Love, Gods, Cyberpunk and Ragnarok Make For a Heady Mix

It’s been a minute since my last Visual Novel, so I had almost forgotten how much I love the genre. I love books as well, so mixing the act of reading with a videogame just sounds like a great time to me. But it helps when the source material is compelling, and thankfully that’s very much the case with Volutian Design’s Gods of the Twilight. It’s a unique VN that mixes Nordic myths with far future cyberpunk mayhem and runs headlong into an impending Ragnarok.

Quick note, I have a bit of an ear for language, and noticed quickly that many of the talented voice actors in Gods of the Twilight sounded a bit different to my ears. There’s a good reason for that – many of them are from far across the pond, with many Icelandic, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian voice actors, and even some from the UK for good measure. One of the main actresses is even part Pakistani, with a sultry voice I associated with Indian culture. Point being, if you enjoy being exposed to different cultures and voices, that’s yet another reason to check out Gods of the Twilight. But for now, let’s talk about the most important part – the story and characters.

There’s two main characters to pick from. Farkas (voiced by Atli Óskar Fjalarsson) and Althea (voiced by Kelsey Jaffer). Who you choose to start with will affect the flow of the story somewhat, as will individual choices you’ll be prompted to make over the course of 5 chapters. I should mention, Gods of the Twilight is still in early access and is episodic in nature, otherwise this would be a full fledged, in-depth review. Regardless, what’s available is already quite impressive.

The story deals with reborn gods, bloodthirsty cults empowered with exosuits, secrets, romance and so much more. For my playthrough, I started with Farkas, a troubled teen who used to be in a gang and who keeps suffering from memory loss, equipped with a supernaturally strong chain. Meanwhile Althea is a more well to do young woman who has lived in several parts of the globe, and whose life is suddenly shattered by unexpected violence. Chapters alternate between each of the two main characters, and I should note that Chapter 0 was actually quite long, and could have easily stretched this portion of the game to 8 or 9 chapters, technically speaking.

One of the things I appreciated about Gods of the Twilight is there’s a lot of options. You’re free to click through the dialogue, or turn on the auto-play, which will pause whenever you need to make a decision. You’re also free to jump back a little, though there’s some restrictions on this feature, and it’s honestly safer to just use the multiple safe files to help make different decisions and unspool new story options. I made one foolhardy decision that ended up prematurely killing Farkas, and the game was kind enough to let me rewind right to the fatal choice I had made and choose another. Best of all, dialogue in the game is all masterfully voiced, though the narrative sections where Farkas and Althea think quietly have no vocal component. There’s even some nifty (and loud) sound effects to complement the action scenes. Those generally have you making big decisions, and usually result in someone dying or getting wounded as a result.

As the story progresses, both main characters acquire a retinue of friends and allies, and you’re more than welcome to flirt and get intimate with them. Though my choices wound up making Farkas more focused on being an action hero than a porn hero, Althea got some very fun naughty scenes. Just be careful, since making the wrong choice might easily lock you out of potential romantic opportunities. That said, there’s a good number of achievements to help incentivize additional playthroughs, and which hint at what’s required for the road less traveled.

Though I don’t want to spoil too much, I will say that most of the core group of characters harbor pretty shocking secrets. In fact, Chapter 5 ended in a startling scene that has me excited about the next batch of chapters. I was also impressed by the quality of the writing, which hints at many possibilities subtly without outright telling the player what to expect. Let’s just say I have some very fun theories about Farkas’ backstory, and how that might complicate things later on. There’s also some mysterious and unsavory characters, such as a tech billionaire who uses information as a cudgel and shield; a shifty government agent who may have been alive for a very long time; and a scruffy old man that may be at the heart of the mayhem to come.

Visually, Gods of the Twilight has a decided anime style. It’s not too cartoony, and honestly I enjoyed it. I didn’t always feel it matched with some of the accents on screen, but that was a minor issue. Musically the game is somewhat laidback, leaning heavily on the sound effects and voice acting to carry the weight.

One reason I’m glad the game is still in early access is because I’ve encountered some issues that would otherwise have hurt the game’s score if this were a review. One is a weird graphical quirk where the dialogue shifts and I see portraits for different characters flashing on the left side of the screen. I’ve also had a couple times where the game wouldn’t load exactly where I had saved, forcing me instead to start from the beginning of that chapter. There’s also been a couple misspellings, though remarkably few, which is always refreshing.

All things considered, if you’re a fan of Visual Novels, then you should definitely check out Gods of the Twilight. It’s a great game to relax with on a dark and rainy day. My only irritation is that I love getting the entire story in one sitting, so the episodic nature is a bit of a frustration. I just want to experience the entire story now, because it’s honestly that good!