the heart is a closed room mystery.
I won't spoil umineko for you. my feelings toward it aren't so strong as to ruin it for anyone else, and I do think this game warrants retaining its secrets for the experience that it intends. but I won't recommend it, either.
if you want someone to tell you to read this lengthy mystery novel, this eight part ordeal, this one point one million word riddle, I'm not going to be the person whose opinion will give you that push. you won't gain any insight into me or my taste by reading this, because fundamentally, this is not a story aimed at anyone with anything in common with me. this is a loud splash in an unrelated body of water to me.
it was an interesting time to hear ryukishi yap, but it went on way too long. just a little elementally incompatible with the genre as I am now, just a few too many old hands patronizing me as I nibbled on some of the ideas presented, just a slight failure to build and populate a space to enjoy the social aspect of mysteries properly.
I don't know whether I'll still be thinking about umineko in a year. in six months. in two weeks. I suppose I have a new shared language with others who have finished it, now, but... you have to care to keep in practice with languages. I spent the last four episodes waiting to find a reason to care past the end of the story... and didn't find one. but that's me.
as I said, I won't become a reason for you to read this game. either you're looking for an excuse, or you should look elsewhere. as for me, I'll keep this in my toolbox for media criticism, for understanding the current of fandom and game development, but as a regrettably useful tool, not a well-loved one.