is a Japanese

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

developed by

Key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

, a brand of

Visual Arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

. It was released on September 30, 2022 for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and is Key's 18th game overall. The story follows transporter Jude Gray who accepts a request to deliver a

gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Name A gynoid ...

named Filia to the top of a

space elevator A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a space tethe ...

amid avoiding dangers from human bandits and machines who have created a " singularity". ''Stella of The End'' is the sixth of Key's "kinetic novels"—beginning with '' Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet'' (2004)—since its

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...

offers no choices or alternate endings. Instead, the player proceeds through the story solely by reading. The story was written by

Romeo Tanaka is a Japanese author and scenario writer for adult and ''bishōjo'' games. At one time, he had attended the University of Tsukuba. In 2007, Tanaka started to write his first light novel series entitled ''Humanity Has Declined'' which is published ...

, and character design was produced by Swav. The game's soundtrack was composed by Tsubasa Harihara and Ice.

Development and release

Following Key's previous success with the production of two prior visual novels termed "kinetic novels"—'' Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet'' (2004) and ''

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...

'' (2016)—since their

offers no choices or alternate endings, ''Stella of The End'' was one of three kinetic novels announced in October 2020 alongside ''

Loopers ''Loopers'' is a Japanese science fiction visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on May 28, 2021 for Windows and is Key's 15th game overall. It was ported to iOS and Android devices, as well as the Nintendo Swit ...

'' (2021) and '' Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild'' (2021). Planning for the project began with video game

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Shun Sayuki, who also developed the game's motif built around the concept of a courier who transports an android. Sayuki's intention was to create the type of story where the characters go on a round trip journey, while also incorporating a "boy meets girl" element. According to Sayuki, Key's kinetic novel series involves attempts to try things that go beyond what Key has gained a reputation for producing. With ''Stella of The End'', Sayuki was unsure how far to exceed that fixed idea of "what makes up a Key production," but because its concept was solidified as a

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...

story with portions to make readers cry as its foundation, Sayuki did not see a problem with making its tone somewhat different than Key's other works. When it came time to present the proposal for the project, Sayuki wanted a writer who could expand on its hard science fiction themes so as to develop a more solid world, leading him to approach

to write the scenario. Tanaka had previously worked with Key on the scenario for '' Rewrite'' (2011) and its

fan disc A fan disc (sometimes called fandisk or simply abbreviated as FD) is a package of additional content, usually released by a game company after the successful launch of one of its titles. The contents of fan discs varies, but often includes new i ...

'' Rewrite Harvest festa!'' (2012). Sayuki was impressed with Tanaka's ability to take his rough concept and form it into a coherent and convincing story as a result of how Tanaka rationalizes science fiction phenomena. Tanaka even uses the term "artificial ego" in the story as a way to distinguish it from

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

. Swav is the art director and character designer for ''Stella of The End''. Sayuki had been in search of an illustrator familiar with drawing science fiction and contacted Swav shortly after viewing his artwork. In keeping with a story set in the

near future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

, Swav's aim was to give it the appearance similar to a film, which was based on how kinetic novels could be described as "novels akin to watching a film". Swav wanted to capture the atmosphere that comes from film-like art, opting to apply a jade green filter to the game's art. As Swav developed the character art, Sayuki used his experience having worked on

bishōjo game A or , is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". ''Bishōjo'' games are similar to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make ...

s to mediate between Swav's art style and Key's brand image, even requesting Swav to redesign entire characters at times. For instance, Swav was asked during a production meeting to redesign Filia to "emphasize how she is presented as the story's heroine," to which Swav responded that he would attempt to "merge a film-like design with how things are presented in bishōjo games." Swav consulted several films, including '' Interstellar'', when drawing the game's art. Swav was also instrumental in changing the game's original title of ''Owari no Stella'' to ''Tsui no Stella'' by using a different reading of the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

for "end" () so that the title would not be overly similar to . For the game's music, the production team wanted to go with composers who had not worked on any of Key's works. In finding someone to compose the game's

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, the emphasis was for someone who could compose tear-jerking songs, leading to Sayuki to suggest Tsubasa Harihara. Sayuki had been impressed by Harihara's song and how listening to it gave him a clear mental image of how the story's backdrop is described in the song. Sayuki's proposal was quickly approved, and Harihara accepted the position. For the

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

, Sayuki was in search of a composer appropriate for a science fiction story that could compose music akin to the piano pieces featured in Key's works that leave a lasting impression on the listener. That type of music reminded him of Rayark's 2013

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

'' Deemo'', and ultimately the composer Ice who worked on the game. ''Stella of The End'' was released on September 30, 2022 for

. Three editions were released: a download edition just for the game itself, a limited edition, and a more expensive special edition that comes bundled with more content. Both physical editions come bundled with the game's original soundtrack and a full color

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

. The special edition also comes with a tapestry and an epilogue book.

References

External links

* * {{Key (company), state=expanded 2022 video games Apocalyptic video games Bishōjo games Fictional gynoids Key (company) games Science fiction video games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Japan Visual novels Windows-only games Windows games Single-player video games