The Cycle of Seasons

The Cycle of Seasons is the first fully finished visual novel I have written. I was in charge of worldbuilding, character creation and writing the novel itself from Summer's arc until the end, which includes the Summer Arc, Winter arc, and all the endings.

This project challenged me to work with a co-writer, something I had never done before, and it was an eye-opening experience. I had to ensure that my co-writer's work seamlessly flowed into mine, and that characters who appeared in their section as well as mine were consistently characterised.

While there were many ideas on how the story could go, we narrowed down the number of places visited and number of NPCs met so as to lighten the load on our artists.

The game design document can be found here.

Summer Arc

The Summer arc was written with the themes of freedom and choice in mind. This is most prominently featured in the Summer trial the player has to undergo, where they are asked to choose an object from the ones presented to them. The variety of dialogue options the player has to choose from throughout the arc also speak to the themes of the Summer arc.

The character of the Summer Lord (Aestatis) is also in line with the themes of the Summer arc. Flexible and free, and as the youngest of the Season Lords, they are the most energetic as well as passionate but tries to maintain a regal front when performing Season Lord duties. Their dialogue was written with all this in mind, which is why when in disguise or alone, Aestatis' dialogue includes exclamation marks and contractions, making their manner of speaking more childish and informal.

Winter Arc

The Winter arc was written with the themes of moving forward and tradition in mind.

The theme of moving forward is most prominently featured in the Winter trial the player has to undergo, where they are asked to choose between bringing their father back from the dead or letting him rest in peace and move on. Choosing to move on results in the player passing the Winter trial, while bringing their father back from the dead results in one of the possible endings of the visual novel.

The character of the Winter Lord (Hiemis) is closely linked to the theme of tradition. Hiemis is strict and unyielding, refusing to even entertain the thought of doing things differently. This translates into the limited paths the player can take in the Winter arc, making the arc short and concise, while also making each choice extremely impactful.

Endings

There are a total of seven possible endings in The Cycle of Seasons.

To ensure that the character of the Autumn Lord was consistent with what my co-writer wrote in the Autumn arc, I constantly referenced both the dialogue that had been written as well as the character sheet on top of checking in with my co-writer to ensure that I had nailed the Autumn Lord.

Since some of the endings are unlocked only when certain conditions are met, my co-writer and I had to ensure that it is possible to meet these conditions in the first place, resulting in a changing in conditions multiple times as we wrote and refined the story.

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