Today, I'll take on the task of reviewing the most recent 7th expansion work: When the Ciconia Crys. Now, like myself I am certain most of usToday, I'll take on the task of reviewing the most recent 7th expansion work: When the Ciconia Crys. Now, like myself I am certain most of us are still coming off of the high that Umineko was after its major circulation in popularity in the past 2 or so years. As a result of playing Umineko and watching or Higurashi playing it as well, bias of what you think Ciconia may get in the way and let me say that that is the number one issue that many of the readers will undoubtedly feel. I will not go into spoiler territory whatsoever, but let me say that Ryukishi was pulled no punches in saying that this work is unlike many of his others. For those of you expecting a murder mystery, I will pull the cat out of the bag now and say that it is not. As Ryukishi said himself, this is a story thats more of an open world mystery that involves more politics and world government, not families trapped on an island. As always, I rate my VNs on a 3 point rating and purchasing scale, and that grade is justified by the four categories of gameplay, art, music and story, with some intangibles thrown in at the end.
To begin, the gameplay is exactly what one would expect coming from a 07th expansion VN. It is purely kinetic and there will be no decisions to be made. When it comes to the text, depending on whatever version of the 2 previous when they cry games you played this one may feel a little different as there is no voice acting, and the text is a full screen textbox like Fate.
The art, well this one is just a tossup. Ryukishi, the mad lad himself, does both the art and the story for his own works unlike most other authors, which I garner a lot of respect for him for. For those that played the PS3 updated sprites versions of the previous works, you may feel that the big hands art style and lack of CGs may hurt the value of the game overall, but for those of you that played the base game of both of the previous works you will be mildly surprised to see that Ryukishi’s art has definitely improved over the years. The music, while may be noted for its lack of songs, is good when it needs to be. It’s cheerful when it needs to be, it can be haunting and mysterious at other times, and does what it needs to. It's not the best ost i've ever heard in a VN by any means, but it does what it needs to to provide the background that reflects what's going on in the story. Speaking of, the story is much different than any of 7th expansion prior works. As stated before, this is much more of an open world mystery that will have you guessing at the layers of political intrigue and wonder who is pulling the strings as opposed to wondering who, in a small to medium sized cast, the murderer is. The setting is also much different than the prior works, as it is set in A3W, which means after the third world war. Its set a few hundred years in the future, so a lot of the technology is sci fi esque, its not an island setting in the 80’s anymore.
All in all, Ciconia is a good read that is enjoyable for what it is. When voice acting and CG art is implemented it'll be much better overall, and considering how the first part ended I am certain the the next 3 parts will only get better from here. My only real gripe with this is the price, and to all of you watching I recommend waiting for a big sale to pick it up. Its 40 dollars and is only the length of a longer higurashi episode. If you are new to the series, you can get most of higurashi with 40 dollars and nearly all of Umineko for it, and in my opinion both of those are much better VNs. While this game is good, I do think it is the lowest of the three works, but that does not mean its terrible by any means. I rate Ciconia a 7.5/10, a 75/100, and recommend waiting for a sale to pick it up. The content spills a lot of world building considering its the first chapter, and while the VN is good, it did not leave an impact on me like the previous works. Hopefully the next part, which is coming soon, will improve upon the first and will live up to the previous works names.… Expand
