Love365, Star Crossed: Dui
Jan. 31st, 2020 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrSo the moment I clicked out of Tsukasa's route I was taken to the free game page, and realised another recced route has just become free! ...well, free with ads. But that's close enough to check it out. It's "free" until January 11th.
Star Crossed Myth is about romancing star-sign-themed gods. Dui is Gemini, and has a 'split personality'. The route is about him reconciling these two sides. One the one hand, it's about the least ableist depiction I've seen of an otome love interest with a Dark Mentally Ill Side, but on the other hand that's really not saying much.
Still, I overall enjoyed it! It's very sweet and compassionate in a tropey, simplistic sort of way.
How the "free with clip" thing works is that you watch an ad attached to the specific episode, and then you have the rest of the day to play that episode as many times as you like before it requires an ad to watch again. The ads are pretty short and I didn't find this too painful.
Content notes: brief mention of child abuse, tropey 'split personality' due to trauma including violence from the love interest towards the protagonist, gratuitous Homestuck references
I'm usually very iffy on "split personality" but don't mind so much when it's magic, as opposed to a tropey depiction of mental illness so am hoping it's related to him being a god rather than trauma etc (EDIT: nope). I can also be iffy on immortal romance if they're written as too human or as too dominant. So we'll see how I do.
There's two prologues, with half the love interests introduced in each! Dui's in Prologue 1 so let's play that.
...actually first let's change my name, I'm bored of being Rei. *looks up unisex Japanese names* hee, ok, let's go for Jun Wu, the head god from Heaven Official's Blessing. (Let's say her dad's family is Chinese :P)
MC loves the stars, has a telescope and star-chart in her room, and works at a planetarium. Nice. She wishes on a star that the sky will be clear for the Star Festival tomorrow.
Suddenly a bright light comes towards her out of the sky and six hot dudes appear in her room!! I love how the previous game spent ages setting up a complex emotional journey for the protagonist before organically introducing the love interests one by one, and this one is just ROCKS FALL HOT DUDES APPEAR.
They all seem very dismissive of humans. One declares her house a hovel and a bunch of them immediately leave out the fourth floor window. Which I like, it's always jarring when misanthropic characters stop to give strangers exposition.
MC: I'm calling the police.
Teorus: Lol, the police. We're gods.
"The princes of the stars", huh, is this aHomestuck constellation/star-sign thing? I wonder which one is Sagittarius, I bet it's one of the less appealing ones. They're divided into Derse and Prospit black and white groups by armband, but are otherwise wearing cheesy princely white and gold quasi-military outfits.
(Sorry, I am going to keep making references to the webcomic Homestuck, since it also has star-sign themed characters who call themselves gods but is otherwise so completely different in tone and plot etc that the contrast amuses me)
Huedhaut: Oh, you have stars in your eyes! You must come with us, it's your destiny.
When she refuses, the arrogantly skeezy Leon clicks his fingers and makes her float out the window. He says she needs to have faith and choose to follow him, then drops her!
She wakes in her bed.
MC: What a weird dream!
TV: No-one is sure about the cause of the mysterious light that-
MC: Don't have time for the news gotta check my horoscope! Ooh, a fateful encounter...
(She has no canon star-sign so let's say she's gemini)
She and her bff commiserate about how hard it is to see the stars in Tokyo. I think she's actually got a similar job to the one I used to do for a museum (with attached planetarium, though I didn't work in that part): a mix of customer service and science communication.
MC made a thing where people write down their wishes for the stars to grant.
Dui: You truly are a goddess. I'd like another chance to make a first impression, because I want your heart to belong to me and only me.
Scorpio: Gross. Look at your petty human wish, "I want something good to happen". I could grant that and much more. So come serve me.
MC: WAIT IT'S THE GUY WHO SAID MY HOUSE IS A HOVEL. But that was...a dream...??
Teorus: Hmmph, so you guys found her. If you want something wonderful to happen, how about this? *clicks his fingers and makes sparkling stardust fall*
Woman: Wow this planetarium is really going all out with the cosplay and special effects.
*is imagining Scorpio as Vriska crossed with Karkat*
Huh! Huedhaut knew her as a kid?? IS SHE A LOST PRINCESS?? I love how they manage to shoe-horn in at least one childhood friend into every game, no matter the premise. Also not sure how Huedhaut = Aquarius, I wonder if the original names were in English or if the translator is doing their best to try and turn made-up Japanese words into made-up English ones with similar implied meanings.
A kid is about to fall off the roof so MC grabs him...and falls! She calls out for a god to save her...BUT WHICH????
Ok lets go through the LIs. Ooh they have their names in Greek (or at least Greek letters), cute. They're all topless in jewelled gold collars which is certainly something. The ones from prologue 1 have all a "sin", there was a mention of them being exiled.
Prologue 1:
Leon: Leo. "Defiled a goddess". Arrogant and rapey.
Scorpio: Scorpio. "Used a forbidden power". Hates everyone, including himself, but especially humans.
Teorus: Taurus. "Craved love too much". Manipulative friendly sleaze.
Dui: Gemini. "Killing a god", nice. Thinks he is too evil to be loved.
Huedhaut: Aquarius. "Desecrating oneself for love". Composed, sees happiness as fleeting. MC sacrificed their love and precious days together.
Ichthys: Pisces. "Inappropriately extreme pranks". Hedonistic because he knows he is going to die.
Prologue 2:
Karno: Cancer. "The god who rejects godhood". Gentlemanly but self loathing.
Zyglavis: Libra. "The harsh god of the scales of justice". Coldly repressed and judgemental.
Aignorus: Capricorn. "An apathetic mellow god". Erases anything that might cause him pain.HELLO GAMZEE.
Krioff: Aries. "An antisocial god of destruction". Tsundere.
Tauxolouve: Sagittarius. "A mysterious god, known by no-one". Playboy with secret pain.
Partheno: Virgo. "A god who hides his true self behind a happy mask". Charming with hidden darkness.
...sigh. Sagittarius is always so boring in everything. And wtf kind of name is "Tauxolouve"?
Anyway, time for Dui episode 1! (Yes, I am reading it as D.U.I. half the time)
Dui wraps MC in his arms and she hears a click of fingers, then finds herself in a fancy room.
