Alright, so, the store page for this one mentions it's a tribute to Slay the Princess, which is both an ambitious aim, and, at the moment, a bit of an ambitious claim. As others have pointed out, one of the main draws of Slay the Princess is its scale, including the number of responses you have and the vast ways you can shape the story. That really isn't present here, as, certainly in this build but even as routes get fleshed out, structurally this is a pretty standard non-kinetic VN with a few different routes.
However, the best way this project does align with Slay the Princess is its clearest reference. While Slay the Princess opens with "This is a love story", Death and the Thief of Stars opens with "Do not be misled. This is not a dating sim of either gods (sic)." Maybe it's just because the story isn't finished yet, but I think some people might be missing how important that statement is and the way what is presented isn't always entirely true, like Slay the Princess.
I want to get more into that, but before we get there let's take a look at some other rating criteria.
Implementation of Theme:
Yep, requirement met, easy. I had absolutely no knowledge of Filipino mythology before now (actually I'm not sure that's true, I knew what an aswang was but you get the idea) but some brief internet searching confirms that Libulan, Liadlao, and Sidapa are all real figures, and even if they weren't, this story is grounded in mythology more than enough to meet the "folklore" theme. Full credit here.
Presentation/Writing:
I thought the presentation here was pretty impressive across the board. Full disclosure, I didn't listen to any of the voice acting since it often bothers me more than helps me with VNs, but that's a personal issue and it's still commendable that you managed to get all that recorded and implemented within jam timelines. The BGM was also great across the board, though the initial track especially seemed to carry on for a bit too long and I would have appreciated some more variety. All the tracks were really distinct and memorable though, and it's clear how much effort went into each one. Like oh my lord was the theme for the first encounter with Liadlao in the jungle a banger.
The visuals were generally strong as well, with the backgrounds being effective and Libulan's sprites (both costumes) working well, even if I wasn't sure what exactly his fur color was supposed to be in the veiled version. Liadlao, on the other hand, did look a bit goofy to me, especially when compared to Sidapa's depiction on the main menu screen. Like, Sidapa is built like an absolute brick shithouse and I found it just a little hard to believe that he'd be so intimidated by Liadlao, fire powers not withstanding.
There were a few typos and other errors throughout, but the script was well proofread for the most part and really only needed another read-through or two to catch the remaining errors (the grammatical error in the intro warning about the game not being a dating sim is rough though - that's the kind of thing you really want to double check since it's so prominent). The writing itself did trend a bit too verbose at times though, and I think, along with the proofreading, this could have used another pass for general editing. For example, "The cassava will take a while before it cooks, and then we can eat once it's ready." could be cut down to "It'll take a while for the cassava to cook." - the second part is already understood and this flows much more naturally.
Story:
Getting into the meat of the narrative, unfinished projects are always tough to evaluate for jam criteria. The good news is, I think I see where we're going with this thematically; the bad news is, I think that maybe because of the order the routes are being implemented, that vision isn't coming through very well for everyone.
Looking at the other comments, I'm seeing a lot of framing of Libulan as entitled and unsympathetic, and, maybe I'm getting the whole thing wrong or something, but I feel like people are kind of missing the point with these characters. I'm seeing a few references to Libulan getting Liadlao's husband killed below as a reason for this, so it may help to start by breaking that situation down:
1) Liadlao killed Lang. Yes, Liadlao blames Libulan, and he wants Sidapa (and the reader) to take that at face value, but it was Liadlao's spear that killed him. It's classic tragic irony - trying to avoid fate is what caused it to play out in the first place. If Liadlao hadn't been so focused on divining the future, Lang wouldn't have died.
2) There are multiple references to the inevitable mortality of humans. Even with the stars intact during the day, Sidapa, the god of death, still had to deal with death every day. Predicting the future with stars isn't saving anyone in the long run or stopping death, it's just shuffling the timing around in limited cases. (Also, it's not clear why the astronomers couldn't just read the stars if they were at night rather than during the day if they really needed to be focused on the predictions, but that's a bit tangential to the point).
3) It is, at best, unclear the extent to which Liadlao really, like really cared about Lang. We hear later that Liadlao has a whole army of spouses, and even when he's talking with Sidapa during the ending, he brings up two entirely different spouses. Does he care about all those spouses? Sure, he seems to, at least, but only temporarily before moving onto the next thing. Hell, he's already flirting with Sidapa in that scene. The stars, mortals, and even other gods in Sidapa's case are just possessions, they're mirrors to tell Liadlao how awesome he is. Libulan never gets any of that because he's literally relegated to the shadows for all eternity. Like compare Liadlao directly asking if Surendra mentioned him on the way to the afterlife to Libulan asking if Liadlao mentioned him when talking to Sidapa. Both want to be seen and acknowledged, but Liadlao is asking to reinforce what he already knows (or thinks he knows) while Libulan is desperate for someone to notice him at all.
4) It doesn't pertain to Lang so much as the general interactions between Sidapa and Liadlao, but it's also worth pointing out that Liadlao is a textbook manipulator. He's slick, charming, patient, and affectionate, and he'll tell you nice things and give you head pats (even if he negs you for how bad your star dog sucks) as long as you do what he says, and he'll threaten to kick your shit in if you don't.
Like, let's be clear here - there is a clear imbalance between Liadlao and Libulan. Liadlao does get all the power, all the recognition, all the spouses, and all the admiration while Libulan is expected to thanklessly do his job. Liadlao is analogous to a billionaire telling a 9-5 wage slave to shut up and be happy he's getting paid a living wage. Yes, Libulan could have handled the situation better, and yes, stealing the stars the way he did may have been wrong, but he does have a point, and if you're totally on board with Liadlao you're kind of proving it.
This isn't really meant to paint Liadlao as the bad guy either - both brothers' traits are totally understandable given their circumstances. Liadlao is selfish, egotistical, and arrogant because everyone has been telling him his shit don't stink for his entire existence. Libulan is weaselly and conniving because he's been isolated and sequestered his entire existence. He doesn't know how to trust, he's insecure, he has no self-esteem, and he doesn't know how to communicate, because he's been on his own wallowing in the shadows for millennia.
This all leads back to the starting quote and where I think this is supposed to go. This is not a dating sim. Both brothers are deeply flawed due to a system they didn't initially choose, and are too ingrained in their ways to see things from each other's perspective. Sidapa is a neutral arbiter that is tasked with doing the right thing rather than siding with one brother or the other, and that will likely take the form of a compromise that lands somewhere in between, that neither one could have seen on their own. It's just hard to know that for sure, and hard to see at all, when it's not actually in the text yet.
I know that was more of a rant than an actual critique, but I felt like I was going crazy here so I just had to let that one rip.
Creativity:
Yeah, I can't fault the creativity here at all. Maybe Slay the Princess is a lofty ambition, but there's a lot already present in this build to like. The characters are well-realized (at least to me), and the audiovisual direction is intentional, inspired, and vibrant. I'm not sure where the final scope for this project is going to land, but I hope this team can see out their vision because I think they're cooking something special.
Not sure what was up with Libulan getting like, demoted to pig at the end though. Might be some offended boars out there, I don't know.
Final score of 19 asses out of 12 wangs from me.