The canonical ‘daddy’ vampire – After many, many moons of waiting for the enigmatic, charismatic Comte de Saint-Germain to become romanceable in CYBIRD’s popular mobile otome game, Ikemen Vampire, I was beyond delighted to finally indulge in the angsty, sexy 1890’s Parisian romance of my dreams…

Ratings

Character Design

Similar to:
☆ Saint-Germain (Code: Realize) – Obscenely wealthy, eccentric nobleman
☆ Leonardo Da Vinci (Ikemen Vampire) – Impossibly old and unattainable
☆ Sirius Oswald (Ikemen Revolution) – Gentle (but sexy) ‘dad’ type with a bromance love triangle…

If, when you started playing Ikemen Vampire, you were reminded of the classic ‘bodice-ripper’ romance novels, and hoped for a sexy, luxurious experience in 1890’s Paris, then you’ll find what you’re looking for in Comte de Saint-Germain’s route. A proper gentleman, Comte will whisk you off to lavish parties every night of the week, dressing you up like a doll in a different dress each time (that he bought for you, of course).

That being said, Comte’s route is far from a fairy-tale romance. Ikemen Vampire has gratuitous levels of indulgent angst and melodrama, and Comte de Saint-Germain is no exception, so be prepared for tragic backstories and all the turbulent emotions before the sweet, sweet payoff at the end.

I’m having trouble separating Comte’s character design from his story, because the plot is so intrinsically connected to his own character reveals and development. Every time I thought I’d started to understand Comte’s character, something new would pop up in a plot-relevant way that completely flipped my expectations of the story. His route isn’t just a creative character design plonked into an intriguing premise – it’s Comte’s story. The plot is something that only works because it revolves around his character.

As such, even if you aren’t overly interested in his character design, you can still enjoy his route for the plot. I found it fascinating to watch such as his past and personality were gradually unravelled through the layers of the plot, largely because Comte has so far been a mysterious and enigmatic character.

The writers, until this point, have showed us just enough to make us think we have an idea of who Comte de Saint-Germain is and what his route might be like, while also managing to keep substantial aspects of his character design and story completely hidden. This makes his route an exciting deep dive into not only Comte de Saint-Germain, but also the rest of the cast and – thanks to Comte being a key element of the game’s core premise – the lore of Ikemen Vampire as a whole.

Oji-san / Ouji-sama / Deredere

Tropes: I’ve used the trope tag ‘oji-san‘ because Comte’s age is a core element of his design and dynamic with MC. He’s unfathomably old, and his immortality becomes a key conflict in their developing relationship. I wasn’t so thrilled with the way this vampiric aging (or lack thereof) was incorporated into Leonardo Da Vinci’s route, but I felt it was handled with more care, delicacy, and intricacy in Comte’s route.

I felt that MC had more agency in their relationship and the decisions they made together. Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely an age-gap element, with several moments of confusion about whether their feelings are familial (read: “paternal”) or romantic – and Comte can be a little condescending at times. However, MC ultimately came across as more mature and self-assured in Comte’s route, as opposed to her more ‘bratty’ attitude in Leo’s route.

While Comte is a nobleman, and not a literal prince, he does still embody some of the tropes associated with the ‘ouji-sama‘ archetype. He’s elegant, refined, and well-mannered – the very picture of the perfect gentleman. While every love interest in Ikemen Vampire so far has incorporated the dark, brooding tones we’d expect from a game about vampires, most of them fail to provide that quintessential 1890’s Parisian experience.

If you were hoping for glitz and glamour and lavish balls, escorted by a charismatic, wealthy nobleman, then Comte de Saint-Germain is really the only character in the game (so far) who provides this type of romance. He’ll spoil you, pamper you, and drown you in obscenely expensive gifts – all before whisking you off to yet another ball.