MC: Guess I died and went to heaven!
MC. COME ON.
The others appear, grumpily complaining that they can't use their powers without touching MC so it was shitty of Dui to vanish with her. Ah, but they can still fly.
Dui genuinely didn't know, but thanks MC for choosing him. She is a reincarnated goddess and the only one who can absolve them of their sins??
Scorpio: We're not hanging around because we like you, you're a tool we need to erase our marks.
Teorus: You don't have a right to refuse ^_^
MC: What sin did you commit, Dui?
Dui: :(
Scorpio: Omg human you can't just ask people what sin they committed!
Leon and Teorus call her 'goldfish' since she's like a short lived pet, and tell her to get to absolving. But she doesn't know how. Dui asks her to help him do his work while they try and figure out her goddess powers.
Ahaha this whole having to touch her to use his powers things is a great excuse for a lot of hugging and face touching.
Haa the ad I had to watch to get to the next episode crashed after like 2 seconds and I got shunted forward to Episode 2. No complaints here :D
I've been taking more assertive choices which seems to be heading me towards the "forbidden" ending versus the "blessed" one. But I can watch them both so, eh.
MC is embarrassed by how into Dui hugging her she is but pulls away.
Dui: I do surprising things all the time, you need to be on alert around me.
At work he sends her a telepathic message saying to meet with him that evening, and after work a little boy called Altair shows up saying "I work for Lord Dui and the other gods in the Department of Punishments." He flies her to the mansion, which has been disguised to look abandoned.
Ah, black armbands means Department of Punishments: Dui, Scorpio, and Ichthys
Dui takes her to a magic reflecting pool and shows a depressed widowed mother being violently upset at her kid.
MC: That's abuse :( Will you punish her?
Dui: Yes, but first I'll give her hope, to help set her back on the right path.
He apologises to the little boy, and says he needs to be strong so his sweet mother can return. The boy collapses with fever, and the mother comes back to her senses and calls an ambulance.
MC: Why didn't you punish the mother?
Dui: That wouldn't have fixed anything. Punishment should be about creating second chances. We've all made mistakes.
MC: Wow I thought divine punishment was all scary things like killing people!
Dui: That is one form it can take. But I don't think I could take someone's life just because they made one misstep. I believe humans have the strength to pick themselves up and start over again.
ok I'm iffy on that specific example but as a philosophy for a god in charge of divine punishment to have, I like it, especially since he has made a mistake himself. I wonder who he killed and why, if it was just Shadow Dui Being Evil that's kind of boring.
My one worry is that he's already pretty touchy feely so I hope Shadow Dui isn't too rapey.
MC: Humans are lucky to have a god like you.
Dui: You always see the best in people...what if I was a bad god, would you still work with me?
Just as I'm thinking he seems overly into her considering they've just met, he says he thinks all humans are innocent and cute. AH HE HAS A HUMAN FETISH OK THEN.
Omg it's an ad from a CHURCH
On a DATING SIM
ABOUT GODS
Dui likes staring into MC's eyes, admiring the "goddess marks" that look like stars, and she kind of maybe wishes he'd kiss her instead.
She's preparing a talk for primary school kids about the stars!!
MC hears scary noises and I have the choice to think of Dui, her bff, or her mother. WELL I'M PRETTY SURE THIS ISN'T AN INCEST AND/OR YURI SIM, SO.
He says she shouldn't worry but since she's scared he'll stay with her for a while. When the other gods ask if they'll have sex he clearly understands the question but evades it, and does the same when they allude to Shadow Dui. Ichthys reassures himself that "he" hasn't shown up in a while so everything will hopefully be ok...
Dui clears the Tokyo haze so MC can see the stars, and she talks about the myths of Gemini and the tragic love of their servants Vega and Altair. Dui laughs and says that's wrong but amusing: Vega works for the Department of Wishes, and while she and Altair aren't dating it's on the cards. He looks melancholy when she describes the myth of Gemini: twins were born, one human and one mortal, and then when the mortal died they were turned into stars so they could always be together.
He is 100% non-sexual as they share her bed, just holding her hand and saying everything will be fine. But he is VERY into holding her hand, and I'm not sure if him innocently checking if it bothers her is deliberately designed to make her feel like it would be lying/mean to say yes.
Another of the same ad, it's about how GOD LOVES SATURDAYS NOT SUNDAYS ACTUALLY which is an odd doctrinal choice to focus on for recruitment. I looked up the church and they think dating is a sin, lol. Not sure the players of a blasphemous pagan dating sim are your best bet, guys...
The school cancels her event because the parents think it's a waste of time, and she doesn't want to complain to Dui but he senses she's sad and gently encourages her to express her feelings of frustration, and cheers her up.
He says she makes him happy in a way he hasn't felt in a very long time.
Ok he is definitely flirting with her on purpose, noone sexily eats a cherry then ties a heart shaped knot in a cherry stem without meaning something by it. MC is super into it but telling herself not to misunderstand. Dude either ask her out or stop flirting so much the poor girl is going to die of UST.
They find the cause of the weird noises...a kitten! Thus far this route is not very deep but is pretty cute.
Oooooh. BUT THEN. MC gets a paper cut while helping Dui work and and he suddenly starts scarily asking who she is and why a human is in the Heavens and knows his name. She explains and he says "Oh ho, so I fell from grace!"
He's not rapey, just mean.
He looks at the list of helpful punishments Dui was planning on giving some mafia today and dismisses them as weak, saying "he" is always doing things like this. When MC protests at his plan to kill them all, he says humans are idealistic morons. She pushes him away so he can't use his powers, and he laughs and says she clearly wants to die. He holds her over the reflecting pool, half strangling her...and then collapses.
She calls for help, and Ichthys is pretty sweet about calming her down and explaining that Dui has a 'split personality' triggered by the sight of blood. Scorpio is...less awful than normal, which counts as sweet for him. He says he'll have to go back to supervising Dui, since he's the only one who can control Shadow Dui.
FINE SO IT IS TROPEY MENTAL ILLNESS AFTER ALL
They both tell her to avoid Dui and find a different God to erase the sin of, but she doesn't want to if she can help it.
