[Game] Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Ep. 3 Banquet of the golden witch

[momobunny]

Ahh yes, that's a good question. Natsuhi and Kinzo seem extremely strict... so why keep the lazy Kumasawa around? O.o

[wackedfoo]

sorry if this has been asked before, but i'm trying not to look through these threads because of spoilers. but just out of curiosity, how long are these episodes? i just started ep 1 and i just found out what the riddle written under beatrice's portrait was.

[Kitsu]

You have a loooong way to go! You're just at the beginning of Episode 1
For your question:
The episodes get longer (at least that's what I think and feel)

[Chadauw]

Well, Kumasawa is lazy but she isn't incompetent.

"As you could expect from someone her ages, she isn't that good at manual labor, but from kitchen work to cleaning and laundry, she's a kind of super servant who can handle just about anything"

[izmosmolnar]

@Chadauw Yeah, but that's just Battler's (?) opinion about her, who was out of touch for 6 years. Anyway, I bet they could easily find a superservant who wouldn't be lazy. I can imagine they employ her for a different, not yet revealed reason.

Originally Posted by wackedfoo

sorry if this has been asked before, but i'm trying not to look through these threads because of spoilers. but just out of curiosity, how long are these episodes? i just started ep 1 and i just found out what the riddle written under beatrice's portrait was.

It's about a day and a half to marathon through the whole episode 1 (depending on the pace you can read , and possibly your proficiency in english), and the same goes on the other 2 (I haven't got a clue about the length of ep4). They might be a bit longer each than the one before, but I haven't counted the letters, sorry .

Edit:

Spoiler for I know why don't they sack Kumasawa!:

[chronotrig]

Yeah, each game is a lot longer than the last. Episode 2 is only a bit longer than Episode 1, but after that, each Episode is a third longer than the previous one, so that EP4 is pretty close to twice the length of EP1.

Still, because the pacing gets much better as you go through the series, the later Episodes go by very fast.

[Jan-Poo]

Maybe it's because Kumasawa knows too much and talks too much. So it's better to keep her confined in an island rather than let her go around XD

[Mauru]

Is amazing how many people are interested in this Visual Novel and they aren't aware that Sakura Taisen a game with visual novel elements will be realesed this autumn in the United States.

Sakura Taisen V sold double than Higurashi Matsuri.

[Jan-Poo]

It's not really how much it sells that matter to me. You are comparing two different things, Umineko/Higurashi aren't even games, they do not have multiple endings, they do not have any kind of "date sim like" structure. This is more than enough of a reason for a lot of consumers to prefer Sakura Taisen, but not for me. I just want to make it clear that the "when they cry" series is more of a book on electronic format than a game. The graphic art while enjoyable isn't really the main point, the backgrounds are blurred photograph, figure... no point in comparing the selling rate of books and games.

[momobunny]

Originally Posted by Mauru

Is amazing how many people are interested in this Visual Novel and they aren't aware that Sakura Taisen a game with visual novel elements will be realesed this autumn in the United States.

Sakura Taisen V sold double than Higurashi Matsuri.

Not to be mean but... who asked? O.o

[Avisch]

Originally Posted by Mauru

Is amazing how many people are interested in this Visual Novel and they aren't aware that Sakura Taisen a game with visual novel elements will be realesed this autumn in the United States.

Oh man, suddenly it's wrong to have different tastes huh? It's being released in the U.S....Big deal.

Also
-Jan-Poo is right. Two very different things
-Maho Momo is right. WHO ASKED!?

[Marion]

Hey guys, something I just realized. Battler said he was born in July right? Well, pregnancies tend to last 9 months, so if you backtrack:

July, June, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October.

If you don't count July, considering that he was given birth on the 15th, then Asumu became pregnant with Battler sometime around October-November at best. I don't want to say "it's super important" but I find it odd because Kyrie said she delivered on the 15th and miscarried, but that would mean she became pregnant around the same time Asumu did. It seems a bit odd that Rudolph would actually impregnate both of them around the same time, considering October is the time when the family usually meets.

For some reason I think one of the two pregnancies are dubious. It could easily be Asumu's, because where did Ange exactly get red hair from?

[cheesie]

Apologies if these are answered before, but...

Was that the real Virgilia who stood beside Beato when she trolled Battler in the very end? Or was that merely a manifestation from Beato to aid her little scenario? I suppose a good time to doubt her would be the moment she offered that hint to Beato, as she seemed to be genuine before that...

When Battler wasn't around, Beato is usually engaged in a conversation with her furniture, and now, Virgilia. Are the conversations genuine, or was it all an act to fool the bystanders? (By bystanders, I mean 'us'). By whose perspectives are we watching these scenes from? Does the player's perspective exist? Or are we actually watching from the perspectives of Lambda and Bern, who could be considered outsiders observing the game?

