Ok. All i have to say is: The world building is the best one so far in wtc, the characters weren't very interesting at first, but they become very interesting and likeable after. The mystery may be the most interesting so far(if we're talking about large scale, since, while in Higurashi it was about Hinamizawa, and Umineko about Rokkenjima, Ciconia may be about the entire world xD), and the ending were peak as almost every end Ryukishi does with his games(man, that christmas will never be forgotten).

Now, about the problems, i would say music variety,(the ones there are good, but there was probably a time when i was 2h hearing 3 looping osts) the political part were not much entertaining as well, the slice of life were good, but I didn't like some parts when the gauntlet knights were talking about how to protect the walls of peace(here i'm talking about a specific part, even though they talk about it the entire game xD), but overall it was a good experience i will definetly look foward for phase 2, in other words see ya at 2063.

Ciconia phase 1 is similar to all first episodes of another WTC works
Ryukishi gives us a lot of questions with their answers planted here and there but its hard to figure them out
some of the characters are awesome and well written but some of them didn't have enough screen time so we didn't have the opportunity to know them well enough
the new ideas and themes were so interesting and I always wanted to see a work from ryukishi outside the mystery settings

So all WTC fans must agree that music plays a big roll in ryukishi's works
but this part has so many less bgms compared to the others and its length (took me like 35 hours to finish) and that was a bit disappointing to me
about the story
this is only the first part so I want to save my thoughts until the work finishes (maybe I'll come back later and write them)
but some of the dialogues were repeated a couple of times and that made me feel a little bored


in the end it was an amazing experience and it has been written by ryukishi so its worth your time
8/10

Ciconia when they cry has an interesting story with themes and ideas that makes it more interesting but still we didn’t see the full potential of the story, I’m excited to see what will he do with the story.

This phase was focused on the characters especially the children, I mean it was obvious by the title “ For You, the Replaceable Ones” and the children were well written, not that excellent but still good.

in conclusion it was a fascinating ride but lacks so many things, especially the cliff hanger I wished it was more exciting.

It can be a slog at times, but every R07 work is like that to be honest. Ciconia in particular is the one of the longest things he ever wrote, so it can be noticeably slow - mainly in the first half.

Ciconia introduces its entire cast simultaneously really early on, and uses the first half to give everyone at least some surface level development. For what its worth I think every character ended up being pretty likeable by the end of it, but I'd hope that the next parts of Ciconia don't introduce too many new characters. Umineko took that route and a lot of them ended up lacking anything substantial. The second half helps to flesh out some characters a little more, but its mostly concentrated in the beginning.

The second half of Ciconia is a lot more action, and I liked it significantly more. It has a large focus on geopolitics and the global situation breaking down due to tensions and "natural" disasters. If you can make it through the slow beginning, this absolutely makes it worth it.

Probably my favorite part of Ciconia was just trying to piece together the lore and history of the globe, since only some scattered hints and pieces are given throughout it. I made a map in MS paint of the various alliances while I read to try to comprehend it a little better, and it honestly made the first half a lot more enjoyable for me.

Ciconia is also home to some of the best written scenes in the entire WTC series. Ciconia's ending is legitimately the best thing he has ever written and its not even close. It has the perfect combination of aesthetics, music, contrast, etc that it's impossible to put into words how great it is. There's a bunch of other fantastic scenes as well, such as the meat factory and restoring the planet's dignity, but the ending definitely takes the cake. I would argue Ciconia is worth reading for these scenes alone. The ending is a cliffhanger too, adding a lot more to its mysteries and opening up a ton more questions.

Upon finishing Ciconia, a bunch of bonus scenes are unlocked that are essentially slice of life scenes for the primary 6 characters. It's small but it honestly does a lot to make me like the main cast. Definitely worth reading, as it genuinely contains the most fun scenes in Ciconia.

Overall I think Ciconia set a great precedent despite it's slow start. I'd love to read the next chapter of it when he decides to finish it in a million years.

While I wont be going into too much detail on any specific plot points, I'll be talking about the themes of the game in general, so be warned I suppose


"All is in the name of guiding humanity down the right path"

Over the past 6 months, I've been dedicating the majority of both my free time and what was supposed to be my non free time to going through Ryukishi's main (and most well known) franchise, that being the No Naku Koro Ni series (or, as it is more well known in the west: When They Cry).
From the quintessential VN classic that is Higurashi, to the somewhat flawed but still ultimately beautiful masterpiece that is Umineko, these games have been an hell of a ride to experience even with all the quirks that are oh so common with works written by this guy. And while I've been loving going through these, I've never felt like writing up something about them, mainly because of the feeling that I would never be able to do these games justice.
This time, however, it's kinda different.

