समीक्षा

• eb.wolf

  Jan 31, 2022

  this game puts the deer in tsundere
• gamedeal user

  Jun 26, 2022

  If you're coming from Higurashi or Umineko expecting a shorter work of remotely similar quality, prepare to be very disappointed. I sure as hell was. If I had been told to read this work, read it, and had been told that Ryushiki07 had written this, I would not have believed it. Its worth noting that unlike, say, Higurashi or Umineko, Iwaihime was not a project that originated with Ryushiki07. Instead he was commissioned to write for it as a project that had already been created. Between the two, Iwaihime bears more resemblance to Higurashi initially: we view several loops, and each loop ends disastrously, with the next loop beginning earlier, albeit only slightly earlier unlike Higurashi which had practically a full restart. Iwaihime takes place in a small Japanese town, and features a boy and four other girls who are part of the same club that do after school activities together (sound familiar?). I'd compare it to Umineko as well, but it would be criminal to potentially spoil someone's experience reading Umineko for the purposes of reviewing this story. Unlike Higurashi, where only two of the characters were really into the main character romantically (creating the classic love triangle), in Iwaihime all the women are all in love with the main character, practically immediately upon meeting him. There is an in-universe explanation, but its hard to be invested in a romantic relationship with no build up or chemistry. The horror isn't scary, only gross. Overall, I really regret even buying Iwaihime. If you're a big anime fan and VN reader and are OK with something that would probably have a 6.5/10 rating on MAL, I guess you might enjoy Iwaihime. But if you come into this expecting Ryushiki07's usually quality, you're going to be very disappointed.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 19, 2022

  We do have another horror visual novel here with some truly beautiful, and animated, artworks aswell. The story is quite unusual, but about people experiencing and therefore even more vulnerable to nightmares through their daily life. Each character has a story to tell, sometimes even more than just a single story, and there's a club in highschool for that purpose alone; To help them cope with nightmares and live ordinary lives. Their stories are very well written, I've felt scared myself when reading throughout the game. I do no longer remember the exact order of stories, but I do believe, they're somewhat mixed up. The game features some quite disturbing artworks and content, so I sure wouldn't recommend the game to those, who're bound to react negatively to, for example, lotsa blood or other disturbing content. The Developer(s) have done a wonderful work; The story has the necessary atmosphere, and may unfortunately contain a grammar mistake or two. If you're looking for something unique and scary, I'd certainly recommend this one. Scary reading, and have fun!
• gamedeal user

  Nov 24, 2022

  Story

  Now you’re probably here because you’ve heard of / read Higurashi. Is this Higurashi/When they Cry related? No. Not in the slightest. Is this better than Higurashi/When they Cry? This is a subjective opinion but hell no. Higurashi reigns supreme. Ok so why should I play this then? Because it’s a wonderfully intricate story which, in classic Ryuukishi07 style, will fill you with hopes and dreams and get you attached to its characters only to take it all away and break your heart just mere minutes later. It’s a hidden gem among VNs and it deserves your full attention.

  Sound

  Let me start by praising the brilliant voice acting from the cast. Their mood changes and shrieks of horror are just enough to give you the chills and endear themselves to you. The music and sound effects don't fall behind either, as expected of Ryuukishi's love for sound novels . And Suzumu being played by the same actor as Saitama from One Punch Man is just pure freaking comedy gold.

  Artwork

  Ryukishi is the kind of writer who needs nothing more than a pen and half a post it to cause severe emotional trauma. And the art team definitely burned the midnight oil to match that energy. The CGs are vibrant and twist brilliantly between the cutesy harem and gory horror aspects of the story. Kanae's chapters triumph especially well because of the art and contrast.

  Translation

  I really really want to hate on the translation as the use of terms like “FUBAR”, “gung-ho” and “see you mañana” made me question whether I was reading a creepy Reddit thread about old people trying to pass as teenagers. It's immersion breaking and annoying, I shouldn’t have to Google useless acronyms in a visual novel. You’ve got me reading for hours, I can survive having to read full words instead of pointless acronyms with no bearing on the story. The use of British specific terms like “general practitioner” also rubbed me wrong, just say doctor so it applies to most English speakers! Not to mention Japan doesn't even use a GP system so it's even more erroneous. However, credit where credit is due, from my limited understanding of Japanese it didn’t seem like they tried to twist bits of the story to fit modern western standards which is a major win these days. This is a story about Japanese values of self sacrifice and suffering and the VN accurately depicts it.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 26, 2023

