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Shin Hayarigami Game's 1st Chapter Gets English Release for Smartphones

Publisher I-Play released an English version of the first chapter of Nippon Ichi Software's Shin Hayarigami game for iOS and Android devices on March 15. An English promotional video for the release, titled Urban legend: Shin Hayarigami – Blindman, began streaming in March.

I-Play confirmed on the game's Google Play page that it does not plan to release chapters on a monthly basis. The publisher's staff noted that they will "be monitoring the results of this project" to evaluate Western users' reaction to the release.

The original horror game shipped for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in 2014. A smartphone version debuted in Japan in 2017.

The original game starts in the "Blind Man Arc," which follows the protagonists as they try to capture the serial killer "Blind Man," who murders his victims to feed his rage. The Blind Man Arc serves as a prologue for the game, and players can tackle one of seven different arcs depending on the actions they take. After all seven arcs have been cleared, the game opens a final arc for players to challenge.

The game follows 25-year-old protagonist Saki Hōjō and 36-year-old Sōjirō Sekimoto. Although Saki is usually cool, she also has a side of her that is quite cowardly. However, she is very good at acting and making lies. Sōjirō is a former college professor who studied urban myths, but is now a suspect for a murder case. He claims to have knowledge about an incident that happened in a village, and agrees to assist Saki in the case.

The first Hayarigami game shipped in Japan in 2004, followed by Hayarigami 2 and Hayarigami 3 for PlayStation 2. NIS has ported the games onto multiple platforms since their initial releases.

Nippon Ichi Software announced in 2012 that the franchise would get a live-action film adaptation. However, the company stated later that year that the project was indefinitely postponed.

[Via Gematsu]