Ikevamp - Possible years the game takes place in
Update: 15/09/2020 - New screenshot added.
Like a lot of people, I’m a big history fan, so I’m curious as to when the game takes place. After replaying most of the routes a second time, I collected a few screenshots and made some brief notes. Now I think I have a vague idea of when it could potentially take place.
Obviously this all depends on how accurate Cybird is with historical details, and I could be wrong because I don’t know what details the other non english routes have in them. I apologise in advance for the hideous amalgamation of screenshots in this post.
So as a starting point, we know the game takes place in the 19th century at the turn of the century. This is clearly stated in the prologue:
The turn of the century usually indicates the last decade, so that means we’re somewhere between 1890-1899. “The cusp” sounds to me like it’s nearer the end of the decade.
The next big chunk of information that helps narrow down the years comes from Arthur’s route. In chapter 20 Sebastian and MC talk about Arthur’s story “The Final Problem”:
“The Final Problem” was published in (the UK) December 1893. The game doesn’t take place in winter so we know we are at least somewhere between the years 1894-1899.
Arthur didn’t publish another Sherlock Holmes story until he started working on “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in 1901 (novel published 1902) so even if we include the details from Arthur’s romantic end, the game still doesn’t cross into the 1900′s.
Now this detail could be wrong if Cybird didn’t do it’s historical research correctly on inventions in the 1800′s.
Arthur’s letter in chapter 16 mentions a Cinématographe:
The Cinématographe may have first been made in 1892 by Léon Bouly, but it wasn’t a real viable product until 1895 when the Lumière brothers created their Cinématographe. The first Cinématographe screening of films took place on 28 December 1895. Once again, we’re not in winter so this would place us between 1896-1899.
(side note: The Cinématographe had to be hand-cranked and the early films only lasted between a few seconds to a minute so as cute as it sounds, that’s kind of a silly date idea and not as romantic because a third wheel is in the room running the machine. Arthot is really contemplating the 19th century version of netflix and chill lol.)
Added for the update: @velociraptor-detective and @cottonfluffballofdoom were kind enough to point out more details to help show that the game is set between 1896-1899. Thank you so much for your help!
@velociraptor-detective Mentioned a scene that identified a gun used in Leonardo’s chapter 23 His side story and provided me with this handy screenshot:
The broomhandle Mauser (Mauser C96) was a semi automatic pistol that was first created in 1896.
@cottonfluffballofdoom also provided me with a screenshot and mentioned that the presence of female students in the Sorbonne, in Isaac’s route can also help narrow the date.
A brief history of the Sorbonne regarding female education: In 1883 a female student was allowed to enroll in the Faculty of Letters. In 1884 a female student was admitted to the Law Faculty. In 1888 the first Doctorate in the Sciences for a Female student was awarded. In 1896 the university faculties were reorganised and this slowly allowed more women access to courses.
Isaac’s route mentions around a dozen female students were at the Sorbonne. So this also helps point to a date between 1896-1899.
Ikevamp taking place in 1896 -1899 sort of matches up to some of the other pieces of technology we see mentioned in the game: carbon arc lamps, transitions from gas street lamps to electric, early self playing pianos like the Forneaux Pianista, Gramophones, cars and Omnibuses etc.
Now for the months the game takes place in. I’ll be basing this off the character routes instead of events, because events match the month they come out in.
I’m not certain if the months change in different routes but in Isaac’s route we know we’re somewhere in spring because the game mentions MC and Isaac going out for Easter in chapter 14:
In the 1890′s Easter took place on the following days:
So I’d place the game taking place anytime between March - May depending on the year. Violets can bloom in those months so that matches Mozarts route, and the field of wild flowers MC visits in various routes could also be in bloom during spring.
Taking all this in to consideration gives us a more narrow range to place the game timeline in.
I think this is pretty handy information for people who want their art, headcanons and fanfics to be a little more historically accurate. Narrowing it down to a smaller range can help you see what clothing, potential technology and events could have taken place, instead of just a general guess of somewhere in 1800.
From all this information we know the game definitely takes place between 1894-1899.
I personally believe that the game takes place somewhere between Spring 1896-1899.
If you have any other information that I’ve missed or have a screenshot, please let me know so I can update this post and include it in.
areudirty
stormborns
gummygunk
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
