Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place in the year 1986, during the time frame of October 4 and October 5 on a secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島, Rokkenjima). The head of a wealthy family named Kinzo Ushiromiya, who lives on and owns Rokkenjima, is near death, and eight of his family members arrive on the island to discuss how Kinzo's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are three family members who live there, five of Kinzo's servants, and his personal physician. After the eight family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island and shortly after people start to get mysteriously murdered.
[Taken from ANN]

This is a visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The drawings are not supposed to be the main drawing point, and the games are therefore often called sound novels instead of visual novels. The atmosphere created by the music is supposed to be more important. There are currently four games released. All four of them have been translated by The Witch Hunt, and the patch can be found at http://witch-hunt.com/ .

When buying the latest game, all the previous games are included, so you only have to buy Episode 4 to get all four episodes. It can be bought at http://www.himeyashop.com/product_in...ducts_id/11978. Each episode is quite long.. I'm not sure exactly how long it took me to read them all but it was certainly a lot of hours. Without doubt one of the best visual novels I have read. This is a game that has a lot of potential for discussion, hence why I am posting this thread..

If you enjoyed the Higurashi series you should definitely check this out.

Those who plan on only watching the anime should stay away from this thread as the game is so far ahead and the plot is definitely what makes the show.