Dui wakes up and immediately realises Shadow Dui must have shown up, but refuses to believe he tried to kill MC. But he still tells her to stay away from him. He didn't think this could happen on Earth, but now he knows it can he tells her to absolve someone else's sin.
Aww :(
MC: Why did he form a split personality?
Scorpio: If he wants you to know, he'll tell you. Gods have to live with our memories for hundreds of years. The darkness inside Dui has been eating inside him longer than a filthy human like you could fathom. No matter how strong your absurd, fleeting feelings are, you can't heal the darkness inside him.
*quietly headcanons Scorpio as having a crush on Dui*
A dating site ad! SEE, THIS MAKES SENSE.
MC regularly visits Dui. At first he refuses to respond, but then he's willing to talk through his door, and finally he lets her into his room. He asks, sad and confused, why she won't leave him alone.
MC: I think about you all the time, and and being told to leave you just makes me worry about you more.
Dui: You humans are such warm, simple creatures with such kind hearts...I've always admired the way you can turn your lives around, even when you make mistakes.
MC: What makes you think gods can't do that too? I know you sinned in the past, but I want to see you pick yourself up and move forward, and I want to help you, just like you helped me. I want to be your strength, like you were mine. So if it's alright, can you tell me about what's causing you so much pain?
He takes her up onto the roof to look at the stars, and says he's been thinking about her too. He asks to hold her hands to give himself the strength to tell her about his sin.
When Dui was young, he had a best friend he saw as a brother. But the friend ate 'the forbidden fruit' and went down the path of evil.
"The ministers who keep the rule of law in the heavens grew suspicious, and it was decided that an inquiry would be held"
What a delightfully East Asian bureaucratic approach to the chaotic mess that is European mythology lol.
If the truth came out the friend would be entombed for eternity. He was already in intense pain due to the evil eating away at him, and asked Dui to kill him, as his final wish. Afterwards, Dui developed the split personality due to trauma and Scorpio offered to watch over him. He was eventually exiled to Earth.
Dui: I think it was my young self's weakness that created him. I'm only half a god...the fact that part of me is that twisted scares me.
He keeps visiting and she notices dark circles under his eyes: nightmares about killing his friend have been keeping him awake. So she nuzzles close and pushes him down onto the bed, holding his hand and saying she'll help him feel safe like he did for her.
Go MC! Assertively snuggle your woobie!
He blushes and smiles and says he wants to stay like this with her forever. He falls asleep, and she looks at his calm, beautiful face and realises she's in love with him.
She strokes his hair and thinks "But love between a god and a human can't happen, can it?"
Shadow Dui is brought out...by spilled ketchup. He tells MC that Dui doesn't really like her, he's just using her, and she should go away and stop causing so much chaos in his heart. He tells her that Dui covered up that his friend had gone evil and told everyone they'd just had a fight, which is why he got banished.
Shadow Dui angrily says Dui is weak, and needs Shadow Dui, the one who takes care of his unwanted emotions and understands how he really feels. MC realises Shadow Dui really is part of Dui: a defence mechanism. She tries talking to him, which doesn't go great, and Scorpio knocks him out and tells her she's an idiot.
I like how Ichthys always politely tells MC he's going to touch her when he has to use his powers.
MC ponders why Dui collapsed by himself last time and wonders if it's because of seeing his reflection in the pool. Sure, his weaknesses are ketchup and his own reflection, why not. But MC wonders if repressing that part of himself is good for Dui in the long term.
Dui: Are you scared of me?
MC: No. I'm worried you'll run away from me again.
He hugs her, and quietly tells her he loves her. There is a VERY sweet scene where they both joyfully express their mutual affection and hug.
Just as they're about to kiss, Dui cries out in pain from his mark. He takes off his top to reveal the shape of a dark bird branded onto his back. He looks in the mirror and realises it's gotten lighter.
He gives her a protective goddess charm with a mirror on the back.
They go on a date and he's cutely self conscious at being stared at for being handsome, saying he'd rather only MC was interested in him. He gets endearingly excited about the existence of trains and giant TVs and MC is super into him "combining the mind of an adult with the purity of a child". That's not how I'd put it but he is pretty endearing.
Dui: YOU CAN MAKE PANCAKES? You're magical!
MC: Can't you make literally anything with your powers?
Dui: Right, I guess we're the same!
Shadow Dui shows up out of nowhere, saying it's easy when Dui is so happy.
MC: Are you going to kill me?
Shadow Dui: What? No, I'll look the other way and let you live as long as he's in love with you. I don't want to make the other guy sad.
Instead of using the reflection pool, he drags MC out to the city to punish in person, causing a car accident that would have killed a little kid if MC hadn't saved them.
HEY THIS BACKGROUND WAS USED IN "IN YOUR ARMS TONIGHT". I mean it's a generic alleyway, and everyone sharing a pool of common backgrounds explains why games will sometimes flip suddenly between genuinely nice art and "I made this in 5 minutes using Sketchup".
Shadow Dui is all "Noone died, what's your problem?" and MC holds the medallion in her hand, preparing to use it, but hoping to be able to persuade Shadow Dui to stop.
MC: Are you trying to hurt Dui?
Shadow Dui: I am Dui, why would I hurt myself?
MC: But you keep doing things that will get him in trouble.
Shadow Dui: I'm doing what he can't do, to help him!
You know as tropey depictions of mentally ill gods go, this is actually mildly nuanced.
MC: I don't think you're a heinous monster any more. I bet that with the other gods' help, you and other Dui could find a way to co-exist peacefully.
But he spots the mirror and says "Ha! You want to get rid of me like all the others!" He smashes it and it looks like he's about to kill her, but then Ichthys and Scorpio show up, having been notified by the Heavens of unscheduled punishments.
Damn, I keep having lines vanish, I can generally figure out what it was from context but it's annoying.
Scorpio and Shadow Dui taunt each other then get into a fight which Scorpio quickly wins. Ichthys says it's been decided that she'll erase his sin instead, so she should just leave Dui.
MC: But I love him :(
Ichthys: No, really? ;P But I guess we would look like jerks making you leave him. What do you say, Scorpio?
Scorpio: ...which Dui do you love, the normal Dui or that little thug?
MC: Both!
Scorpio, picking up the unconscious Dui: A stupid woman like you is perfect for this stupid brat. But you can't do anything to help him, so you don't get to decide what happens.
