Star Crossed Myth -Department of Wishes- (Secondary Season One cast) -- No Spoiler Review
Star Crossed Myth -Department of Wishes- (Secondary Season One [Karno, Tauxolouve, & Agornius])
System: Switch, Phone
Price: $30, Pay per Route (unknown price)
Voice Acting: No
ESRB Rating: M (17+)
Overall Rating: Stole 7/10 ♥s
Pre-Game Perception: A human that falls in love with zodiac gods. Give me my Western zodiac Fruits Basket with actual gods and not a cursed bloodline.
Morning-After Reflection: A weird take on adding more characters to a game by negating the first season, but also not. If it wasn't attached to the main game, I'd probably have passed.
Story: “Your days are dreamless and mundane until, one night, you notice a star sparkling in the heavens. Suddenly, the beautiful gods of the stars appear before you. Their goal? To erase their sins. This exquisite, heartrending true love…all began with a sin.”
Interest Rating: 10/10. I bought the other title (Department of Punishments) first and loved it so much I wanted to play the rest of the guys before I had even finished the game. Basically, this game was speaking to me. “Heartrending” and “sin” and I was like, “Yes, go on.” It sounded like it’d be tragic. And it’s about attractive men of the Western zodiac, some of whom I was introduced to already. I needed answers for questions, and more good stories.
MC: Prepare yourself, this is another mobage Voltage title that was ported to the Switch. Yes, you know what that means, MC is as eyeless as they come. The cover art, however, has her with eyes, which was a little surprising since she most certainly doesn’t have any in the game. MC comes with no name, no sprite, she’s in ⅓ of the CGs, maybe ½, but not all. She isn’t voiced, as no one in this game is. But, much to my amazement, she actually has a backstory, personality, and a family. MC is not the typical blankslate that comes packaged with a self-insertable otome character.
If we’re going to talk about strength of character, MC has quite a bit. She has a lot of thoughts, but I wasn’t as impressed in this title with the MC’s choices as I was in Department of Punishments. You get a little bit of a feel for MC in the prologue, when you get a few choices that don't really matter, but are still nice to have. Then you pick your route. I had a bonding experience with the MC when I played her in Department of Punishments, and I’m sure that’s one reason why I enjoyed her; though looking at both games, she is different enough in Department of Wishes that I don’t know if I would have been so enamored with her if I had started with this title. She is still pretty solid, and I back this girl 100%, I’m just not ready to beat some mother f*ckers for her since she falls closer to the typical otome heroine than I felt she was in Department of Punishments.
MC has a job outside the normal, which is nice. She does cook, and apparently is rather good at it, and unfortunately this comes up more in Wishes than Punishments, but I can let that slide as something women might find ideal in a self-insert character. Her age is ambiguous, which is nice. I’m not entirely familiar with the culture and how early/late societal pressure starts for making sure you find a husband, or when it’s acceptable to marry. With that left out of consideration, I would put the MC at mid-twenties. She doesn’t act too young, but also doesn’t have a mature air about her either. She is your typical otome MC in looks, (probably) 5’-5’2”, thin, light-skinned, brown hair and bangs that are too long and cover where her eyes should be. She is (mostly) consistent between routes, with a few changes here or there based on having a suitable accompanying personality that compliments the LI.
Likability Rating: Yu. Backstory? Yep. Personality? You bet’cha. Eyes? Sadly, no. Strongest self-insert I’ve come across. They should have just given her a name that was able to be changed.
Plot: Star Crossed Myth is a multi-story game, so there are several different stories per character spanning over two seasons. It has probably one of the more complex timelines I’ve played in this model with a clear Season One Main Story, then a not so clear Season One secondary Main Story which has to happen before Season Two Main Story, where everyone is on the same storyline again. That, coupled with a cast of 12 between two games, I’ve decided to break the reviews by title and into original Season One cast, and secondary Season One cast. Why is this all important? Well, because there is no real way to play all routes at the same time like you’re running the same story with just a different man on your arm. Also, the way the stories are written, it kind of both includes that you’ve experienced Season One Main Story before experiencing secondary Season One Main Story, but I guess you just didn’t fall in love? So the events took place, but they didn’t; but they did, just not fully… The only thing that is certain is that both Season One’s Main Stories should be done before moving onto Season Two Main Story, otherwise they cover events that took place while MC was with the other guys that never happened with the originals. It was super confusing my first time through when the prologue for Season Two told me of things that MC experienced and I was like, “Wait… when did that happen?”
