Simply put, this is my favorite visual novel of all time. Before I talk about how amazing this game is, I want to make it clear how to properly get into this series. Note that this series is long. If you play on auto read with the voice acting you are looking at about 20 hours per episode which will equate to about 160 hours to complete the series. If you do not play on auto read and just click your way through not listening to voice acting all the way through, you are looking at about 120 hours.

You absolutely can buy this game and jump straight into it. The story is pretty standalone. It is the second story in the "When They Cry" franchise. The first story is Higurashi: When They Cry which can also be found on Steam. I personally recommend reading through Higurashi and then reading Umineko. Higurashi is good, but reading it first and then reading Umineko will show just how much greater the author became and you can see how much he grew as a story writer. He acknowledges many of the flaws in Higurashi and practically mocks them, both explicitly and implicitly throughout Umineko's story.

There are some recurring things from Higurashi that show up in Umineko. Reading Higurashi will make a lot of them make a lot more sense, but it is not 100% necessary. There is an anime called Higurashi Gou that bridges the gap between Higurashi and Umineko. That is also something worth watching before Umineko.

Please though, if you do not think you can make it all the way through Higurashi then Umineko, I would recommend just reading Umineko. Higurashi in my opinion gets slow and boring at points, something I do not believe Umineko suffers from. You owe it to yourself to experience the masterpiece that is Umineko. If reading Higurashi would burn you out before that happens, I would say just read Umineko.

Please buy this game to support the official release. Once you do, the definitive way to play this game is through a fan port of the PS3 release called "Umineko Project" which can be found with a quick Google search. It can be slightly tricky to install, multiple people I have met have had problems. If you struggle, please feel free to message me and I can always assist in its installation. Alternatively, while still vastly inferior to Umineko Project, you can always download 7th Mod and patch the Steam release. Please at least try to download Umineko Project first before settling with 7th Mod.

REVIEW:

Umineko takes place primarily on a private island owned by a very very rich family. The head of the family is near death and there have been many whispers and rumors regarding how his vast wealth is going to be divided among the family. Furthermore, there is some drama regarding who should take up the headship of the family after his passing. All 4 of the children in the family, while rich themselves, are in sudden need of some money, and all of them would happen to be VERY happy if they could all of a sudden get their hands on their rightful share of their father's inheritance.

Within the family, there is a legend, past down from the head himself. The legend is that he obtained the start of his vast wealth, specifically 10 TONS of gold, from a witch whom he says is named Beatrice. No one has ever seen this witch, or anyone related to the family who possess that name. In fact, no one has ever even seen this gold that the head claims to have obtained from the witch. Now near the end of his life, the head cries throughout the night, longing for the woman he loves, the woman he wants to see smile at him one last time, the Golden Witch Beatrice.

In the family's home, there is a cryptic epitaph that the head had displayed for all to see, never telling anyone what its purpose was. To help pique your interest, here is the cryptic epitaph:

"Behold the sweetfish river running through my beloved hometown.
You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream in search of the key.

As you travel down it, you will see a village.
In that village, look for the shore the two will tell you of.
There sleeps the key to the Golden Land.

The one who obtains the key must then travel to the Golden Land in accordance with these rules.

On the first twilight, offer the six chosen by the key as sacrifices.
On the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.
On the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my noble name.
On the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill.
On the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill.
On the sixth twilight, gouge the stomach and kill.
On the seventh twilight, gouge the knee and kill.
On the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill.
On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive, and none shall be left alive.
On the tenth twilight, at journey's end, you shall attain to the power of the Golden Land's treasures, once and for the last time.

The witch shall praise the wise and bestow four treasures.
One shall be all the gold from the Golden Land.
One shall be the resurrection of all the dead souls.
One shall be the resurrection of the love that was lost.
One shall be to put the witch to sleep for all time.

Sleep peacefully, my beloved witch, Beatrice."

That is all I will say about the story. All that I mentioned is revealed very early on within the story. Where it goes from here, you will have to discover for yourself.

Umineko tackles some very heavy topics. Some topics may be triggering for some people, so please take caution. This includes domestic violence, graphic descriptions of death and gore, and rape.

Umineko is a blending of many genres. While I cannot say too much without spoiling, the base genre is a mystery. But this is not just any mystery. This is a mystery cranked up to the absolute extreme. This story takes the mystery genre, rips its guts out, and pushes its possibilities to the absolute limits the genre can go. But as stated, this is more than a mystery. You will eventually learn that there are more twists and turns happening than you may have first believed. This is something you need to experience yourself. Eventually, you will begin to understand the true nature of the conflict that you have been presented with.

The mystery is more vague, more cryptic than the likes of Higurashi. Unlike Higurashi, there is actually a mystery here that you are capable of solving. The author gives you the clues and wants you to try and solve it. I recommend taking notes throughout your adventure, there is A LOT to remember. The author often challenges you directly to try and solve the mystery, and there is room for many different theories. The theory that I had midway through Episode 6 was wrong and certainly was not the "official" answer to the mystery. However, it turned out to still be a very common/popular theory in the fanbase so I was clearly onto something. Challenge yourself to see if you can get to the heart of the answer. Never had I had more fun trying to think and theorize than from playing this game.

Among the MANY things going on in this story, there is a deeper message that by the end will certainly impact you in some way. It is a very uplifting message that I pray may bring you hope even when you may feel like life can bring you nothing but despair.

While I have never encountered a story with as many layers as Umineko, it is presented in a way that is begging to be pealed, layer by layer until you can try and reach for the truth.

Please, do yourself a favor. Experience this masterpiece.

