The Prince of Tennis II: Sweet School Festival is out now on Switch and PC
Konami's 2005 PlayStation 2 otome game finally gets an English release for modern platforms, complete with water polo and stage plays.
Konami has launched The Prince of Tennis II: Sweet School Festival ~♡-40 and more...~ Remastered for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam. Did I get that title correct? The release comes alongside a short promotional trailer showing off the game's updated event illustrations and animated cutscenes.
A long time coming
Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in December 2005, this otome visual novel never saw an official English localization until now. It received a Nintendo DS port five years later, but Western fans had to rely on guides and fan translations to play it. You play as a middle school student who joins the festival management committee. Your job is to help the tennis club prepare for a joint school festival. It gets weird.
You'll spend your time romancing various characters from the long-running sports manga series. The premise is inherently ridiculous. I'm not entirely sure how organizing a school festival leads to sword-fighting stage plays, but the new trailer leans heavily into the absurdity of the whole situation. The video opens with upbeat music and quick flashes of the main cast before jumping to the remastered event graphics. We see characters performing in full costume and playing water polo in a pool. Konami first announced the remaster in April.
Forty characters
The game has an enormous cast. You can romance students from several different rival schools, including Seishun Gakuen, Hyotei Gakuen, and Rikkai University. The subtitle literally advertises that there are over forty love interests to pursue. That is a massive amount of branching dialogue for a visual novel. Each character has their own specific route and ending.
You have to build trust with the players while making management decisions for the festival stalls. The gameplay loop balances visual novel dialogue choices with light simulation elements. Time is tight. You only have ten days in the game's timeline to prepare the best festival entry and win first prize for your chosen school. The water polo scene in the trailer is clearly designed to show off the characters outside of their standard tennis uniforms. It is exactly the kind of fanservice you expect from a sports anime spinoff.
Platform details
The platform list is particularly interesting. Konami explicitly lists Nintendo Switch 2 alongside the original Switch and Steam. We still do not have a firm release date for Nintendo's next console, but third-party publishers are already openly advertising games for it. The updated version includes high-definition artwork and fully voiced scenarios. You can also toggle between the original 2005 illustrations and the newly drawn artwork.
The game costs $49.99. It's available digitally through the official website and respective platform storefronts. The Japanese audio remains intact with English subtitles, which makes sense given the massive amount of voice acting required for a visual novel of this size. Konami also released a second game today, Doki Doki Survival, which strands the same tennis players on a deserted island.
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