Release Date: December 16, 2024 (North America)
Developers:  Lumiere Entertainment Inc.
Publishers: Smilegate
Platforms:  PC (Steam)
Age Rating: 15+ (GRAC)

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STORY

Step into 19th-century London during a dazzling technological revolution.

As Lady Lucy of the Lindere family, you discover a gruesome murder in your estate. The body found in a pool of blood belongs to Mary, a maid who had grown close to you over the years. Shocked by her sudden death, Lucy, accompanied by her loyal butler, Charlie, sets out to find the culprit. Joining them is Detective Aaron, dedicated to solving the case, and Professor Harvey, who is inadvertently drawn into the mystery. Together, they edge closer to uncovering the identity of the murderer, unaware of the merciless truth that lies ahead.

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ART AND MUSIC

Production: ~Estellaras~, Lumiere Entertainment Inc.

Artists: Hyewon Jo (Character Design), Yurim Hwang (Illustrator)

Scenario Writer: Yuri Kim

BGM: ~Lion Studio~, Wooyoung Song, Changheo Kim, Eunchae Yang

Voice Acting

Kim Myung-jun as “Charlie” – Kiro (MLQC), June (The Ssum), Jiyeon (Dandelion), Choo Sang Woo (Semantic Error), Hyunwoo Seo (I Need a Bride), Albedo (Genshin Impact), Kane (League of Legends), Ky Kiske (Guilty Gear Strive), Yudan (The Strange Tales of Banwoldang)

Sungheon Suk as “Aaron Bailey” – Teo (The Ssum), Harold (Arknights), Ludwig (Grand Saga), Dhurke Sahdmadhi
(Ace Attorney), Alexander Haig (COD: Black Ops)

Eui-taek Jung as “Harvey Ross” – Henri (The Ssum), Tighnari (Genshin Impact), Deneh (The Dawn Of A Flower), Windflit (Arknights), Shaohao (X2 Eclipse), Xion Crowld (Bride of the Twilight), Jack (Sonic Prime)

Ryu Seung-gon as “Felix Cole” – Sylus (Love and Deepspace), Charlie (Light and Night), William (LoveUnholyc), Lee Gyu-hyuk (Burried Stars), Thoma (Genshin Impact), KING (Tower Fantasy), Hyun Tae Joon (Mystic Code), Sirus (Arcana Twilight), Hwal (Does God Work Overtime?)

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MAIN CHARACTERS AND ROUTES

There are only three romanceable characters and routes in the game: Aaron, Charlie, and Harvey. Unfortunately for Felix Cole’s fans, he only appears as a side character here and doesn’t have a dedicated romance route. In the game’s DLC however, which is not available in English (the Korean version is available on Indie STOVE), there’s a special short story dedicated to Felix, that delves deeper into his character.

There are no locked routes in this game, and I think it’s fine to start with any of the three romanceable characters. During my gameplay, I played in this order: Aaron → Charlie → Harvey.

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AARON BAILEY

• tsun
• ….👀

Aaron Bailey is a responsible detective who is always highly dedicated to his career, solving every case he puts his heart into. Many of the townspeople see him as a guardian protecting the city’s peace. He is tirelessly committed to his work. However, when faced with unsolvable cases, he struggles to confront his own limitations and sometimes begins to doubt himself.

I normally go into games blind (without watching trailers, if I can help it), so when I first heard Aaron in the game, I thought, Hmm, he sounds really familiar? It wasn’t until I finished his route and saw his name in the credits, and I was flabbergasted to find out it was The Ssum’s Teo! Welp, I loooove Seunghon Suk (pls, he’s so precious; I even have his autograph, lol).😭

That aside, I really like Aaron’s personality in the game. I thought he was a bit of a tsundere toward the heroine. I was also quite enamored by how hardworking he is as a detective, and I had to clutch my chest for a moment there, when he talked about his backstory. His overall route though…...was alright. To be honest, it felt a little too short for me (all the routes in the game are like this, sadly). I also feel like Aaron could’ve used more time to bond with the heroine, cause I did kinda feel that his romance with Lucy was somewhat abrupt. In contrast, I did *enjoy* his *cough* good ending… *cough* AND VERY MUCH SO… 🔥👀

CHARLIE

• your loyal butt ler 🍑
• vampire daddy 1

Charlie is the calm, dignified butler of the Lindere family. Bound by a blood contract to serve the Lindere, he is loyal to the core. Charlie is also very composed in public and always responds in a logical manner when interacting with the townspeople and others. However, he also has a very intimidating side. He is deeply devoted to serving the heroine, Lucy.

Perhaps the game’s poster boy, and the most popular LI in this title! I mean, a hot vampire butler who’s at your beck and call is always a win in otome games, no?🤭 I think out of the three LIs, Charlie’s romance was the most believable as well. And that’s because there’s already an established camaraderie between him and the heroine. This plays a big part in the significant build-up of their relationship. So, romance-wise, I think Charlie’s route was my favorite.

Charlie was such a sweet talker too, and has a rather possessive side!👀 His voice is amazing, hot… smooth like butter! There’s something about the way he delivers his monologues that feels so soothing to me. Kudos to the popular Kim Myungjun for doing god’s work!

HARVEY ROSS

• vampire daddy 2
• soft

Harvey is the elite professor at King’s College, specializing in criminal psychology. He’s highly intellectual and very perceptive that even Charlie acknowledges his sharp insights into everything. Not many people know, but Harvey is also a vampire who has abstained from blood for a long time, choosing to remain detached from society.

