This World Unknown
Story:
Peace is scarce in the country of Aslande, and it has been at war with the neighbouring country of Eressia for centuries. When one battle ends, another inevitably begins, either months or years later. To Rhea, however, war is a distant concept; something she has heard about, but never witnessed. Born in a small, secluded village, Rhea occupies her life with more mundane concerns: her job at the local hospital, her playful bickering with her friend Asa, and her prayers for a successful harvest come autumn.
However, when Rhea's childhood friend, Luca, returns home to the village after fighting in one of Aslande's many wars, Rhea is suddenly faced with a problem. Why is Luca suddenly so cold, so distant? What did he see out on the battlefield, and how did it change him?
At the same time, new worries plague Rhea, as one of the patients at the hospital is suffering from a rather perplexing illness - and a failure to cure him could have some unpleasant outcomes...
About:
This World Unknown is a fantasy-themed otome game where the player assumes the role of the first person narrator, Rhea, and can romance four available guys. Which route you end up on depends on the choices made during the common route.
The character routes themselves are rather long, and have a lot of plot twists and world building (and lots and lots of characters).
The screen resolution is 1280x720.
Credits:
Writing, programming: ebi-hime
Sprites/CGs: Adyrn
Music: Amachamusic & DLsite
Backgrounds: Various. There is a full list of every single BG used, and credited, in a .txt file with the game.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $3.99 USD. Your purchase comes with a Steam key. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- New otome VN, With Eyes of Ice, releasedJun 27, 2023
Comments
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This visual novel has a special place in my heart. I absolutely adore the characters, their interactions and their stories. The protagonist, the love interests and the side characters have a lot of "heart" in them. I have already told Ebi-Hime many times in the past how much I love Val x Rhea ^^
This is a story set during archaic period in a small village where you work as a nurse tending to soldiers who had the chance to come back home from war.
You can read more about it in my review (https://gyepitypes.wordpress.com/2021/01/19/videogame-reviews-this-world-unknown...)
Ebi-hime, i have to thank you. I got this game from the bundle for racial justice and equality and went into it with no particular expectations, and i was so incredibly, and pleasantly taken off guard by how much i fell in love with it. My first run through unguided wasn't very satisfying (i hit the "bad" Garret ending), but it made me want to play it more, learn more about the world and characters. I've basically marathoned it for the past couple days, just finished actually, and it's so lovingly well written it's inspiring. Even the characters i wasn't personally fond of (Asa and Garret) i felt more connected to throughout their respective routes, and i REALLY love that all of the side characters were fleshed out and got the depth and screentime they deserved. I love that, as mentioned in the notes, you wanted Rhea to have that fiery spark, and i thought that was wonderful for her character!
Not to get too personal or corny, but life has been rough in some personal areas for me lately, and this game really helped with that. Better, it made me feel like the stories i want to make could be worthwhile, if i put in a similar amount of love and work... so sincerely, thank you. I'll have to check out your other games sometime in the bear future! Sorry for such a long comment///;;
(Also Valerian is my favorite oh my god, would die for him, sob.)
Aah, thank you so much! This is such a sweet comment!
I took a little while to reply to it, since I'm not fully sure what to say, but I'm glad you enjoyed TWU so much! Feedback like this really does warm my heart haha ;;;
Good luck with your own future projects, also! I hope they go well! >_<
You're so welcome! And you're totally fine, it was a long one, haha. I really did, and even downloaded ren'py not long ago since I was pretty inspired, so I'm excited to dabble in it in the future! <3 Thanks so much~
Ultimately I think I'm not on board with the models of romance this game had to offer. Three guys who ranged from disrespecting to actively disliking the heroine, and a fourth who was a young child she was in a position of power over. I made it to the end of one of the routes, which was very long, but there weren't enough chances for her to be happy without everyone tearing into her all the time as an easy target. I generally enjoyed the very round graphics with their faint gradients and shading, though.
None of the love interests dislike Rhea, and Asa being disrespectful of Rhea's boundaries is explicitly addressed in his route as a negative trait he needs to improve upon. Each route is very long, though, so I understand you might not want to slog through them if you're not invested in the characters or the story.
