 = Snow ( visual novel ) = 
 
 Snow ( スノー , Sunō ) is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Studio Mebius for Windows PCs on January 31 , 2003 . It was later ported without the erotic content to the Dreamcast , PlayStation 2 , and PlayStation Portable consoles . The story of Snow revolves around the life of Kanata Izumo , who is revisiting a village to help his relative manage a hot spring hotel . The gameplay in Snow follows a branching plot line which offers pre @-@ determined scenarios with courses of interaction , and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters by the player character . 
 The game was successful in both sales and popularity , it was ranked as the best @-@ selling PC game sold in Japan at the time of its release , and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterwards . Snow was voted as the twenty @-@ sixth best bishōjo game by the readers of Dengeki G 's Magazine in 2007 . A manga titled Snow : Pure White based on the visual novel was serialized in Comptiq between the September and December 2003 issues . Five light novels and several comic anthologies were also released , as were audio dramas . 
 
 = = Gameplay = = 
 
 Snow is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Kanata Izumo . Much of its gameplay is spent reading the text that appears on the screen , which represents the story 's narrative and dialogue . The text is accompanied by character sprites , which represent who Kanata is talking to , over background art . Throughout the game , the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story , which take the place of the background art and character sprites . 
 There are four main plot lines in the original Windows release that the player will have the chance to experience , one for each of the heroines in the story . Throughout gameplay , the player is given multiple options to choose from , and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made . Some decisions can lead the game to end prematurely and offer an alternative ending to the plot . To view all plot lines in their entirety , the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction . In adult versions of the game , there are scenes depicting Kanata and a given heroine having sex . 
 
 = = Plot = = 
 
 
 = = = Story = = = 
 
 The story of Snow starts when Kanata Izumo , the main protagonist , revisits a small village called Ryūjinmura ( 龍神村 , lit . " village of the dragon god " ) , to help manage a local hotel with hot springs alongside his cousin Tsugumi . In the village , there is an old legend : In ancient times , Ryūjinmura was protected by the dragon goddess . However , one day the goddess fell in love with a human , which is strictly forbidden , and this incident caused the village to be always covered by snow after that . The game then tells the daily life of Kanata interacting with the village girls , and ultimately links the story to the legend . Snow follows a branching plot line with multiple endings , and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game , the plot will progress in a specific direction . 
 
 = = = Main characters = = = 
 
 The player assumes the role of Kanata Izumo ( 出雲 彼方 , Izumo Kanata , voiced by Soichiro Hoshi ) , who is visiting Ryūjinmura as a part @-@ time worker of the local hotel owned by his cousin . During his stay , he meets his childhood friend Sumino Yukizuki ( 雪月 澄乃 , Yukizuki Sumino , voiced by Ayako Kawasumi ) , a soothing and gentle girl whose father has died . She loves anman ( a kind of mantou ) and claims it as " source of life " . Kanata also encounters a young energetic girl with a tomboy personality called Asahi Hiyorigawa ( 日和川 旭 , Hiyorigawa Asashi , voiced by Yukari Tamura ) , suddenly appearing before Kanata and claiming that she will " repulse the evil " from him . 
 In the outskirts of the village , Kanata meets the mysterious Shigure Kitazato ( 北里 しぐれ , Kitazato Shigure , voiced by Haruna Ikezawa ) ; Shigure has a shy personality and is extremely silent . The protagonist also finds a little girl called Ōka Wakō ( 若生 桜花 , Wakō Ōka , voiced by Tomoko Kaneda ) waiting around the jinja for her parents . She likes to play with her cat called Shamon ( シャモン ) . The physician of Ryujinmura has a daughter called Meiko Tachibana ( 橘 芽依子 , Tachibana Meiko , voiced by Naoko Watanabe ) , who is a close friend of Sumino . She likes to tease Kanata , and acts bizarrely in front of him . In Snow : Plus Edition , a new character referred to as Mysterious Girl ( 謎の少女 , Nazo no Shōjo , voiced by Ryōko Ono ) is introduced , bearing many secrets . 
 
 = = Development and release = = 
 
 After the completion of Zetsubō , Studio Mebius ( a brand under VisualArt 's ) started production on Snow . The artists for the visual novel were Asuka Pyon , who also drew the character designs , and Kobuichi . The scenario was written by three members of staff : Mochizuki Jet , Klein , and Jinno Masaki . I 've Sound , as well as T & N Music Factory , Famishin , and Fam contributed to the music composition . According to the liner notes on the original soundtrack of Snow , the producers acknowledged that the game 's structure resembled Key 's visual novels Kanon and Air . Yūichi Suzumoto , who is known for his work on Air , Clannad , and Planetarian : The Reverie of a Little Planet , provided scenario assistance for Snow . 
 On January 31 , 2003 , Snow was released as both a CD @-@ ROM and DVD @-@ ROM compatible to the Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP operating systems . An all @-@ ages version for the Dreamcast was released by Interchannel on September 25 , 2003 . Later on February 26 , 2004 , Interchannel ported the game to the PlayStation 2 in both limited and regular editions ; the PS2 port adds an additional scenario for Meiko Tachibana , who was a supporting character in prior releases of Snow . A full voice version was released for Windows on September 24 , 2004 . Then on September 29 , 2006 , Snow : Plus Edition was released for Windows , sporting added parts from the console versions and introducing a new heroine . Snow is playable on NTT DoCoMo 's FOMA cell phones . A PlayStation Portable version of the game called Snow : Portable was released by Prototype on August 16 , 2007 . The standard edition for Windows was released on July 25 , 2008 , containing two fan discs , and the content from the portable edition of Snow . Finally , a downloadable version of the PSP edition was made available on the PlayStation Store by Prototype on January 21 , 2010 . 
 
