Hello! Altila here.

Thank you for playing the game! I want to share a bit about this game and the time I spent making it. 

If you haven't played the game, I recommend you play it before reading because of possible spoilers.

About Hibernate

This game is actually from the draft I made quite a long time ago. More than 5 years ago, I think? It was originally written from Legato's perspective. But, with his personality, the story will not suit the visual novel format, so I changed the main character to Forte to give more options. In the first draft, the hibernating people were led to a certain village that was always snowing. Legato was trying to solve the mystery from over there with Aria and Forte was trying to wake up. Aria had more screen time in Legato's POV. The original ending was Legato standing alone as the island got hit by the disaster. In the VN, of course, I changed it.

About Canor

Confusing? Yes? I'm sorry. If you are familiar with the anime Fafner or Children of the Whales (Kujira no kora was Sajou ni Utau) you might understand it a little. The idea is just like that. 

Actually, there were several islands, each with its own 'heart' that nourished the island and gave it 'blessing'. Canor was just one of the islands. The other islands exist but they will be out of the scope of the story.

Was Canor good or bad? Neither. She was just there to provide for the islanders. 

About the Characters

• Forte, the VN's MC. He is just the usual sport kid who cares about his friend. Nothing about him changed since the first draft. Please don't ask about his performance in class. Even he, himself, acknowledged that he is dumb. But hey, he was awake during the important parts, so he was able to make decisions in the story. The moral is... please study properly, everyone.
• Legato. He was the original MC and that's why the story is heavily leaned toward him. Weak-minded and a crybaby, but he is actually popular among girls in school because he was handsome. His character is the opposite of Forte. 
• Aria. In the draft, she was originally in the same club as Legato, the photography club, and not the futsal's club. Forte's feelings about her and her feelings towards him are actually mutual, but she doesn't really show it.
• Sonatina. Maybe some of you can guess, but yeah... she is an albino.  Her white hair isn't because she is a lolibaba, but because she is an albino. She was sickly and her parents were busy, so her playmates were basically just Sonata and Dolce.
• The sacrifices. I made those characters, other than Melodica, during the WinterVNJam 2022 just because. Melodica was just mad at the islanders who sacrificed her. I played this one game before where a girl got sacrificed to the God of the mountain by offering her while setting her on fire, so I used it as a reference.  Staccato... dunno, I just thought I saw an anime where a kid got sacrificed for the village by locking him up and starving him to death, so his backstory became like that. Just in case it's not clear enough... they didn't die from fire or starvation in the story. They did die, but because the soul run out of power. Symphonia, basically lived her life to become a sacrifice and thought it was for the greater good. But, sadly, her life is shorter than others. Allegro... I kinda hate the man. Dolce is just depressed and tired. Canor granted something to all of them. Mother figure for Staccato and Sonatina, soul selection system for Symphonia, hibernation system for Allegro, no more sacrifice for Dolce. And for Melodica... well... you can guess it yourself.

About the Endings

It is recommended to go through the ending by the order 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 as mentioned in Guide, but it's not mandatory. Aria's route theme is basically about looking forward to the future. Honestly, I like ending 3 more because... this is the original ending but for Forte's POV. Ending 4 and 5 were the ones I wrote for the jam in 2022, that's why they were a bit messy. I didn't want to use the Deus Ex Machina ending, but it ended up like that. Sorry! But, ending 4 got me thinking... what if you were the only one who remembered someone who wasn't there anymore? I got a bit sad while writing that ending because of that thought.

About the Game-making

This game is a submission for WinterVNJam for two consecutive years. I didn't make it in time to finish it last year and I hadn't thought about the ending either. I decided to finish it in 2022, but it wasn't like I thought about the ending in advance. If you don't know my workflow, I just wrote it directly on the script file. Actually, I wanted to add CGs, but I was super busy since the start of the month, so I didn't. It was a miracle that I managed to find time and finish this. As for the GUI, I managed to ask someone to do it for me instead of leaving it default like usual.

In my previous game, The Witch's Name, I think I read a comment about someone not quite happy with the fact that I disabled the rollback. In this game, I decided to try to enable the rollback, but you cannot redo the choice you made. How is it?  

Lastly, here is the bonus. The picture of Legato and Forte I made a long time ago.

Blonde + blue hair combi is one of my favorites!