And she has to admit he has a point: all she's ever managed to do is flail and get rescued by Scorpio.
Ichthys tells her gather the pieces of broken pendant, saying he'll help her fix it, and says Scorpio doesn't hate anyone, he's just the one who has to take responsibility when rules get broken on Eareth.
He gives her the fixed medallion, now a necklace, and says he's rooting for her and Dui What a sweetie.
Ichthys and MC organise a fancy meal for all the gods with the help of Vega and Altair. I'm not sure how the psychology of immortal kids works but could still have done without Teorus implying Altair thinks Vega is sexy in an apron.
Shadow Dui appears just long enough to be grossed out by the pancake he's chewing, and Huedhaut says Dui seems to be destabilising as he flips back and forth a few more times.
Leon: I thought I'd have to put and end to this myself but at the rate he's switching he wont be able to make much trouble. Altair, tell the scorpion to clean up after his department's messes.
Haaa I thought Leon was being really rude here but Scorpio isn't at the party because he thinks human made food is gross. He grumpily shows up and tells MC it would be inconvenient if she died so she should let them take care of things.
And then Dui shows up at her door. He's sweetly apologetic and sad about having made her cry, and leans in for their first kiss...only to turn into Shadow Dui and laughingly start to strangle her. She fights her way free and he sees himself in her necklace, causing regular Dui to show up and realise with horror what he was doing.
Dui: I was going to kill someone I love...again...D: D:
(Yeah, that "best friend" was totally his boyfriend)
He says he has to take himself away from her and she rasps out No!!
MC: That wasn't you!
Dui: Yes it was. Deep down, a part of me hates you. You're so beautiful, body and soul. I think I'm jealous of that. I'm polluted, I will always be impure. I'm disgusted with myself. And I have to say goodbye.
He feels his mark change and MC checks and sees it's gotten darker.
Dui: The king is watching. He's telling me that those who hurt those they love don't deserve forgiveness. I must see him.
MC: Why?
But he just smiles sadly. He clicks his fingers and the door to her room opens to a strange place full of iridescent lights. MC gets a dark feeling that if she lets him go he'll never come back, but he temporarily paralyses her. Just as she's able to move again, the other gods show up and tell her it's not safe. It's not even safe out there for Dui: that's not the Heavens, it's an unstable space-time void that might connect to the Heavens.
Leon: If we leave this door open for him, anything could come through. Large numbers of goldfish might die.
But if it closes, he'll have no way back. She pulls herself free of the other gods and throws herself through the door.
And then I played to the end!
She finds herself in a disorienting void, and moves blindly through the darkness praying to find Dui. And she does!
He's horrified to see her: he failed to connect to the Heavens and is trapped here. He didn't mind before, because his plan was to ask the King for death, and he can feel himself fading into non-existence here. But he doesn't want her to be hurt, and tries to give her his powers so she will be sent back to Earth.
MC: But I don't want you to die! The other gods don't either!
Dui: One person wants it to happen: me. And the other me surely wants to be rid of me too. All I've ever done is cause him pain, making him carry all the sadness I couldn't deal with.
MC: No! He wants to protect you and keep you safe!
Shadow Dui appears, and does indeed think Dui should survive, but his plan is to sacrifice himself, since he's decided he only causes trouble for his other self.
MC hugs him and says he can't go, that she loves them both. Shadow Dui is disbelieving at first, but then hugs her back, saying she's the first person in all this time to value him and not just the other Dui. Dui flips back and forth, in conversation with himself, and finally is able to reconcile himself with himself.
There is a flash of light, and Dui becomes supernaturally beautiful as his true, complete, godly self. He takes MC's hand and pulls her with him towards the light, and the Heavens.
Blessed Ending:
The King, who looks like a Tolkein elf with a shady smile, tells Dui that by hiding the truth from everyone, he covered up the real crime: someone caused his friend to turn evil. I think it was the King himself, based purely on his creepy smile, look at this guy:
Anyway: Dui wasn't banished for the mercy killing, he was banished for his refusal to face the truth and his own nature. And now his sin is erased and it's time to move on from the past.
Dui goes back to MC's house with her. He's still very sweet and affectionate, much more regular Dui than Shadow, but when she is clearly thinking about sex he teases her until she blushes and gets annoyed, and says her angry face is cute. They kiss and it is really sweet.
Forbidden Ending:
Dui's boss Zyglavis says he left without MC, as a surprisingly calm Shadow Dui. Ah, so the two personalities are still distinct, just more at peace with each other. She's worried he left without her but he's just outside looking at the stars.
Shadow Dui: Lol did you think I left without you?
MC: No >.>
Shasdow Dui: Are these the stars you're used to?
MC: They should be...but there's so many more that it's hard to tell.
Shadow Dui: They're the same. All these stars are always there, you humans just can't see most of them.
MC: Like you, always there watching over Dui :)
Shadow Dui: *grumpy blush* If you keep spouting off like this I won't be responsible for what happens.
He gently brushes a hand through her hair and she says "You really are Dui". He grumpily blushes again and she thinks "I can't believe I ever found him scary".
I mean. He did try to kill you. Several times.
That said, Shadow Dui having learned to connect more with regular Dui makes it feel less like "just be patient and loving and your boyfriend will stop trying to kill you", which is not my favourite dynamic.
Shadow Dui: ...weirdo. So how do you feel about me?
MC: Um. (If he finds out I confessed to other Dui first he'll get angry) How do you feel about ME?
Shadow Dui: You want to know? :D *he kisses her*
MC: HEY! NO KISSING OUT OF NOWHERE!
Shadow Dui: Pfft, you wanted me to kiss you, it was written all over your face.
But then she realises this is his way of saying he loves her.
Shadow Dui: Your eyes are like the stars Dui used to look at from here.
MC: You remember that?
Shadow Dui: We used to be one person, remember? And now we are again. So don't worry.
They lie down next to each other in the meadow.
Shadow Dui: You're like a star, beautiful but distant. You're out of reach, which makes me more desperate to make you mine and only mine. ...lol you are so into that.
MC: yes >.>
Shadow Dui: Now tell me how you feel, or I'll never talk about my feelings again!
So she does and it's very cute.
