• Developer: Chunsoft

• Publisher: Chunsoft

• Genre: Sound novel

• Release Date: March 7, 1992

Otogirisou is a sound novel for the Super Famicom. What is a sound novel? Well, it's the sound-centered precursor to the  modern visual novel genre. This particular game was released on March 7th of 1992, and it was also the very first title released under the Chun Soft brand.

It is an interactive horror story in which players advance by simply reading the text and then influencing how the story will proceed by choosing from a list of options that are presented to them at key points. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, if you've ever read those. There's no particular challenge involved, aside from perhaps remembering what options you've already chosen before in subsequent playthroughs.

When the player finishes the story, more options are gradually unlocked, leading to more endings as well. The basic premise is that the main character (who you can name) is forced to enter a creepy mansion in the forest along with his girlfriend Nami. What happens from there? Well, it's a horror game, so you can expect a few scares, naturally. But there are plenty of twists and turns along the way, too.

There are multiple paths that require multiple playthroughs. In fact, whenever you see "Try Again" after the credits roll, it means you still haven't seen everything there is to see. Do you have what it takes to see "The End" of the game? That's up to you!

The patch you'll find here will give players a chance to experience this twisted tale in American English! But despite being written in American English, the metric system is still used in the script, as that is most appropriate in a Japanese setting. But without really breaking character, the narrator in the patched version may sometimes mention the American equivalents in addition to the metric measurements. In this way, these small details in the text can be understood by all players, regardless of where they're from!

In addition to the patch, you can find the packaging and manual fully translated here. A special game like this deserves the extra effort. Please check out the comments from the game's author in the manual too. They're quite interesting.