Hello everyone, I’m back, finally after one month and 4 days, I finished Umineko no Naku Koro ni + no Naku Koro ni Chiru, it was something…no words to describe it, so before I’ll make my full detailed review (Whom I’ll keep spoilers free for those who haven’t read it yet) I’ll write my statistics that I have been keeping track of:
KEEP IN MIND that when I refer to VN or game, I mean both Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru, they are one, just the games seperated but they are one VN and one story
Game: Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry / When they Cry 3) + Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru (When the Seagulls Cry “Breakdown” / When they Cry 4) [I consider them both a single game so the statistics are for both]
Status: Completed
Day started/Day finished: 14 June 2019 to 18 July 2019 (1 month and 4 days)
Time spent playing/reading (Pure playing time): 210 hours 00 mins apx [(+/-)1 hour]
Time spent playing/reading (Based on each episode):
E1: 27h00mins apx // E2: 23h20mins apx //
E3: 27h15mins apx // E4: 31h10mins apx //
E5: 26h30mins apx // E6: 25h15mins apx //
E7: 24h40mins apx // E8: 24h50mins apx
Average playtime (Hours per 1 day): 4-5 hours/day [Monday to Friday] // 6-8 hours/day [Weekend]
That’s all for the statistics I have, if I miss any information you guys would like to know, do not hesitate to tell me about it, I’ll answer anything.
So I’ll start on my review right away
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If you haven’t started reading this VN then you need to read it by all means, I still remember my friend when he told me that “I’m in for a treat”, now that I finished and I’m currently writing this, I realize that he was more then just right, I never thought that a visual novel do make you think, think, truly a masterpiece deserving of “Best Visual Novel I’ve played up till now” (I do have alot of VNs still unread yet so I’m sure it might change, or it might not hehe) so I’ll be counting on it, back on topic, let’s start talking about the things that still now captivate me:
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And I thought the Nakige genre was an Exclusive to KEY (Well it still is) but…
When I hear the word “Nakige” I automatically think of KEY, after all, before now, only KEY VNs made me cry (A grown man needs to cry at least once) or having my spine shiver, but in Umineko’s case, I definitely cried and not just one, 3 times (I believe those who read it will guess which scenes I’m talking about), while Little Busters made me cry 5 times (4 during Refrain alone) but to think I started shedding tears, I was shocked, in other words:
DON’T be tricked by the first impression of the VN, the depths of this VN are indescribable and so Nakige while it’s not mentioned, it is so hidden and will surprise you and throw you into the depths of the feels, this is one thing of many things that made me so hooked up in it that I forget time when I read (A trait by an avid reader such as myself)
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A VN that makes you think, not only reading but also using your head, that’s something uncommon or I could say rare in VNs
As I said, this VN is not like your average VN where you just read the story, enjoy it and after finishing it, you throw it away and let it gather dust, (A line from Umineko itself hehe and I’m not that kind of person) this one lets you think, after all, it has alot of genre combined in one VN, truly the thing I was looking for, plus you’ll expect alot of riddles (Not easy ones, I guarantee it) and alot of reasoning, you won’t be just reading, you’ll be reasoning aswell, who did what, how is it possible, in other words:
You’re not just a reader, you’re a player yourself inside the VN and you are fighting aswell so prepare yourself and your mind because you will truly enter another world
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The core is “Mystery” but also “Fantasy”, these two genre while they appear contradicting each other, they’re in sync
I used to adore books about Police series and detective novels when I was young, this VN reminded me of that sensation I experienced in my childhood and it brought a new sensation of having Fantasy and Mystery together (Or not hehe) so expect the battle between these two genres to reign in this game, it makes you think about crimes, whodunit, howdunit, whydunit (I knew these terms even before reading Umineko), it’s like solving a riddle but a much more complex one, also I should mention the Battle of Wits, I enjoy them so much so you guys are in for a treat (Said it again hehe!! )
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Romance, while it’s present, unlike other VNs, it is more like the close companion to the Hero of a RPG game
That’s my own analogy of how the Romance genre is in this VN, it is a main genre, yet also a secondary genre, something most people will say, how can this can be ? of course over the course of playing the game, one time It looked like Romance is the main genre, next hour, it feels like a lie, it was so thrilling that I didn’t care at all, just focused on reading because it’s useless to think about it
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This one is so important, it’s the soundtrack
I will proudly say it as my opinion and I’m sure people will agree with me: Umineko (Both games) have the BEST soundtrack or BGM ever in not only Visual Novels but all games ever, it should be known that this VN is a soundnovel meaning that the soundtrack or BGM does reflects the story (Or more precisely the current scene in which the soundtrack is playing), while most VNs have awesome and great BGMs, this one overtops them all, by listening to a soundtrack, you will forget everything and focus on the scene, that I can certainly say it, I even have the BGM of both games in my smartphone so I can keep enjoying it, salute to Dai, xaki and all of the composers and I can’t wait to see them in Ciconia no Naku Koro ni (When they Cry 5)