Gods of the Twilight Preview

Playing the Early Access chapters of Gods of the Twilight feels like cracking open the first title of a multi-book sci-fi fantasy series and realising you’re in for quite the ride. In this episodic visual novel, developed by Volutian Design, Norse mythology collides with a cyberpunk dystopian world where the calamity of Ragnarök is drawing closer than anyone would like. With gods, monsters, assassins, governments, corporations, and criminals at every turn, you’ll have your hands full as you barrel towards the end of the world.

It’s no surprise Gods of the Twilight and I started off on the right foot the moment I read its premise. I’ve been eager for another game to fill the visual novel-shaped hole that Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical and Slay the Princess left me with. And I couldn’t help but be intrigued at the prospect of mixing ancient magic with future tech.

Thus far, I’ve spent over six hours just with its first five chapters. At the start, an optional tutorial breaks down standard genre mechanics, such as auto-text, the skip button, and how to save. With the goofy Hektor Koskinen as your instructor, you’ll also get an early peak at Volutian’s funny dialogue. Where Gods of the Twilight sets itself apart from other VNs I’ve played is its dual-protagonist system. You’ll choose to start your playthrough as either Farkas Hekluson — a street-smart loner with a well of feelings under his hardened exterior — or the scholarly, well-travelled Althea Mishra who’s had a well-to-do yet sheltered upbringing.

Whoever you select will determine your intro to the story, and from there, you’ll flip back and forth between them, making various choices, shaping their personalities, and developing their relationships. You’ll learn about the high-tech future they live in, teeming with Exo armour, neural implants, and cities floating in the ocean. The lore is easy to follow, and some elements are also repeated, but if you need a refresh, there’s a Codex available that logs characters, places, historical events, and more.

These initial chapters are paced out well. Farkas and Althea’s parts are divided up nicely, ending and starting just at the right moments, so you’re never left wondering when you’ll be switching back. They’re also well-written as individual characters. Their choices, internal monologues, and external dialogue all serve to establish their unique voices.

You might be wondering if your choices truly mattered in this game, and without spoiling anything, I can say that they do. The fun part is that you often don’t know the consequences of your decisions until further down the story. For instance, during an intense moment in Althea’s first chapter, I made a choice where the result didn’t reveal itself until at least two chapters later. The suspense is real, especially because the stakes feel high, even with seemingly minor choices. Fight scenes also raise the intensity, having you choose between punches, kicks, powers, and more. None are timed, so you can take a moment or more to deliberate. Plus, you can always go back if you don’t like your decision.

Dialogue selections shape Farkas and Althea internally, as the game remembers if you’ve made a series of decisions, solidifying a personality trait. I chose several “protective” dialogue options for Farkas, so the game used that pattern later on when I interacted with him as Althea. It was cool to see his behaviour align with those previous decisions even when I wasn’t controlling him. This also seems to work with stats, such as Strength, Dexterity, Intuition, and more, so it’ll be interesting to see how those come into play in later chapters.

So far, the writing also handles nuanced morality with care. There’s no moment where something — or someone — feels absolutely “good” or “bad.” Several characters are operating with secret motives, though they all seemingly want to avoid Ragnarök. You’ll wonder who you can trust, and you’ll even get to decide if Althea and Farkas trust each other. As Althea, you’ll interact with Farkas, and vice versa, with both knowing different (and secret) information about their situations. I was honestly stumped when it came to deciding who reveals what to the other, making the dual-protagonist system very intriguing to play with. Additionally, you get some opportunities to make morally-grey decisions in these early chapters, and I’m still wondering if I should go back a couple of saves and redo them.

There’s a lot of comedic relief in every scene, whether it’s Farkas struggling not to curse at a fancy dinner or your friend Hektor trying to be an iconic hero despite his clumsiness. You’ll also get frequent romance opportunities, and the game doesn’t hesitate to point out when you’re being a major flirt. I’ll proudly let you know that I got an achievement as Farkas for flirting with everyone in a single chapter and getting at least three people to visit Althea’s room in one go. Speaking of romance, it’s rather varied and inclusive. It feels realistic, too, with each character discussing relationships in ways that are down-to-earth, sexy, and fun all at once.

Regarding visuals, Volutian mixes the traditional 2D anime artwork with 3D-rendered backgrounds. There’s also an in-game gallery that saves highlights of important scenes. The music is pleasant to listen to but slips into the background in a way that doesn’t distract your attention from the story unfolding through the text. And if you like your VNs voice-acted, you’ll be happy to hear Gods of the Twilight offers fully-voiced dialogue, and it sounds great, bringing these characters truly to life with each word.

Speaking of words, there’s a lot to come for Gods of the Twilight. Volutian Design has 20 chapters planned for Season 1, with sets of them scheduled to release every six to 12 months. The first set of five that I played in Early Access includes about 100,000 words. That’s about the size of a standard sci-fi or fantasy novel. Though it’s in Early Access, it seems well-polished, with the only drawback being the occasional misspelt word. Other than that, it runs well, and I haven’t experienced any bugs.

If visual novels are your jam, or you’re a book lover who wants to explore the genre, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.