i think divisive is the best word for it. again, its been a long time since i played so i cant speak with total confidence, but i think one of the issues people had/have with it is that it doesn't feel "conclusive" enough. its...very similar to the reception to the hs ending in that sense, where the conclusion was more about the metatextual themes of the story than actually answering the questions of the plotty plot-plot, which given its a mystery story, did rub some folk the wrong way i think. and i do get where the criticism comes from! i love the answer arcs, but they don't really "answer" everything in the same way the higurashi ones do. its a different sort of story than higurashi, in ways that aren't immediately obvious.

there's also the supposed change/loss of editor sometime in the answer arcs, which people point to as the reason as to why they feel so different than the question arcs at times (whether that's true or not).

anyway. as for me, now that im older and more literarily mature, i really like ep8 and the conclusion it presents us. i think its the right way to end the story that umineko wanted to be. i do lowkey think the manga adaption of the answer arcs is a more well-rounded story though, and is better as telling umineko as a Story (compared to telling umineko as an Idea that i think becomes the focus of the vn in later episodes).