Japanese developer SUCCESS Corporation hasrevealed the release datefor the upcoming HD remaster of the popular mysteryvisual novelAkai Ito & Aoi Shiro on theNintendo Switch. First announced last September, the HD remaster will be released for the Switch on May 25 in Japan, with a PC version to follow later this year.
No official international release has been announced as yet, however, the game will include English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese language options from day one, in addition to the default Japanese. Both a physical and a digital version of the game will be available at launch, with preorders to open for a limited Special Edition on February 1.
The Special Edition of Akai Ito & Aoi Shiro HD Remaster will come bearing two soundtrack CDs, several drama CDs, and a fan CD, as well as a copy of the game for the Nintendo Switch. While the game will feature multi-language support at launch, the drama CDs and presumably the fan CD as well will contain audio in Japanese only.
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The history of Akai Ito & Aoi Shiro is an interesting one. Originally, the visual novels were two separate games, released in different years for Japanese PlayStation 2 systems despite being marketed as ‘sister titles’, with each complementing the other to create one complete story. A string of adaptations in the forms of manga, web novels, and internet radio shows followed the release of Aoi Shiro in 2008, all just as exclusive to Japan as the visual novels upon which they were based.
In 2009, Akai Ito & Aoi Shiro were ported to Microsoft Windows as a part of a larger bundle of SUCCESS Corporation titles, also exclusive to Japan. Over the years since, dedicated fan translation groups in the West have developed and ultimately released full English patches for the visual novels, however, no official English translation has ever been made available - until now.
While SUCCESS Corporation has not announced any plans to formally release Akai Ito & Aoi Shiro outside of Japan, visual novel fans in the West are no less excited to see another cult classic resurface - and on a modern console, no less - with an English language option baked in this time.
