Star Crossed Myth | Krioff Review: My Lover is an Antisocial God

I have been sucked into Voltage Hell yet again… Right after I finished writing my review for Dui, Voltage up and released the main story and epilogue for yet another Department of Punishments god, Krioff. And we all know that I’m a fan of the Punishments gods, so without any hesitation I dropped the $3.99 on Krioff’s main story…

Krioff is the stoic god of Aries and despite his rather…um, cold personality, he is by far one of the kindest gods in the Department of Punishments. Don’t get me wrong, he’s no Dui, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a big ‘ol softie underneath all the thorns! Plus, I think Krioff is my ideal god… I kind of broke the Ending Meter with all the right Blessed End choices on my first playthrough lol…

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Thoughts on Krioff: The ashes of the past bring forth new life

After the MC is attacked by the King of the Under Realm’s henchmen, the King of the Heavens sends six new gods to Earth for her protection. But, the MC has trouble deciding which god will be her personal bodyguard, so the imposing Krioff volunteers to be her protector. His offer is immediately met with silent disapproval from the other gods, namely Leon, who warns the MC to refrain from angering Krioff. But, before the MC has the chance to inquire about his words, Krioff whisks her off to the Heavens where she is promptly confined to his quarters in the Department of Punishments.

I thought Scorpio was a jerk, but Krioff really takes it to another level… Krioff is a brusque god, who goes out of his way to keep everyone around him at arms length. Voltage describes him as being antisocial, but it’s actually much more than that, Krioff doesn’t hate people per se, in fact it’s quite the opposite, I honestly think he craves acceptance from others. The real reason Krioff doesn’t associate with other people is because he’s afraid of hurting them with his devastating power.

Like each of the twelve zodiac gods, Krioff possesses a unique ability separate from his innate divine powers, however Krioff’s power is directly linked to his emotions which makes them a tad bit unstable. His ability allows him to create extreme heat or cold with his right hand depending on his emotional state, which if left unchecked can cause unimaginable devastation. In the past, consumed by rage he lost control of his powers and accidentally injured someone very close to him. Ever since the incident, Krioff has harbored a hatred for himself and his powers, believing that his powers are only capable of harming others.

So he decides to close himself off from the rest of the world in an attempt to protect others from suffering the same fate as his loved one. Rumors began to spread about the incident and the other gods fearing his power took to calling him the God of Destruction. But, despite his frightening abilities, Krioff isn’t a bad guy, awkward… yes, a little rough around the edges, absolutely… but, mean *shakes head* he’s like Zyglavis in that respect. He’s the type of guy that would shoulder the weight of the world  without complaint, if it meant that the sufferings of others were lessened even a little. So while his callousness towards the MC early on in the route is a bit off putting, it really does come from a good place. Despite his frosty first impression, Krioff is a hard-working god, who will do anything to protect what’s important to him, even if it means destroying himself in the process.

Thoughts on the MC: I want you to keep on protecting me

Like Aigonorus’s route, the romance between the MC and Krioff is a slow build, mostly because after witnessing Krioff’s power first hand the MC is terrified of the guy. And I can’t really blame her for it either, if I’d seen a guy nearly burn an entire courtyard to a crisp (no matter how good looking he is), I’d probably run for the hills and never look back! On top of that his less than welcoming personality doesn’t really earn him any brownie points either. It isn’t until the King of the Heavens threatens to take away his promised reward that Krioff even attempts to get closer to the MC and even that wouldn’t have happened were it not for Dui constantly dropping by to check on the MC’s well being.

Thank God for Dui’s exposition dumps, because without them I honestly didn’t know how the MC and Krioff were going to bridge the gap (plus Dui is always a welcome treat). With Dui’s help, the MC gains a better understanding of the surly god and on several occasions attempts to get closer to him. Krioff is a man so weighed down by his past mistakes that he’s forgotten what it means to really live and with the help of the MC, he learns to let go of the past so that he can start anew in the future. As the story progresses, we see just how adorable Krioff can be, from his love of ice cream to his fascination with human technology to the way he learns to open himself up to others. There is just so much to love about Krioff, if you only take the time to look beneath the surface.

Gotta give props to the MC in this route, she was much more understanding than I could ever hope to be… and I guess part of that can be attributed to her fear of him in the beginning. She learns to see beyond his terrifying façade and uncovers the kind god underneath. While she wasn’t the most memorable MC in the game, I will admit that she did have a few glorious moments of sass, but for the most part she acted as support for Krioff. Over the course of the route she helps him open up about his past so that he can start working towards building a future for himself.

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Do I Recommend Krioff’s Route?

It took me a bit to warm up to Krioff, especially since I just got through playing through his bestie’s route not to long ago. I had to get used to his unfriendly disposition, but once I got over that I was in love!! Once you crack through Krioff’s walls, he’s a solid character and Voltage did a really good job of introducing him in the main story. I really enjoyed Krioff’s backstory, and while there wasn’t really anything especially fresh about it (Voltage loves writing tragic backstories) I still found myself invested in the story since it was the main source of conflict in the route. On the other hand, the Dark King conflict seemed forced and the story could have worked just fine without it… The romance was cute and the pacing was nice, so I have no complaints about that.

There are two endings in this route, the Blessed Ending and the Forbidden Ending… In the Blessed End, the MC and Krioff are finally able to really see one another, so the King grants Krioff’s wish. After things have settled down, the pair attend a wedding and solidify their commitment to one another. The Forbidden End, is roughly the same as the Blessed end except that the MC and Krioff spend some time alone at the planetarium after hours. Not gonna lie, the Blessed End is by far my favorite…

In the end, I had a lot of fun with this route, Krioff is a likable character with a compelling backstory that will really tug at the heartstrings. I definitely recommend giving his main story a play through and I definitely look forward to his future story releases. 

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