Higurashi - Game Qs & Discussion (no-spoilers version)

[USCPharmacist]

I heard that Casey will play Rachel one on one basketball on the roof of a building, when will that episode air?

[Supergrunch]

I have 2 questions:
Does, as kj gave as an example, the game contain "hentai"?
Does the game contain furigana? (I'm guessing not)

[DingoEnderZOE2]

Originally Posted by Supergrunch

I have 2 questions:
Does, as kj gave as an example, the game contain "hentai"?
Does the game contain furigana? (I'm guessing not)

1.No the game doesn't.
2.Unfortunately theres no furigana.

[Supergrunch]

Hmm... I'm wondering whether to buy it and hack through the kanji using various dictionaries... I suppose it would improve my Japanese...

[DingoEnderZOE2]

Might I recommend using JWPCE japanese word processor for that?

[LostBlue]

Originally Posted by Sushi-Y

I think I first became interested in this just after Meakashi-hen came out in Comiket 67 (winter 2004). The game was already pretty popular back then, with coverages in magazines and game news sites. I began to see Higurashi related talks/arts on some of the personal doujin artist sites I visit as well, which got my interest. I went to the official site, downloaded the demo, and here I am now.

Just out of interest which magazines and game news sites do you read/visit?

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by Symmetry

Will nobody answer my question about whether the lack of any tattoos was a production mistake?

The answer will be a spoiler either way, that's why I didn't reply. The game never showed us who had the tattoo, so we're not really supposed to know who has it yet. Wait until Meakashi-hen ends, things should clear up by then.

Originally Posted by LostBlue

Just out of interest which magazines and game news sites do you read/visit?

I buy Dengeki G's regularly, sometimes Comptiq as well. Those are probably the two big ones among game mags.

As for game news sites, the biggest is probably cyan-san's MOON PHASE (+his blog). For "current trends", Akiba Blog. Besides that, it's just random doujin artist's sites (Yu-ji-san's OVERALL QUARTER, for example) or hatena dairy blogs (daichan's diary, for example).

[Supergrunch]

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. I was also gonna use a combination of the NJECD and the WWWJDIC.

[USCPharmacist]

I am surprise that no one talks about Higurashi Daybreak here, even though the game has been out for quite some times. Anyway here is my impression of the game so far. The good is that the game is easy to learn and hell of fun. The bad is that some characters are not very balance, and that net play is very difficult to achieve if you don't know how to speak Japanese.

Here are some analysis of some of the characters, know that I am no expert and only play the game for a few days, so opinions may change later, especially after I have more experience fighting against human opponents instead of the pathetic A.I.

Top tier character so far:
Akane: Oh my god not only is she a MILF, she is one badass mother! She pretty much owns all melee combat. Her hits are fast and fierce and have insane reach. Her cool down rate is pretty long after each slash, however; so don't keep pressing the attack button like an idiot. Her "slash" version has powerful projectile attack that has large hit box. So spaming projectiles is not a bad way to go. And if the enemy get too close, own them with your insane melee attack will ensure victory. Her "bust" version has no spamable projectile attack (it is slow and good only against enemy jump at or away from you), instead she charge at her enemy at high speed, sometimes blocking enemies' attack. Comebine this skill with her already insane charging speed and equally insane slashing distance you can close in on some opponents miles aways in secs, cuting their heads off without them realizing what hit them. Unfortunately, sometimes she overshoots her enemy if you judge your distance wrong. You will be vulnerable for a moment and the comp will almost always exploit this weakness. The "bust" version lvl 2 super is a 360 degree attack that will knock down everything around Akane and most likely killing them in the process, and it can be use in a combo and in the air. The draw bad is that if you miss, there is also a 2-3 seconds cool down period for her before she can even move.

All of these pwnageness come with a price, however. Akane can't move worthshit. Her normal movement speed is.... let's say she is walking. She also has low defense and very short stamina bar. All these translate to a very slow character most of the time but insanely fast for a split sec, then back to turtle speed again. So if you want to play her well you need to spend your stamina very carefully and make sure all your attack will hit before attacking. Still her good points far out weigh her back point to put her on top tier for now.