Lastly, I used the trope tag ‘deredere‘ because he has one of the core traits of this archetype: he just wants MC to be happy, even if it comes at the expense of his own happiness. He’s kind, caring, and willing to do what’s best for her, even if it means giving up what he wants. I definitely get the feeling that he’s one of those otome characters who falls for MC in every route, so it was interesting to finally dive deeper into his character and see how his love for MC can bloom, now that the plot allows him to indulge in it.

Artist: Shiro Yamada – is the character designer for Ikemen Vampire (and Ikemen Sengoku!), and I highly recommend following their Twitter and/or Instagram account if you enjoy the designs in these games. On each character birthday, Shiro Yamada has posted art to celebrate, so you can scroll through their posts to find birthday artwork of your favourite characters!

Voice Actor

Horie Kazuma (堀江 一眞) – also known for voicing:

• Ivar (Disgaea RPG) – Video Game
• Seiji Yagiri (Durarara!!) – Anime
• Snow Lily (Servamp) – Anime
• + more!

Story

As with all great vampire stories, there’s a certain level of brooding, angst, and melodrama that you’ll likely be familiar with if you’ve already played a few Ikemen Vampire routes before. Comte has an intriguing, but emotionally-intense past that is slowly (and I mean slowly) revealed over the course of his route. You’ll need to be patient as there’s a lot of ongoing tension from multiple sources, all of which takes a while to resolve. It’ll keep getting worse (and then it’ll get much worse) before it can finally get better.

Perhaps my favourite aspect of Comte’s route, however, is that despite all of the supernatural, noble charm of falling head over heels for an immortal, wealthy vampire – Comte’s route oddly felt fairly grounded and realistic, particularly in the first part of his route.

I don’t mean realistic in the sense of ‘accidentally travelling back in time to a mansion of vampires in Paris in the 1890’s only to fall in love with an immortal man’, but in the way that Comte and MC interacted with each other. Ikemen Vampire is still a melodramatic romance game, so there’s still the old classic kidnapping and danger and intense emotions – but this was balanced out well with moments that felt fairly normal and down-to-earth.

This is shown in cute, romantic strolls in the garden, in helping Comte manage his household, in playing with his pet ferret, in MC enjoying dancing with him at a party, and in both of them slowly getting to know each other through intimate conversations that actually felt like the kinds of conversations real people have in the real world.

Rather than a hyper-dramatic, whirlwind romance taking place over the course of one short month, Comte de Saint-Germain’s route starts after he and MC have already lived together for a while, and it takes several months since their initial meeting before they even begin to explore their romantic feelings. This pacing felt much more realistic, which is what I mean by adding a grounded, relatable element to an otherwise dramatic and fantastical story.

“Let us toast to tonight’s most glorious and miraculous encounter. Santé.”

– Comte de Saint-Germain (Ikemen Vampire)

I do have some criticisms, however. First, the pacing in Comte’s route is incredibly slow. I won’t say that I got bored, because there was always something happening that was entertaining in one way or another, but there were just so many different ideas and plot threads introduced early in the story, that it took a while for any one thing to be resolved in a satisfactory way. The romantic plot, in particular, took a backseat for the vast majority of the route, with the story focusing mostly on Comte’s relationship with a different character (who I won’t name to avoid spoilers).

The first act (or first third) of Comte’s route felt like a slice of life romance – the quintessential 1890’s Parisian experience I mentioned earlier – with a fairly obvious and anticipated plot conflict that’s grounded in the core of Comte’s character design. Furthermore, based on prior knowledge gained from other routes, I was fairly confident that there were going to be issues around a certain other vampire, plus the typical shenanigans with Shakespeare.

So, I spent the first third of the route enjoying the calm before the storm as everything played out fairly predictably, but still in a way that I was enjoying. The whole ‘daddy’ thing came up in a moment that I found both hilarious and embarrassing, although I was impressed that the writers made the bold choice lean fully into this aspect of his character, and the overwhelming age gap between Comte and MC predictably became a major obstacle in their romance.