 = = Related media = = 
 
 
 = = = Books and publications = = = 
 
 Five adult light novels written by Hangetsu Mitamura and published by Paradigm were released between June 2003 and January 2004 . The cover art and internal illustrations were drawn by Asuka Pyon , the artist who drew the artwork in the visual novel . The first novel , titled Snow : Hakanayuki ( Snow ～ 儚雪 ～ , Sumino ) , was released on June 25 , 2003 . The second novel was released on July 25 , 2003 , titled Snow : Chīsaki Inori ( Snow ～ 小さき祈り ～ , Asahi ) . The third novel , titled Snow : Inishie no Yūyake ( Snow ～ 古の夕焼け ～ ) , was released on September 20 , 2003 . The fourth novel , titled Snow : Kioku no Toge ( Snow ～ 記憶の棘 ～ , Shigure ) , was released on November 22 , 2003 . The fifth and final novel , titled Snow : Sora no Yurikago ( Snow ～ 空の揺りかご ～ , Oka ) , was released on January 16 , 2004 . A 192 @-@ page art book , titled Snow Art Works , and containing information such as story and character explanations , and images from the visual novel , was released by Paradigm on July 25 , 2003 . 
 
 = = = Manga = = = 
 
 A game @-@ based manga adaptation titled Snow : Pure White , and illustrated by Yuki Azuma , was serialized between the September and December 2003 issues of Comptiq . The individual chapters were later compiled into a single bound volume published by Kadokawa Shoten under the Kadokawa Comics Ace imprint on December 19 , 2003 . 
 Ohzora released a stand @-@ alone comic anthology , titled Snow Anthology Game Comics , under the Twin Heart Comics imprint on March 22 , 2003 . A two @-@ volume anthology series , titled Snow Comic Anthology , was released by Ichijinsha under the DNA Media Comics imprint between April 25 and June 25 , 2003 . The now @-@ defunct publisher Raporto released a comic anthology , titled Snow Game Comic , spanning two volumes in 2003 between April 25 and May 24 under the Raporto Comics imprint . Enterbrain released a single anthology , titled Snow Anthology Comic , under the Maji @-@ Cu Comics imprint on May 26 , 2003 . 
 
 = = = Music and audio CDs = = = 
 
 The opening theme for Snow is " Snow " sung by Yumi Matsuzawa , who also provided vocals for the ending themes " Futari no Ashiato " ( ふたりの足跡 ) and " Yuki no Kanata " ( 雪のかなた ) . The insert song " Sora no Yurikago " ( 空の揺りかご ) is by Ayako Kawasumi ; a single titled Snow Extra CD was released at Comiket 64 on August 15 , 2003 , containing " Sora no Yurikago " . These tracks were included with other background music in the Snow Original Soundtrack released on April 25 , 2003 . Before the visual novel 's release , Snow Image Album was released at Comiket 63 on December 28 , 2002 . 
 Three drama CDs based on Snow have been published , the first CD volume was released by Movic on August 22 , 2003 , focusing on Sumino Yukizuki . Movic released a second volume focusing on Asahi Hiyorigawa , on October 24 , 2003 . The third and final volume , telling the story of Ryūjinmura 's legend , was released by Frontier Works on August 25 , 2004 . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 In a national sales ranking of bishōjo games conducted by PCNews , Snow DVD @-@ ROM premiered at number one , whilst the CD @-@ ROM release ranked at number three . During the beginning of February , Snow CD @-@ ROM 's ranking fell to number eight , whilst Snow DVD @-@ ROM charted just above at number seven . Snow DVD @-@ ROM charted again at number thirty one during mid @-@ February , whilst the CD @-@ ROM release had low enough sales to not chart . Finally , both the Snow CD @-@ ROM and Snow DVD @-@ ROM releases made their final charting appearances at number thirty three and forty six at the beginning of March , respectively . 
 Snow was the second most widely sold game of 2003 on Getchu.com , a major redistributor of visual novel and domestic anime products . According to sales information taken from the Japanese Amazon website , Snow sold 64 @,@ 526 copies in 2003 . In the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G 's Magazine , poll results for the 50 best bishōjo games were released . Snow ranked No. 26 out of 249 titles , with 11 votes . Snow is featured in the Lycèe Trading Card Game ; a set of playable Snow cards are included in the VisualArt 's 1 @.@ 1 booster pack . Snow is considered a classic " nakige " game . 
 
 