I think out of the three routes, it was Harvey’s that focused the most on the mystery-solving aspects (I expected it’d be Aaron’s route since he’s the in the police force, but nope!). I also really liked Harvey and Lucy’s dynamic. Though, similar to Aaron’s route, I feel like they needed more time together to bond and naturally develop their relationship. This route also cruised along the angst line, though I’d say the happy/good ending resolves Harvey’s *foreboding* issue too quickly. There’s plenty of pleasant banter and bickering among the three LIs here, which I enjoyed as well.

LUCY LINDERE (Main Heroine)

Lucy is the heir to the Lindere estate, she has some influence in Old London due to her family’s status. Because of this, most of the townspeople know and respect her.

I feel like Lucy is your typical textbook heroine; calm, upright, diligent… you know the type! I like her for what she is in the story. I also appreciate that she’s the one who initiates and urges the vampires to drink her blood. There are a lot of scenes where a vampire LI would tell her: “No, I can’t drink your blood, or else…” and she’d be like, Drink, or bust!🔫😂😂😂 which I thought was kind of hilarious!😂 I guess my only tiny gripe about her is that there were some instances in the story where she showed very little agency especially in dire situations. Because of this, I sometimes feel the narrative is a bit too convenient for her, if that makes any sense. It’s as if the plot resolves things too easily in her favor.

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

The game’s UI was very clean and simple. I was surprised that you could backtrack & rewind to certain scenes, which made making choices and collecting all the endings much more convenient for completionists like myself. There were also helpful features in the main menu that let you track and rewatch the endings you’ve already unlocked.

There are however a couple of bugs I’ve encountered during my gameplay, which was quite unfortunate!

Localization

The localization was quite good. Apart from the heroine’s last name changing from Lindells to Lindere in their promo materials, I didn’t notice any in-game major typos or glaring errors, which makes me feel the game was carefully vetted during QA. The dialogues were translated smoothly, without feeling jarring in any scenes. Overall, I liked it.

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

Phantom of the Twilight has a rather short gameplay. It took me about 12-13 hours to get all the endings and unlock all the CGs (which weren’t that many btw). The game’s common route starts from Chapter 1 and stretches to Chapter 6, while Chapter 7 is where the individual LI routes branch out. Also, the game features two official endings for each of the three main LIs. Ending 1 is the “good/happy end,” while Ending 2 is the “bad end”. The rest are bad ends (or game-overs) that offers no CGs.

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No Felix Route

After playing the entire game, I now understand some of the minor but rather prominent complaints from the KR otome community back when the game first launched. Which is, well… you’ve probably guessed it by now… Why cast Ryu if you’re not giving his character a route? 😂 Like, seriously, whyyy?😭

Despite Felix appearing in promo materials and even on the cover art, he was shafted a route, which was kind of disappointing. For such an interesting character to not be attainable romantically is downright criminal, isn’t it?😩 The developers did release a DLC that delves more into Felix’s character, but he still, as of now, does not have a respective romance route of his own. I’m also sad that the DLC isn’t available in the English version of the game. I hope they are able to translate the DLC soon, and add it as an addon purchase. I’m sure a lot of people would actually be delighted by that.

Another nitpick I have is that I initially thought the branching routes would have their own contained story, but it turns out the overall plot progressed in a rather linear direction. So in the end, it’s kind of the same conclusion as far as the overarching story goes, no matter which LI route you take.

Another thing is that, even though the premise of the game makes it sound like it will be rich with mystery, crime, and case-solving; the crime-solving aspect wasn’t utilized much, in the sense that there weren’t enough investigation elements added into the narrative to make it more engaging for the players. I think it was only in Harvey’s route that we got a *proper* investigation and analysis of the murder cases.

Hot, Sexy Vampires with an Amazing Voice Cast!

I griped a lot about the overarching story of this title, or lack thereof, but there’s no denying that the voice cast in this game was S tier! And probably one of the biggest reasons I was initially drawn to this title. 😁🤭 All three LIs were also quite good! Each had their own distinct personality and charms, which I’m sure a lot of people would love. I’m a sucker for the devoted-vampire-butler who’s willing to do anything for you trope, so my fav LI was Charlie. I do wish they’d expanded more on his backstory though, especially his origins! Also, if Felix had a romance route, he’d probably be on my top pick as well, but alas!🥲

Speaking of romance, the game seems to lack the amount of sugar content that could have elevated the relationship between the heroine and her partner (likely due to its focus on solving the crime at hand). Sometimes, the romance felt a little lacking to me, and I think this was due to the routes being rather short. Maybe a few extra chapters or scenarios where the heroine spends more endearing time with her love interest would have raised the sugar content to a more satisfying level. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the romance scenarios here though, because I DID, and very much so! Look, I’m just a simple lady, I see hot, sexy vampires, I devour and conquer!🥵😮‍💨

Do I recommend this game? YES.
I’ll admit that I found the shorter routes here a bit lacking in depth (as someone who usually enjoys longer routes in otome games). However, that didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed Phantom of the Twilight, overall. Coming out from a gaming burnout, I also needed something light and engaging that I could play in short spurts without being weighed down by a complex plot. In that sense, this was an easy read and perfectly suited what I was looking for.

I definitely recommend this game to anyone looking for a short, enjoyable otome title that’s easy to pick up without needing to fully commit to the story. It’s one of those games you can casually return to and still enjoy without feeling overwhelmed, if you know what I mean. The art is exceptionally beautiful and the love interests are all very likable. Most importantly, the voice acting is outstanding! Story-wise, I would’ve rated this lower, but everything else more than makes up for it. And tbh, for its impressive production quality, you can’t beat the affordable price for what you’re getting!

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