Then, the second act of the route started, and suddenly it felt like I was in a completely different story from before. The predictable elements that I was actually finding pretty enjoyable quickly became irrelevant, and the main romantic conflict from the first act still hadn’t been resolved (at least, not properly).

This, unfortunately, made the whole ‘paternal vs romantic’ thing feel more like a gimmick to hook you into the story, rather than a nuanced layer to Comte’s story that incorporates the age gap and vampires vs human conflict that has been fairly prominent throughout the rest of the game.

In this second act, the focus shifts completely away from MC, so much so that I felt more like the spectator of a story between Comte and a certain other character than the actual protagonist. This was exacerbated by having previously-introduced plot hooks and conflicts simply disappearing for a substantial portion of the remaining route.

Resolutions galore pour into the final chapters, tying these storylines together, but it takes a long time to get to this point, especially if you’re playing using only the free daily tickets. While this middle section of non-romantic plot was intriguing for the information and context it gave to other routes in the game, it just wasn’t that romantic. It went from otome game to BL game real quick, and while I enjoyed their story and dynamic… it just didn’t feel like MC was the main character anymore.

In short, Comte’s route is intensely plot-heavy, with massive lore-drops, new character introductions, and long-awaited explanations for core elements of the game’s premise – most notably: how the time-travel door works, why Comte was reviving people from history in the first place, who the real antagonist is, and basically all of Comte’s backstory and personality.

While this is certainly appreciated to explain parts of the premise that didn’t previously have satisfactory explanations, I did get a little disinterested in the plot once it started focusing on scenes that occurred without MC even being there, leaving Comte to fill her in later through long passages of exposition.

The reveals that happened in these scenes without MC were presented in a much more dramatic way, but having Comte repeating it later did mean that I had to read these grand reveals twice, so that MC could get up to speed on what the player already knows. This slowed down the pacing of the story, and it means players have to wait a fairly long time to get to the juicy romance and plot resolutions.

My general recommendation for Comte’s route is to go in with the expectation that its purpose is to fill in lore gaps presented by previous routes, and introduce Act 2 and its new characters. There is some modest, restrained romance in the beginning, before focusing almost entirely on plot – until the final chapters, where the romance re-enters the story for the grand finale.

My advice is to be patient, because the story will wrap up the loose ends before the end, and try to just enjoy the non-romantic plot as an independent story on its own, rather than a replacement for a romantic story with Comte de Saint-Germain.

Story Structure

Story Branches: In Ikemen Vampire, the character routes will intermittently prompt you to undertake an ‘avatar challenge’. This essentially means you’ll be offered two avatar attire options, one ‘normal’, and one ‘premium’ – purchasing and equipping one of these attire options will unlock the corresponding type of bonus story.

‘Normal‘ attire can be purchased with ‘gold’ — an in-game resource acquired through minigames and log-in bonuses. This is a much easier option for free-to-play gamers, but the story isn’t saved to your ‘Memories’ for re-reading later, and the bonus story you receive is typically shorter, and less romantic than the premium option.

‘Premium‘ attire has to be purchased with ‘diamonds’ — an in-game resource that can technically be acquired for free by collecting event rewards and log-in bonuses, but it’s typically purchased from the store with real-world currency. The appeal of these premium story options is that they’re saved to your ‘Memories’ for re-reading at any time, and the bonus story you receive tends to be longer and more romantic.

His Side Stories: After clearing certain chapters in a route, you’ll be allowed to purchase an optional ‘His Side Story’ from the story progress page. These are unlocked with ‘keys’ (a relatively difficult resource to acquire), or diamonds, if you don’t have enough keys. These side-stories take place during the same scene as their associated chapter, but they’re told from the perspective of the love interest, rather than the main character.

Main Route – Walkthrough

This section includes a chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of player choices and unlockable content, including; photos, cards, letters, intimacy checks, side stories, and avatar challenges. We’ve also written reviews of each optional ‘His Side Story’ and premium story options, to help you decide when to spend your diamonds and when to save them.

