[b]Note:[/b] At the time of this review, this game is in early access, meaning that there are many remaining chapters not included. Thus, my review will only mention the content that is available at this time.
[i]Gods of the Twilight[/i] is a futuristic, cyberpunk, adventure visual novel developed and published by Volutian Design. You take on the roles of two main characters, Althea and Farkas. Althea is the teenage daughter of two scholarly parents, having lived mostly a sheltered life as she and her parents frequently moved, while Farkas is a rough teen who lost his parents at an early age, growing up under the care of his foster mother and living a more lower class lifestyle. Althea and Farkas are clearly two very different people with different backgrounds, so what do they have in common, and how do they end up meeting? It turns out that they're both reincarnations of Norse gods (yup, you read that correctly lol). As for how they meet, well, it could be fate from a certain perspective. Anyway, they're both being targeted by assassins, and in order to protect themselves and the ones they love, they'll have to learn how to use their powers as well as find out who they truly are. As to their ultimate purpose, it's to prevent Ragnarok, which is basically the end of the world. lol To avoid giving more spoilers, I'll end my synopsis here. XD
As for the gameplay, numerous choices are presented throughout the story, which currently consists of an introduction (which has parts one to three from both Althea's and Farkas' sides) and five chapters. At the start of the story, you can choose either to role play as Farkas or Althea although you will get to play out both of their stories. (For review purposes, I chose to role play as Althea.) The choices that are made determine the relationships that Althea and Farkas have with the various people around them, either increasing or decreasing them. Also, lots of CGs are shown as well as full-on English voice acting and a varied soundtrack. In addition, plenty of Steam achievements are available although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. Although I don't usually play games in early access (mainly because I'd rather wait for all the content to be released), [i]Gods of the Twilight[/i] has been on my must-play list for quite a long time now, so I couldn't wait to get started on the story. Since I mention the story, I'll start with that. Regardless of who you choose to play as first, the beginning is a bit slow with Althea or Farkas having a nightmare from the past. Of course, they wake up from it and then proceed to go about their daily life. As Althea, she gets driven to school by Johannes, her assistant whom her parents hired to help out Althea, and after going through an ordinary school day, she finds herself the target of a couple of mysterious masked assassins, who clearly want her dead. Althea has no idea why, but fortunately, she gets rescued by special police force and is then taken to a secret base, where she eventually learns that she's a [spoiler]reincarnated Norse god with healing and defensive abilities[/spoiler]. As for Farkas, on the way back from school, he witnesses an encounter in which a young boy is getting harassed by a couple of gang members. However, a recklessly brave teenager named Hektor (the son of a wealthy entrepreneur) steps in to attempt to save the boy. However, Hektor clearly bites off more than he can chew, and Farkas can't help jumping in to assist Hektor, which results in the two of them becoming friends afterwards. Soon after, though, Farkas finds himself the target of repeated attacks from assassins, but they end up being different from the ones who target Althea. In time, Althea's and Farkas' worlds collide, and the two end up meeting.
I probably went off on a bit of a tangent, but I thought it was important to summarize a bit on what happens in the story. XD Anyway, even though the beginning is a bit slow, it does pick up quickly, as evidenced with Althea and Farkas getting attacked. There's plenty of action, but also, slower-paced scenes where the main characters get to know the people around them. For example, Althea can get to know Komani, the security officer assigned to protect her, better and develop a positive relationship that can end up being a friendship (although Komani may be reluctant to go there since she'd rather keep things professional). Farkas can reconnect with Sara, an old childhood friend whom he kept estranged in order to protect her from his past with his old gang. I really like how lots of choices can determine these relationships, which, in turn, affect the story's direction. Of course, the choices also affect Althea's and Farkas' personalities. I had so much fun making Althea as flirty as possible, mainly because I was aiming for those flirt achievements. Seeing the consequences of my choices was quite humorous. I should wrap up this part of this review, so I'll just say that I love how the story ends off on a cliffhanger when [spoiler]Farkas and Althea are fighting together against a group of assassins that have somehow found out where they're hiding, and I totally can't wait to find out what happens next[/spoiler]. Also, although it is revealed which god Althea is the reincarnation of, it's more unclear about Farkas, so I really want to find out how that unravels.
As for the writing, I found it fairly well-paced. There are some slow moments, but I don't mind them since they're present for building up character relationships, and I enjoyed getting to witness those dynamics. I noticed a couple of typos, but they certainly don't distract from enjoying the story, and the game is in early access, so they'll probably be corrected before the final release.
In regards to the art, I like the style that is used here. It has that slightly comic book style but in the more adventurous tone, so it comes off as serious rather than comical. I like both how well drawn and colored the sprites and backgrounds are, and of course, the CGs are especially delightful to gaze at. As for the music, there's a good variety of tracks, and I enjoyed listening to them. They give off that futuristic vibe with some action-packed moments. Also, I love how there's full-on English voice acting. What's even more amazing is that because the story takes place in futuristic Iceland, a lot of the voices have that Nordic accent. There are a few voices in which a few characters are from other nationalities, like how Althea has an Indian father and Greek mother, so her voice sounds Indian. The voices fit perfectly well with their respective characters.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Gods of the Twilight[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels, are looking for a story that takes place in a futuristic setting, enjoy Norse mythology, and don't mind that the game is currently in early access, then I totally recommend checking out this game. I loved the story so much, and I got attached to the characters, even getting emotionally invested in the ones who come off as being more shady. (Sometimes, I can't help liking characters who are hiding something, but that's because they come off as complex, which intrigues me. XD) I'm totally excited for more chapters, and I can't wait to find out what happens next to Althea, Farkas, and the other characters, so without a doubt, I'll continue playing this as future chapters are released.
Finally, I want to give a major thank you to Volutian Design for the review copy. ^^
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