Bay 12 Games Forum

Good god was that an amazing game.

The first thing we are shown is that Minagoroshi is pretty much the answer sheet game.  After playing this chapter I've pretty much have 99% of the mystery figured out.  Most of the enjoyment you will be getting from Higurashi is making up your own theories before this point.  Once you read Minagoroshi the real canon answer is set in stone.  Don't fret though, as long as you were thinking as you read that's all Ryukishi07 wanted.  He just wanted everybody to enjoy themselves and as he said in the Staff Room this game he really didn't want to release this chapter, but he had to because a riddle book without it's answers isn't satisfactory.

The main character this time is Rika-chan, who we find out is are real protagonist this game.  Keiichi may be a very important character, however Furude Rika is our character who actually needs to overcome her goal.  That goal is not dying and living happily with her friends.  As I you possibly you played along through Higurashi you'll probably pick up trends and patterns that happen in every game loop.  Rika-chan noticed these too, because she has a friend named Hanyu can rewind time.


Rika-chan is actually at least 100 years old mentally.  She has been living this 58th year of Shouwa in June for a long long long long time.  Every time near the end of June she dies.  She dies and Hanyu rewinds time so Rika can find a world were she doesn't die.  Nobody can see Hanyu but Rika because Rika-chan is like the seventh daughter in a row or something which effectively gives her demon eyes.  Hanyu is really happy with Rika since she usually lives a very lonely existence and now she has been with Rika for about 100 years.


Unfortunately, Rika is none-to-happy and severely depressed.  It's very saddening and I can kind of relate to Rika with the feeling, just not with the whole time control thing.  Having your hopes crushed time after time again as you die to this impossible to overcome fate must be soul-crushing.  That's why Hanyu wants Rika-chan to not have high expectations and just enjoy her time with Hanyu and her friends.  Rika doesn't want that though.  She wants to live past June in the 58th year of Shouwa.  She wants to live on with her life happily with her friends.  But time after time again she and her friends are killed near the end of June and she can't do anything about it.

Rika has one hope though, Keiichi.  After seeing Keiich breaking fate in Tsumihoroboshi, Rika tries to talk to Keiichi of this new world if he has any memories, to which Keiichi can't really say he does.  As we go on however, it's obvious that Keiichi personality is what breaks fate, not just some random gamble.  With this in mind Rika-chan watches as this world she is in now becomes her ideal world, everything good that can possibly happens, happens.


Until Teppei shows up.  Rika almost breaks down again.  Hanyu wants her to release her expectations so that Rika doesn't become a permanent empty shell however Rika really wants to break fate being inspired by Keiichi.  So Keiichi & co spend the entire week with some awesome action music arguing and protesting the child consolation center or whatever and are able to free Satoko and more!  Teppei is arrested and the whole of Hinamizawa forgives the Houjou family.  Rika-chan is very excited now and the Watanagashi is tomorrow.  If she can prevent Tomitake's and Takano's death then this world might actually be the one.

Unfortunately, in the most important plot twist of Higurashi, which could be figured out by careful theorizing of the facts and thinking.  Is that Takano-san is the true villain of Higurashi.  The reason Tomitake dies at the end of every Watanagashi festival is because Takano injects him with the virus they were developing.  The reason Takano's body is found burned in the Gufi(sic) mountains with a 24hour contradiction in time of death is because the body was a fake meant to be unidentifiable besides dental record.  A new, awesome music plays at this scene to Tomitake's horror.  I like how Ryukishi07 made this final answer such a believe one.  It really does add up to all the facts from all six games previously.  Same for every other fact that has happened.  Ryu07 has even said that he could have even used some fan theories as the real truth!  I will definitely make sure to look up those fan theories if they were good enough to fit into the jigsaw puzzle.

At this point the rest of the game is awesome.  The whole week before the Watanagashi festival was fine.  We got to see inside Rika's head with her feelings and thoughts which were all interesting.  We were able to see the power Keiichi has as an inspiration figure.  We were able to see a lot of things.

After the Watanagashi Tomitake and "Takano" are found dead yet again, except this time Rika is suspicious.  Why?  Because she told Ooishi-san to send a patrol car to watch right where Tomitake always dies.  When she found out Tomitake doesn't die in that spot she just has the revealation she was able to change fate and more importantly Ooishi mentions that Takano was spotted driving home without Tomitake.  This is the very first time in a freakin' 100 years that Rika-chan realizes that she can actually change her fate if she can defeat Takano.  I do realize at this point Tomitake has died so Rika's ending won't be perfect even if she is able to save everybody else, however she has made remarkable progress.  Hanyu is still pessimistic however, she really doesn't want Rika to be shattered.


However, Rika is too late to really do any good this time.  Ooishi and his partner Kumagai are killed by Takano's Mountain Hound team which are also monitoring Rika's house.  When the Mountain Hounds or whatever they hell they're called were first named I knew those were the ones that capture and kill Rika every world.  When I found out Takano is in control of the Mountain Hounds it became obvious she is Rika's killer and main antagonists.  Rika and all of her friends fight desperately to survive in a climatic finale, however Takano and her men have the upper hand since they are skilled, have more numbers, and carry freakin' guns so they are all incapacitated and killed one by one as Takano laughs manically.  I found this scene very good and it made me smile.  The music was crazy too when the other kids jumped in to help, it was like Pirates of the Caribbean or something.


Anyway, after the credits roll we are treated to a few really grim scenes that show that the "Hinamizawa Incident" really is.  It's not a toxic gas that wipes out the whole village over night.  It's Takano and her men that wipe out the whole village over night.  And that pretty much sums up Minagoroshi-hen aka Massacre Chapter.

This was definitely the best game to date.  I really loved when they all saved Satako, when Rika-chan gets her hope back, when Takano is revealed to be the true villain, and when all the kids kick ass with a bunch of specialized assassins.  I'm quite certain the next and final game of Higurashi Kai will be like this except with a happy ending.  Rika-chan will have her life back and want to defeat Takano while Hanyu will stop being so pessimistic and believe in the miracle happening.  The miracle will happen.

Plus Takano's Major sprite is really cool.  I like it, that's all that matters this episode.