All my initial confusion aside - and hopefully I was clear in my explanation above - the plot is both the same and different for each LI. It has the same start, and the same end goal, but getting there is completely different per character. Since this is covering the secondary Season One, we already know what happened in the prologue of the original. Well, you get another prologue for these more different gods, some of whom you likely learned a little about through the previous stories. In this Season One Main Story, MC is attacked on her way home from work, and poof, some god dudes (whom you are acquainted with) show up to save her. She then finds out that some big bad is after her, and is introduced to the gods that she (canonically) hasn’t met yet. A new set of six men are paraded before her hungry eyes, one of which will help keep her safe until this whole ordeal is over. You pick!
This is the point it gets weird. Because you obviously know the original six, and two of the new six, but you’re not in love with any of the originals? So… however you ended your original Season One story doesn’t actually matter? Sure, we’ll go with that. Basically, the original six just f*ck right off and now you’ve got a new man in your life. Every story from there on is different, because it’s based off the LI you’re hanging with. Though less individualized because this plot revolves around MC with the new LIs just being supporting cast. Thankfully, once Season Two rolls around, they bring everyone’s story together to a singular timeline.
Replayability Rating: ★★★★☆ I find each route doesn’t feel too same-y because once you’ve passed the Main Story, the stories are specially tailored to the LI MC is with. You don’t need to read every route in this part of the story, however, you should do one so Season Two makes more sense.
Love Interests: I played the Switch version of the game, which has two games under the Star Crossed Myth title, separated into Department of Wishes and Department of Punishments. Each title has six sexy studs that I have further broken up by where they fall into the Season One story. That gives us three protective partners for this round of ‘who's going to get in my pants’ starring the gods of Cancer, Sagittarius, and Capricorn. Simply pick the man you want from the menu screen, do the secondary prologue, and you’re all set to seduce the gods of the stars.
There are two endings per LI, labeled Blessed and Forbidden, but don’t let the names fool you, they are both good endings. Voltage tends to give us good endings no matter what choices we make, just one is considered gooder. In this case, I think either are good and it is completely a personal preference on which is best. In fact, Voltage doesn’t even seem to know which is the “correct” ending to get since in ‘his PoV’ stories sometimes it ends with the Blessed End and sometimes it ends with the Forbidden End. Sometimes it doesn’t even cover an ending, so that isn’t even the foolproof way to determine what the writers thought was the best. In order to achieve either ending, there is a meter that tells you what way you’re heading based on the choices you’ve made for that chapter of the episode. As a note, both endings have the potential to have a CG specific to their respective end, so if you want those pictures, I suggest doing both.
You can pick your poison in any order you want, I don’t even have a preference for these three since their stories are all their own with no big plot spoilers for anyone else. Read my totally biased reviews and see which one strikes up your interest, and just go from there, or decide in some other arbitrary manner like I did. I’m going to list them from which I enjoyed least to most, because I’d rather get the bad taste out of my mouth first in order to savor the sweetness later.
And that means we start off with Karno, God of Cancer. Hey, you know what Karno is good for? Nothing. Okay, maybe that was too harsh. I did not like Karno. At. All. I felt like I was pulling teeth without an anesthetic and his whole route just dragged on and on for me. It had some creepy vibes entwined in the story too; I know I make jokes about Daddy characters, but Karno comes off a little too parental for my liking. There is a difference between Daddy and Daddy. I found his plots to be entirely annoying as well, it just wasn’t the type of story I like. And his character sprite is my least favorite out of… huh, maybe out of all the games I’ve played. Oh wait, maybe second least favorite. I just don’t find it attractive to begin with. So, hey, you put all of that together, and I was bound to hate this route. :sigh: Let’s try to find positives, shall we? Let’s see, he’s got some pull being second in command in the Department of Wishes, so… I guess there’s that? He attempts not to burden the MC with his problems… but that just leads to more. And he’s one of the few that doesn’t start out cold to the MC, but instead a little too interested.
