Operation Backlog Completion 2025

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 7

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 032025
 

I know, I know, I once again waited a year before continuing Higurashi.

As September neared its end, I suddenly remembered my intention of finishing Higurashi before playing Silent Hill f… so what better way to start out Celebrating All Things Spooky than with Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 7: Minagoroshi?

When we last left off, Higurashi had once again played mind games with me by giving me an explanation that sounded legitimate but was just a little too convenient. This time, it stopped playing games and actually started answering questions.

Chapter 7 is mostly split between the viewpoints of Keiichi and Rika, and since Rika has been one of the most mysterious characters for a while now, that clarified a lot.

Click for Higurashi Chapter 7 spoilers
My theory that Rika was either jumping timelines or resetting the timeline is essentially correct. After her death, she and Hanyuu are able to rewind time to try again, although they’re now restricted to only going back a few weeks.

This was, surprisingly, one of the most upbeat Higurashi chapters for a good portion of time. It still had heavy themes, but it was going in a much more positive direction. Of course, the existence of an eighth chapter stopped me from getting too optimistic about how things would work out.

What stands out to me the most is how it answers questions that I’ve had ever since I played Chapter 1, mysteries that have been lurking in the back of my mind ever since. Getting answers after all this time was such a good feeling.

Click for major Higurashi Chapter 7 spoilers
Takano was one of the characters I’d been the most suspicious of, but I still wasn’t prepared for the reveal and just how ruthless and cold she is. I’m curious if the next chapter will expand more on her motivations, because her scenes were some of the most interesting (in a twisted sort of way).

(The irony is that earlier in this chapter, I’d been thinking, “Maybe Takano actually is a good person, just with morbid interests.” Okay, well, maybe not.)

I’m also fascinated by the fact that Higurashi has routinely thrown out various possibilities–is it supernatural? is it all just paranoia? is it a big government coverup?–and the answer appears to be “yes.” Rika’s foresight and Hanyuu’s presence have supernatural explanations, Hinamizawa Syndrome induces hallucinations and intense paranoia, and the people studying the illness have a secret military force that erases all evidence when things go bad.

All the time I was playing the earlier chapters, I was torn because picking any single explanation didn’t feel like a good enough answer, so it’s interesting that it’s actually a mix.

I don’t know how well the explanations in this chapter are generally received, but personally, I enjoyed it quite a bit. This was one of the craziest chapters to read, and I loved it.

The ending was so intense and exciting that I couldn’t stop playing it. I had to find out what was going to happen this time. And now that I’ve finished Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 7: Minagoroshi, I can’t wait to get into Chapter 8.

Seriously. No long wait this time. It’ll be soon, because I need to see the resolution.

Celebrating All Things Spooky 2025 is Here!

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, My Games, My Stories, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Oct 012025
 

October is here, and I’ll be honest, I was tempted not to do Celebrating All Things Spooky this year, considering how backed up my backlog has become even by my standards!

But with some good horror games looming over me, I decided to go ahead with it anyway. Just be aware that I might not be able to stick to my usual pace of reviews (although I’ll still try). So let’s get started with Celebrating All Things Spooky 2025!

Contest

As usual, there will be a contest! Be sure to pay attention to the rules, as some details have changed.

Prizes:

  • Alan Wake (gift sent through Steam)
  • Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (gift sent through Steam)
  • Not It: Spookiest Edition (gift sent through Steam)
  • Silent Hill 4: The Room (gift sent through GOG)
  • Dead Age (Steam code)
  • Lakeview Cabin Collection (Steam code)
  • eBook copy of The Book at Dernier
  • eBook copy of It Came Back
  • $15 sent through PayPal
  • You pick a game for me to review!

If you choose the review option, your chosen game must be something I either own or is easily obtainable, which you can discuss with me beforehand. It must be a single game, not a collection (although the chosen game can be part of a collection). I will start playing it in November.

Rules:

  • No purchase is necessary.
  • Only comments made between October 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT and October 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT will be counted.
  • 1 non-spam, non-anonymous comment on any Celebrating All Things Spooky blog post, including replies to other comments or posts from previous years = 1 point.
  • You must use an email address or website URL (or include another way of contacting you) in your comment so I can contact you if you win.
  • You must earn at least 5 points to qualify for a prize.
  • The top 3 qualifying point earners will win prizes.
  • The person with the most points will get their first pick of the prizes. The person with the second most points will pick second, and the person with the third most points will pick third.
  • In the event of a tie, tied winners will be contacted at the same time. A tie for third place will allow for more than 3 winners. If tied winners choose the same prize, duplicate prizes will be possible.
  • The winner will be contacted by November 2, 2025.

Sale

Meanwhile, you’ve got some sales to watch out for again! For the rest of this week and up through the weekend, my zombie comedy novella The Zombie Mishap is available on Amazon for just $0.99!

Looking for something a bit scarier? As we get closer to Halloween, watch for similar sales on my horror novellas The Book at Dernier and It Came Back!

When it comes to the visual novels I’ve worked on, the lighthearted supernatural otome game The Last Act is currently on sale on Steam! Meanwhile, I don’t know if the horror visual novel Not It will get a sale closer to Halloween or not, but I’ll keep an eye out.

Conclusion

For the rest of the month, I’ll highlight horror games and other spooky games (and sometimes other media) as often as possible, giving this blog a spooky feel in honor of Halloween. I’ll try to cover a variety of game types and styles, so stay tuned.

The scariest thing facing me is my backlog, but don’t worry about that. Let’s get Celebrating All Things Spooky 2025 started!

More Details on Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Sep 292025
 

For me, the best announcement from TGS was Yakuza Kiwami 3 and its unexpected companion game Dark Ties, starring Yoshitaka Mine.

A few more details have surfaced since then, mostly through a Famitsu interview with director Ryosuke Horii.

(I’m relying on Google Translate here, just so you know.)

They’d originally intended to make Mine’s story something that could be watched as a video (maybe it as originally planned to be new cutscenes added to Kiwami 3, like the added Nishiki scenes in the first Kiwami?), but then they decided it would be better if he was playable. It seems this decision was at least partly made because of how popular Mine is.

When they announced Dark Ties, they described Mine as having an antihero approach in his substories, and Horii touches on that in the interview, saying that Mine doesn’t approach substories with the “defeating evil and protecting the weak” attitude that the other games’ protagonists have.

Overall, it sounds like they intend Dark Ties to be a darker story, which sounds pretty interesting.

The interview also describes the nature of Kiwami 3 as a remake, and how they felt if they kept it too close to the original Yakuza 3, it would feel boring/pointless since Yakuza 3’s remaster is readily available. Therefore, they approached it differently than the previous Kiwami games and treated it like a new work, and they don’t intend for it to replace Yakuza 3.

Another interview emphasized that as well, with Kiwami 3 involving bigger changes than Kiwami and Kiwami 2 had. Sadly, it also confirms the removal of the Revelation system.

(I’ve been hoping Revelations would come back to the series and appear in newer games, so I’m especially disappointed that they won’t even be in Kiwami 3.)

Moving on from the interviews, there’s also one big piece of information that has surfaced from TGS – the length of Dark Ties. Since it’s packaged with Kiwami 3, I thought it might be significantly shorter than the previous Gaiden games. I was hoping it would at least be the length of the Kaito Files, not as short as Kiwami 2’s Majima Saga. However, some previews mentioned being told it will be similar in length to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

If it really ends up being that long, that’s incredible. I’m really looking forward to it.

What are your thoughts on the latest details about Dark Ties? How do you feel about their approach to Kiwami 3 as a remake?

 Older Entries