Umineko seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it experience for a lot of people. It was more of a love-it-and-hate-it kind of thing for me. There is just...so much packed into this story, both good and bad! The good is super good, but the bad is also pretty bad. For the sake of my sanity, this is going to be more of a list than a proper review.

Loved:

(1) The premise. Umineko is, from the start, just a really fun genre parfait. You’ve got mystery, horror, and fantasy tropes in there, mixed with nice crunchy bits of gothic family drama, and it’s all drizzled with a metafictional fudge on top. It’s a unique set-up with tons of atmosphere and so much storytelling potential.

(2) The characters. Umineko has a huge cast of memorable characters brought to life by some of the best voice acting I have ever heard. I could listen to Ohara Sayaka cackle all day long. (If you like evil laughter, Umineko occupies at least, like, six out of ten spots in the Top Ten Best Evil Laughs in Video Games.) The character writing in general is extremely good. It’s possible to forget—for hours at a time—that these are silly-looking sprites in a goofy anime game, because they feel so much like real people. Even the most despicable characters remain compelling (Rosaaaa), and all of the relationships, especially the family dynamics, are believable and complex.

(3) The themes. Umineko is thematically ambitious to a fault, but it’s refreshing to see a story just really go for it. There are so many Big Ideas in this game. While I’m doubtful that it succeeds in saying much of anything sensible in the end, I appreciate that it is earnestly trying to say something—often several things at once—and if I had, oh, a few hundred spare hours of free time lying around, I might be tempted to read it a second time to peel back more of the layers.

(4) The artwork. I know I called the sprites “silly-looking” (they are) but Ryukishi’s art really grows on you—the clumsiness is endearing and the facial expressions are wonderful. (I hate the console and pachinko sprites but ymmv.)

(5) The soundtrack. It’s banger after banger p much.

Hated:

(1) The otaku shit. Umineko was written for an audience of hardcore VN fans. Every time I was reminded of this target audience, and how much I do not belong to it, it was like nails on a chalkboard. They aren’t so pervasive as to ruin the experience, but the pandering in-jokes and fanservicey moments really pulled me out of the story. Moreover, the game was released serially for the most dedicated fans to devour chapter by chapter, line by line, going over each scene with a fine-tooth comb for clues. Many of the storytelling choices make less sense removed from this original context. I often felt like the author was being maddeningly opaque for no reason; in fact, he is being opaque on purpose (to give fans more grist for the theory-crafting mill), but unless you have approximately ten zillion hours of free time to set aside for note-taking and puzzle-solving, this habit of never saying anything directly will likely just drive you up the wall.

(2) The mysteries. Umineko is not really about the mysteries—it’s more interested in the abstract concept of Mystery Fiction than in the nitty-gritty details of each murder—but, on the other hand, it’s not really not about the mysteries, since they take up at least a hundred hours of the time you will spend reading this dang thing (and considerably more time than that if you actually try to solve them). It is a shame, then, that the mysteries kinda blow. Ryukishi wants us to believe that the “whodunnit”—it was Colonel Mustard in the library with a candlestick!—is less important than the “whydunnit,” the tortured heart behind the crimes. But the one time that “whydunnit” matters, it is explained in such a convoluted way as to be virtually nonsensical, and actually made me understand the character less than I did before. You also have to wait seven chapters for this motive to be revealed—and that’s it. That’s all you get. The rest of the mysteries are just soulless logic puzzles. The author has so little interest in them by the end that he just sweeps them all aside in a single scene—and frankly I don’t blame him, because the solutions are so underwhelming, I wouldn’t want to draw any attention to them either. A few questions are raised which do have satisfying answers, but they are mostly regarding background details; overall, Umineko is far more successful as a story about mysteries than as a mystery story.

(3) The themes. I know I said I liked the themes, but the thematic ambition of Umineko is also kind of its downfall. Especially in the second half, the more Ryukishi tries to draw all these thematic threads together into a bow, the more they get tangled up in a big perplexing wad of nothing. Part of the problem is a terminal case of trying to have his cake and eat it too. Like, do the mysteries matter, or don’t they? If the pursuit of a single truth is so wrongheaded, why expend so many thousands of words encouraging readers in that pursuit? Why must love and truth, empathy and reality, be diametrically opposed? The last chapter, rather than bringing clarity to these contradictions, retreats into boring cliches, and sometimes plain old falsehoods. It is quite seriously suggested that the only way to overcome trauma, actually, is to run away from reality and escape into a fantastical delusion, because, uhhh, that’s the power of magic, folks?? Ryukishi’s best writing is rooted in his experience as a social worker, and his sharp observations of human behavior, but every once a while he just runs obliviously into the limits of his own perspective with a resounding smack, and it’s a huge bummer that one of his most embarrassing fumbles comes as he is trying to deliver a grand statement. He simply does not understand trauma well enough to say anything meaningful about it, and I’m not convinced that the other themes fare much better in the end.

(4) George Ushiromiya. He sucks.

This is, of course, an extremely distilled and spoiler-redacted version of my thoughts on Umineko; I could probably write a dissertation or two about this game. While I’m on the fence about whether I think it’s good or not, I am glad that I read it, and I can see why it resonates with so many people. I will certainly remember the characters, if nothing else. As for the rest—well, as Ryukishi would probably tell you if your family had been brutally murdered by goat demons, just use the power of magic, and pretend it never happened!

