Last year, I finished Higurashi When They Cry after a 70-hour journey and mentioned that there were still some bonus arcs left.

Well, I kicked off October by playing through the first of those bonus stories, Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Rei.

Rei consists of three stories. The first is Saikoroshi, which serves as an epilogue to the main game. Having reached a happy ending in the previous chapter, Rika now ends up in a different world where everything is different from the world she knows.

I mentioned last year that the horror label no longer quite fit the later parts of Higurashi, and the same applies here, to an extent. Saikoroshi lacks the “spooky” sort of horror that best fits October and instead features a much more somber mood that could still be seen as a type of horror. Although I liked the happy ending of the main story, I appreciate what this epilogue does and the questions it raises about what makes one world happier than another.

The second part is Hirukowashi, in which two ancient magatama are accidentally released. The holder of one will fall in love with whoever picks up the second, so when Rena accidentally swallows the first one, comedy antics ensue. It’s ridiculous and entertaining, but it also includes something truly terrifying: mahjong.

Yes, when the final section of Hirukowashi featured an extended look at a mahjong match, with characters talking about who had various hands and when to call riichi and various mahjong strategies, it was like reading another torture scene.

I’m kidding. Mostly.

The third and shortest part is Batsukoishi, which is basically just the characters discussing detailed fanservice scenarios they’d like to put other characters into as part of the punishment games. I assume this would have felt more ecchi if it had the CGs from the console version, but I never modded Higurashi, so it was just reading stuff like “imagine her cleaning the window with her butt.” Maybe I shouldn’t have played this game for spooky month…

Anyway, Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Rei was a nice capstone to the Higurashi experience, albeit not much of a horror game. You know, except for the mahjong.

If you’ve played Rei, what did you think of it?

I know, I know, I once again waited a year before continuing Higurashi.

As September neared its end, I suddenly remembered my intention of finishing Higurashi before playing Silent Hill f… so what better way to start out Celebrating All Things Spooky than with Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 7: Minagoroshi?

When we last left off, Higurashi had once again played mind games with me by giving me an explanation that sounded legitimate but was just a little too convenient. This time, it stopped playing games and actually started answering questions.

Chapter 7 is mostly split between the viewpoints of Keiichi and Rika, and since Rika has been one of the most mysterious characters for a while now, that clarified a lot.

This was, surprisingly, one of the most upbeat Higurashi chapters for a good portion of time. It still had heavy themes, but it was going in a much more positive direction. Of course, the existence of an eighth chapter stopped me from getting too optimistic about how things would work out.

What stands out to me the most is how it answers questions that I’ve had ever since I played Chapter 1, mysteries that have been lurking in the back of my mind ever since. Getting answers after all this time was such a good feeling.

I don’t know how well the explanations in this chapter are generally received, but personally, I enjoyed it quite a bit. This was one of the craziest chapters to read, and I loved it.

The ending was so intense and exciting that I couldn’t stop playing it. I had to find out what was going to happen this time. And now that I’ve finished Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 7: Minagoroshi, I can’t wait to get into Chapter 8.

Seriously. No long wait this time. It’ll be soon, because I need to see the resolution.