin to exhibit some bizarre behavior, which causes him to believe his very life may be in danger.
What's interesting is that the story (the
entire Higurashi story, not just the plot of this particular game) is told in "arcs." The tale resets each time and is retold from another's perspective, and slowly more details appear to be revealed. I lost interest in the manga after 15 volumes or so, as the plot became absurd, nonsensical, and contradictory. So why bother with this game? Well, because I found the manga to be fairly gripping at its onset and assumed the game would follow suit.
Which it mostly does. Once things get rolling the game becomes downright terrifying, and I found myself plowing through the final cluster of scenarios to see what truths would be revealed (even though I semi-remembered). That said, the game starts off
extremely slowly. The amount of character development is insane. You see the kids interacting normally - playing cards, hunting for treasure, joking around... for like five hours. Yeah, unfortunately only about a third of the game is truly compelling. The rest is just fluff - sure, getting to know the characters is essential but having the contents of their bento boxes described in such excruciating detail made me want to pound my head against a wall.
Some call this a "sound novel" rather than a visual novel, as the art is rather static and more emphasis is placed on soundtrack and general atmosphere. The music is absolutely gorgeous - I love the dark ambient pieces that play during the scary parts and the dull "kids clowning around" stretches were made almost bearable by the upbeat piano tracks. There are also stretches without music, with just the creepy cricking of cicadas to foreshadow certain doom. There is no voice-acting whatsoever, probably for the best.
The visuals are interesting, to say the least. The backgrounds are intentionally vague - almost like impressionist paintings - which mesh nicely with the cryptic nature of the story. The character artwork has been redone for this Steam port (the game was originally released in '02) and it looks fairly competent. Everyone is well-drawn and has several outfits/poses. You can also revert back to the original dōjin soft art which is absolutely wacky looking, with the characters all possessing huge hands and other distorted features. Here's a new vs. old artwork comparison:
There's a problem with the game text itself. It's screen-filling (covers the characters) and there's no indication as to who is saying what. Yeah, sure, I could generally deduce this based on context but it did get confusing when three or four people were conversing. To add to the chaos, the narrating character is switched at one point in the story, and the "bonus chapter" is told in the third-person! The writing (or the translation, really) is weaker than what I remember from the manga. The main narrator (Keiichi) comes across as arrogant and less sympathetic here. And there's thesaurus abuse at every corner. At one point Keiichi comments on the "verdant expanse." No, it's not a verdant expanse. It's the fucking woods.
Overall, a mixed bag. Once the story actually picked up I loved it. But the aforementioned slowness and interface issues will certainly bother some. I may check out the second installment (as I already bought it) but seeing this story through to the end likely isn't in the cards.