This was my first introduction to ebi-hime's work after eyeing a few of her titles for some time, and it was worth the wait. I cannot describe it better than 'endearing'. Rhea is different from the types of heroines I gravitate towards but she was a surprise hit for me. So much so that I'm even considering the name 'Rhea' for my next pet. She might not be your typical spunky tough-girl that Western VNs favour, but she is charming and strong in her own right because she is witty and so very good-hearted. It's easy to root for her. This is a great game for winding down after a long day or tough week because it's (mostly) lighthearted, easy to follow, with lots of relaxing slice of life.
Anyway, consider me an ebi-hime convert. Excited to pick up The End of An Actress next.
Aah thank you very much! I'm really glad you liked the story!
And that would be cute if do decide to call one of your pets Rhea, I think it's a nice name.
Actress is quite different to this story (it's in 3rd person rather than 1st, it's shorter, and it's also significantly more depressing), but I hope you enjoy that too, if you do decide to check it out!
Ah hi! I was playing this game on mac (totally hooked !!)but accidentally deleted it... Where did the mac version go? :,,(
I delisted mac as a supported OS from all my VNs on itch, since my VNs aren't compatible with mac's newest OS (Catalina). I was worried people on Catalina would try to buy my stuff, then feel conned if they can't run them. I don't want to deceive anybody, so I figured this would be for the best.
I think for this particular VN, however, it's bundled so the windows/linux/mac build are in the same zip file. While the itch page says the VN isn' t compatible with mac, it should still run just fine if you're on an OS older than Catalina. I haven't changed or updated any of this VN's files in over 2 years, so if you downloaded these files on mac in the past and they worked, it should still work w/o any issues.
This game would be infinitely better if we could romance Meirin, Clair, and Selene!
I thought about giving Selene a route, but writing the four existing routes took such a huge amount of time and energy (I spent 2+ years working on this) I had to scrap the idea. I don't think I would have been able to handle it ;;
Unexpectedly well written. Every route shows you a totally different aspect of the world. After one ending I found myself intrigued to find out everything.
Despite the cute images, the story doesn't loose the balance of a harsh world and yet hopeful actions.
The main character's limitations are well mirrowed in a limited vocabulary as well as her limitations in knowledge overall. It gives you a good idea of what living in a small community really means.
The last third of the trailer song sounds REMARKABLY like Kiki's Delivery Service's main theme...
It's a royalty free track which was free to use in commercial projects, like all the other music in the game.
I was lucky enough to receive this game through the bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, and already I am hooked. However, one thing I always struggle with is getting different endings, are there any known walkthroughs or official guides I can use once I play through each route blind?
You can find a walkthrough here, with a reccomended route order.
I hope this helps!
Yeah! that's perfect, thank you!
Heyo!!
Basically I wanted to play this game for a lot of time, but I got it only last year on steam.. I think? And I was too shy to comment that time... I loved it a lot, when I saw the art style I was really curious bc I've played a lot of VN but none was like this. There are a lot of routes and endings and I literally cried. I spendend like 2-3 days playing this. I
loved almost all characters (especially Asa and Garret, but I liked a lot Valerian and Nen as well ((Nen best slime *coff coff*)) ). I saw a lot of characterization in this game, also the plot, the soundtracks, the MC... (Oh god, I loved Rhea a lot, and I'm used to dislike the female protag 70% of the times) It's a great game, I always say to my friends to play it, I'm sad no one checks this out.. its totally worth it imo ;;
Aaah, thank you for such a long and detailed comment!
This story took a pretty long time to write, so it makes me really happy to hear you liked it! >_<
I was also a bit worried Rhea might be a dull protagonist, but I'm relieved some people like her at least haha ;;;
This comment made my day! Thank you! xxx
Hello there! I have a lot to say so I'm sorry in advance for the length! I bought/played the game on Steam but came here to rate and comment ^^
I know TWU came out over two years ago, so I'm a bit late. But I just finished it, and it was an absolutley wonderful 41 hours! Since I downloaded it, for this past week or so, I've pretty much had it on my mind constantly. I would spend all day being excited to get home and play some more! Now I'm sad that it's over and I even feel a bit empty, haha.
