New topic so as not to flood the one that still has a playthrough.
Playing Umineko so late has its good things and bad things. It's good because I'm the new guy and there are all these veterans who can help me along by telling me that it gets better or that I don't have to worry too much about a boring part of the story or hyping up what's to come. They're trusted, they've been down the road before, they give me enough information to keep me interested, but not enough so that they give everything away and spoil me.
But it's also bad because I'm alone in this. I go into it with lots of praise and warm expectation and I'm moving along like a rookie thinking I **** out bricks of gold and my theories are awesome. Some of them are. I think figuring out what happened to Maria's rose, and all the minds I blew with that (there were like ten to twenty posts of heads exploding at the revelation) ruined me for the rest of the game because I was always trying to come with big theories to see other players' reactions and figure out things they didn't. And when I got no reactions, I doubted myself. I still think a lot of my theories are sound, but with no feedback or validation/expulsion, it's like nothing I really tried to do mattered. Particularly with the end of Game Six.
I think why it's like that is because I'm the only playthrough I know. I came so late, everyone else was done long ago and because everyone already knew a lot of the answers and what was to come, they couldn't share their own experiences and revelations without spoiling my run. There are no virgin playthroughs going on right now, and the only archive I could find was Lisel on the B8Wiki that ends near the beginning of Episode 2. I have nobody to compare and contrast my own game to, so my golden truths stand out to me as wonderful things when really, there are a lot of other games, other fragments written by other people with their own interpretations of the games, that would probably make me look like a dunce in comparison.
Now I'm a veteran too. I may not have nearly as much experience looking, dissecting, and discussing the game as the rest of you, but I'm in the same place you are: waiting for episode 8. We're on mostly the same page (as far as a rookie like me can tell). And I want to know more about how you went through the game and what the experience was like for you.
What were all of your theories? Your missteps? What did you take away from episodes? From the characters? What blew your mind? What disappointed you? What were some of your more embarassing moments? Thrilling? What did you get right long before it came about? What do you still think you got right even if nobody else believes you? What did you get drastically wrong? What about you?
I hope this turns into a fun, chatty, Umineko remembrance and discussion topic. I eagerly await to hear stories from any or all who have gone through this wonderful game.
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Tea Party for the Golden Witch