I'm really glad I saw both of those! The two endings structure works really well for Dui, since looking back, tsundere and assertive answers lead to Shadow Dui and passive/kind ones to regular Dui.
Lol looks like the epilogue is the two of them fighting over her, but I'm not paying $3 for 3 episodes. Probably.
Star Crossed Myth is about romancing star-sign-themed gods. Dui is Gemini, and has a 'split personality'. The route is about him reconciling these two sides. One the one hand, it's about the least ableist depiction I've seen of an otome love interest with a Dark Mentally Ill Side, but on the other hand that's really not saying much.
Still, I overall enjoyed it! It's very sweet and compassionate in a tropey, simplistic sort of way.
How the "free with clip" thing works is that you watch an ad attached to the specific episode, and then you have the rest of the day to play that episode as many times as you like before it requires an ad to watch again. The ads are pretty short and I didn't find this too painful.
Content notes: brief mention of child abuse, tropey 'split personality' due to trauma including violence from the love interest towards the protagonist, gratuitous Homestuck references
I'm usually very iffy on "split personality" but don't mind so much when it's magic, as opposed to a tropey depiction of mental illness so am hoping it's related to him being a god rather than trauma etc (EDIT: nope). I can also be iffy on immortal romance if they're written as too human or as too dominant. So we'll see how I do.
There's two prologues, with half the love interests introduced in each! Dui's in Prologue 1 so let's play that.
...actually first let's change my name, I'm bored of being Rei. *looks up unisex Japanese names* hee, ok, let's go for Jun Wu, the head god from Heaven Official's Blessing. (Let's say her dad's family is Chinese :P)
MC loves the stars, has a telescope and star-chart in her room, and works at a planetarium. Nice. She wishes on a star that the sky will be clear for the Star Festival tomorrow.
Suddenly a bright light comes towards her out of the sky and six hot dudes appear in her room!! I love how the previous game spent ages setting up a complex emotional journey for the protagonist before organically introducing the love interests one by one, and this one is just ROCKS FALL HOT DUDES APPEAR.
They all seem very dismissive of humans. One declares her house a hovel and a bunch of them immediately leave out the fourth floor window. Which I like, it's always jarring when misanthropic characters stop to give strangers exposition.
MC: I'm calling the police.
Teorus: Lol, the police. We're gods.
"The princes of the stars", huh, is this a
(Sorry, I am going to keep making references to the webcomic Homestuck, since it also has star-sign themed characters who call themselves gods but is otherwise so completely different in tone and plot etc that the contrast amuses me)
Huedhaut: Oh, you have stars in your eyes! You must come with us, it's your destiny.
When she refuses, the arrogantly skeezy Leon clicks his fingers and makes her float out the window. He says she needs to have faith and choose to follow him, then drops her!
She wakes in her bed.
MC: What a weird dream!
TV: No-one is sure about the cause of the mysterious light that-
MC: Don't have time for the news gotta check my horoscope! Ooh, a fateful encounter...
(She has no canon star-sign so let's say she's gemini)
She and her bff commiserate about how hard it is to see the stars in Tokyo. I think she's actually got a similar job to the one I used to do for a museum (with attached planetarium, though I didn't work in that part): a mix of customer service and science communication.
MC made a thing where people write down their wishes for the stars to grant.
Dui: You truly are a goddess. I'd like another chance to make a first impression, because I want your heart to belong to me and only me.
Scorpio: Gross. Look at your petty human wish, "I want something good to happen". I could grant that and much more. So come serve me.
MC: WAIT IT'S THE GUY WHO SAID MY HOUSE IS A HOVEL. But that was...a dream...??
Teorus: Hmmph, so you guys found her. If you want something wonderful to happen, how about this? *clicks his fingers and makes sparkling stardust fall*
Woman: Wow this planetarium is really going all out with the cosplay and special effects.
*is imagining Scorpio as Vriska crossed with Karkat*
Huh! Huedhaut knew her as a kid?? IS SHE A LOST PRINCESS?? I love how they manage to shoe-horn in at least one childhood friend into every game, no matter the premise. Also not sure how Huedhaut = Aquarius, I wonder if the original names were in English or if the translator is doing their best to try and turn made-up Japanese words into made-up English ones with similar implied meanings.
A kid is about to fall off the roof so MC grabs him...and falls! She calls out for a god to save her...BUT WHICH????
Ok lets go through the LIs. Ooh they have their names in Greek (or at least Greek letters), cute. They're all topless in jewelled gold collars which is certainly something. The ones from prologue 1 have all a "sin", there was a mention of them being exiled.
Prologue 1:
Leon: Leo. "Defiled a goddess". Arrogant and rapey.
Scorpio: Scorpio. "Used a forbidden power". Hates everyone, including himself, but especially humans.
Teorus: Taurus. "Craved love too much". Manipulative friendly sleaze.
Dui: Gemini. "Killing a god", nice. Thinks he is too evil to be loved.
Huedhaut: Aquarius. "Desecrating oneself for love". Composed, sees happiness as fleeting. MC sacrificed their love and precious days together.
Ichthys: Pisces. "Inappropriately extreme pranks". Hedonistic because he knows he is going to die.
Prologue 2:
Karno: Cancer. "The god who rejects godhood". Gentlemanly but self loathing.
Zyglavis: Libra. "The harsh god of the scales of justice". Coldly repressed and judgemental.
Aignorus: Capricorn. "An apathetic mellow god". Erases anything that might cause him pain.
Krioff: Aries. "An antisocial god of destruction". Tsundere.
Tauxolouve: Sagittarius. "A mysterious god, known by no-one". Playboy with secret pain.
Partheno: Virgo. "A god who hides his true self behind a happy mask". Charming with hidden darkness.
...sigh. Sagittarius is always so boring in everything. And wtf kind of name is "Tauxolouve"?
Anyway, time for Dui episode 1! (Yes, I am reading it as D.U.I. half the time)
Dui wraps MC in his arms and she hears a click of fingers, then finds herself in a fancy room.
MC: Guess I died and went to heaven!
MC. COME ON.
The others appear, grumpily complaining that they can't use their powers without touching MC so it was shitty of Dui to vanish with her. Ah, but they can still fly.