• Chapter 1 – Photo & Card

  Player Choice: All options give +4/+4, so choose whichever you want!

  Photo: Automatically unlocked as a CG in final part of the chapter and added to your ‘Memories’
  Card: His Tender Embrace (3-Star) – Beauty Boost: 69
  Automatically added to card shop after completing chapter (Cost: 300 Diamonds)

• Chapter 2 – Intimacy Check

  Player Choice: “I’m happy too.” (+4/+4)

  Intimacy Check: Eyes Matching Saint-Germain’s (Beauty Boost: 20) – Required Intimacy will depend on how many routes you’ve already completed (100 Intimacy for first route)

• Chapter 3 – His Side Story

  Player Choice: “I’m honored.” (+4/+4)

  His Side Story – Taking Your Hand
  Sweet: 3/5
  Spicy: 0/5
  Recommend: Yes

  This side story reveals an interesting detail about Comte’s past, although I’m not yet sure if it’s a good or bad detail. I found it intriguing to hear his inner monologue during this scene, and it added a substantial amount of extra content that wasn’t available during the main story equivalent.

  I will say that the writing felt a little rushed. Some lines were a little clunky and awkwardly worded, like they’d been hastily put together – or perhaps not edited as thoroughly as the main route – and I had to re-read them a couple of times to work out what was being said. There’s also one line that comes up with MC as the speaker when it should be Comte, which occurs in both the main story and His Side Story version of the scene.

  Still, I enjoyed this scene a lot, and the side story version adds some extra insight into the way Comte views MC. I found this especially useful as they’ve already been living together for three months by this stage, so it’s helpful to know where they currently stand in terms of relationship dynamic.

  Cost: 3 x Keys to His Heart or 300 Diamonds

• Chapter 4 – Avatar Challenge

  Player Choice: “I love it.” (+4/+4)

  Avatar Challenge – Waltz of the Flowers
  Sweet: 3/5
  Spicy: 0/5
  Recommend: No

  This premium story feels more like a precursor of exciting things to come, rather than an exciting thing in its own right. It successfully builds anticipation, but there’s little to no payoff within the scene itself. While it makes sense in the context of the story, I don’t feel that it’s memorable enough on its own to make me want to re-read the scene later as a saved story, so I recommend keeping your diamonds for other options further into the route.

  Cost:
  Normal: Golden Plaid Skirt (Beauty Boost: 30) 3000 Gold or 150 Diamonds
  Premium: Golden Plaid Blouse (Beauty Boost: 60) 300 Diamonds

• Chapter 5 – Letter

  Player Choice: “It was moving.” (+4/+4)

  Letter: Requires a combined total of 30 Romantic and/or Dramatic points.

• Chapter 6

  Player Choice: “Yes.” (+4/+4)

• Chapter 7 – Intimacy Check

  Player Choice: “Yes!” (+4/+4)

  Intimacy Check: Golden Diamond Tiara (Beauty Boost: 20) – Required Intimacy will depend on how many routes you’ve already completed

• Chapter 8 – His Side Story (Second Playthrough Only)

  Player Choices: “You’re the daddy.” (+4/+4)

  His Side Story: Only available after second playthrough – Cost: 3 x Keys to His Heart or 300 Diamonds

• Chapter 9

  Player Choice: “I found Time.” (+4/+4)

• Chapter 10 – Avatar Challenge

  Player Choice: “Make friends.” (+4/+4)

  Avatar Challenge – Seeking Lost Time
  Sweet: 3/5
  Spicy: 1/5
  Recommend: No

  This premium story is basically a ‘cute moment’ montage – it’s sort of a highlight reel that skips over an unspecified amount of time, showcasing a smattering of romantic scenes that don’t necessarily fit together or relate to the plot in any meaningful way. I didn’t really like it, to be completely honest, as the scenes were sweet, but nothing too profound or memorable.

