Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Oct 252021
 

I’ve been meaning to try Higurashi When They Cry for a long time, ever since I picked up the first five chapters in a visual novel bundle ages ago.

It’s intimidating to get into since it’s so long in its entirety, but I decided the time had come to play at least the first chapter.

Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.1 Onikakushi, which is currently free, starts with a boy who has recently moved to a small, rural town and is enjoying life there with his new friends.

In addition to this entry being the first chapter of the larger story, it is divided into chapters itself, which made it easy for me to keep saying I’d just read one more chapter.

The first part of the story is lighthearted and pleasant, and it lasts much longer than you might expect for a horror story. This is slow-burn horror for sure. There are a few hints that something darker might lurk beneath the surface, but then after a certain point in the story, everything changes.

As creepy things start to happen, it gets more and more unsettling, with a bit of that sense of paranoia I so enjoyed in Chaos;Head (although not to the same extreme).

The end left me questioning what really happened, and I can’t wait to see what will happen in the later chapters. Is something supernatural at work or not? What is this leading up to?

I understand the first few chapters stand somewhat on their own, although they build on one another. I hadn’t intended to play all of the chapters back-to-back, but with how intrigued the end of Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 1 left me, I might not wait too long after all.

  5 Responses to “Celebrating All Things Spooky: Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 1”

  1. So how long is each chapter, approximately? Are they treated as basically separate games? I’ve heard good things about this series for a while too.

    • Looking online, it seems like each is roughly 8-10 hours long, a little shorter or a little longer depending on the chapter and how fast you read. (Chapter 1 took me about 6 hours, but I tend to read fast, especially since I didn’t mod it to get the voice acting from the console version.)

  2. […] you remember my review of the first chapter of Higurashi last year, you’ll know why I’m excited. Ryukishi07 is most famous for Higurashi and […]

  3. […] enjoyed it quite a bit and mentioned at the end that I might not wait long before starting the second […]

  4. […] far, each chapter of Higurashi has felt quite different. The first episode was a slow build-up to intense paranoia. The second episode played out like a mystery, with […]

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