Tauxolouve, God of Sagittarius is next in line, but don’t worry, I don’t hate this guy. He’s actually pretty okay! I’ve mentioned in other reviews of this game that I have strong feelings for most of the 12 between the two titles; Tauxolouve, however, is not in that ‘most’. His story and route aren’t bad. It was just not good enough to contend for what I really craved in this game. He’s painted as the playboy character, and apparently is a dick-merry-go-round for the goddess population, so there’s solid reasoning to put him as the playboy character. However, he is also a gentleman. He treats the MC with respect, and his story becomes rather tame because of it. I don’t want men to be pushing MC down, or insulting her, or ordering her around; but I’d like a little more oomph in Tauxolouve’s interactions with the MC. It all comes off lukewarm. And there is a strong focus on the plot and the LI, unlike other routes in this portion of the game where there is more of a focus on the MC. ‘Okay’ is the best I can give this stylish Lou.
If you’ve been waiting for me to say I enjoyed a dude in this portion of the game, then your wait is over! The marshmallow God of Capricorn, Aigonorus, won me over with his general cuteness. He’s too cute. Too incredibly cute. So cute. I’d die for him. This sleepyboi has so much that goes on behind those droopy eyelids of his, that I enjoyed seeing every action and reaction while simultaneously attempting to reason why it was happening. The story does meander around a bit, but it feels like it’s paced right for Aigonorus’ character. And, I rather like the forced cohabitation bit that secondary Season One Main Story brings us, so when we had the additional benefit of getting to do that with Aigonorus, I was A-O-Good with it. I also have a thing for the softbois. Hardbois, softbois, tallbois, shortbois. I just have a thing for bois. Anyways, in my list of 12, I think Aigonorus ranks somewhere near middle, maybe exactly middle. Forget the sex, I just want to cuddle him.
Boy Crazy Rating: 75%. These weren’t the last stories I played, but they were certainly the most bottom-rung. I’d only husbando Aigonorus, but Tauxolouve might be worth a good time.
Romance: You get romance! And you get romance! Everyone gets romance! I’m not sure that’s a good thing, though. It’s almost as if the plot suffers on the routes that are more romantic in this portion of the game, and the romance suffers on the routes that are more plot heavy. One route is very slice-of-life-y and focuses on the relationship between the two characters, but I found it slow and rather boring because it was unfocused in the drama. Too much romance. Another is so focused on the plot, that the relationship kind of feels thrown in there in order to make more drama. It gets better as the stories continue, but I wasn’t impressed with the balance. Too little romance. The last was pretty balanced, and interesting, which evens out the other two, but that makes this review section of the game middling. There is the forced cohabitation in this Season One Main Story that adds a little romance, but I just didn’t feel like the characters connected all that much.
Heart Palpitation Rating: B-. There were some feelings, but my frozen heart requires something warmer to melt the frost on it. You get romance, but a spark doesn’t always make a fire.
Spice: I know I gushed about how much my mouth face everything was on fire in the original Season One cast for this title, but that cools off a lot with this group of guys. There is one route that gets a little… Ahem. It gets a little heated at the end. But the other two are a moderate amount of lusty loving actions. There is intercourse, but it’s the type of intercourse you’d expect from a console game: briefly covering it, and little to no detail. There are chest-exposed male sprites, a few compromising CGs, and some talk of the act, though nothing detailed or descriptive. It certainly has adult content, but it isn’t toeing the line on what Voltage can get away with, which is usually how their games go.
Cold Shower Rating: Pass. But barely cold shower worthy. I wouldn’t want to read this with my mother, but I certainly wasn’t burning up in excess over the writing.
Angst: Does manufactured angst count as angst? Really, these are the least angsty characters and story out of all four reviews I’ve done for Star Crossed Myth. There’s still a mild amount of angst, due to the Main Story being a bit angsty, and some of the follow ups being a bit angsty; but overall, we’re really looking at moderate levels throughout. Obviously, some characters are more angsty than others, but again, they’re all pretty tame. I felt some feels every once in a while, but I really… I just can’t say this is all that angsty when I think about the other LIs for this title. Violence and villains are pretty much the only reason this plot has drama.
