Star-Crossed Myth: Karno -Day Four (Otome Game) (Meghan)

So, I just wanna start out by saying Karno's in-depth review almost didn't happen. He was gonna end up in some other "quick reactions post" as a noteworthy, but altogether not worth exploring story. I had bought the route offhandedly, mainly, and I feel it's imperative to point this out, because Season 2 for Star-Crossed Myth is coming out, and people on Tumblr were praising Karno's Season 1 Main Story as a good route. 

I'm a sucker for peer pressure it seems. Karno at first glance seems altogether plain...not that he isn't interesting, but I always regarded him as a less exciting version of Huedhaut. 

And I love me some Huedhaut. 

Literally blew me away.

However, I still bought Karno's route anyway, also because some people do ship Leon and Karno. And I love that. I will ship this #Learno?. 

"Leon has never lost against Karno" 

What I imagine Leon and Karno to be. #Learno

But, you know, Voltage has surprised me. After playing Zyglavis' story (check out my review of that before you read this), I was expecting either a rushed story with potential or an altogether boring story. 

However,

My initial reaction was something like this 

Don't fuck with me route, I'm trusting you...

And, my verdict? 

Karno's main story is the story I wished I got from Zyglavis

My actual satisfaction looked like this though...

Let me explain what I mean by that. 

The Story

Following the "Dark King" storyline, you have to choose someone to protect you, and surprise, you choose Karno. Karno is the Vice Minister of Wishes (Leon's counterpart), and the God of Cancer. You choose Karno because he looks like he could be kind.

And he is. He's sweet and caring, and legitimately only lightly teases you.

He's got the makings of a true cinnamon roll.

His power? Amplifying things around him. Which he thinks is a shit power. I disagree, as MC does because amplification is something that, if you have other powers, as Karno does, one would think this would come in handy, even if it's not a cool power like manipulating shadows (as Zyglavis does). 

Karno has some dark secret that he won't tell the MC, but it's the reason he'd rather give up his godhood and become a human. He used to watch a little girl's wishes, and because they were so innocent and pure (and they loved stars WHICH IS A HUGE PLOT POINT), he helped her get introduced to a lady at a planetarium who would teach her about them. 

Unfortunately, the lady got really sick and passed away. Karno couldn't do anything about that because gods like him can't interfere with life/death situations, and he felt like he let her down. But she's grown up into a lovely woman now, and that keeps him going. 

Most of the story is focused on you and Karno doing human things. You take a trip to Kyoto, and in a funny twist, Karno ends up being a co-worker of yours at the planetarium for a time. All the while, Karno seems to be holding some big secret back that you, as the MC, are keen to know.

...I think it's gonna be something like Huedhaut's route!!!

My Thoughts

Save for Ichthys' route he's one of the most "human" of the gods. That's actually pretty interesting to play. Most of the routes in the game center around the gods and their world, despite living in our universe. 

This route is kinda like "Nah, try again". Which is interesting. 

And he doesn't give much away. I've found that in some routes, the big "secret" of the route is revealed at the 8th episode or sooner. This one didn't. However, Karno's demeanor reminds you that there is something up, which naturally made me curious.

Karno throughout the route. 


Karno's name also reminds me of the word "carnage". So that seems like foreshadowing to me that something about this route would be up. That's probably the English major in me, I'm naturally suspicious about every story now.

However, one thing that (and this may be the only thing that I found really staring me in the face about this route) was the "star keychain" plot-thread. This is the "big secret" of the route I mentioned earlier. It's so obvious that it's the MC, and she just doesn't get it. Even when Leon asks her about it (as he clearly knows something), I was like...

C'mon MC, you can't be that clueless!

Other than this though, one unique thing stands out about Karno's route, and I feel like I might be alone on this, but like Huedhaut, and even Zyglavis, Teorus and Ichthys, I felt that Karno had really good development, character-wise. This might be due to this big "secret" plot-point with the star-keychain, or Karno's interest in humanity which stems from his wish to be human. Either way, something works to its advantage. I believed this story more than say, another route I've played in this game. Basically, I genuinely believed that Karno cared for the MC and that this care goes beyond just his guardianship for her.

Given this route is a second-round one, that's a big advantage for it.

Going along this, what also separates this route from the others is that unlike the others, this route focuses on just MC and Karno's relationship. There's more dialogue between just them, and this does a number for it. It really helps to cement the relationship. Normally, with past routes, there are brief points where this stops, on top of the rising action, where the other 12 gods are in the story. 

They're rarely if at all seen. With the exception of Leon, of course. But Leon's role is essential, I think to the story. Karno's life is a sad one, and ironic: his one wish to be human will never be granted. Just as he is prevented from granting the deepest wishes of others, specifically, those having to do with life/death. There's something poetic about that, that just speaks to me.

There is one point, later in the story (I believe after episodes 7-8) where the MC wakes up and Karno is gone from her life. Originally, because he doesn't  believe he can continue to make her smile, but also under orders of the King for disobeying an order to destroy two dark gods (two, I'm sorry, sexayyy hot dark gods, I digress), and there's nobody else the MC wants to guard her other than Karno. 