Dui genuinely didn't know, but thanks MC for choosing him. She is a reincarnated goddess and the only one who can absolve them of their sins??
Scorpio: We're not hanging around because we like you, you're a tool we need to erase our marks.
Teorus: You don't have a right to refuse ^_^
MC: What sin did you commit, Dui?
Dui: :(
Scorpio: Omg human you can't just ask people what sin they committed!
Leon and Teorus call her 'goldfish' since she's like a short lived pet, and tell her to get to absolving. But she doesn't know how. Dui asks her to help him do his work while they try and figure out her goddess powers.
Ahaha this whole having to touch her to use his powers things is a great excuse for a lot of hugging and face touching.
Haa the ad I had to watch to get to the next episode crashed after like 2 seconds and I got shunted forward to Episode 2. No complaints here :D
I've been taking more assertive choices which seems to be heading me towards the "forbidden" ending versus the "blessed" one. But I can watch them both so, eh.
MC is embarrassed by how into Dui hugging her she is but pulls away.
Dui: I do surprising things all the time, you need to be on alert around me.
At work he sends her a telepathic message saying to meet with him that evening, and after work a little boy called Altair shows up saying "I work for Lord Dui and the other gods in the Department of Punishments." He flies her to the mansion, which has been disguised to look abandoned.
Ah, black armbands means Department of Punishments: Dui, Scorpio, and Ichthys
Dui takes her to a magic reflecting pool and shows a depressed widowed mother being violently upset at her kid.
MC: That's abuse :( Will you punish her?
Dui: Yes, but first I'll give her hope, to help set her back on the right path.
He apologises to the little boy, and says he needs to be strong so his sweet mother can return. The boy collapses with fever, and the mother comes back to her senses and calls an ambulance.
MC: Why didn't you punish the mother?
Dui: That wouldn't have fixed anything. Punishment should be about creating second chances. We've all made mistakes.
MC: Wow I thought divine punishment was all scary things like killing people!
Dui: That is one form it can take. But I don't think I could take someone's life just because they made one misstep. I believe humans have the strength to pick themselves up and start over again.
ok I'm iffy on that specific example but as a philosophy for a god in charge of divine punishment to have, I like it, especially since he has made a mistake himself. I wonder who he killed and why, if it was just Shadow Dui Being Evil that's kind of boring.
My one worry is that he's already pretty touchy feely so I hope Shadow Dui isn't too rapey.
MC: Humans are lucky to have a god like you.
Dui: You always see the best in people...what if I was a bad god, would you still work with me?
Just as I'm thinking he seems overly into her considering they've just met, he says he thinks all humans are innocent and cute. AH HE HAS A HUMAN FETISH OK THEN.
Omg it's an ad from a CHURCH
On a DATING SIM
ABOUT GODS
Dui likes staring into MC's eyes, admiring the "goddess marks" that look like stars, and she kind of maybe wishes he'd kiss her instead.
She's preparing a talk for primary school kids about the stars!!
MC hears scary noises and I have the choice to think of Dui, her bff, or her mother. WELL I'M PRETTY SURE THIS ISN'T AN INCEST AND/OR YURI SIM, SO.
He says she shouldn't worry but since she's scared he'll stay with her for a while. When the other gods ask if they'll have sex he clearly understands the question but evades it, and does the same when they allude to Shadow Dui. Ichthys reassures himself that "he" hasn't shown up in a while so everything will hopefully be ok...
Dui clears the Tokyo haze so MC can see the stars, and she talks about the myths of Gemini and the tragic love of their servants Vega and Altair. Dui laughs and says that's wrong but amusing: Vega works for the Department of Wishes, and while she and Altair aren't dating it's on the cards. He looks melancholy when she describes the myth of Gemini: twins were born, one human and one mortal, and then when the mortal died they were turned into stars so they could always be together.
He is 100% non-sexual as they share her bed, just holding her hand and saying everything will be fine. But he is VERY into holding her hand, and I'm not sure if him innocently checking if it bothers her is deliberately designed to make her feel like it would be lying/mean to say yes.
Another of the same ad, it's about how GOD LOVES SATURDAYS NOT SUNDAYS ACTUALLY which is an odd doctrinal choice to focus on for recruitment. I looked up the church and they think dating is a sin, lol. Not sure the players of a blasphemous pagan dating sim are your best bet, guys...
The school cancels her event because the parents think it's a waste of time, and she doesn't want to complain to Dui but he senses she's sad and gently encourages her to express her feelings of frustration, and cheers her up.
He says she makes him happy in a way he hasn't felt in a very long time.
Ok he is definitely flirting with her on purpose, noone sexily eats a cherry then ties a heart shaped knot in a cherry stem without meaning something by it. MC is super into it but telling herself not to misunderstand. Dude either ask her out or stop flirting so much the poor girl is going to die of UST.
They find the cause of the weird noises...a kitten! Thus far this route is not very deep but is pretty cute.
Oooooh. BUT THEN. MC gets a paper cut while helping Dui work and and he suddenly starts scarily asking who she is and why a human is in the Heavens and knows his name. She explains and he says "Oh ho, so I fell from grace!"
He's not rapey, just mean.
He looks at the list of helpful punishments Dui was planning on giving some mafia today and dismisses them as weak, saying "he" is always doing things like this. When MC protests at his plan to kill them all, he says humans are idealistic morons. She pushes him away so he can't use his powers, and he laughs and says she clearly wants to die. He holds her over the reflecting pool, half strangling her...and then collapses.
She calls for help, and Ichthys is pretty sweet about calming her down and explaining that Dui has a 'split personality' triggered by the sight of blood. Scorpio is...less awful than normal, which counts as sweet for him. He says he'll have to go back to supervising Dui, since he's the only one who can control Shadow Dui.
FINE SO IT IS TROPEY MENTAL ILLNESS AFTER ALL
They both tell her to avoid Dui and find a different God to erase the sin of, but she doesn't want to if she can help it.
Dui wakes up and immediately realises Shadow Dui must have shown up, but refuses to believe he tried to kill MC. But he still tells her to stay away from him. He didn't think this could happen on Earth, but now he knows it can he tells her to absolve someone else's sin.
Aww :(
MC: Why did he form a split personality?
