I really like Umineko, and that is the first thing that came to mind from this article.

I gotta say the first episode (or was it the first two?) was rather off-putting for me because -- after a slow start -- it pretty much drags you through the mud with apparent fantasy elements that don't really seem to make any sense. I almost stopped reading.

I'm still not entirely sure what to make out of the whole story, but I'm so glad I didn't stop at the first episode. Actually I feel like I should read it again now that I'm more accustomed to the logic.

And yes it's a very long read. Estimates put it at around a million words.

Right now the MG release is 40% off on GOG.

https://www.gog.com/game/umineko_when_they_cry_question_arcs

https://www.gog.com/game/umineko_when_they_cry_answer_arcs

I think the question and answer arcs are about 1 million words each, putting the total closer to 2 million words. But once it was finished I wanted more.

For myself the biggest problem was the very long peaceful intro in episode 1. It’s a long time before anything happens (lots of world building and setup)… although when the “fishy aroma” music track finally drops the impact is amazing. And it just gets crazier and crazier from there.

An example from Umineko that might tickle an HN reader's fancy: six people are found murdered in six different locked rooms. In the room with each body is the sole key to the door of one of the other locked rooms. Together they form a circular linked list of closed room murders.

Clearly those murders were done through magic.