Ciconia When They Cry - Phase 1: For You, the Replaceable Ones

Cant recommend this novel its really disappointing, its nowwhere near the same quality like umineko or higurashi in terms of writing or soundtrack, it repeats itself ad nauseum and seems like it hasnt much meaningfull to say. As a Standalone this novel is terrible and who knows if ryukishi ever will continue this but i dont expect much from a possible phase 2 after this one.

Masterpiece

Okay, first off... [h1]THIS IS NOT WORTH $40[/h1] It's worth $20 at absolute best, and even then, that's generous. I finished all of the content in 12 hours. Keep that in mind. Rating: [b]5/10, at best[/b]. Avoid this until Phase 2 comes out, then re-review. [h3]Actual Review[/h3] I want to mention, just to boost my street cred, that I finished the entirety of Umineko as well as most of Higurashi. If you’re coming into Ciconia expecting something very similar, prepare to have your expectations totally annihilated. It reads nothing like the prior installments in the series. Not only that, but the story’s writing itself is infested with a myriad of issues that make reading it a complete chore. I remember chomping at the bit to finish Higurashi and Umineko, even through the parts that felt slow and choppy, but for Ciconia I recall being about two-thirds of the way into the story and wondering “when will this actually get good?” I’ll save the answer for this later in the review. Don’t worry. Ha ha ha… [h3]The Pacing[/h3] What a humiliating bloodbath. By far, this is Ciconia’s biggest issue. Ryukishi07, as an author, has always had problems with pacing. Passages in both Higurashi and Umineko have a common issue where, for whatever reason, Ryukishi07 doesn’t trust the reader to fully understand or conceptualize the import of something someone’s just said, so he’ll repeat it several times in a row, or over-explain it to an insane degree. This trait is at its absolute worst in Ciconia. It felt like a majority of the scenes in Ciconia consisted of nothing but the same four characters re-wording the exact same opinion, over and over again. Something interesting would happen, then it’s back to the VRChat bath house to come up with every unique permutation to say “war is bad and we shouldn’t kill people”. When one character has an opinion, all other characters present immediately regurgitate the same opinion with little variation. These sluggish, repetitive scenes can draw on for the majority—or even the entirety—of the chapter. It’s [b]BAD[/b]. Nothing very interesting happens until maybe the halfway or two-thirds mark. Then, things that actually develop the plot and the character relations start to happen… but they’re only ever drip-fed to you. Agonizingly slowly. Then, it’s back to the aforementioned ‘rewording hell’ for another 20 minutes, then you get another drip, ad nauseam. You could probably remove one full third of the game and have absolutely no negative effect—or even any noticeable effect—on the plot. Unlike Umineko, whose first episode also had sluggish pacing, Ciconia’s early plotlines do nothing to truly set up the schema the reader would want to possess to ‘solve’ the game. Like I said before, it’s nothing but mindless, idle regurgitations of the same talking point, over and over again. [h3]Lost Opportunities & Characterization[/h3] This is the second problem. The roster has what feels like two dozen characters. Now, it’s sad to say it, but I came from Homestuck. Giant, unwieldy character casts are not new to me, and they’re something I can effortlessly handle. But, here’s the thing: as numerous and as redundant Homestuck’s characters may have been, they were still very interesting and, even if they only had a trite amount of dialogue or content, they still felt fleshed out. In Ciconia, almost every character is excruciatingly one-dimensional and has no purpose other than to provide a single, specific viewpoint at absolute most. In Higurashi, the interplay between the Hinamizawa gang was amusing and thrilling. In Umineko, I found myself laughing and bonding quickly with the twisted Ushiromiya family, all because of how delightful their interactions with each other were. In Ciconia… well, in Ciconia, all it feels like they do is say “war is bad” with a slight tint applied to it, depending on who they are, and that’s it. They’re nothing but a vehicle for Ryukishi07’s compulsion to over-explain everything. Sometimes, you have characters with quirky personality traits, but it quickly becomes obvious that once they’re stripped of it, nothing lies underneath. Their characterization and interactions with one-another are paper thin. Compound that onto the fact that they’re beating a dead horse about war constantly, and the story starts to lose momentum FAST. However, not every character is poorly written. I found myself quickly loving the screentime that characters like Toujirou, Naima, Rukhshana, Koshka, Lilja, and Chloe had. Every time they had a scene, it felt like I was a desperate farmer watching a scant few raindrops before the storm bring life back into my dust-covered crops… which is to say, that you are hardly ever getting any screentime of them at all before the story ends. Some of the characters, like Naima, Rukhshana, and Chloe, only get depth quite literally in the last 10% of the story. It left me scratching my head and wondering, “What the hell is Ryukishi07 playing at? Why now?” At all other times, you’re treated to such wonderful characters as Lingji—”I don’t like war, and I’m also Chinese!”—or Stanislaw—”I don’t like war. I’m moody and from Poland.”—or perhaps even Rethabile—”I don’t like war. I’m vaguely haughty and from South Africa.” Keep in mind, every time you trudge through this story and suffer these scenes, you could be learning more about the insane double-agent plays Toujirou is pulling, or the political intrigue afforded by Valentina and Maricarmen, or the suffering and emotional development of Koshka and Lilja… but no. You get to listen to a one-dimensional paper cut-out talk about how bad war is for 20 minutes, for the umpteenth time. To make it even worse, Ciconia has a number of post-credit scenes, which function exactly as the Higurashi Tips did. All of these scenes are very interesting, and honestly, it just makes me more upset because Ciconia as a story would have benefitted [i]so much more[/i] if these scenes weren’t progression-locked behind completing the story. There are so many plot points that should have been explained sooner, like the meaning of the Ciconia titling, that get locked behind these fragments. [h3]Final Thoughts[/h3] Very, very disappointing installment in the When They Cry series. You can really tell that this was made by the same author and/or group that thought Higurashi Gou/Sotsu was a good idea. The writing decisions in this game were so questionable that it had me retroactively developing theories [i]using those mistakes as proof[/i]. This is a rough draft. This is barely a visual novel. It feels like there’s four songs, the character designs are all over the place, and the art style is a mockery of Ryukishi07’s classic-yet-questionable original style. And, most importantly… [h3]THIS IS NOT WORTH $40!!!!!!![/h3]

