The Higurashi When They Cry visual novel series is originally produced by the Japanese dōjin soft maker 07th Expansion, but features games produced in collaboration with Alchemist and Twilight Frontier. The games take place in the fictional Japanese town of Hinamizawa, and the stories revolve around a group of young friends and the strange events that occur in the village. The games have been released for Microsoft Windows PCs, the PlayStation 2, and the Nintendo DS handheld console. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a series of murder mystery visual novels that requires relatively little player interaction as most of the gameplay is composed of reading text which signifies either dialogue between characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist who the player assumes. The games utilize intermissions where the player can obtain several TIPS which allow the player to read various supplementary information that may or may not be useful in solving the mystery.
The series debuted in Japan on August 10, 2002 with Onikakushi-hen, the first in a series of eight original games divided into the "question arcs" consisting of the first four games, and the "answer arcs" consisting of the latter four. The answer arcs shared the common title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. An additional fandisc known as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei followed, and was the final game in the series produced by 07th Expansion. The eight original PC games were released in English by MangaGamer with the first four games released in December 2009.[1] The last four games, however, were released individually starting with Meakashi-hen in February 2010.[2] Alchemist has released six more games based on the original series, two for the PlayStation 2 and four for the Nintendo DS. Twilight Frontier produced a dōjin game 3D versus third-person shooter game entitled Higurashi Daybreak which was later ported to the PlayStation Portable by Cavia and Alchemist.
Original arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Title | Details |
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Original release date(s):[3][1] |
Release years by system: 2002—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[3][1] |
Release years by system: 2002—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[3][1] |
Release years by system: 2003—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[3][1] |
Release years by system: 2004—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Title | Details |
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Original release date(s):[3][2] |
Release years by system: 2004—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[3][4] |
Release years by system: 2005—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[3] |
Release years by system: 2005—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[3] |
Release years by system: 2006—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei
Title | Details |
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Original release date(s):[3]
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Release years by system: 2006—Microsoft Windows PC[3] |
Notes:
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Expanded releases
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri
Title | Details |
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Original release date(s):[5][6]
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Release years by system: 2007—PlayStation 2[5][6] |
Notes: | |
Original release date(s):[7][8]
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Release years by system: 2007—PlayStation 2[7][8] |
Notes: |
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna
Title | Details |
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Original release date(s):[9][10]
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Release years by system: 2008—Nintendo DS[9][10] |
Notes: | |
Original release date(s):[12]
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Release years by system: 2008—Nintendo DS[12] |
Notes: | |
Original release date(s):[14]
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Release years by system: 2009—Nintendo DS[14] |
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Original release date(s):[16]
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Release years by system: 2010—Nintendo DS[16] |
Notes: |
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hō
Title | Details |
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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hō Original release date(s):
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Release years by system: 2014—Microsoft Windows PC[18] 2018—Nintendo Switch[19] 2019—PlayStation 4[20] |
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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hō + Original release date(s):
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Release years by system: 2022—Microsoft Windows PC |
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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sui
Title | Details |
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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sui Original release date(s):
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Release years by system: 2015—PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita[21] |
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Other series
Higurashi Daybreak
Title | Details |
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Original release date(s):
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Release years by system: 2006—Microsoft Windows PC |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):
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Release years by system: 2007—Microsoft Windows PC |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[22][23]
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Release years by system: 2008—PlayStation Portable[22][23] |
Notes: | |
Original release date(s):[24]
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Release years by system: 2009—PlayStation Portable[24] |
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References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hodgkins, Crystalyn (November 19, 2009). "MangaGamer Adds Koihime†Musō, More Da Capo Games". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 "Higurashi, Meakashi-hen". MangaGamer. January 31, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "Event Information" (in Japanese). 07th Expansion. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Kira Kira Curtain Call and Higurashi". MangaGamer. April 2, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri description website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri official website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on September 1, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri: Kakera Asobi listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna introduction website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Daiichikan Tatari (limited edition) listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Daiichikan Tatari official website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Dainikan Sō (limited edition) listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Dainikan Sō official website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Daisankan Rasen (limited edition) listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Daisankan Rasen official website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 3 "Higurasi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Daiyonkan Kizuna (limited edition) listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
- ↑ "Higurasi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Daiyonkan Kizuna official website" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
- 1 2 Loveridge, Lyenzee (June 28, 2014). "New Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hō Visual Novel's Opening Streamed". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- 1 2 "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou coming to Switch on July 26 in Japan". Gematsu. March 20, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ↑ "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou coming to PS4 on January 24, 2019 in Japan". Gematsu. September 26, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- 1 2 "Higurashi When They Cry coming to PS3, PS Vita". Gematsu. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Higurashi Daybreak Portable game information" (in Japanese). Alchemist. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 "Higurashi Daybreak Portable (limited edition) listing" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- 1 2 "対戦ACT『ひデブ ポータブル』がメガ級になって帰ってきた!" [Competition ACT Higurashi Daybreak Portable Returns as a Mega Rank!] (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. August 10, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
External links
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Archived September 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at 07th Expansion (in Japanese)
- Higurashi Daybreak at Twilight Frontier (in Japanese)