The last reason I will tell you to play this game is the music is phenomenal. I cannot emphasize this enough. Please go look up the OST on YouTube, or look up "Best Umineko OST" to get a good sample of what you can expect. From classical, to ominous, to straight up dub step, you will go from a classy tea party to a mosh pit in the middle of a rave. Truly a wild ride.

Ciconia: When They Cry is the third story in the "When They Cry" franchise. The first story is the most well-known among the three and is titled "Higurashi: When They Cry" with the second story in the franchise titled "Umineko: When They Cry".

It is very important that you understand right away:

It is HIGHLY recommended that you DO NOT play Ciconia: When They Cry unless you have fully read through Higurashi and Umineko.

Umineko is nice in that it is pretty separated from Higurashi with some minor tie-ins that are only significant in the franchise's macro-connected lore. While Umineko can be read independently from Higurashi, the same cannot be said for Ciconia. The When They Cry franchise has been developing an expanded, connected universe that works in conjunction with one another. Ciconia is a very, very confusing story. The story will make next to zero sense if you do not have some basic understanding of the meta-plots that are present in the other 2 stories by which you would be able to start constructing some reasonable theories. Without an appreciation for Higurashi and Umineko, Ciconia is bound to frustrate an uninitiated reader. Take that warning for what you will as it could significantly impact your enjoyment of this story.

With that out of the way, let's get to the review.

Review

Each story in the When They Cry franchise is completely different in tone/atmosphere and introduces a unique cast of characters from one another. Right from the start, Ciconia introduces the largest cast of main characters in the franchise. The world of Ciconia is split between 5 major factions, each faction possessing 2 squads that the story highlights and focuses on (one faction named "LATO" doesn't have squads in focus and only follows two named characters). Each squad has 3 squad members, totaling 26 main characters that you will start to learn about throughout the story. Furthermore, this does not include many side characters that are introduced that play a significant role in the story as well (this is approximately 8 named side characters bringing the total number of characters to 34).

Ciconia gives you a very detailed character bio for all 26 of the main characters (plus more side characters once you complete the main story and read the Archives), plus a bio for their specific squad, plus a bio for their respective faction. You will do yourself a great disservice by not reading these bios. They greatly expand on the lore of the game and will give you a much deeper understanding of certain nuances regarding topics that the characters talk about throughout the story.

While the expansive cast of characters is nice to see, and I hope future phases expand on them further, the story tends to focus on a small handful of the characters. In my opinion, there is too much focus on the 4 main squad leaders from the 4 main factions. It would have been nice to see just a little bit more of the secondary squads as I feel they didn't get as much of the limelight to develop as much.

In terms of tone, Higurashi could be described as a horror, thriller, mystery (despite failing in this category after chapter 6). The setting and story takes place in a small village where one must try to figure out what is causing strange occurrences to occur. Is it a village conspiracy? Is it a supernatural curse? Why are my best friends so demonic?

Umineko could easily be described as a mystery, fantasy, who-dun-it. 18 people trapped on a secluded island, many have greedy, self-interested motivations, and people start winding up dead, following a demonic epitaph to revive a witch that no one thinks is real.

Ciconia is less "focused" and does not focus on a single place or even necessarily a single event. The setting is the entire world and the conflict is to prevent conflict from happening. The world is at peace, and soldiers called "gauntlet knights" possess humanity's strongest weapon ever invented. This weapon is a gauntlet that the gauntlet knights wear on their arms which can summon nearly any weapon out of another dimensional portal, create near indestructible shields that can withstand nearly any attack, and the ability to fly anywhere with unparalleled agility. Early on, there are alleged secret organizations and characters presented who seem to want to disrupt world peace and bring about the end of humanity, or at least drastically reduce humanity's population. Ciconia is more in the realm of a conspiracy mystery. You, the player are trying to figure out who or what is trying to throw the world into chaos. While this may seem relatively simple, if you have read Umineko, you may know that this will probably not be the case. There are very many vague presentations that work to shroud the truth behind a veil of mystery. Timelines seem skewed. What is the line between reality and digital? Is there a meta answer happening like prior stories? Ciconia presents many questions, far more than the first entries of either Higurashi or Umineko by a very large margin. Unfortunately, as of writing this review, only Phase 1 has been released with no release date as of yet for Phase 2 even after approaching 3 years after release. Because the writer is still very active and hasn't gone MIA, there is still really strong hope in the community that this story shall see completion.

Overall, if you are a fan of the When They Cry series, you must read Ciconia. It is a VERY competent entry into the franchise. While I personally believe that Umineko is near perfect fiction, it did not fully develop itself in a single episode, but across its 8 episodes. While there are still 3 more phases until Ciconia's planned completion, what is here right now to be read and consumed greatly expands on the lore of the When They Cry multiverse. If you love the over-aching mysteries that go beyond the story at face value, Ciconia will provide you with even more fuel to create more theories that go towards the very heart of the When They Cry multiverse as a whole.

Ciconia's story still falls in the realm of horror, but not in the same realm as Higurashi and Umineko. Those stories are classic horrors. Ciconia is scary because of how real it is. It is an existential horror that deals with the fragility of the earth, dealing with concepts of all-out war, climate change, and despite being written in 2019, global pandemics, food and water shortages. The horror in Ciconia is mankind itself and the damage that the human race is capable of, not demons, not fantastical witches. Phase 2 was allegedly delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. And this game is terrifying when seeing a couple of parallels that are happening right now in the real world. While many issues are classic doomsday events or some have been going on for years, what is truly eirie is this quote from the story:

" 'prophecy', receiving words from God. God is omnipotent, and also knows everything about the future. So, the words of God are a 'promise' about the future. When you receive those words from God and speak them, it becomes a prophecy... My words are prophecy. They're an announcement about a promised future. It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not. No matter what happens, everything will turn out the way I said."