Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.1 Onikakushi Review

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Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.1 Onikakushi is the first entry of this kinetic visual novel taking place in a sleepy rural town called Hinamizawa. Our protagonist is a newly arrived inhabitant called Kei, who accustomed to the city life, has now found himself in a far different environment. For the most part, he has avoided culture shock as the friendly locals were quick to make him feel at home, and he’s been able to make a tight knight group of four friends after being there a single month. With the rural town lacking much of a city’s entertainment, such as hanging out in a theater or arcade, Kei is taken back a bit with how seriously his friends play otherwise mundane things, be it tag or card games to brighten things up. Before all of this wholesome viewpoint of these kids living their lives, we are first greeted by someone being violently hacked apart.

That gruesome scene was over as soon as it arrived and had seemingly no relevance to our characters. Having just finished this game, I am still not entirely sure what it detailed, but with how abruptly the tone of the title changes after, it can be easy to put this event into the back of your head. This title is a real slow burner and moves at a glacial pace. I’d wager that around ¾ of this 12-hour journey is spent in a carefree and happy atmosphere, more similar to the Slice of Life genre than anything. That intro will remain in your subconscious, however. You’ll just be waiting for the other shoe to drop and whoever or whatever the threat may be to reveal itself. There are hints throughout of something being very wrong on occasion, yet written masterfully enough that they can be easily overlooked if you didn’t approach it with an overly paranoid view one wouldn’t have without that intro.

It is the whole point of the slow-burn, to become familiar enough with your surroundings and the people around you to pick up on the small things. This is not the kind of title that is going to get cheap scares out of you, be it having something suddenly pop out at you or giving you a clear enemy to dread. It is the type of experience that relies more on suspense and intrigue to slowly yet surely get under your skin. You’ll likely be suspicious of everyone before long, making an otherwise normal-seeming day in the protagonist’s life incredibly intense. So what is the threat? How can we defend ourselves from it? Why did it have to be like this? That desperation we the player may be feeling is perfectly translated over to our character Kei as the situation he’s in starts weighing on him, and he starts swinging at thin air, hoping to eventually free himself from this incomprehensible mystery.

With this being the first entry into this series, it comes as no surprise if all isn’t revealed by the end of this tale. This may date the review unnecessarily, but this title will remain free until a Covid vaccine is discovered. If you’ve managed to get through the slow start, chances are you’ll have ch.2 in your cart soon after to dig deeper into this intrigue. It does its job to hook the player quite well and removes the risk of people feeling like they wasted cash if they went in expecting pure, nonstop horror. The horror aspect is very much present and effective, but takes a distant third compared to the Slice of Life and Mystery aspects of this chapter. You’ll require some patience to get the unnerving stuff, and if you’re enjoying the easygoing slice of life, will be greatly fearing it all eventually being a thing of the past. Either way, it is necessary to setup a cast of characters that you end up caring for, as well as give you something to lose.

As stated at the beginning of this review, this is a kinetic visual novel. That means that we, the player, have no choices to make or any way to affect the story. This is Kei’s journey that we view through his eyes, and he is an exceptional character in his own right. What makes him so relatable are his actions. He isn’t the type of cliché that has the audience screaming over how dumb his decisions are. Kei is a rational person that reacts understandably to events, making his slow descent into acting solely out of fear, or desperately trying to justify things from a logical point of view that much more impactful. The limit of our control comes from the Tips we receive after completing an in-game chapter of the game. They are essentially small self-contained scenarios detailing the knowledge you want. These can range from conversations from a viewpoint other than Kei’s, or reading through a newspaper to hopefully be able to piece together the truth for yourself.

There is no voice acting in this title. The only things you’ll be hearing are the sound effects and the music. I wouldn’t call either outstanding, yet they are both placed perfectly to amplify the events occurring on-screen. However, you won’t be seeing much of anything throughout as there are no CGs. All you’ll see are the other characters and background. An example being the opening scene of someone being hacked apart. It is nothing but a black screen with a blood decal, yet the sound effects, warped music, and excellent writing fuel your imagination to fill in the blanks. I hear there is a voice mod to add in the acting from the PS3 version, though I have not added that to my playthrough. Another neat little feature is that you can toggle back the original 2002 character sprites. I wouldn’t suggest that as they are pretty silly looking but are there if you’re nostalgic.

All told, this visual novel remains timeless. The old abstract backgrounds lend it a surreal feeling, and the English translation was professionally done, so no issue there. That leaves the story and characters, which are the highlights. Despite it being the entry point to the entire series, it isn’t stingy with the information it gives you. Quite a lot happens throughout, and you may be tempted to set up a detective-styled pinboard to try to connect this tangle web of events to uncover the truth. Or simply buy and download the next chapter in the hopes that your theory is correct and that it doesn’t throw another curveball. That is the mark of a good mystery game, since even if there is intrigue, the player won’t necessarily care about it or be deeply invested by default. Its characters are equally worthwhile, causing the temptation to find out what happens next to be that much greater. Who knows if Higurashi When They Cry can retain this traction throughout all eight separate entries, but I wouldn’t miss its transition to its second chapter for the world.

Rating:
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