I already knew. And it was still amazing. I'm fairly familiar with Onikakushi. Watched the anime for it and read the manga (I even rewatched it once with a friend). But by far the best version is the og, the VN. Each version has it's points, the anime really nails the atmosphere, and the manga is straight up suspenseful in a way you can't explain better then "turn the page."
The VN however, really has the whole cake. The ost is great, I like the backgrounds, and the character art is simple yet effective. One of the biggest things that sets the VN apart from the several adaptations is the tips. As a person who loves to wring things dry, the tips are a wonderful inclusion. They are so good for adding that extra bit of detail that I crave from one of my favorite things. Last point for the VN is in the medium itself. Reading a VN already has several perks for immersion and creating a finer audio visual experience. But seriously, the ability to stop for a moment and take a deep breath is so invaluable to the experience. Setting the pace of the horrors awaiting you, to your own mouse clicks was surprisingly engaging. And makes for some nice moments where I purposely slowed down during more intense parts to enhance that intensity.
Higurashi no naku koro ni is one of (if not) my favorite horror stories/experiences ever. I'm a big enjoyer of this franchise as it is. And after a long break from it, I really wanted to re-experience it again. And I'm very happy that I decided to finally do that by reading the VN. I'm so into this shizz that I'm literally taking notes as I play. If that doesn't show you how much this game got me invested, then I dunno what will. Highly recommend for horror enjoyers, and adaptation enjoyers that want a little more.