Scorpio: If he wants you to know, he'll tell you. Gods have to live with our memories for hundreds of years. The darkness inside Dui has been eating inside him longer than a filthy human like you could fathom. No matter how strong your absurd, fleeting feelings are, you can't heal the darkness inside him.
*quietly headcanons Scorpio as having a crush on Dui*
A dating site ad! SEE, THIS MAKES SENSE.
MC regularly visits Dui. At first he refuses to respond, but then he's willing to talk through his door, and finally he lets her into his room. He asks, sad and confused, why she won't leave him alone.
MC: I think about you all the time, and and being told to leave you just makes me worry about you more.
Dui: You humans are such warm, simple creatures with such kind hearts...I've always admired the way you can turn your lives around, even when you make mistakes.
MC: What makes you think gods can't do that too? I know you sinned in the past, but I want to see you pick yourself up and move forward, and I want to help you, just like you helped me. I want to be your strength, like you were mine. So if it's alright, can you tell me about what's causing you so much pain?
He takes her up onto the roof to look at the stars, and says he's been thinking about her too. He asks to hold her hands to give himself the strength to tell her about his sin.
When Dui was young, he had a best friend he saw as a brother. But the friend ate 'the forbidden fruit' and went down the path of evil.
"The ministers who keep the rule of law in the heavens grew suspicious, and it was decided that an inquiry would be held"
What a delightfully East Asian bureaucratic approach to the chaotic mess that is European mythology lol.
If the truth came out the friend would be entombed for eternity. He was already in intense pain due to the evil eating away at him, and asked Dui to kill him, as his final wish. Afterwards, Dui developed the split personality due to trauma and Scorpio offered to watch over him. He was eventually exiled to Earth.
Dui: I think it was my young self's weakness that created him. I'm only half a god...the fact that part of me is that twisted scares me.
He keeps visiting and she notices dark circles under his eyes: nightmares about killing his friend have been keeping him awake. So she nuzzles close and pushes him down onto the bed, holding his hand and saying she'll help him feel safe like he did for her.
Go MC! Assertively snuggle your woobie!
He blushes and smiles and says he wants to stay like this with her forever. He falls asleep, and she looks at his calm, beautiful face and realises she's in love with him.
She strokes his hair and thinks "But love between a god and a human can't happen, can it?"
Shadow Dui is brought out...by spilled ketchup. He tells MC that Dui doesn't really like her, he's just using her, and she should go away and stop causing so much chaos in his heart. He tells her that Dui covered up that his friend had gone evil and told everyone they'd just had a fight, which is why he got banished.
Shadow Dui angrily says Dui is weak, and needs Shadow Dui, the one who takes care of his unwanted emotions and understands how he really feels. MC realises Shadow Dui really is part of Dui: a defence mechanism. She tries talking to him, which doesn't go great, and Scorpio knocks him out and tells her she's an idiot.
I like how Ichthys always politely tells MC he's going to touch her when he has to use his powers.
MC ponders why Dui collapsed by himself last time and wonders if it's because of seeing his reflection in the pool. Sure, his weaknesses are ketchup and his own reflection, why not. But MC wonders if repressing that part of himself is good for Dui in the long term.
Dui: Are you scared of me?
MC: No. I'm worried you'll run away from me again.
He hugs her, and quietly tells her he loves her. There is a VERY sweet scene where they both joyfully express their mutual affection and hug.
Just as they're about to kiss, Dui cries out in pain from his mark. He takes off his top to reveal the shape of a dark bird branded onto his back. He looks in the mirror and realises it's gotten lighter.
He gives her a protective goddess charm with a mirror on the back.
They go on a date and he's cutely self conscious at being stared at for being handsome, saying he'd rather only MC was interested in him. He gets endearingly excited about the existence of trains and giant TVs and MC is super into him "combining the mind of an adult with the purity of a child". That's not how I'd put it but he is pretty endearing.
Dui: YOU CAN MAKE PANCAKES? You're magical!
MC: Can't you make literally anything with your powers?
Dui: Right, I guess we're the same!
Shadow Dui shows up out of nowhere, saying it's easy when Dui is so happy.
MC: Are you going to kill me?
Shadow Dui: What? No, I'll look the other way and let you live as long as he's in love with you. I don't want to make the other guy sad.
Instead of using the reflection pool, he drags MC out to the city to punish in person, causing a car accident that would have killed a little kid if MC hadn't saved them.
HEY THIS BACKGROUND WAS USED IN "IN YOUR ARMS TONIGHT". I mean it's a generic alleyway, and everyone sharing a pool of common backgrounds explains why games will sometimes flip suddenly between genuinely nice art and "I made this in 5 minutes using Sketchup".
Shadow Dui is all "Noone died, what's your problem?" and MC holds the medallion in her hand, preparing to use it, but hoping to be able to persuade Shadow Dui to stop.
MC: Are you trying to hurt Dui?
Shadow Dui: I am Dui, why would I hurt myself?
MC: But you keep doing things that will get him in trouble.
Shadow Dui: I'm doing what he can't do, to help him!
You know as tropey depictions of mentally ill gods go, this is actually mildly nuanced.
MC: I don't think you're a heinous monster any more. I bet that with the other gods' help, you and other Dui could find a way to co-exist peacefully.
But he spots the mirror and says "Ha! You want to get rid of me like all the others!" He smashes it and it looks like he's about to kill her, but then Ichthys and Scorpio show up, having been notified by the Heavens of unscheduled punishments.
Damn, I keep having lines vanish, I can generally figure out what it was from context but it's annoying.
Scorpio and Shadow Dui taunt each other then get into a fight which Scorpio quickly wins. Ichthys says it's been decided that she'll erase his sin instead, so she should just leave Dui.
MC: But I love him :(
Ichthys: No, really? ;P But I guess we would look like jerks making you leave him. What do you say, Scorpio?
Scorpio: ...which Dui do you love, the normal Dui or that little thug?
MC: Both!
Scorpio, picking up the unconscious Dui: A stupid woman like you is perfect for this stupid brat. But you can't do anything to help him, so you don't get to decide what happens.
And she has to admit he has a point: all she's ever managed to do is flail and get rescued by Scorpio.
Ichthys tells her gather the pieces of broken pendant, saying he'll help her fix it, and says Scorpio doesn't hate anyone, he's just the one who has to take responsibility when rules get broken on Eareth.