Let's get the obvious jokes out of the way: Ciconia Phase 2 is never coming out; GouSotsu was trash; Umineko Gold is dead; what the fuck was 07th smoking when they came up with Beako; Ryukishi is an hack and a fraud so on and so forth.
That being said HOLY kerokero Ciconia Phase 1 is without a shadow of a doubt (at least in my eyes) the single best introductory arc of any WTC game EVER, and one of the best works by Ryukishi IN GENERAL (at least from what I've read, I'll read Higanbana and RGD eventually I swear).

When looking at the synopsis, it's clear from the get go how much the scope has expanded. A story of global conflict, conspiracy, and military action makes it a far cry from the series' old settings of a rural Japanese village and a small island turned catbox of infinite possibilities, and even if this isn't Ryukishi's first rodeo when it comes to alternative history/speculative fiction/whatever the fuck you wanna call it, just the sheer girth of this game's setting would make it seem like it would end in failure at first, but as the game progresses it's very clear that not only does Ryukishi have a really good grasp on competent worldbuilding, but he also does it while providing interesting discussions on the game's various themes.

Even if the game's writing comes with all the Ryukishi quirks you would expect, like repeating ideas ad nauseam or classic Ryukishi Bloat™, aside from the first half being admittedly a bit too much expository the writing is without a doubt excellent. While at times feeling somewhat preachy, the game discusses a lot of relevant stuff without feeling too much patronizing. From the game's setting you would probably expect the characters to repeat stuff like "errm war... bad!" over and over again, but instead Ryukishi just assumes that the reader is intelligent enough to already know that, and uses that time to discuss and explore surrounding ideas like radicalism, mob mentality, the nature of the military outside of war as a means of stability, as well as various other things. However, and probably most surprisingly, the game doesn't really discuss directly what its arguably the most prominent issue in this story, the nature of child soldiers, but while the game's character don't really discuss this at length (after all, in this society this is already not only normalized, but also needed, so it really wouldn't make sense for the characters to do that at lenght), the game instead uses its extended cast to explore this.

Ciconia's cast is... big. Really big. Even when only looking at the gauntlet knights, we're talking about 24 of them. And while of course not everyone has gotten their chance to shine in this phase, the ones that did get screen time are for the most part pretty fun! The main two squads that the game focus on in particular were very much highlights. Although seeing these kids goof off is fun and all, at the end the game is sure to remind you that at the end of the day, the situations they've been put in are not good in the slightest. Being the carriers of the most advanced form of weaponry in the game's world, the weight they carry is a lot, way too much for anyone to carry, let alone a child.

And as the game progresses, as it becomes more and more clear this is going to end in tragedy, as the cast discusses what it means to be a soldier, if they really have free will, or if they really are just pieces on a gameboard, to be discarded after they got no more use, the game reaches its climax, where their individuality gets stripped of them and they turn into what they're supposed to be... soldiers.

Without spoiling what actually happens, saying that the game's ending is great, would honestly be a severe understatement. The game shows you, at the start of every chapter, the Doomsday Clock. And as its hand reaches the end, you realize that what's about to happen is inevitable... And yet, that doesn't stop the ending from being absolutely tragic, with an incredible last chapter+epilogue combo that will leave you feeling betrayed, angry, confused, sad, and most importantly of all, craving more.

Early jokes aside, it really is worth pointing out that as of writing its been 4 years and a day since the release of Phase 1, and while this wait hasn't been exactly radio silent, with Ryukishi giving a couple of small updates here and there that basically boil down to "I'm still working on it guys!", the fact that he's probably busy with other projects like Silent Hill f means that we might still need to wait a while to see this story get continued.

But, to be honest, I'm willing to wait, because what I see here is something that, even if it hasn't reached the peaks of his previous works yet, absolutely has the potential to be Ryukishi's single best work yet. And hell isn't the notion that in order for a miracle to happen you need to believe in it one of the biggest messages in Higurashi? So I guess I'll believe in Phase 2.

However long it takes, I'll wait to be welcomed again to A3W, even if I have to wait 2 more years for it to come on a white horse.

Positives:
One of the most unique stories or introductions to a story I've ever seen. With fantastic world building and a very good cast, this is very well written and pretty engaging, but not phenomenal.
Negatives:
Some character designs absolutely suck, and the soundtracks are not anything special except for a few that stand out.

I recommend this to When They Cry fans with an open mind. Don't go into it with high expectations; it's good, though.
I would give this an 8/10 as I enjoyed it that much, but I think most people would give it a 6 or 7.

Ryuukishi has improved a hell of a lot since Umineko. The man finally learned how to stop padding story with as much annoying pointless filler, and the battle special effects are actual animations now instead of seizure-inducing powerpoints. Bravo.

The story is definitely a much larger scale than Higurashi and Umineko, and I hope that he won't be biting off more than he can chew (which I slightly felt about Umineko). I'll have faith in him, though, if we ever get the second phase. And goddamn I can't wait to see the characters develop, his characters are why I always come back.