Japanese visual novel Witch on the Holy Night will be released on December 8 on Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4. This comes over a decade since the visual novel's Japanese release on PC.
Harry Potter fans may not be aware of the series' Japanese magical fantasy counterpart, but Witch on the Holy Night was actually inspired by the former. It makes sense if you've never heard of it, however, as Witch on the Holy Night (Mahoutsukai no Yoru) never really received a western official English release, and neither did any other visual novels by developers Type-Moon. This will all change this December when the enhanced fully voice-acted remake of this treasure releases.
You may be aware of other works by Type-Moon and their main writer, Kinoko Nasu such as Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime and Kara no Kyōkai. However, what fans might not know is that these works have a shared universe, and there are many sub-plots, systems, and shared characters between each of them.
Until recently, none of the visual novels that birthed these worlds were translated into English. Moreover, they were released a long time ago so are less digestible for modern fans. A recent remake of Tsukihime was released but only in Japanese. Nonetheless, a new flame of hope was rekindled with the official announcement of the worldwide release of Witch on the Holy Night.
Witch on the Holy Night has several popular story elements. A secret magic world, a family of magicians and natural-born witches. The story is set in the last days of Japan's Showa era (the late 1980s) which gives the narrative a certain uniquely Japanese vibe. Type-Moon also revealed in an interview with Japanese outlet 4gamer that the remake has two more sequels in development and that the series's story "starts in earnest" with the second game.
Witch on the Holy Night will be released on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at $40.
A movie adaptation by Ufotable has also been announced, the same anime studio responsible for all Fate/Stay Night adaptions and also the popular anime Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba.