Localizing visual novels and visual novel like adventure games is always a huge ask for localization studios because of the volume of text that needs to be translated and edited. It took too long for Steins;Gate to be released in English just on PC before it eventually made its way to PlayStation platforms in English and finally iOS. There are some situations where a visual novel gets released in Japan on a console and it only releases outside on PC platforms in English despite having mobile and console versions in Japan already. Today, i-PLAY announced not just a localization of Shin Hayarigami but one that is iOS and Android only for now. Shin Hayarigami is a Japanese horror adventure visual novel developed by NIS game that is one of the rare games in Japan to have a CERO Z (18+) rating for violence and horror. Watch the announcement trailer for the PlayStation version below:

Shin Hayarigami is making its way to iOS and Android devices in English as Urban Legend : Shin Hayarigami – Blind Man. There are multiple endings and the developer promises a horror experience with stunning graphics that hasn’t been done on mobile before. I’ve always been curious about this game but the problem with visual novels is without understanding the language for the text, there isn’t much point in experiencing them. There will also be a high score system that will reward you with more story content if you cross a certain threshold it seems.

I’ve imported a ton of games on PS4 and Vita that can be played with no Japanese knowledge since they are mostly action or gameplay focussed. It is good to see a title that has been unlocalized for a long time not just get localized but get localized on the best platform for visual novels. As of now, there are no details on pricing but Urban Legend : Shin Hayarigami – Blind Man will release on March 15th for both iOS and Android. The developer will be posting updates on this Twitter account. Check out the forum thread for it here.