Set in a ‘near-future’ on a fictional world, Ex Astris follows the story of Lanis Rosenberg, a newly graduated doctor working in the Loennian military. Doubtful of her abilities to cope in the army and lost with her direction in life, Lanis’ world is suddenly turned upside-down when she is transferred to the secretive, militaristic nation of Xian. There, she is assigned to a subject named A-28 'Ash'. An emotionless, unstable, biologically engineered soldier and her opposite in every way…
Lanis is taken to the secretive nation of Xian to begin the next step in her medical career. What the young woman doesn't expect is to inadvertently stumble upon incidents which already threaten her freedom, and her life. In a country full of oppression, secrets and silence, the power to look through the veil of time comes with steep consequences.
Format: Episodic / Linear Visual Novel Engine: RenPy Genre: Light Sci-Fi / Drama / GxB / Supernatural Platform: PC/Mac/Linux Duration: Short
I remember the first chapter. I liked it a lot. It's nice to see the second one released :3. Do your choices in the previous chapter matter or are chapters separate in that regard?
In-Progress:
Floret Bond, XOXO Blood Droplets, Our Life Released:
A Foretold Affair, My Magical Divorce Bureau, XOXO Droplets, Lake of Voices
I did have a large-ish branch originally but I realised I'd put important and different information in both branches, and that if I mentioned something down the track in a future chapter and a person never took that branch I'd be making a loophole for myself. Any story with 'time' elements is just asking for holes which I'm desperately trying to keep in check. (Trust me to pick awkward story-telling devices.) XD My 'notes' document is so big now so that I can remember things I've mentioned and their future impacts to the story lol.
So in short, yes, there are choices. They open up alternate lines of dialogues and reactions, they also give additional info or insight on a character. Do they impede on the overall experience of the chapter's story? No. So don't feel you have to go back and do it all again if you're happy enough.
I remember the first chapter, and it set up an interesting world. So naturally I downloaded and played the new one.
I'll have more detailed feedback once I can go back through it and write down my specific thoughts. (I play through VNs at least once to enjoy them and bring out the fine-toothed comb later.)
One important thing I noticed is that
Lanis's vision of her daughter specified that the girl has "brown eyes like her mother" (I'm paraphrasing a bit), but Lanis has green eyes. So are Lanis's eyes actually brown but hidden under green contacts? Or have I spotted a continuity error?
I'm an aspiring writer and voice talent with a passion for literature and an unhealthy attachment to video games. I am also a seasoned typo-sniper. Inquiries are encouraged. Friendly chats are welcome.
"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."
— Mark Twain
Thanks Mad Harlequin. You don't have to go to all that effort ^^; This is just a fun project for me.
About the child's eyes… When Lanis said 'her' mother, she was actually referring to her own mother, Verona, not herself. Green eyes are a recessive gene, brown are are dominant. So if Lanis were with someone who also didn't have a green eye recessive gene then the chances of the child having a 'throwback' to the more dominant brown eyes that she carries is possible. This is factoring in that Ash may indeed also carry a brow eye gene. That was the reasoning behind my thinking anyways…
Thanks so much for taking the time to read it through!
What you say is true . . . and also, I think I can safely blame my reading comprehension failure on my lack of quality sleep last night. D'oh. I should really make sure I know what the heck I'm talking about before I comment.
I look forward to future entries!
I'm an aspiring writer and voice talent with a passion for literature and an unhealthy attachment to video games. I am also a seasoned typo-sniper. Inquiries are encouraged. Friendly chats are welcome.
"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."
— Mark Twain
Thank you for your efforts~ The first chapter certainly piqued my interest and I'm rather glad it hasn't become vaporware >u> I still have some things to do so I'll just download it now and give my feedback(if any?) after I finish some more important things.
~targetting every otome game at the speed of sound (because if I did it at the speed of light, I'd be time travelling)
@dasea. Bahaha, nicely put regarding Ash's hoodie XD At least it was in a good way.
As for length hmm… that's a tough one! It won't be short. Which is why I stopped the manga version at 3 chapters because it was simply going to waste my lifespan lol. Not that swapping to a Visual Novel format was any less work, as I've now learnt lol. At least the art is consistent. It's what bothered me most about my webmanga. I'm thinking around 20? Could be less, I think it'll depend on my pacing. Some elements further into the story aren't set in stone just yet.
I'm just hoping that the alcoholic content negates the effect of whatever they administered to her. Then she develops an immunity against it, so trying to give her another shot won't work.
But I guess I'm guessing by a long shot.
And oh dear, more or less 20? That's a lot. (But if that's what you wish... well, you're the one making it. I just hope you don't suddenly abandon it in the middle because I would really like to see the whole story :3)
~targetting every otome game at the speed of sound (because if I did it at the speed of light, I'd be time travelling)
I really enjoyed the first chapter of this, and was so glad when I realised this was chapter 2 and not what I'd already played (took me a while).
No disappointments in the second chapter. It has a good pace and the world is getting fleshed out. Also has some interesting concepts coming through. I like the characters of Lanis and Ash (Ash is a fascinating character in my opinion and I definitely want to know more about him). I'm looking forward to chapter three.