When Evil Strikes...

But they do decide to give her the gift of being alone, for a night to sort out her feelings. Which, is stupid. This is a scene I want to point out because it was literally the dumbest thing. In the past episodes, whenever MC is left alone, that's exactly when evil strikes.

And what the hell do you think happens? 

Why perfect route do you have to do this to me? 

This part I'm referring to isn't the first time either. Like it happened once before...in a bath. You think one would learn that the human ex-goddess cannot and should not be left alone until the Dark King and his buddies are killed.

Whatever, I suppose this is only a small, albeit annoying part of the route. Plus, I guess they needed some way to bring back Karno right? 

Yeah. Cuz' he left me halfway through this arc, in the most heartbreaking way. 

"What if I killed someone you love..."

"Please make me a promise..."

He leaves, but then one night after shows up to see you one last time. 

This part I actually felt the sadness. 

I think this part was actually the most heartfelt. Honestly, I just wanted to give him a hug or something. I wanted him to stay, and I even felt like I should tell him what he's done for MC outweighs really, any bad he has done. Not that I thought he did any, other than leaving MC.  But, like I said, the difference with this route is that you can actually feel the sadness, happiness, and agony, and in a realistic way. Zyglavis' route almost did this for me, but Karno's route took that step further. 

But he does leave, and then we return to MC being given the gift of being left alone (I'm skipping between two parts here). 

And, of course, the fuck do you think happens when she is? 

She's kidnapped (again). Only this time the other gods guarding her must have selective hearing or something because she was on a goddamn balcony in their goddamn house when this happened. 

C'est la vie. 

So Crow and Servillah, the two servants of the Dark King open and portal and take MC inside. 

There we find out...

Oh, okay. How generous of you...

As with another route I reviewed, the same premise. Dark King wants to resurrect himself and will do so using the MC's reincarnated goddess soul. They give her a purple potion that's supposed to extract the soul from her, but because of her unyielding hope that Karno will come for her, she doesn't die. It's just a lot of pain for her. 

The Dark King, angrily, is like...

How can this be???????

Not surprisingly, the Dark Gods decide if they want to get the soul, they have to make her go into "despair", by making her forget everything she loves and holds dear. Not gonna lie, I'm one of those people that enjoy the whole "forget-and-be-united-trick" so I was hoping they'd do that and Karno would arrive and be like "MC! NO! Don't you remember me?"

And then awesome chivalrous fighting would occur. That's why if I ever get published and you pick up a book of mine it usually has a sad ending. Or some "I have amnesia" trope. 

But no, that doesn't happen. Honestly, at this point, I was frowning, mainly out of confusion. I'm like uh...Karno where are you dude? He wasn't showing up, so I was getting afraid that the ending I would get wouldn't be a happy one. 

Thank god that didn't happen. I would've been so unhappy! 

FINALLY! YOU'RE LATE I ALMOST DIED. 

He shows up, and he asks if it's possible to alter one's destiny. You say that you know he can do it, and he fights the Dark King's minions, but the Dark King, still tied to MC's life essence, is still alive, so he opts to sacrifice himself to save MC. 

This isn't that point, but I love this CG. 

The other gods show up telling him to rethink this, but then he does it in a blinding flash of light. 

You wake up in the Heavens, and the gods, being the dicks they are, pull a "funny" on you, having to do with Karno's, um, sacrifice? Won't spoil but this was literally what I thought...

If you've played it, I think you know what I mean. 

Basically, if someone ever pulled that joke on me, I'd punch them in the face, because grief is not so funny. Even though it's not...ugh I promised I wouldn't spoil. But I guess Karno found it amusing to some degree because he was in on it. 

Then happy reunion! 

"The door opens with a squeak..."

Gee, I wonder who it is!!! 

Of course, we know who it is...

And then he takes you to a secluded spot away from the gods and King of Heaven (once you, of course, get his blessing). 

Oh, happy endings are nice!

You both confess to each other and share a nice kiss in the gardens under the stars!

That's the "Blessed Ending" at least, and I thought it was cute. 

My Rating 

Well, I know I tease this story a lot, and criticize it... a lot. But, as I've pointed out, for the most part, the parts that I did point out that were bad, aren't exactly giantly glaring flaws. On the contrary, they're just parts that made me question why they were there, or why they were happening, and to be fair, that's a "me" thing, I notice it's flaws, but on the whole, it was well-done. 

But like I said, Karno's greatest attribute is the reality of the situation, his character, and the reality of his love for the MC. It stands out to me as a good, strong, story. 

And so, for these reasons, Karno's story is a 4 Star story. It's good, solid, and it's worth buying. It doesn't rush itself, and it takes its time to develop into a good story. Definitely worth a buy, and possibly worth a look into his alternative stories respectively. 

Definitely, if you're interested in this app, give it a try! 

~Meghan