Halloween 2026 is bringing a welcome surprise for fans of obscure Japanese PlayStation games. A volunteer translation team has announced an English-language patch for Ningyo no Rakuin, a Japan-exclusive tactical horror RPG released in 2000. The patch is scheduled for Saturday, 31 October 2026; it has been announced but was not yet available at the time of writing on 28 October.
A PlayStation curiosity with a darker edge
The game follows survivors of a plane crash who find themselves on an isolated island, where strange inhabitants and an apparent curse turn an already desperate situation into something more sinister. Its mixture of tactical role-playing and unsettling narrative makes it a particularly unusual entry in the original PlayStation library.
The translators have chosen The Curse of Ogaerito as the English title. Although the Japanese game has sometimes been referred to as The Mark of the Mermaid, the team says its chosen name better reflects the setting and language used in the story.
What is confirmed about the translation?
Team member Verneri Kontto announced that the fan translation was complete, with a release planned for 31 October. Contributors named in the announcement include Chapu Translations, LaytonLoztew and whowasphone404. The team says the work was carried out without machine translation or generative AI.
As with other fan translation projects, the announcement concerns a patch, not a licensed English re-release or a new physical game. Interested players should look for the team's official release instructions and use their own lawfully obtained game copy where required. Compatibility with every original PlayStation setup has not been independently confirmed.
Console Revive take
Translation projects are one of retro gaming's most valuable forms of preservation. They open up entire libraries that were previously inaccessible to English-speaking players, often decades after a console's commercial life ended. The PS1 still has discoveries left to make — and maintaining the hardware is part of keeping those discoveries playable. See our original PlayStation parts and accessories.