MangaGamer announced the first chapter ofHigurashiis now free on Steam until a Covid-19 vaccine is found. Chapters 2 to 4 are also 75% off until July 14. This is a great occasion to discover a classic franchise that heavily influenced Japanese pop culture. If you’ve enjoyedDoki Doki Litterature Club, I urge you to try outHigurashias well, as it’s typically the kind of game that’s been doing whatDDLCdid since decades ago, and better.
Higurashi no Naku Koro niis originally a series of horror Visual Novels (technically the term used in Japan is Sound Novel) and it’s the first part of theWhen They Cryseries. The very firstHigurashigame/Chapter,HigurashiOnikakushi, was released by 07th Expansion at Comiket 62 in August 2002, and it became a cultural phenomenon.Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Houis a new version on Steam by MangaGamer, with a different character design than the original ugly but poignant illustrations by main author Ryukishi07.
New artwork in the MangaGamer version at the left, original artwork by Ryukishi07 at the right.
Higurashialready got multiple anime adaptations. A first anime season of 26 episodes aired in 2006, and a second season of 24 episodes aired in 2007. These two anime seasons adapted the 8 original games/Chapters of the visual novel series. I highly recommend getting into the series with the game instead though.
A brand newHigurashianime remake will also start in July 2020.You can read more details here.It’s likely it’ll be better than the previous anime, seeing Ryukishi07 was this time heavily involved with the animeâs scenario.
Moreover, the Japan-exclusive version ofHigurashi no Naku Koro ni Houon PS4 is fully voiced and includes the eight original Chapters plus the many other side stories released over the years. It’s the ultimate version ofHigurashi.The game is also available on Switch but is missing one Chapter compared to the PS4 version.
Higurashiis the first part of theWhen They Cryfranchise. The second part ofWhen They Cry,Umineko, is also available in English on Steam.An ultimate version ofUminekocontaining every single arcis also coming to PS4 and Switch in Japan but has no release date yet.It’s titledUmineko no Naku Koro ni Saku: Nekobako to Musou no Symphony.
Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion are currently working on the third part of theWhen They Cryseries, titledCiconia.The firstCiconiagame is available on Steam.Ciconiaisscheduled to be four games in total,and the second oneshould release sometime in late 2020.
Last but not least, 07th Expansion is currently working on a brand new IP titledKaleidoscope of Phantasm Prison, also known asÂGensou Rougoku no Kaleidoscope or Gerokasu. This horror game was supposed to launch on July 06, 2025, on PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch,but was indefinitely delayed. If you wish to learn more, we translated the game’sstory details.themain characters' profiles,andcomments from the staff and cast.
