I was pleasantly surprised by Zyglavis in Star Crossed Myth! In the beginning Zyglavis felt like a mix of Scorpio and Eisuke Ichinomiya. But the more I played the more I enjoyed the route. Despite his initial coldness, Zyglavis is secretly the most compassionate of all the gods. Plus he’s gorgeous, just look at him, that long flowing hair, those penetrating eyes.
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Thoughts on Zyglavis: A Soft Comforting Darkness
Sometime after the first set of gods absolved their sins and returned to the heavens, the MC is attacked by some hooded men. Zyglavis and Karno swoop in and save the MC from danger, and explain that the men are dark gods from the under realm. Yeah I swear I’m not making this up, dark gods from the under realm. The king of the under realm wants to capture the MC and use her powers to take over the heavens and the Earth. So the king of the heavens orders a new set of god down to Earth for her protection. The old gods and the new start arguing over who gets to protect the MC. So it’s up to her to make a choice.
In the beginning, Zyglavis is Scorpio turned up to eleven! Zyglavis is the god of Libra and the Minister of the Department of Punishments. He possesses the power to manipulate shadows, which he uses often to watch over the MC throughout the route. It’s not as stalkerish as it sounds. It’s actually really sweet, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Zyglavis is cold and impassive, taking his job as Minister of the Department of Punishments seriously. He delivers punishment with an efficient iron fist, coldly punishing people without even batting an eyelash. To the MC his “righteous” justice is downright evil. But when she brings it up to him, he shuts her down. But in reality he is the most compassionate of all the gods.
He punishes humans in hopes that they will see the error of their ways and repent. But time and time again, people let him down, turning towards evil. So over the years he has developed a cold and detached personality in order to protect himself from getting hurt by others. Long ago he trusted that humanity could change for the better. But humans took his kindness for granted becoming consumed by evil, but Zyglavis never gave up on them. Every punishment he has ever doled out has been for the benefit of humanity.
Zyglavis really surprised me, at first I thought he was a complete jerk. But the more I played the more I realized how sweet he really is. His relationship with the other gods, while one of respect, is filled with tension. Especially when it comes to the gods from the Department of Wishes. He and Leon constantly go at it over little things. But I feel like it is Leon and to an extent Scorpio, that truly understand him best of all the gods.
As a Department Minister, Zyglavis has a lot of responsibility, managing to complete his job efficiently, regardless of his personal thoughts and feelings. During this route I realized, excuse my language, just how much of a dick the King of the heavens is. That bastard put such a kind and compassionate god in charge of the Department of Punishments, knowing full well how much he cares for humans.
There were times when I could tell that the task of doling out punishments to humans was taking its toll on him. But in spite of that he never once complains or refuses to do his job. The central conflict of the route was not with the big bad, the Dark King, it was with Zyglavis regaining his trust in humanity. He and the MC try to reform shady CEO’s heart without using punishment. At first it seemed to work, but soon the man regressed back to his old ways. My heart broke for Zyglavis, poor guy just wanted to believe that people could be trusted to change, only to be let down time and time again.
His time with the MC allowed him to open his heart, and as a result gain a power he’d never known. I enjoyed his growth over the course of the story, it never seemed rushed or forced. Everything happened in due course making the resolution that much more natural and believable. I especially love how his relationship with the MC developed! They went from constantly being at odds to light bickering, to understanding, and finally to love. His willingness to listen to the MC and his attempts to understand her despite her being a human really turned me on to Zyglavis. He is courteous and kind, a true gentleman and a commendable god.
Thoughts on the MC: Crying for Someone Else’s Sake
The MC in this route was great, she doesn’t take anything lying down. She is spunky and stubborn, and doesn’t easily back down from her convictions. She treats all of the gods like regular people, standing up to them when they do something that contradicts her morals. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud at the MC’s boldness, it was too much at times. Even the gods themselves find her pluck endearing. The MC is constantly at odds with Zyglavis and does her best to deter him from punishing humans to harshly, to mixed results.
The MC initially sees him as a cold and heartless god. But the more she spends time with him, the more she realizes how sweet and compassionate he really is. She doesn’t immediately fall in love with him, their relationship takes time to build up. They both learn from each other, becoming better people in the process. Plus the MC has a special power all her own…her tears…Her tears actually cause the Dark King physical harm…and in the end, I believe it was her tears that melted Zyglavis’s closed heart.
Do I Recommend Zyglavis’s Route?
I loved this route way more than I thought I would…I think Ziggy is gonna give Scorpio a run for his money as my favorite route of the game. Zyglavis is a sweet honey bun, his cold personality hides a truly compassionate soul. I actually have no complaints for this story…the pacing was great, there were no glaring inconsistencies with the plot or the writing, everything seemed to mesh well. Ziggy’s characterization was believable and never forced, he never had an out of character out burst and oddly enough he is consistent with his portrayals from the other guys’ routes as well.
There are two endings for this route, the Blessed Ending and the Forbidden Ending. Both are great, in the Forbidden Ending, you and Zyglavis spend a romantic night in the heavens. In this ending he is a little more spicy, teasing you while declaring his love. In the Blessed Ending, you and Zyglavis spend a romantic night in the Milky Way Village on Earth. You both confess your love for each other culminating in a big damn kiss CG. If I had to choose I guess I’d have to say I prefer the Blessed end.
I really found myself falling hard for this god, no this man! He was everything Voltage promised and more. If you haven’t played any of the routes in this game I suggest you give either this route or Scorpio’s routes a try, you won’t regret it! I highly recommend this route, it was definitely worth the wait!
Haven’t even read the review yet lol I just had to say that first impressions… I love a guy with long hair!
Ziggy is gorgeous!!! Apparently in his sequel he has a CG where his hair is out…and he’s shirtless!
I will freaking die lol! Just finished reading and I def have to get my hands on this game! I’ve changed my mind as soon as I’m done with Enchanted in the Moonlight this game is happening!
Lol yes! Mission accomplished!
Something about this bothered me: The King of the Heavens wasn’t being a dick when he made Zyglavis the Punishments Minister. He was being compassionate himself. Moral Story Time!
I played a small MMO for a while, and it had three basic classes: damage dealers, tanks, and priests. Damage dealers had all skills that hurt people. Tanks had all skills that protected themselves. Priests had only skills that aided others.
Everyone got their skillsets early, and basically just learned how to use them properly until endgame. However, at endgame, Priests were given one additional skill: Banishment.
Banishment was unique among games and skills. It destroyed someone completely. If a priest chose to Banish you, it would erase your character from the servers themselves: a true, irreversible death.
Human nature dictates that giving random people a power like that would lead to chaos and abuse. But it didn’t, because it wasn’t given to random people.
It was only awarded to those who has dedicated their entire time to helping others. People whose nature was innately opposed to such a power even existing, let alone to it being used.
As such, it ensured that it was never used unless every other option to deal with someone had been exhausted. Making the unfailingly kind and gentle into enforcers actually saved pain for the entire community, and even though they certainly didn’t enjoy their role… I think they all preferred it be them to someone who wasn’t bothered either way – or worse – to someone who did enjoy harming others.
I think the King came to the same conclusion, and THAT’S why Punishments is staffed by the gentle and loving. In Scorpios’ story, Zyglavis even comes out and says he should be seeking the love of humans, so he understands this too.
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