Kasai (sp?): Agent smith wannabe but no less weak. This dude wrote the book on fire arm combat. In fact I think he is stronger than Akane because he is more versitile, and move a lot faster.

Shotgun Kasai use a shotgun, basically spraying a large numer of bullets at his enemy at once that are almost impossible to avoid. He also has a sniper rifle attack that has a very small hitbox. So you can avoid easily, provided that you anticipate it because the bullet flies very fast and has very long range. His lvl 2 super is a bunch of homing missiles, so....run like hell when he does it

Machinegun Kasai shoot a stream of bullets at his enemy. Don't spam it like an idiot though, because bullets can take time to regenerate. Use in short burst is the best. His lvl one super is a rocket launcher that launch small non homing missiles that spread, smilar to his shotgun but hit harded. His lvl 2 super is the funniest because it is literially a freaking nuke!!!! I won't tell you much, because I think it's something you should experience hehehe. The best way to use it is to sneak that nuke on your enemy from the back while they are not watching and watch it goes BOOOOOOOM!!!!

Melee-wise, Kasai can hold his own, provided you know when to attack and counter attack. I would not recomend it has his primary offensive strategy, however; he is build to fight with his gun, so just do it.

To be Continue tomorrow...

[Keriaku]

Could you give me a list of all playable characters in Daybreak?

[LostBlue]

Originally Posted by USCPharmacist

I am surprise that no one talks about Higurashi Daybreak here

haha, I didn't think about Akane and Kasai being in the game. ^^
Yes they should pwn everyone. Kasai has a very scary nickname - the man where blood rains.

If Yamainu are in the game they should be just as bad ass.
I wonder about Lisa-san tho. Strong but no HP? Kore Unmei dayo ne~
I also wonder if Kei-chan has his reality marble and matrix pause. ^^

Does Oryou walk around with the Kejime device?
Does Rika kill everyone with Nipa~~~~~~~~~ ?
Kameda-kun as a hidden character?
Oh, the best will be if Dr. Irie has his MAID IN HEAVEN

If even one of these are true, the game is worth buying, lol

[NykylaiHellray]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Well, first of all it was immensely popular by the time
1. [insert game title here] immensely popular in Japan
2. foreign fans disses it as being an ero/bishoujo game (or in the case of Higurashi - judging by the art designs alone)
3. anime comes along and becomes popular, and people start asking the same redundant question "is their [sic] an English patch for this game lol"
4. Japanese otakus have already moved on to something else
5. repeat cycle from 1 again

Though this is true for many, it is not true for all. The reason it did not become popular till the anime, is because before then no one was interested in making english subs for it, which means those who would enjoy it and cant understand japanese are left in the dark. It is hard to keep up to date on fads in japan, if you dont understand the lanquage.

Personally I like the art of the game, and if I knew about the story ages ago (anything parrel universe, horror, or thriller interests me) then I would have hopped on straight away. Though its the lanquage barriar which would have stopped me.

[USCPharmacist]

Rika does do the Nipa a lot, but frankly, she is....let's just say a very difficult character to play. In other word, she sucks....

[Fallacy]

I'm playing Rika just to hear her say み～ and にぱ～ while she attacks. :]

[Anacone]

Playable characters as they form pairs in story mode.

Keiichi & Rena
Mion & Shion
Rika & Satoko
Takano & Tomitake
Ooishi & Akasaka
Irie & Chie-sensei
Akane & Kasai

[Dracil]

Never mind.

[Sinless Idiot]

Doujin Higurashi game in the works, apparently.

Brand new Sonozaki to go along with it too,

Spoiler:

However her name is uh Maebara Suzu.......wait what.

