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Higurashi Daybreak
ひぐらしデイレイク
Higurashi Daybreak
Information
Developers:
  • Twilight Frontier (PC)
  • Cavia (PSP)
  • Original Release Date
  • August 13, 2006 (PC)
  • November 27, 2008 (PSP)
  • November 26, 2009 (PSP Mega Edition)
  • Append/Expansion Release Date April 22, 2007(PC)
    Platform PC, PSP
    Genre Third person shooter, versus battle

    Higurashi Daybreak is a Japanese dōjin third person shooter developed by Twilight Frontier. It was first released on August 13, 2006 and is based on the popular visual novel Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. It was Twilight Frontier's first attempt in making a 3D computer animated game. Ryukishi07, the writer of the original game, provided the script for Higurashi Daybreak. This game uses the same voice cast as the drama CD of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

    Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei's Hirukowashi-hen arc is based on this game. Also, a related short story, "Higurashi Outbreak", was included in the original soundtrack of the game, which was released on April 22, 2007 along with the expansion Higurashi Daybreak Kai.

    Higurashi Daybreak was ported to the PlayStation Portable on November 27, 2008 by Alchemist.

    Plot[]

    On a peaceful day at Hinamizawa, a small box drops on Furude Rika's head when she was sweeping in the Furude Shrine. In it was a pair of magatama, one red and one white.

    The magatama are actually the sacred treasure of the Furude Shrine. With its magical powers, the holder of the red magatama would unconditionally fall for the holder of the white one. Upon testing its effects on the school faculty, the club members of the Hinamizawa Branch School decided a club game in which they will duel each other to see which pair gets to keep the magatama. In the beginning it was only an afterschool club activity, but their game eventually engulfed all of Hinamizawa.

    Gameplay[]

    The game is a 2 vs. 2 versus third person shooter based on the system of the Mobile Suit Gundam VS Series. Each of the four players can be played by humans (either together locally or through netplay) or controlled by the computer. Each character has a choice of two to three different weapons, with vastly different properties. Actions such as dashing, guarding, jumping, or flying through the air are restricted by a "stamina" gauge — once that gauge is depleted, none of the said actions can be carried out, though the gauge refills itself when it is not in use. Also, a "charge" and "main" gauge determine what kind of projectile the player fires, and how many he or she can fire. And finally, there is also a "limit gauge" that can be charged in one of two ways: when the player is damaged, or when the player deals damage. Once the gauge is full, the player can go into Hypermode and receive some stat bonuses for a limited period of time. The game ends when a team's balloon reaches a preset limit (default at 100%); the percentage increases when a team member's HP bar gets depleted.

    Teams[]

    In story mode, there are initially three storylines to go through, while more can be unlocked after the initial three has been played through. The teams present in the story mode are:

    Diff1

    Daybreak (PC)

    Although the teams are preset in the story mode, a team can consist of any two characters in other matches.

    Stages[]

    Higurashi Daybreak offers various stages for the matches. Each stage is based on different locations in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series, with unique design and soundtrack. While all stages have the same size, the arrangement of obstacles and diverse design can give each match a unique feel. Each stage can be played during daytime or sunset, only exception is the school, which also has a night option. Playing the game during daytime or sunset doesn't change the stage's layout, only the OST.

    • School - Open space with only a few obstacles. However, the small space behind the school building will force players into a close combat.
    • Village - 3/4th of the map is an open space rice field and a road without any obstacles, while 1/3 is occupied by houses and walls, which makes inconvinient for combat.
    • River - A creek making a U turn around a small hill. The creek is mostly open space, but it's paved with rocks, while the hill is filled with trees.
    • Furude Shrine - The stage can be divided into three parts, each part is higher than the other. The lower parts are fre space with barelyany obstacles, while the upper part is mostly occupied by the shrine adn trees.
    • Junkyard - The middle of the stage is occupied by a mountain of trash, while there are smaller trash heaps in two corners of the stage.
    • Ritual Tools Shrine (Kai) - Flat stage filled with trees and smaller statues, especially around the Saiguden itself.
    • Okinomiya Baseball Field (MEGA EDITION) - Completely open space, ideal for ranged and close combat characters alike.

    Modes[]

    As it was mentioned before, the player can enter into a hypermode after the "limit gauge" is filled. There are three hypermodes in Higurashi Daybreak: Friendship, Oyashiro and Kakera (added in Kai). Each hypermodes have different properties and stat bonuses. It's worth mentioning that the player can enter Hanyū's "god mode" in hypermode, if the selected weapon is "Onigari no Ryūō". Hanyū is the weakest character in Higurashi Daybreak, but once her hypermode is activated, she starts wielding the Onigari no Ryūō sword and becomes extremely fast and powerful

    • Friendship - Can be charged through dealing damage. Upon activation, the player's speed and damage increases, and certain attacks become enhanced (for example, Keiichi's charged baseball attack gets a homing feature)
    • Oyashiro - Can be charged through receiving damage. Upon activation, nearby enemies will be knocked back and the player's damage and damage resistance increases. If the player is under attack, activating Oyashiro mode can knock back the attacking enemy player and stop its attack combo, but half of the gauge will be instantly depleted.
    • Kakera - A new mode added in Kai. Strongest mode, but it's also the hardest to activate. Can be charged through receiving damage, but this mode's charge rate is the slowest in the game. Kakera mode cannot be activated by the player once the gauge is filled: the player enters into hypermode once the character's life is completely depleted, but instead of a knockout, the character's life is completely refilled and starts to slowly decrease. In Kakera mode, the player's speed, damage and damage resistance is greatly increased, knocking down characters in Kakera mode is extremely hard and risky. The mode ends once the character's life is depleted to zero, at this point, one hit is enough for a knockout.

    Expansion[]

    The expansion, Higurashi Daybreak Kai (ひぐらしデイブレイク改) was announced and was released on April 22, 2007, in the convention Sunshine Creation 37. Aside from adding new characters and new teams, new features include a third new weapon for the original characters, new costumes, a new stage, a third mode to increase the limit gauge, and a functionality enabling observers in a netplay match. Minor balance adjustments were also implemented.

    The "Kai" (改, revision) in the expansion's title is a homonym to the "Kai" (解, solutions) in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, which is the title of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni during its answer chapters (and also the title of the second season of the Higurashi anime).

    Playstation Portable Version[]

    Higurashi Daybreak Portable (ひぐらしデイレイクPortable, ひぐらしデイレイクポータブル) was released on November 27, 2008. It was developed by Cavia, with the assistance from the original makers, Twilight Frontier and 07th Expansion. The port boasts revamped character graphics to match Alchemist's previous Higurashi ports, new storylines for Hanyū and Kimiyoshi Natsumi, new costumes and weapons, a new opening animation with a theme song, as well as a "shop" feature.

    An enhanced version, Higurashi Daybreak Portable MEGA EDITION (ひぐらしデイレイクPortable MEGA EDITION, ひぐらしデイレイクポータブル メガエディション), was released on November 26, 2009. This new version features three new characters—Hōjō Satoshi, Tanashi Miyoko and Okonogi—alongside new stages and several changes.

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