Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri is the PS2 port of the original Higurashi no Naku Koro ni PC sound novels. The game features new sprites, backgrounds, CG, music and full voice acting.

An opening movie is included in the game, set to the song Nageki no Mori, by Ayane.

The port also features an ADV-style presentation, showing one line of text at a time in a small box in the lower section of the screen. The original games used NVL-style, where the text box took up the entire game window and displayed multiple lines.

While Matsuri carries seven of the eight original arcs (Matsuribayashi-hen was left out), three new arcs are included—the Question Arc Taraimawashi-hen, the bad-end Answer Arc Tsukiotoshi-hen, and Miotsukushi-hen, which provides an alternate ending to the one offered by Matsuribayashi-hen.