  I think it’s main purpose is to establish the dynamic between Comte and MC, but it’s still early days in their relationship, so this is likely to change over the course of the story. It basically feels like a filler episode in the overall route, and I don’t feel the need to re-visit it as a saved story later.

  Cost:
  Normal: Royal Auburn Short Hair (Beauty Boost: 40) 4500 Gold or 200 Diamonds
  Premium: Rose Gold Long Hair (Beauty Boost: 80) 400 Diamonds

• Chapter 11 – Letter

  Player Choice: “Bring it up.” (+4/+4)

  Letter: Requires a combined total of 74 Romantic and/or Dramatic points.

• Chapter 12 – Intimacy Check

  Player Choice: “I love him.” (+4/+4)

  Intimacy Check: Pocketwatch (Beauty Boost: 30) – Required Intimacy will depend on how many routes you’ve already completed

• Chapter 13

  Player Choice: “It’s too sad.” (+4/+4)

• Chapter 14 – Photo & Card

  Player Choice: “Noblesse oblige?” (+4/+4)

  Photo: Automatically unlocked and added to your ‘Memories’.
  Card: Overwhelming Feelings (3-Star) – Beauty Boost: 69
  Automatically added to card shop after completing chapter (Cost: 300 Diamonds)

• Chapter 15 – Avatar Challenge

  Player Choice: “I didn’t!” (+4/+4)

  Avatar Challenge – A Burning Thirst
  Sweet: 3/5
  Spicy: 3/5
  Recommend: Yes

  This isn’t super relevant (especially if you play with the sound off), but the most off-putting thing in this premium story was the sweet, melodic music playing during an intense, steamy moment. It’s not a big deal, but it did pull me out of the immersion a little bit.

  There’s some foreshadowing and set-up at the end of this scene that continues to build tension and anticipation but, as with previous premium options, there’s very little payoff within the actual story. The spicy part in the first half of the scene was much-appreciated, but it did feel a little too intense considering how reserved Comte usually is – I even said “Wait, is this a dream or something?” when I read it, because it felt so out of character and abrupt.

  Still, I’m recommending it because I get the feeling that my favourite part of the scene is the extended part (I haven’t played the normal version to compare just yet, but the spicier lines tend to be premium-only). However, if you’re not too fussed about the extra dash of spice and would rather save your diamonds, there is a much spicier premium story in Chapter 24 that I highly recommend.

  Cost:
  Normal: Chic Heels & Beret (Beauty Boost: 50) 6000 Gold or 250 Diamonds
  Premium: Elegant Shoes & Billowing Hat (Beauty Boost: 100) 500 Diamonds

• Chapter 16 – Letter, Photo & Card

  Player Choice: “I’m lucky.” (+4/+4)

  Letter: Requires a combined total of 114 Romantic and/or Dramatic points.

  Photo: Automatically unlocked and added to your ‘Memories’.
  Card: Old Friends Reunite (3-Star) – Beauty Boost: 69
  Automatically added to card shop after completing chapter (Cost: 300 Diamonds)

• Chapter 17 – Intimacy Check

  Player Choice: “Go to the foyer.” (+4/+4)

  Intimacy Check: Saint-Germain’s Pet Ferret, Time (Beauty Boost: 40) – Required Intimacy will depend on how many routes you’ve already completed

• Chapter 18 – His Side Story (Second Playthrough Only)

  Player Choices: “He’s kind.” (+4/+4)

  His Side Story: Only available after second playthrough – Cost: 3 x Keys to His Heart or 300 Diamonds

• Chapter 19 – Avatar Challenge

  Player Choice: “Stare at them.” (+4/+4)

  Avatar Challenge – Dreams
  Sweet: 0/5
  Spicy: 1/5
  Recommend: No

  This is, unfortunately, my least favourite of the premium story options in Comte’s route. It’s necessary to progress the plot, but the way it’s framed means you know that something is off from the beginning, so you can’t fully relax and immerse yourself in the scene. It’s also much shorter than the other premium stories, which is disappointing considering it’s the second-most expensive one in the route. I recommend saving your diamonds for other stories, particularly the final premium story option in Chapter 24.