meow saved my life

An amazing start, it doesn't matter that phase 2 isn't out yet this first phase is so rich and dense. Been thinking about it nonstop since I first read it, grab it when it's on sale. One of the few things that's offered me comfort in the awful times we're living in. I'd even recommend this to newcomers to ryukishi's work who are maybe unsure if they'll like higurashi or umineko,(though, ideally you should read those first of course) it's such a good showcase of what he's capable of as a writer, he's firing on all cylinders here

its done! i've finally done it! i've built it, it's finished, all according to god's plan...! comrades, this machine will release phase 2! let me just flip this lever,

一款将悬疑 、 战争 和科幻元素融合的视觉小说，游戏背景设定在三战后的近未来，人类靠 “手甲” 技术诞生了一批少年战士 Gauntlet Knights，本来这上面三种元素融合能创造出不错的组合，可没想到竟然贪多嚼不烂了：世界观比较糊涂。全篇只堆砌五大阵营的政治对立，三战起因、手甲来源、社会样貌模糊空白，设定前后略微矛盾，一会儿是反乌托邦高压社会，一会儿又能轻松跨阵营约会聊天，像空中楼阁一样虚浮，上述种种让我在游玩过程中比较难以带入 游戏问题也出在 “格局太大”。Phase1 全程 10 小时左右、无分支，光登场角色就有近 30 位，五大阵营名词绕口，大量势力博弈与设定讲解堆在前期，节奏慢到像催眠。人物塑造更是仓促，多数配角一笔带过，主角团也没立起来，重复的个人剧情看得人疲劳，少年们的成熟感和设定里的 “kids” 也对不上，代入感大打折扣 剧情叙事比较碎片化，思路跳跃、台词偏说教，前半段全程铺垫，直到结尾圣诞之战才迎来高潮。炮火与圣歌交织的场面悲壮又讽刺，把 “少年被当作战争工具” 的内核拉满，收尾冲击力很强，可惜前面冗长的铺垫已经耗走不少耐心。游戏玩完给人种 “戛然而止” 的空虚 画面和演出在在与如今的视觉小说比较中规中矩，标志性的 “龙绘” 画风粉丝能接受，路人大概率觉得普通。全程无配音、PPT 式演出搭配廉价转场，配上百元以上的售价，性价比偏低。唯一值得夸的是配乐，科幻感与悲伤氛围拉满，结尾主题曲更是点睛之笔 总的来说，《白鹳鸣泣之时 Phase1》是一部粉丝向、未完成、优缺点极端的作品。它有宏大的世界观、深刻的反战内核和惊艳的结尾，却被冗长铺垫、混乱叙事、仓促人设拖了后腿，这款游戏给我的感觉偏粉丝向，适合龙骑士死忠粉来尝试 [quote]关注「 [url= https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42276832//] 鸿源鉴游组」 [/url] [/quote] [u][b] 会当逢佳游，始可见鸿源。 [/b][/u]

miyao is in my top 2 characters of all time

The best opening chapter to a WTC game to date very harrowing and the most thoughtful highly highly recommend if you're okay with a cliffhanger that will take a very long wait to resolve ♥♥♥♥ you Ryushiki07 for ending phase one like that but also I love you you're a genius

maybe if i write a positive review phase 2 will come out sooner