Drama Llama Rating: 5/10. The drama llama is too temperamental to be part of a petting zoo, but once it’s your friend, it’s all for being pet. Befriend the drama llama.
Voice Acting: None. And I’m almost glad for it. Since one of the characters was my least favorite, I wouldn’t want to associate him with a voice every time I heard that seiyuu.
Expression Rating: N/A. No acting, no rating.
Art: The art is art. Each character is designed in a manner that I didn’t find any of them to be easily confused with any other character. Even though everyone is wearing a uniform, there are bits of personalization to each uniform that makes those also not feel exactly the same. Each LI sprite comes with a few wardrobe changes, which are also different enough per character that it didn’t feel like it was all the same style or personality in clothing. There are a few facial changes and a few pose changes, but the sprites don’t move much besides that. The same backgrounds get used a lot, though I’m not complaining, really. They’re not super detailed, but they are more detailed than some of Voltage’s other backgrounds in other titles they’ve ported to the Switch. Overall, the art is pretty okay. I get what I’d expect to get from a phone ported title at this price range.
Still Picture Rating: ★★★☆☆ Many styled. Such expected. Very middling.
CGs: This is probably the weakest batch of CGs in the game, which isn’t doing any sort of favors to the LIs, since I thought they also had the weakest stories. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t care for a lot of the CGs, because the story just wasn’t as good as what I was expecting. Take it how you want it, but they’re just okay. There’s some wonky sizing issues, unless the MC is just child-sized to some of these LIs who are seriously doubly as wide as the MC is. There are a few instances of yaoi hands, but only really if you’re looking for it since they are much less common than the last review I wrote about Department of Wishes. Otherwise, the backgrounds are all rather plain, probably to save time and costs. But the art isn’t bad. It just isn’t a good set of CGs to choose from so the issues are easier to identify, I think. The good news is, once you finish a certain amount of the LI’s route, you get a special high-quality CG that is… well, I want to say wonderful, but in this case they’re just okay as well. They’re nicely done, if that’s a saving grace at all.
Look at this Photograph Rating: 75%. I had little reason to revisit these CGs. The art is okay. It’s possible the story was lacking, so the art was less impactful.
UI/Mechanics: I played the Switch version, so I can’t speak to the UI for the phone. I think it’s a fine UI. It’s easy to navigate. It has touch features (as most Switch ports do). It’s clean and simple and doesn’t really need anything to walk you through how to use it. There are no special mechanics for this game.
What’s this button do? Rating: B. I had no issues figuring out how to play, save, or load.
Errors: :stretches those typing fingers: You ready for this? The quality control and quality assurance wasn’t very high for this game. I’ve come to realize there are a certain amount of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors to expect in most translated titles. Often, I overlook the most common of them, especially if they don’t interfere with gameplay or understanding the story. But when it comes to errors that make me stop and tilt my head in confusion, like somehow seeing it sideways is going to make it make more sense, then I just can’t ignore them and pass them by. Star Crossed Myth, unfortunately, is one of those games that I took pictures of the errors because I laughed so hard at how god awful they were.
That isn’t to say that the majority of the game isn’t pretty standard. In fact, most of it is what I would consider normal. It starts off rather strong, but the more you read, the more errors crop up. I don’t think there was a single Season Two story that escaped some large error, either coding or grammatical. And I’m talking BIG errors. These aren’t the small nit-picky ones like missing a punctuation, or the wrong homonym. These are the ones where the wrong sprite was used in place of another character. A sprite, in fact, of a character that wasn’t even in that scene to begin with. These are the wrong names being used to designate who is speaking, since that character isn’t even there when the sentence gets spoken, and it wouldn’t make sense even if they were. These are coding errors where text was meant to be broken between two different pages, and instead was blocked into one with the coding visible between where they intended to break it up.
The game still plays. The story is still readable. Just prepare for moments when things get bad.
Here there be Bugs Rating: Fail. It was a slow build-up, but eventually the colony was exposed later in the story. There be bugs here, yo.
Background Music: It’s a’ight. I played with the music on, though I’m not entirely sure why. It wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t grating at all. I thought it fit with the game, even if there are only like three tracks that play through this very long game. Yeah, that’s all I have to say about that. It’s a’ight.
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