[Jan-Poo]

I'm inclined to believe Virgilia doesn't exist, or rather she exists the same way Ronove and the stakes do. I also noticed the inconsistency of Beatrice talking to Virgilia, and the only logical answer I could come up with is that Beatrice is delusional the same way Maria is (this becomes a little clearer on ep4 patched). In other words Beatrice believes Virgilia exists even if she's just a figment of her imagination. So when she's talking to Virgilia she's actually talking to herself. This is just my speculation, don't take it as a fact.

Hey guys, something I just realized. Battler said he was born in July right? Well, pregnancies tend to last 9 months, so if you backtrack:

July, June, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October.

If you don't count July, considering that he was given birth on the 15th, then Asumu became pregnant with Battler sometime around October-November at best. I don't want to say "it's super important" but I find it odd because Kyrie said she delivered on the 15th and miscarried, but that would mean she became pregnant around the same time Asumu did. It seems a bit odd that Rudolph would actually impregnate both of them around the same time, considering October is the time when the family usually meets.

For some reason I think one of the two pregnancies are dubious. It could easily be Asumu's, because where did Ange exactly get red hair from?

Yes there is something strange about this, but it's hard to speculate right now. I think later episodes will give more info on that, or maybe even more strange elements...

[izmosmolnar]

Well we aren't sure about it either. We've had that debate several pages back and I'm still inclined to believe the player could exist as a seperate being. Even in the ??? of whatever episode with Bern going NI-PAH, it seemed to me, she's talking to us players, since meta-Battler never attended (should attend) the "Teaparty for supernatural beings".
Another likely theory is that the scenes you mentioned are imaginary scenes we see from Beato's inner "mind", where both Ronove and Virgilia (and maybe even Eva-B) are part of her consciousness, but she's unsure of herself for some reason, and how should I say... Her split personalities come and convince her inner self or something. That's why she speaks with both Ronove and Virgilia occasionally when Battler isn't even present, but they don't have to describe and adjust plans about the deceit, they are about to perform, since they are aware about their own role in the plan.
I still don't know entirely what to think about it either, these are strictly wacky speculations.

As for Virgilia (note I haven't played ep4 fully, I haven't got a clue whether she exists there). I think she might have been an illusion too at the end of episode 3, and she's actually independent from Beato (if she exists in the first place and she isn't such an entity like the stakes for example).
As for why did she helped Beato too? Because she might still care about her apprentice, and she just tries to "free her from the dark side", but Beato abused her trust finally, and impersonated Virgilia by an illusion in the end.

[rogerpepitone]

Where exactly does it discuss Battler's parentage?

[Marion]

Well we mostly first hear about it at the start of episode 1. Battler basically states off right away when introducing Kyrie that she's his stepmother. What happened was that Rudolph had a 1st wife, Asumu, and gave birth to Battler. But then, when Battler was around 12 Asumu suddenly dies and Rudolph makes a hasty remarriage to Kyrie. This of course pisses Battler off and he goes off to live with Asumu's parents, going as far as to use her maiden name for a while.

Spoiler for Episode 3 spoilers (specifically Kyrie):

Then episode 3, during Kyrie's duel with Leviathan she explains how originally she was suppose to be Rudolph's first wife. However, Asumu seduced him, got pregnant and basically forced Rudolph into marriage with her. Then to top it off, Kyrie and Asumu had the same delivery dates for their pregnancies (July 15th). Asumu gives birth to Battler but Kyrie has a miscarriage. This only makes Kyrie even madder and she basically wishes Asumu dead for the next 12 years.

But even now she still 'sees' Asumu in Battler and holds a grudge towards the woman through Battler (not that she hates Battler or anything) and still holds envy.

That's the extent of it in this episode. In EP 4...well, yeah :U

[Jan-Poo]

That however is how kyrie sees the whole story, I guess Asumu would tell a different thing, and Rudolf would tell another one.

[Marion]

Yeah but you have to wonder if Rudolph's opinion would even differ from Kyrie's. He didn't seem to have hard feelings about marrying Kyrie so quickly after Asumu died, so if anything you can say that he probably was forced into marriage with Asumu - if she blackmailed him and told everyone she was pregnant with his child but they weren't married then it could spell out bad news for him in the family, considering how strict the entire higher archy/monarchy system is.

[Jan-Poo]

Well I'm really not sure but if this was a realistic scenario and assuming Rudolf really is the gigolo kind of man that's how I would picture the story:

Kyrie's version: That sly Asumu! She stole my man with slutty seductive tactics then she made herself get pregnant to blackmail him. In truth he really loved me, not her!

Asumu's version: That Kyrie tried to steal from me my soon to become husband and the father of my child. Even thought me and Rudolf were engaged and both in love with each other. She took advantage of Rudolf's weak point for young women, even thought he clearly was in love with me and not her.

Rudolf's version: You know who I am, I am a player, what can I say... I like women, what's so bad about that? I really loved both of them, but of course I told Kyrie I really only loved her and I told Asumu she was the one that I really loved. In the end I married Asumu seeing as she was having a child and all, but then I started missing Kyrie, so when Asumu died no big deal I maried Kyrie right away.