In my eyes Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is a good game and a good way to continue the story after trials and tribulations. The way the game sets it tone from the first case to the last is perfect, It truly makes you feel like it is set in the Dark age of the law and the fact that it feels like no one truly wins in this game. For Example, Phoenix lost his badge for 7 years, Trucy lost her real father, Vera also lost her father, Wocky almost died because of the bullet left in his body and was used by the woman he loved and ect... The mystery and secrets of the Gramarye's is really interesting. Apollo's character, While lacking in some departments, is still unique and different enough from Phoenix that I actually prefer him over Phoenix. The issues I have with the game actually are a result of Dual Destines and how that handles it's own story while trying to mange this games story, but I will most likely talk about it in my Dual Destinies review so I'll just stop this review here.


Case Ranking
4>1>3>2

IDK where to put this in my review but I would like to state that Turnabout Serenade is over hated.

western game devs be like "okay time to make a quirky visual novel as a joke because... erm.... THAT'S not weird....????" and then make it actually compelling challenge

i don't know what to tell you man. the art's good because the idw team is behind it, of course it's good. writing is average modern sonic fare; "earnest" to a point but constantly self referential with 2010s "quirky" humor and already-dated meme references. music is inoffensive but unmemorable. id take this over the so quirky omg!!!! xD dating sim route that loser-ass companies like blizzard take (amazed they could release something involving consensual relationships) but this shtick is really really tired and the game just wasn't good enough to justify the joke. minigame sucked too.

there's a sort of expectation that comes with the majority of visual novels and their treatment of women and queer characters; sort of a roll-of-the-eyes, "well, it's just the lay of the land" expectation that even some of the best titles that the genre has to offer fall into. it's that way in jrpgs, too, which have lent themselves to some of the most expansive and intricate narratives i've ever experienced... yet this is a piece that kind of seems to come "with the territory" for most landmarks in the medium. it came as some surprise to me, then, that the house in fata morgana arrives with as much empathy, passion, and blatant progression in the ways of feminist and queer storytelling within its medium. this sort of rhetoric may be anticipated more from independent releases in the decade that has followed the house of fata morgana's release, but here it was in 2012, so open and so loving in its approach. it's astounding.

rather than indulge length for the sake of more intricate or convoluted narrative, fata morgana has one major route and it's better for it. much time is spent with fata morgana's secondary and tertiary characters, but the main duo encompasses so much of the thematic and dramatic storytelling that you really end up feeling as if you've spent these years, years and years with them. an era-hopping adventure awaits these two and the amount of care in truly making each of these scenarios feel weighty and relevant is some of the best i've ever experienced in video games. fata morgana essentially has no filler, which is remarkable considering how many moments are essentially retold through another perpsective down the line. it's not that the story itself is convoluted, it's the myraid of contextual facts and viewpoints that convolute what to feel, how to interpret, and how to siphon the meaning and weight of those events where fata morgana finds its strength.

the actual structure of the game itself is pretty genius. as i mentioned, fata morgana has a single cohesive route, and the choices to get you there are pretty minimal, but that's fine. where the cohesion and impact lies is within the pacing itself. the first maybe six hours of my time with the game served as context for the house itself, experiencing the lives of those inhabitants, heirs, and usurpers of the rose-petaled manor. in those sequences, i began to appreciate the influences fata morgana adapted and drew from; no doubt including classic anime such as the rose of versailles, berserk, revolutionary girl utena, and basically any and all of naoki urasawa's early work. the thematically diverse revues which open up the mansion and familiarize the reader with not just the stories, but the rooms, halls, doorways, and secrets of the mansion itself are remarkable atmospheric storytelling which i can't say even similar indie titles such as edith finch manage to achieve, let alone in a similar runtime. the mansion truly comes alive and almost begins to feel like a character in and of itself, but it's that revelation about six hours in that this was all outside of the curtains, and what lays behind them is the TRUE beginning of this timeless narrative, where i began to understand the weight and finesse with which fata morgana has mastered the art of the visual novel. and trust me, if you've only played through the three door sequences, you haven't even begun to understand just how expertly this game is about to play out.

friends, there very well never be a love story told in gaming as passionate and beautiful as the main crux of the house in fata morgana. this is a story that for reasons regrettable and favorable i find myself and my love in. it is a story of tragedies, some of which i've shared in my own life. there are triumphs i felt genuinely warm and good about inside. the peaks of fata morgana are some of the most emotionally enlightening experiences i've ever had with art. this isn't just a game visual novel enthusiasts should be playing. the presentation is gorgeous, the soundtrack is among the finest ever produced for a video game, the story is beyond gripping and captivating, the characters are earnestly written and unforgettable. if it hasn't already been established by its fervently growing reputation, acclaim and fanbase, let me speak this truth to you now; the house in fata morgana is one of the all-time greats, and likely the greatest visual novel i've ever played to completion. it's one of the best video games and one of the best works of fiction i've ever experienced. there IS a house in fata morgana, and i will never forget the time i've spent within its halls.