It’s been a while since I played a visual novel (VN) game. I think the last one that I played on PC was Doki Doki Literature Club! I haven’t been keeping up with the genre as much, which is why I was excited to check out Gods of The Twilight. Its take on mythology paired with some excellent voice acting pulled me into the narrative in a way I wasn’t expecting. Let’s dive into my spoiler-free first impressions and see if this game will re-ignite my interest in visual novels.
Characters
In the first few minutes of the tutorial, I felt a bit hesitant to continue playing Gods of the Twilight because I thought it would be one of those extreme NSFW games. But good thing Hektor our friend warned me ahead of time and assured me that isn’t the case. Gods of The Twilight takes a unique approach to the visual novel genre by introducing two playable characters: Farkas and Althea.
I thought I would be just playing one character throughout my playthrough. To my surprise, this is my first time experiencing portraying both main characters in one chapter without feeling confused with the entire story. I love how it was properly stitched.
The premise of old magic returning to a cyberpunk world is a pretty interesting premise on its own, but it’s the characters that really sell the world and the story.
Graphics
I’m also hooked on the game’s art style. I felt like reading a comic book at some parts of Gods of the Twilight. I was also treated to some nice gallery artwork whenever I uncovered major events in the early access chapter.
I always look forward to uncovering more artworks as I continue to play through. For an early access game, the devs sure made me invested in what’s coming up next for Farkas and Althea.
Audio
Sound design in general is pretty decent. While I immersed myself in listening and reading character dialogues, I noticed that the background music wasn’t too overpowering. Some music in other VN can go over the top.
I’d say the audio team sprinkled enough sounds and music to keep me engaged. I also like how they managed to keep me glued to the game through some simple animations between the environmental art and the sound effects.
For example, whenever I talk to someone in a certain location, I notice the subtle background changes, breathing life into the environment while listening to the voice acting.
Interactions
Every time I engaged with the characters, the game would let me read some new entries in the Codex about their origin story. I also loved that they added a bit of trivia about Norse mythology. I remembered that most of the stuff that I learned in school was leaning more on Greek and Roman mythology. I’m glad that at least I get to read about something that’s not so mainstream.
Because of the tutorial, my initial impression of Gods of the Twilight is that it would have some cringe dialogues when it comes to trying to “romance” the characters. To stress-test the voice acting, I deliberately chose all the flirty conversation choices with both of the characters. I’m delighted that the writers did a good job of executing this. The dialogue isn’t forced and overall, the voice acting sounds great.
I wished they added more voice acting to the cutscenes where I could hear the main character’s internal thoughts when they’re not talking. I would sometimes read aloud dialogues not voiced by the actors inside the game. But overall, Gods of the Twilight is pretty well-written and it makes good practice material for doing voiceovers. It feels poetic to read these lines aloud.
Another nice touch to this visual novel is how they’ve added these RPG-like indicators that signal you as the reader that your relationship is improving with other characters. They will react either positively or negatively and it can change the tide of the story.
The Verdict
After almost three hours of playing Gods of The Twilight, I can say that my curiosity in visual novel games has been sparked. Playing one chapter already feels like watching a whole movie. The subtle movement of the characters’ facial expressions along with the comic book and anime art-style fusion keep me immersed throughout.
This is one of the best early access experiences that I’ve had so far when it comes to visual novels. Gods of The Twilight made me curious to explore more of this game genre and I now understand why my vTuber/voice actor acquaintances enjoy live-streaming visual novels. I wouldn’t mind doing live-read sessions every now and then.
Gods of the Twilight is out now on Steam in early access.
We hope you enjoyed reading our spoiler-free first impressions of Gods of The Twilight. Are you planning to pick up the game on Steam? Let us know in the comments!