He gives her the fixed medallion, now a necklace, and says he's rooting for her and Dui What a sweetie.
Ichthys and MC organise a fancy meal for all the gods with the help of Vega and Altair. I'm not sure how the psychology of immortal kids works but could still have done without Teorus implying Altair thinks Vega is sexy in an apron.
Shadow Dui appears just long enough to be grossed out by the pancake he's chewing, and Huedhaut says Dui seems to be destabilising as he flips back and forth a few more times.
Leon: I thought I'd have to put and end to this myself but at the rate he's switching he wont be able to make much trouble. Altair, tell the scorpion to clean up after his department's messes.
Haaa I thought Leon was being really rude here but Scorpio isn't at the party because he thinks human made food is gross. He grumpily shows up and tells MC it would be inconvenient if she died so she should let them take care of things.
And then Dui shows up at her door. He's sweetly apologetic and sad about having made her cry, and leans in for their first kiss...only to turn into Shadow Dui and laughingly start to strangle her. She fights her way free and he sees himself in her necklace, causing regular Dui to show up and realise with horror what he was doing.
Dui: I was going to kill someone I love...again...D: D:
(Yeah, that "best friend" was totally his boyfriend)
He says he has to take himself away from her and she rasps out No!!
MC: That wasn't you!
Dui: Yes it was. Deep down, a part of me hates you. You're so beautiful, body and soul. I think I'm jealous of that. I'm polluted, I will always be impure. I'm disgusted with myself. And I have to say goodbye.
He feels his mark change and MC checks and sees it's gotten darker.
Dui: The king is watching. He's telling me that those who hurt those they love don't deserve forgiveness. I must see him.
MC: Why?
But he just smiles sadly. He clicks his fingers and the door to her room opens to a strange place full of iridescent lights. MC gets a dark feeling that if she lets him go he'll never come back, but he temporarily paralyses her. Just as she's able to move again, the other gods show up and tell her it's not safe. It's not even safe out there for Dui: that's not the Heavens, it's an unstable space-time void that might connect to the Heavens.
Leon: If we leave this door open for him, anything could come through. Large numbers of goldfish might die.
But if it closes, he'll have no way back. She pulls herself free of the other gods and throws herself through the door.
And then I played to the end!
She finds herself in a disorienting void, and moves blindly through the darkness praying to find Dui. And she does!
He's horrified to see her: he failed to connect to the Heavens and is trapped here. He didn't mind before, because his plan was to ask the King for death, and he can feel himself fading into non-existence here. But he doesn't want her to be hurt, and tries to give her his powers so she will be sent back to Earth.
MC: But I don't want you to die! The other gods don't either!
Dui: One person wants it to happen: me. And the other me surely wants to be rid of me too. All I've ever done is cause him pain, making him carry all the sadness I couldn't deal with.
MC: No! He wants to protect you and keep you safe!
Shadow Dui appears, and does indeed think Dui should survive, but his plan is to sacrifice himself, since he's decided he only causes trouble for his other self.
MC hugs him and says he can't go, that she loves them both. Shadow Dui is disbelieving at first, but then hugs her back, saying she's the first person in all this time to value him and not just the other Dui. Dui flips back and forth, in conversation with himself, and finally is able to reconcile himself with himself.
There is a flash of light, and Dui becomes supernaturally beautiful as his true, complete, godly self. He takes MC's hand and pulls her with him towards the light, and the Heavens.
Blessed Ending:
The King, who looks like a Tolkein elf with a shady smile, tells Dui that by hiding the truth from everyone, he covered up the real crime: someone caused his friend to turn evil. I think it was the King himself, based purely on his creepy smile, look at this guy:
Anyway: Dui wasn't banished for the mercy killing, he was banished for his refusal to face the truth and his own nature. And now his sin is erased and it's time to move on from the past.
Dui goes back to MC's house with her. He's still very sweet and affectionate, much more regular Dui than Shadow, but when she is clearly thinking about sex he teases her until she blushes and gets annoyed, and says her angry face is cute. They kiss and it is really sweet.
Forbidden Ending:
Dui's boss Zyglavis says he left without MC, as a surprisingly calm Shadow Dui. Ah, so the two personalities are still distinct, just more at peace with each other. She's worried he left without her but he's just outside looking at the stars.
Shadow Dui: Lol did you think I left without you?
MC: No >.>
Shasdow Dui: Are these the stars you're used to?
MC: They should be...but there's so many more that it's hard to tell.
Shadow Dui: They're the same. All these stars are always there, you humans just can't see most of them.
MC: Like you, always there watching over Dui :)
Shadow Dui: *grumpy blush* If you keep spouting off like this I won't be responsible for what happens.
He gently brushes a hand through her hair and she says "You really are Dui". He grumpily blushes again and she thinks "I can't believe I ever found him scary".
I mean. He did try to kill you. Several times.
That said, Shadow Dui having learned to connect more with regular Dui makes it feel less like "just be patient and loving and your boyfriend will stop trying to kill you", which is not my favourite dynamic.
Shadow Dui: ...weirdo. So how do you feel about me?
MC: Um. (If he finds out I confessed to other Dui first he'll get angry) How do you feel about ME?
Shadow Dui: You want to know? :D *he kisses her*
MC: HEY! NO KISSING OUT OF NOWHERE!
Shadow Dui: Pfft, you wanted me to kiss you, it was written all over your face.
But then she realises this is his way of saying he loves her.
Shadow Dui: Your eyes are like the stars Dui used to look at from here.
MC: You remember that?
Shadow Dui: We used to be one person, remember? And now we are again. So don't worry.
They lie down next to each other in the meadow.
Shadow Dui: You're like a star, beautiful but distant. You're out of reach, which makes me more desperate to make you mine and only mine. ...lol you are so into that.
MC: yes >.>
Shadow Dui: Now tell me how you feel, or I'll never talk about my feelings again!
So she does and it's very cute.
I'm really glad I saw both of those! The two endings structure works really well for Dui, since looking back, tsundere and assertive answers lead to Shadow Dui and passive/kind ones to regular Dui.
Lol looks like the epilogue is the two of them fighting over her, but I'm not paying $3 for 3 episodes. Probably.
