Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi 1.0

Visual novels have a long history, and there are some standout franchises made entirely in the genre. One of them is Higurashi, a franchise about murder, mental illnesses, and more. This franchise has lasted nearly two decades now because of its incredibly strong writing. And now the first episode, Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi, is free to play.

To install Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi, make sure you have Steam installed and go to this link to install the game.

This game is the latest English translation, and it is the best experience yet. The game has a redone script and redrawn sprites that look and feel far more professional than before. If you've never played the games before, then this is the best possible place to start.

The game on paper looks juvenile - a cute girl slice of life game. However, there are murders and disappearances that happen once a year, and nobody will tell the main character more about them. He decides to start investigating, which is a bad idea for a horror game. The feeling that something is about to go horribly wrong is prevalent throughout the whole game, which combined with its initial cute, slice of life writing to feel even more jarring once things finally do go wrong.

It's worth noting that Ch. 1 is little more than a prologue. If you want to just dip your toes into the water, there's no better place to start than with Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi.