Pulltop, the Japanese visual novel maker behind If My Heart Had Wings, will be bringing the game to the Nintendo Switch on September 5th with the help of MoeNovel publishing.
Since it was established in 2002, Pulltop has gone on to make more than thirty different adult visual novels. Not surprisingly, due to the content of their games, the developer has had a large amount of difficulty with bringing them onto any gaming platform, let alone having them released in the West. Pulltop would release an adult version of If My Heart Had Wings on May 25, 2012, with an English Localization of the game coming later in June 2013. While the original Japanese release contained adult content, the company would make sweeping changes in preparation for the English release of the game, removing all adult content from it in order to make it suitable for all ages. While both Sony and Nintendo have been pulling back on their game restrictions, Pulltop's decision to remove adult content has finally allowed them to publish the game on the Nintendo Switch, with a slated release date of September 5th.
With the rise of visual novels in the West, this decision isn't all that surprising, especially when you consider that visual novels suited for all ages have done very well internationally. If If My Heart Had Wings does well upon its release, we could see more like it become available in the West and perhaps a new era in which tamer visual novels become the norm.
Information on the novel's pending release can be found on Anime News Network, which goes on to state that the game will be available in both Japanese, English, and Chinese upon arrival on the Switch. Additionally, they point out that an English version of the game was also previously released for both android and iOS in 2014. As for the story, it centers around Aoi who, to find his true direction in life, returns to his hometown in Kazegaura where he meets a wheelchair-bound girl named Kotori. After striking a bond with her, he decides to enlist the help of his friend Ageha to reestablish their old glider club in the hopes of achieving their goal of flying.
Though making the game suitable for all ages, Pulltop is taking the right steps to reach a much wider audience. If they are able to find success on the Switch it could change how they view visual novel creation going forward.
With the reduction in restrictions placed on video game developers, we are entering an era where we will see all sorts of games that never had a chance to be released on consoles. While this does give game developers more freedom, they will have to work with console manufactures to find a good balance in order to continue the dialog going forward.