I'm a 17 year old girl, the same as Rhea. Even though we obviously have a lot of differences, I enjoyed being able to relate to her in some ways. I think her personality is a bit similar to mine. That was actually one of the factors that originally drew me to TWU. I didn't think she was bland- in fact, quite the opposite. Few VNs would have an illiterate, intensely religious girl as the protagonist, and that's why I think she's actually very special. After playing through all the routes, you kinda grow a sort of attatchment to her and you just want her to be happy. That's why the route endings were all so satisfying to me, regardless of who my favorite LIs were.
Val & Luca are tied for my favorite LIs and then Asa > Garrett. I appreciate how the side characters were actually important to the story as well (Meirin, Clair, Selene, Nen, Meeko...) and I love how they were all fleshed out and likeable in their own ways.
The different routes were crafted so well, and it was clear that they had each other in mind. I jumped around the routes quite a bit...I got halfway through Garrett's route before I paused and did Valerian's. I did the same thing with Asa and Luca's routes. I was so excited to do Val and Luca's routes that I just couldn't wait! But, enough about my strange method of gameplay. I liked seeing how the different characters fit into different routes and how things connected. It made TWU a really great experience.
The soundtrack was lovely. After a while, it even started to sound nostalgic, in a way. Even when I wasn't playing the game, I found the music was still going on repeat in my head. Oh, and the art was absolutley amazing! I don't think there could have been a better artist for TWU. I was also pleasantly surprised at how many character sprites there were, even for characters who didn't appear as often.
I'm pretty bummed out that this VN isn't more popular. It's clear how much work went into it and it really shows. The worldbuilding in TWU was strong enough that I feel like it should have its own fandom of some sort. Or...at least, more people talking about it. Anyways, sorry for the long comment! But, as a new fan of yours, I just really wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your story! I honestly think you are a fantastic writer, so please keep it up~ and I'll definitley be checking out your other VNs! ≧◡≦
Aaah this is so sweet of you! Thank you so much!! >_<
I'm sorry for taking a few days to reply - this was such a long and kind message that I wasn't really sure what to say, haha n_n;;
I'm glad you enjoyed the story so much! Writing and coding something this huge was quite a challenge, so I'm glad it paid off in some small way, and a few people liked it!
I'm also really glad you liked Rhea! I was worried people would find her boring, since maybe she's a bit passive at times (though I tried to make her stand up for herself when the story called for it too haha). I like her a lot too, and I think she's a sweetheart u///u
Val & Luca are also very easily my favourite LIs, too. I think they are probably most people's favourites, haha. I wonder if my bias for these two characters was too evident when I wrote the story...
Anyway, thank you so much! Reading this comment really made my day! <3 <3 <3
I love GirlxBoys games!! <3
I played this game on steam ^q^ I am a big fan of the art and I've grown attached to the characters. I'd hate to ask you, despite you having already addressed the credits of the music you've used but do you know what the songs are called? I can't get the orchestra-esque song out of my head. It's probably the most heartwarming song I've ever heard. You have great taste in music and in setting the mood of the VN.
Thank you for the comment u///u
The songs were all obtained from Japanese websites, so they all have Japanese names, and I renamed all of them so I could organise them better. Do you know where this orchestra song plays? Maybe I can find it for you if I know which song you mean specifically.
Ah I see, thanks for the help! It can be first heard on May 18th of the game--the scene with Selene and her father. ^^
im super in love with this game!! ive only played the demo so far but im really impressed with how it feels like a very well crafted experience. the straight forward writing works with the simple, clean style of the cgs/sprites and ive always been really impressed with polished games like this. ill definitely be buying a version of it asap!
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say! >///<
I think the clean style of the sprites and CGs suits the writing as well, since the writing is pretty... simple, maybe? XD;;
If you buy the full version, I hope you enjoy it! <3