  A 1000 year old bittersweet symphony

  This is a bitter story with bittersweet ending. Expect unexpected, as usual with Ryukishi07 Iwaihime is not perfect, I have to say that straight away. Do not expect the same level of quality as in Higurashi series. I will talk about negatives first - it's not that much to say anyway. First of all - part of the story around Riria Nunokawa was the weakest point in the whole VN. This character completely failed to connect with me, perhaps because I do not follow any celebrities, but mainly because her pain and haunting was portrayed at the same level, as other characters, which to me was incomparable with pain of Tsubakiko, Kanae and Toé Kurokami. Chapter 3 bored me to great extent, and same applied to closing chapter of Riria. Other negative involves writing of the last chapter of the main story (I'm not talking about DLC, which was amazing). The whole wrestling and pool premise was cheap and childish - to the point, where in my opinion it didn't match overall premise of the story and otherwise great quality of writing. Luckily, after pool fanservice scenes ended, story bounced back to usual Ryukishi's quality. With that being said...let's focus on positives now Despite of my previous complaints, I was amazed by the story and I just couldn't stop reading for most of Iwaihime. At the point where I finished the game, I immediately went back to Steam store and bought DLC. It's not a happy fairytale. It's a wretched tale of love, helplessness, a 1000 year old curse, human's greed, deepest fears and sacrifices. It's dark. Darker than Higurashi, for sure. And sad. Sad to the point, where I had to stop reading for a while twice. Once, when I realised what is haunting Tsubakiko, and next, straight after in Kanae's background story. Ryukishi07 is never afraid to use darkest emotions and sins that humans can commit. I'm not going to spoil those characters stories, so you have to read them yourself to understand what I'm talking about. Then we have mysterious Toé Kurokami. My favourite character in this whole story. Chapter 5 was my favourite - going all the way 1000 years back to see origin of the curse was really interesting. I like how it gradually mixed up with present time and how things affected characters living there. Seeing Toé day to day struggles and heavy burden made me sad...really sad. So when I finally reached her story conclusion chapter, I supposed to be happy, right? Did you already forget that this is story written by Ryukishi? He dropped quite a bomb - this guy knows how to extract tears from my glands...I said that in my Higurashi review and I can say that again here. He mastered the art of playing with my emotions... Then it comes DLC - Musubihime... Long story short - buy it. It's my second favourite chapter, that follows Mayu Hinagata and her hauntings. It's probably the darkest part of Iwaihime. My head almost exploded while I was reading it and seeing certain scenes...but be warned. You need nerves of steel, this chapter is quite disturbing. Overall - strong 7/10. Visuals are good, VA is of high quality, and music is okay (OST could have a wider selection of tracks in my opinion). I'd love to give it a higher score, but I can't, because at some point in chapter 3 I wanted to give up on reading, as it was stretched and boring. But when I passed that, it got better again. Is it a horror? I wouldn't say so. It's a tragic love story, that dates 1000 years back...sure, it is very dark, repulsive sometimes. But it's well worth of your time. If you are a fan of Ryukishi07's work, then it's a must.
• sii_kei

  Feb 14, 2023

  I played this game as a big fan of Ryukishi07's works & if that's your motivation for playing it too, then I don't recommend it. Its writing is mediocre at best & the characters never really break out of their stereotypical shell. There's nothing clever or subtle about the story here. With the exception of the idol girl, you don't really get any psychological horror vibes; in fact, the entire horror aspect of this game translates to disgusting, gory scenes. There are a couple of story arcs revolving around what happened hundreds of years before that explore the local mythology & explain why things are happening the way they are in the present day. I found those chapters much more interesting, which just gets to show the contemporary characters are too bland to get invested in. If you've ever played Umineko, then think of this game as lacking love from its author. It's like Ryukishi wasn't given any chance to shine, but instead forced at gunpoint to write it on the shortest of deadlines.
• nadeko

  Apr 2, 2023

  Lütfen birisi size ağzına kadar siyah ve sıvı bir madde sunarsa kabul etmeyin bu dolandırıcının başarılı dolandırma sözü -ben denemediğim ürünü satmam kadeşim -şunu bir iç bak neler oluyor ya -ya sen güven abine ya -alan pişman almayan pişman alan neden daha fazla almadım diye pişman
• ˖ʚ Kaiju ɞ˖

  Apr 25, 2023

  quite heavy stuff ..
• Shibe ✿

  Jun 13, 2023

  Don't buy this game if you plan of comparing it to Umineko and Higurashi, because it won't stand a chance and you'll be feeling lowkey disappointed. This is without a doubt Ryukishi07's work and it's enough of a reason to buy it, but... keep your hopes in check to avoid disappointment. Just do it for Ryukishi07.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 5, 2023

  The first half of the game is horror. The story is disgusting, disturbing, creepy. It touches sensitive subjects too, like suicide (in the first opening scene) very descriptive gore, accompanied by sounds that will make you feel uncomfortable. The 2nd half focuses on explanations on what the hell is going on, bringing an end, and sprinkling some romance. It's written by the creator of Higurashi and Umineko. This game doesn't live up to his best works, however It's still alright. Graphically it looks way better compared to his previous titles. I reccomend it, just don't expect godlike story going in.