Those who have been reading The Otaku’s Study, or following the English visual novel scene in general should be aware that MangaGamer are currently working on a re-translation of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni for a Steam release. One of the new features is the inclusion of new character sprites produced by Kurosaki from Caramelbox.
With this new content, you may have been wondering if other aspects of the VN including music or background artwork that was cut from the original English release will be finally making an appearance. Unfortunately MangaGamer have confirmed that asides from the re-translation and new portraits, they will be using the exact same sounds, backgrounds, music etc that were in the original release.
[Source: Ask.Fm]