Alchemist is bringing Haru no Ashioto to PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 version of minori's 2004 love adventure carries the title Haru no Ashioto: Step of Spring. Alchemist has previously already released another minori-developed adventure title, Wind: A Breath of Heart for PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast. In addition to new opening and ending sequences without captions and subtitles, Alchemist is also adding its standard Omakase mode, an arrange version of the game's ending theme and a batch of new CG sequences.

After spending some time in Tokyo, the game's protagonist returns to his hometown where he is temporarily working as a teacher at a girls' high school. The game boasts a total of five heroines: Yuu Sakurano is the protagonist's cousin and at the same time, one of his students. Before the protagonist left his hometown for Tokyo, the two had a brother/sister relationship. Yudzuki Kaede is a quiet and absent-minded daughter of a good family. She loves fast food and spends a lot of time together with her friend Nagomi Fujikura. While Nagomi is generally a nice girl and an elite student, she does not get along with the protagonist at all. Aoi Kusunoki is a fellow teacher and becomes the school's acting headmaster, after headmaster Daiki Sakurano (who happens to be Yuu's father) collapses during a school festival and is taken to hospital. Chika Shinomiya is the school's insurance doctor. She happens to be a childhood friend of the protagonist and Yuu.

Haru no Ashioto: Step of Spring will be available in Japan sometime this spring. The game's standard version will retail for 6,800 yen ($57.55 US), while the limited edition will cost 12,000 yen ($101.56 US). This limited edition will ship with three handpuppets and a special box.

• Famitsu