A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

"Do you remember?"
"All those made up stories at bedtime?"
"The one about the prince and the princess?"
"Not the ones who fell in love..." 
 "But the two that walked side by side?"

"The Exalt of Idwall once dedicated her life to the study of Aether, but now has more pressing matters; a mutilated king, a throne that was never meant to be hers, and a man who is the last of his kind. Her story was burned to ash and the pages are all but smeared across lies and rumors. Yet, I still remember..."

Summary Aether Skies tells the story of the destruction of Idwall. A kingdom paying for their use of aether during their war of conquest. They have few allies and are in a weakened state with the recent attack on their king who was delivered to them in a blooded crate. Though he survived the assault he was deemed unfit to rule and his older sister inherited the throne. As the memoir unfolds you choose to witness the story as the inheriting Exalt or as the Scion Eir, a man who is the last of his kind haunted by aether. 

  Character Profiles





Gameplay
Aether Skies has choice driven game-play, where you choose a character to start with. As you play the memoir not only do your choices influence one character, but both in dynamic ways. There is a default game start that each character begins with. If you choose to start the story with Eir you will make choices that influence his life. When you finish the story and go onto the Exalt's side you see how the choices you made with Eir affect Reina and provoke difference responses. You can always choose to replay with a blank slate or you can import your play through after finishing the story. The focus isn't on different endings, but on different journey to the same destruction of Idwall. The kingdom is doomed. Do you play to save one character, save each, or save the kingdom? The end results are all tied up in choices you get to choose.

Features
Aether Skies: Scion currently contains over 45,000 words and over 100 choices and counting.
CG's in game (4 in first chapter alone)
4 Romance Options (Previews to come)
An alternative reading font
Choices can be selected with number keys
Quick Save and Load option

Progress: Post Last Updated Oct 25, 2018

End Notes
The game can be split into two different releases Aether Skies: Scion and Aether Skies: Exalt where the playable character is in the name. I'm working out the details on how to import the data from each game.

Talking Points Suggestions
Which is your favorite character so far?

Did you play the original demo, and if so what were your thoughts?

What drew you to this post?

Download

Download
Mac Aether Skies Demo Oct2018 201 MB
Download
Windows/Linux Aether Skies Demo Oct2018 218 MB

Development log

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Comments

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is this game abandoned?

The project is still on-going. :) 

This is really interesting. 😀

I'm so looking forward to an update and playing the game in its entirety. 😁

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Ok so I have one problem-- I want to date Scion/Eir, but it's not possible so I'm sad ): 

edit: what I mean is that I wish there was an option to play as a third party, not Scion or Exalt, where you can actually choose to romance one of them

idk I'm just lonely and desperate 

When do you estimate the full version will be out?

Aether Skies is a two part game with Scion and Exalt. Scion will be released first and then Exalt will follow after. I plan to release a version that will feature both games sometime after Exalt. Though you'll still be able to transfer saves between the two until the combined version is released. 

The one I'm currently working on is Scion, which is suffering from a serious lack of funding at the moment. With my current financial situation struggling I don't foresee any real progress in this game until next Spring. I'm not confident a crowdfunding operation would have the support, so we'll have to wait and see.

There are going to be updates. I hope to have Chapters 2 and 3 out within the coming year. It's not that they're not written or coded for that matter as it is there's no additional art for them.

Loved the demo.

I can see the girl might start to have an affair with the scion boy in the coming chapters. Will wait for the updates.

I like how the choices shape the character's personality. The format is also interesting as it is different from the format of other VNs.

Awesome demo. The art is absolutely gorgeous which is vital for a good VN game. The characters and the story seem really interesting. My only complaint...IT WAS TOO SHORT! :) I look forward to playing the full game once it's released. 

^^; I don't know how I missed this! I'm sorry! ^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed the demo. :) Things are going smoothly.

Fantastic demo! The artwork is stunning, and no complaints from my part.

Do you guys know when the full game would be out, and the price of it? I wouldn't mind paying for this!

^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed the demo. As for the full game release it's going to be in parts. I'm hoping if everything goes well to release the first part of Eir's story sometime this fall. It's all based on financial reasons, and the time schedule for the sprite artist. Eventually I will release a version that has everything in it, but for one part at a time.

There is no price set at this time.

Thanks you for your interest! ^_^

Hi, I really love it,  especially the different layout from typical VN and how the sprites' expression changing, even according to the choices.

I wonder if there'll be an option to choose Reina's point of view...?

Also, is the text speed set automatically? I feel more comfortable if I could choose my own reading speed (by clicking it).

Anyway, good luck on this great project! ^^

I will definitely look forward to the full version!

^_^ Oh you’ve brighten my day! I’m really glad you loved the game. There will the option to see the story in Reina’s point of view and I will announce if it will be a separate demo or a combined version.

As for the auto-forward it can be disabled by clicking to advance the text yourself twice or by hovering over the Quick Menu and clicking on the “Auto” so it’s no longer highlighted orange. In the next version of the demo there is a new option that you can turn it “On” or “Off” on the preference screen.

Thanks so much ve! ^_^