  Cost:
  Normal: Delicate Long Dress (Beauty Boost: 60) 8500 Gold or 300 Diamonds
  Premium: Embroidered European Dress (Beauty Boost: 120) 600 Diamonds

• Chapter 20 – His Side Story

  Player Choices: “Be close to him.” (+4/+4)

  His Side Story – Jealousy
  Sweet: 2/5
  Spicy: 0/5
  Recommend: Yes

  While this side story isn’t the most romantic moment in the route, it does offer a unique scene that can’t be read anywhere in the main story. I enjoyed getting Comte’s perspective during a chapter where he and MC were separated, and I personally prefer side stories that add bonus content, rather than a slightly different perspective or a few throwaway lines of inner monologue.

  Cost: 3 x Keys to His Heart or 300 Diamonds

• Chapter 21 – Intimacy Check

  Player Choice: “Kindness.” (+4/+4)

  Intimacy Check: Antique Lamp (Beauty Boost: 40) – Required Intimacy will depend on how many routes you’ve already completed

• Chapter 22 – Letter

  Player Choice: “Speechless.” (+4/+4)

  Letter: Requires a combined total of 158 Romantic and/or Dramatic points.

• Chapter 23 – His Side Story (Second Playthrough Only)

  Player Choices: “It won’t disappear.” (+4/+4)

  His Side Story: Only available after second playthrough – Cost: 3 x Keys to His Heart or 300 Diamonds

• Chapter 24 – Avatar Challenge

  Player Choice: “Talk to Comte.” (+4/+4)

  Avatar Challenge – A Vampire’s Love
  Sweet: 4/5
  Spicy: 4/5
  Recommend: Yes

  This is hands-down the best premium story in the route. It’s perfect for fans of spicy content and it’s the most romantic scene so far, by a long way. It encapsulates the climax of the romantic plot (finally!) and it’s generally just an exciting and intense scene, much more so than any previous premium story.

  If you only purchase one premium story in Comte’s route, I highly recommend you purchase this one.

  Cost:
  Normal: Delicate Golden Gown Set (Beauty Boost: 90) 22,000 Gold or 450 Diamonds
  Premium: Luxurious Gown Set (Beauty Boost: 180) 900 Diamonds

• Chapter 25

  Player Choice: “I’m staying.” (+4/+4)

Ending – Review

Romantic

Sweet: 5/5
Spicy: 3/5

I loved this ending for how bold it was, but it did feel a bit choppy and rushed. I got whiplash from the sudden spike in romantic content, as the story dramatically changed from almost completely lacking in romantic plot, to about as romantic as a story can get.

The ending is only one chapter long and it has a lot of content crammed into a short amount of screen time, but not in a good way. Just as I was getting into a particular scene, it would cut off abruptly and essentially ‘jump-cut’ to a completely different scene, with a completely different setting.

It’s an impulsive whirlwind that quickly goes over the events immediately following the previous chapter, without letting the player properly indulge in any given moment. It would have had far more impact if the writers had slowed down the pace a little and elaborated on each plot point, rather than getting through them to check things off a list.

Still, it was a romantic finale with the sexiest CG of the two endings, so I can recommend it for players looking for an appreciated (albeit brief) dose of steamy action to finish off a route that was otherwise pretty devoid of spice.

Ending – Walkthrough

Romantic

Player Choice: “Looks like a bride.” (+4/+4)

Letter: Requires a combined total of 180 Romantic and/or Dramatic points.

Photo & Card: (I won’t include the name of the card here, as it’s a bit of a spoiler.) The photo is automatically added to your ‘Memories’, and the card is automatically added to the shop for a cost of 300 Diamonds.

His Side Story: I haven’t yet purchased the side story for the romantic ending as I ran out of keys and diamonds, but once I read the side story I’ll update this review (Cost: 6 x Keys to His Heart or 600 Diamonds).