[imac2much]

Could someone explain the basics of Daybreak if possible? I didn't find any faq or such about the game so it kind of confuses me... what is this 'bust' attack? Do the charge move of the ranged attack and special attack make any difference? What do the AI commands do? Etc... obviously there are many things I'm confused about with this game

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by Sinless Idiot

Doujin Higurashi game in the works, apparently.

I mentioned it a few months ago in the other game thread. I'm interested in the story too. I wonder if they had to change anything now that Matsuribayashi is out.

Originally Posted by imac2much

Could someone explain the basics of Daybreak if possible? I didn't find any faq or such about the game so it kind of confuses me... what is this 'bust' attack? Do the charge move of the ranged attack and special attack make any difference? What do the AI commands do? Etc... obviously there are many things I'm confused about with this game

There are several kinds of attacks available for every character. It's pretty straightforward.

- Most character has a regular physical combo, activated simply by pressing the physical attack key repeatedly when hitting the enemy. Directional attacks are also possible by hitting the physical attack key in combination with directional keys.
- Pressing the shot key will use up points from the "main" gauge (ex. Rena's "main" shot is a spinning cleaver). This is called a shot.
- Holding down the shot key and releasing it before it charges to full will use up points from the "charge" gauge (ex. Rena's exploding lighter). This is called a charge shot.
- Holding down the shot key and releasing it after it charges to full will unleash a powerful charged shot (ex. Rena's double cleaver shot). This is called a full charge shot. No points will be used up.
- Some characters like Rena have extra attacks (ex. Rena-pan) that can be activated by pressing the "special" key.
- There are also some general stance commands you can give to your AI partner by pressing the strategy key and cycling through the stances, such as "normal", "melee", "ranged", "retreat", etc.. Your AI partner will try to fight in the way you specified.

=====================================
Now then, some big updates on the consumer version of the game, "Higurashi no Naku Koroni Sai":


First of all, the platform has been confirmed. As most of you expected, it's going to be for Playstation 2.

Second, it's release date is December 2006. The price is 6980 yen (7329 - tax) for regular edition, and 8800 yen (9240 - tax) for limited edition. Bonus contents for the limited edition is still in the works.

Naturally, all characters will be fully voiced by the anime/drama CD cast. So those of us who are disappointed at the anime over all the skippages can find relief in knowing that there won't be any lines or scenes skipped here.

The biggest concern for fans was probably about the scenario coverage. Just how much of the original game does this port cover?

Well, perhaps not surprisingly, the final chapter of the original game, Matsurubayashi-hen, will not be included in this PS2 port. But considering that Matsuribayashi-hen was out only a little over a week ago (8/14), it's understandable.

Besides that, all other scenarios from the original game will be included, which are:

- Onikakushi-hen
- Watanagashi-hen
- Tatarigoroshi-hen
- Himatsubushi-hen
- Meakashi-hen
- Tsumihoroboshi-hen
- Minagoroshi-hen

Furthermore, there will also be THREE original scenarios written by Ryukishi07-san specifically for the PS2 port:

- Taraimawashi-hen
- Tsukiotoshi-hen
- Miotsukushi-hen

Among them, Miotsukushi-hen will replace Matsuribayashi-hen as the console port's final chapter.

In terms of story progression, apparantly, all the scenarios will share a common prologue + early sections of the main story. This is where the new addition of selection points come in to play: based on the choices you made in the common section, the story will branch out and end with one of the specific chapters.

Although the main goal for this port is to further widen the appeals of this series to those people who never played the original game before, the addition of the new scenarios makes the game an attractive buy even for gamers who has already completed the PC version of the game.

-------------------------------
It's looking good. ^^ My only concern is about the music now.

[Rasuberi]

Aaaah. It's coming out sooner than I thought it would~! Yokatta, yokatta~

Hmm... for pre-ordering and normal ordering, how do you think options will be on buying it in America? Would it be through an errand service or a store like Himeya?

Higurashi no naku koro ni sai is just a much better option for me then the originals... the voicing in it means I wouldn't be "OMG, what's this kanji!?" x1000.