Shigetsu Youka ~April 8th~ (Free, full-length horror novel) - Spoilers included - Review 4 & Strategy Notes (Completion time: 64 hours)

This is a spoiler-filled review of the long-form free game "Shigetsu Youka ~April 8th~" that I've been playing recently.
Finally, the overall progress rate reached 100%, and I cleared the game.
If you haven't played the game yet, but are considering playing it, you'll definitely enjoy it more if you don't read this article.

Impressions after the release of the True Curse Killing Arc

Last time, after the "Last Voice" arc concluded, we had a shocking ending where Haruka killed Natsumi.
Moreover, after clearing up to this point, a series of extremely long episodes appeared one after another, pushing the overall progress rate down to less than half.
I thought it was all over, but I was filled with surprise and excitement.

The newly introduced scenarios, "True Curse Arc," were all long episodes, each containing tens of thousands of characters.
This story takes the bad ending of the cursed murder arc and continues from there.
Each story features a different protagonist and feels like an independent narrative, depicted in a variety of styles.
Although they appear to be independent of each other, we are gradually getting answers to mysteries such as the third generation, which remain a mystery at this point.

In "The True and Clear Chapter," a new mystery is presented: the town of Motoki is destroyed.
Moreover, it was shown that no matter which scenario we followed, it would all lead to the same conclusion.
In other words, even though the previous scenarios seemed to resolve the issue, they ultimately ended up with the outcome the mastermind wanted.
That's why Gotou-chan is so frustrated at the end of the "Death Moon Arc"...

Memory x Revenge x Tumor - Momoko Goto
This is the story of Momoko Goto's sister's revenge, a story that is utterly hopeless no matter how far it goes.
Characters other than the main members become involved in the case.
The scenario offered a glimpse into the history of the Arata settlement, which did not go through the "Death Moon Arc."

- Maiden's Holy War ~Instinct~ Erina Gotou
This story served as a refreshing break from the gruesome ending of the main story.
It's more of a side story, and there's no particularly new information, but that's precisely why it was interesting as a standalone read.
Although most of the main characters are dead, this after-story doesn't make you feel that way.

Third Generation - Erina Gotoh
This is a continuation of "Infection," which had the most intriguing ending.
The story had a "how much is reality and how much is a dream?" kind of feel to it, but ultimately it ended on a fairly positive note.
As the title suggests, the main topic is what the third generation is.
Here, we finally discover the legitimate method (administering Farsificas) to prevent the Green Eye Curse.

- Natsumi Furugori (a type of noodle)
This story centers on Natsumi, who feels responsible and devotedly continues to care for the sick.
This section provides a medical explanation of the mechanism behind the Green Eye Curse, as well as a brute-force treatment method that does not involve using Farsificas.
I thought this treatment might come up again as a trump card, but it didn't.
I was horrified when I found out that Haruka hadn't actually woken up.

・True and Clear Chapter: The Eternal Tower
The final outcome that can occur in any story is shown.
I was surprised when the story suddenly jumped to the year 2100 AD and became so epic.
Even though the previous scenarios seemed to end on a positive note, they ultimately lead to this conclusion, demonstrating that everything was part of the mastermind's plan.

Parasite Prison - Akane Furugori
It had a post-apocalyptic feel to it, and it was interesting, like a survival novel.
The mysterious entity roaming the city of death is eerie,Haruka ringing the apartment doorbell was particularly traumatic for me.
The true nature of Arata Sakura is revealed, and the title "Dead Moon Demon Flower" is finally explained.

・Megami Goroshi Minagoroshi (Haruka Niimura)
We see the emergence of the fourth generation from Haruka's perspective.
While the after-story of END seemed to be the best possible ending in the Curse Killing Arc, the True Curse Killing Arc had a bad ending.

Impressions after the Eden Cherry Blossom Arc

It begins just before the Kamakura period, depicting the very beginning of the story.
The contents of the reference letters were also retrieved.This scenario can effectively be considered the route to the grand ending.is.
Even though she wasn't the mastermind, Chiyo's actions were often suspicious, and the story unfolds from her perspective, offering a glimpse into the truth and solving various mysteries.

The true purpose of precognition and the methods the mastermind uses to obtain information, such as hijacking the five senses, have been revealed.
Telepathy between infected individuals has also emerged, suggesting that the pollen (spores) of the Arata cherry tree makes various things possible, much like Minovsky particles.

Subsequent impressions and strategy notes

After clearing "Eden's Cherry Blossom Arc," another ending for "True Clarity Arc" and "Eternal Recurrence Arc" will appear.
To proceed further, you need to chat with Mika in the restroom to increase her affection level.
Topics marked with a heart icon influence likeability, so make sure to keep them in light blue text.
At this point, the limit of your affection level is just below the maximum.

Once you've sufficiently increased your favorability rating, a new branching point will appear in "Eternal Recurrence Arc: Salvation," leading to "Eternal Recurrence Arc: Dreams Soaring Towards the Future."
This ending can be considered the final ending in terms of the story.
After reading the final reference, "Afterword," and fulfilling certain conditions, "True Curse Killing Arc: Birthday Trap!" will appear.
This episode features Detective Ise, who didn't appear much in the second half, interacting with Kana.
Goto-chan's Columbo-esque interrogation style is undeniably insidious.
The creator has given hints about the conditions for its appearance on their Twitter account, but I suspect that it's triggered by launching the game five or more times.
In my case, I tried launching the game and starting it about five times, but nothing happened. Then, after I went to sleep and launched the game again, Mika-chan appeared and was added to my character list.
It might also be necessary to make all the references and other elements visible and complete the process.

Summary of impressions

I played a full-length visual novel for the first time in a while.
The story is driven by mystery and horror in the beginning, and the mysteries are gradually and thoroughly unraveled, making it a very enjoyable read until the very end.
The game was well thought out, with clever techniques used to keep players engaged and prevent them from getting bored with the long scenario.
In particular, the overall progress rate and the scenario's progression play a significant role not only in creating a comfortable gameplay environment but also in the overall presentation, which was a real eye-opener for me.

Furthermore, the writing style was straightforward and very easy to read.
Perhaps because of that, I felt less stressed even after reading for a long time.
There are hardly any typos, grammatical errors, or awkward Japanese, so I think it must have been proofread quite extensively.
It's quite lengthy, so I feel it's difficult to recommend casually to people who don't like visual novels.
However, for anyone who shows even a little interest, I think there's a high chance they'll get hooked if they play it little by little.