The Thirteenth Year [Fantasy/Philosophical]

[Taleweaver]

Main title

Download Windows version
Download Mac version
Download Linux version
Playtime: ~1-2 hrs
Length: ~30,000 words
Game type: NVL-type visual novel
Themes: Fantasy, steampunk, philosophy, religion
Endings: 3
Pairings: none
Protagonist: Male or female, player's choice
Screenshots:

Plot: An episodic tale about a journey through the world, though not our world. The tale isn't told by the one who travels, a child named Astelli, but by the people Astelli meets during that journey. Yet why is it that these people remember Astelli so vividly? Only the end of the story will explain that.

Unlike many of my previous games, this one has no early "game over"-endings. Each playthrough will lead you through the entire story.

Have fun, and please bear with me. I don't do NVL stories often. This one came out more like an interactive picture book than your typical VN.

[try10]

WAIT!! NO romance?! ( that's sad...

[Taleweaver]

WAIT!! NO romance?! ( that's sad...

And that is ALL there is to say about the story?

THAT is sad.

[Rewritten Ennui]

WAIT!! NO romance?! ( that's sad...

If you were expecting a romance, then you're obviously looking in the wrong place. When you're busy philosophizing and pondering over religion, there's usually very little time for dating.

That said, I downloaded the game and started playing through Chapter 1. Very interesting so far, but I think I found a few missing words here or there. Did you have a couple proofreaders look through the script before the release?

[Taleweaver]

WAIT!! NO romance?! ( that's sad...

If you were expecting a romance, then you're obviously looking in the wrong place. When you're busy philosophizing and pondering over religion, there's usually very little time for dating.

That said, I downloaded the game and started playing through Chapter 1. Very interesting so far, but I think I found a few missing words here or there. Did you have a couple proofreaders look through the script before the release?

Actually, one, my artist/musician, DaFool, read the whole thing. There shouldn't be many typos left, though; I don't think they'll be overly distracting.

[JustAnotherMe]

It looks like this will be interesting ^^ I'll give it a go tomorrow!!

[Omnificent]

All right, these are my impressions on my first playthrough:

-If this is a stranger that our MC has never seen before, let alone knows the gender of, how do we know that their name is Astelli? Even though I assume that this entire story is retrospective, it kept bugging me throughout the intro.

-Ah, every chapter follows a new person. This really is like Kino's Journey.

-So everyone knows Astelli's name even when she hasn't introduced herself properly to them. That is interesting.

-I saw the thing with the stigmata coming, but it didn't make it any less visceral to read.

-The ghost, on the other hand, threw me.

-I liked that every person's response to Astelli determined how much she was able to help them.

-Whoa overarching plot

-So every decision you make ripples back in on later events in subtle ways. I know that's not something I should be surprised at in a VN, but I don't think I've ever seen it implemented this way before.

-And so Astelli became a god.

All in all, very nice. I was drawn in by the episodic fables and stayed to see how everything would culminate. Every perspective felt tangibly different, which was nice.

I'll probably play through again to see the other endings later, but it was a pretty epic game to play through just once. I genuinely enjoyed reading this. Good job!

[Wright1000]

I like philosophical stories, though I haven't written one myself. I played this one. The story was not bad, but there were some grammatical errors and typos. It was scary as well as a little funny.
But, I don't understand those people who are expecting romance in a philosophical story.
I also don't understand that when I played the game the first time, Astelli was a girl. But, when I played it again, he was a boy.

[Taleweaver]

I also don't understand that when I played the game the first time, Astelli was a girl. But, when I played it again, he was a boy.

It's not that hard to understand. It's the first sign that people can change Astelli with what they do.

-If this is a stranger that our MC has never seen before, let alone knows the gender of, how do we know that their name is Astelli? Even though I assume that this entire story is retrospective, it kept bugging me throughout the intro.

I hope it makes sense in retrospect. After everybody knows who Astelli is, people talk about what happened to them during the thirteenth year.

-I liked that every person's response to Astelli determined how much she was able to help them.

You can consider that one of the main themes of the entire story.

All in all, very nice. I was drawn in by the episodic fables and stayed to see how everything would culminate. Every perspective felt tangibly different, which was nice.

I'll probably play through again to see the other endings later, but it was a pretty epic game to play through just once. I genuinely enjoyed reading this. Good job!

I'm curious... what was the name of chapter 13 on your first playthrough?

[Omnificent]

The name of Chapter 13 for me was "From Above".

I'm guessing there's also a 'dark' ending where he/she does destroy the world after losing hope in his/her ability to change things for the better.

EDIT:

Just got "From Eye Level" through redoing the last choice. I'll go out on a limb and guess that the last ending is "From Below".

Also, a small piece of fanart.

[Taleweaver]

The name of Chapter 13 for me was "From Above".

Ah yes. Interesting. Thought that wouldn't happen that often during a first playthrough. But maybe it's just you

[Wright1000]

It's not that hard to understand. It's the first sign that people can change Astelli with what they do.

When Astelli was born, he/she was born as a girl or as a boy. But, how can the actions of other people change his/her gender. That's what I meant.
And, that's only what I don't understand. The rest of the story is okay. Whether Astelli will destroy the world or not, that will obviously depend on the people's actions. But they can't change someone's gender with their simple actions, can they?

[Taleweaver]

When Astelli was born, he/she was born as a girl or as a boy.

Okay, I need to spoiler this out:

As you read in chapter 12, Astelli was never really "born". Astelli was "made", artificially created. And to the creators, other things than gender were important. So Astelli never had a gender... until someone else came along.

[JustAnotherMe]

I've got her to be the approaching darkness. Bohooohoo... But alas, it's a nice work! Without a good art, but you keep me still reading it. You've made good timings with little pics you have, and that result in a nice flow of story.
Well I knew about this already, but you're a good writer!! Hope you succeed on your other projects too!!!

[Snow Blossom]

That was an intriguing piece of work, although I can't say I understood most of it. It provided some interesting insights that I have never thought of before, and it was fun watching Astelli develop as a character. The way in which the story was told was also refreshing and suited the atmosphere of the story very well, and the storybook setting really made it feel like a journey (spiritual and physical).

At first, I was surprised that Astelli would suddenly become so moody and childish in the later part of the game, but in retrospect that made perfect sense and was in accordance with her character. However, I still find it hard to believe that such a young child could be so thoughtful, even if she was the Approaching Darkness.... Regardless, the innocence of a child combined with an uncanny clearness of mind made her quite an interesting character, and I soon grew fond of her.

I have only managed to obtain 2 of the endings so far and that last one is one stubborn little creature. So now I'm off to struggle with it some more!!