It's implied that the "expansion" is the black hole but it took a few reads for me to get that part.

Theme aside, this is I think of my favorites within the jam simply because of how evocative the writing is and the stellar music. It helps that the UI looks sleek. I'm just blown away by the premise. This is great.

A  short and bittersweet entry, I really enjoyed it 

The music was really good and helped to create an eerie atmosphere! 

15th submission I will read and rate here we GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Edit 1:

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Edit 2: Ok, I have just read and rated your VN. Here are my thoughts.

I can't write this VN without pointing out how great the visuals and music are in this VN. There are custom sprites and CG's that give off some kind of eerie vibe that's quite fitting for this story. Same goes for the UI, really. Without its unique art and sfx direction, this VN wouldn't be the same.

Regarding the story, the theme was implemented in a reallly creative way. I remember when the theme was announced and us jammers would chat about how we could implement it, and space themes were brought up, but nothing like this. Nothing like having your honey moon interrupted by death by black hole. It's an interesting mix of sci-fi, horror, and rrrrrromance. And that's not the only that makes the creativity put in this game stand out. There was not only this main story I mentioned before, but also mini stories of dreams!!! Sick!!!

Concerning the cons of this VN, apart from the textbox thing and minor typos other comments mentioned (it's ok, I know how it feels like *centerright flashbacks* ), I feel there is something weird with Albert's character. I don't know if it is just me, but I feel as if we get to see a lot about Nova's character (emotions, personality, etc) but not that much about Albert. I get he is suppossed to be compossed and calm, but for me it feels as if he had little to no reaction to the whole end-of-the-world matter. Again, maybe it is just me.

That's what I think of this VN. Thanks for the experience!

I cried. 5/5

Ethereally beautiful. Out of all the entries, Astrophobia has the art direction I adore the most. The visual art style and music just blend perfectly to form that eerie yet beautiful atmosphere. The writing threads somewhere in between the poetry line, but still captures the anger and desperation of the characters realistically well. Oh, and I LOVE how you reinforce the storytelling through the changes in the background. And the final scene? Simply amazing.

The only grip I have is the dialogue box issue (which is apparently a bug), and maybe Al's default expression looks like he's staring at the void instead of you. Nothing too serious. Kudos to you for making a fantastic VN!

This was just beautiful. There is obviously a lot of beautifully evocative art in this project, but what really elevated it for me was the writing and the music.

I realize I tend not to comment enough on the music when I review VNs: unless the music makes itself really stand out (in a good or bad way), I tend not to think about it when I finish a game, even though it was definitely an important part of the experience. This was one of those rare cases where the music really stood out: there such a coherent style through the VN that I was never really sure when a music track had began or ended. It felt like one large music score.

And the writing was just beatiful, poetic when I needed to be, and it sold the drama and the melancholy perfectly. I am not one to cry because of FVNs, and more often than not FVNs designed to make you cry leave me unscathed. But for this one, I was fighting back tears at the end of the experience.

Stylish right from the title screen, which sets the tone perfectly. One area that could be pushed further is animation – the title cards feel a little jarring with no transition to or from them, for instance. You also kind of notice the fact that the sprite doesn't have a ton of expressions; the heaviness of the subject matter and the extreme emotions the story invokes aren't really visible, and it doesn't necessarily feel purposefully dissonant. But apart from that, the art & the UI are polished and pretty to look at.

Writing is nice as well! The characters feel precisely defined enough for the small scope, with bits and pieces of history but not so much backstory the story drowns in exposition. There's a lot of sharp imagery (the remnants of a drink in a glass being compared to blood is a particularly memorable one), and the story only ever feels appropriately claustrophobic, maintaining a forward momentum despite its place in the "nothing happens" genre.

Whether the ending gets too fanciful is debatable. I did not hate it, but it maybe felt like it lost the grounded tone of the preceding material without really reaching apocalyptic heights to match it in effectiveness?

Finally, as for the jam theme, I do see it there, but I also wonder if the game could have just gone with the Sun going supernova to wrestle with the idea a little more explicitly. If I was just reading this with no context, it would be pretty difficult to guess that "expanding" was the prompt. That being said, I enjoy what the game does with the concept overall, so don't listen to me.

Known issues, please reply if more are found:

Alchahol should be Alcohol. 

Discression should be discretion.

Erroneous text at "...around a central point that resembled a picture." It should read "...around a central point."

Missing space between "...familiar.At the..." should be "...familiar. At the..."

Font choice makes AL look like Ai.

Protagonist name does not need to appear outside of dialogue but does.

TV is missing quotation marks.

Unused sprites left in images folder.

I love the visual style of your sprites and backgrounds!  They have an ethereal quality that complements the story quite well. 

I like the heart of the story.  What do we do in the face of imminent, unavoidable death?  What gives us comfort in our final moments?  Do we accept our fate and face it courageously, or bargain, plead, and try to flee from the inevitable?

I was slightly worried at the very beginning, noticing some misspellings in the warning message, but didn't notice any throughout the story itself.  I don't personally mind as long as I can understand the intent, but I know that some people see it as an immediate turnoff.  

I don't want people to see that and write off your novel before looking at it further.  Your vn has too much effort put into it to be overlooked!  After the jam, I would suggest updating that part at least.

Overall, I really liked your story, and look forward to what you come up with in the future!

This was a good one. Hauntingly beautiful is a great way to describe it.

There's not a lot happening, but the dialogue is good and the music is fitting. Custom sprites, gui, and BGs are always appreciated, and the art style lends itself well to the VN's surreal tone.

I do have a bone to pick regarding the deviations from normal VN format. Namely, having the name of the speaking character slightly to the right of center and differentiating between dialogue and narration with quotation marks. That felt like it added an unnecessary layer of confusion at the beginning.

Overall still an enjoyable experience, and one that actually utilized the theme in a substantial way. Yay!

Spoilers ahead:

Theme: Expansion in the sort of literal sense, of entering a black hole, and you know what? It haunts the piece. I get it. Nice.

Story: I carry some confusion with these memory issues. Is that early onset dementia for Nova? Al wrote the note in the music player? Why aren't they at home? Why do they have so much memory issues-- just constant drinking? Where is this happening?

Overall a poignant brief piece, but some of the framing and elements that arose left me with questions. Is it supposed to be as nova wanted? that they keep looping but sometimes they remember and notes are left behind? but how would those persist? Hard to reconcile those, for me.

Presentation: The music really hit the vibes. Liked the custom art throughout. I think those did great, but I had a personal major gripe with the first person narration being attributed to Nova's dialogue boxes. That felt against form to me. I don't think you'd have that in a play unless it's like actual though, and these were more like voice-over action, which don't belong there, and that was very distracting to me because it carries through the whole piece.

You also made the (mostly) one room set work quite well with the conceit, which was another boon.

Creativity: I like your choice to go with the poignant end of life via black hole approach, a low-key concern at the back of a lot of classic sci-fi.

Overall Thoughts: Overall, well done. My major gripes were your narrative "formatting", and the mysteries you set up that I don't think have adequate time to explore and lead to more questions. "The Philospoher" turning out to be dead? Sure. The notes? Are those dementia? Are they actually older than they think they are? Is it another death? Too much drinking?

I think they pull away from your message just a bit, albeit not in a way that super harms the piece, but in a way that is visible.

Congrats! I think you did a fantastic job overall.