Final Thoughts

Comte de Saint-Germain is an elegant, refined gentleman who also happens to be unfathomably old, and unfathomably powerful. If you enjoy relationship dynamics in otome games where the love interest treats MC more like a daughter than a girlfriend before realising his feelings aren’t paternal after all, then I recommend Comte’s route as the writers lean into this hard.

His route can be split into three distinct parts, with the first part focusing on the budding romance and introducing a variety of plot hooks and conflicts that will take the entire route to be satisfactorily resolved. This part of the story is the calm before the storm, as everything turns upside down about a third of the way into the route. There’s a standout moment that I distinctly remember as being the first time something truly unexpected happened, before another major character is introduced and the story changes dramatically.

The route then becomes a plot-heavy bridge between the first round of stories (Act 1) and this new wave of routes and characters (Act 2). It endeavours to explain core elements of the premise while establishing the new cast, which leaves very little room for romance. This part did feel a little slow in pacing, but the plot itself was intriguing enough to make me keep reading, even if I was wondering how and when the ideas introduced earlier in the story would re-appear and be resolved.

The last part of the route bring all of these threads together for a dramatic finale that was.. almost worth the wait. After cramming in a whole lot of plot, the final chapters quickly and expediently wrap up the romantic plot as an afterthought, rushing through the payoff I’d been waiting for for over 20 chapters.

I also felt that the plot-heavy feeling was exacerbated by the simpler style of writing. Previous routes I’ve read have been flowery, poetic, and emotive, but this route felt more like a chain of events explained plainly, without lingering so much on the feelings in any given scene, which dampened the emotional impact of climactic moments that should have been far more memorable than they were… Also Shakespeare’s signature manners of speech were completely gone, except for a handful of gimmicky words.

I did also find several parts of the plot confusing as I went – mostly regarding why they were relevant at all – but by the end my questions had been answered– albeit briefly. The type of structure the writers have used in this route relies heavily on the ending to put everything else in context and give meaning to plot elements that were previously ambiguous or vague – which, to be clear, is a perfectly valid way to tell a story.

However, I don’t think this structure works so well in an episodic format where players will need to have the story drip-fed to them in 5 chapter parts a day… assuming they actually remember to play everyday, that is. Thankfully, the re-introduction and resolution of these different plot points towards the end of the route came with sufficient explanation to help me remember all the relevant information, but my enjoyment of this route relied on me actually finishing it in the first place.

There were definitely parts in the middle where I felt my motivation to keep reading waning, but I had a feeling that if I put it down for too long I’d completely lose track of the plot. But, criticisms aside, I really did enjoy this route, and I think the lore it introduces is critical to understanding more of the game as a whole and the context for other characters and their routes.

To put it simply, Comte’s route is one you play for the plot – not the romance. But, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, so long as you go into the story with the expectation that you’ll need to wait for the romantic payoff, and just indulge in the drama in the meantime.

And the bromance. Especially the bromance. Because, of course, they’re just “best friends” who spent centuries together frolicking in fields of roses… yup, definitely purely platonic best bros with absolutely no sexual tension whatsoever… wait, MC is still le Comte’s love interest, right?

You’ll like Comte de Saint-Germain if you like: much, much older men who age like a very fine wine; love interests who are significantly more powerful than MC (and everyone else) in almost every conceivable way; gentle, softly-spoken ‘oji-san’ characters who love to pamper and spoil MC; difficult, but creative romances; and otome games that aren’t afraid to literally have MC unironically call the LI ‘daddy’… (I’m not kidding, this actually happens).

Screenshots

Game Info

☆ Game Name: Ikémen Vampire: Temptation in the Dark | イケメンヴァンパイア・偉人たちと恋の誘惑
☆ Developer: CYBIRD / Ikémen Series
☆ Publisher: CYBIRD / Ikémen Series
☆ Platform: Mobile
☆ Age Rating: 17+ / Mature
☆ More information: here!

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