So I’ve been waiting for this joseimuke for awhile now and that’s thanks to a few mutuals on Twitter who post screenshots of gameplay often, the card graphics and small story clips just drew me in but was pretty bummed to find out that it wasn’t available for me yet. In fact there’s an entire Tumblr dedicated to translating this game into English but methinks Mihoyo finally got the hint and decided to have an official English Twitter to announce it’s closed beta test!
This marks Tears of Themis as their first otome title but this is not even close to their first game; a few notable titles being Honkai Impact 3rd and their newer title Genshin Impact that released in 2020. I’ll admit that Genshin has me addicted as well because of the great story building, character development, lovable characters and involved battle system. Have I also mentioned how freaking fine Kaeya is? OKAYokayokay. Focus.
Tears of Themis is a detective themed otome which revolves around our heroine who walks the path of an attorney. With the help of her colleagues, old and new (also devastatingly handsome) friends, she hopes to uphold justice one case at a time! But will love and work threaten to tip the scales of her personal balance?
STORY
“Stellis, a city that rose from the clash of civilizations. Modern tech has given it its radiant neon lights but also cast long shadows of obscurity. Lately, there has been an abnormal increase in the number of mental illness cases as well as incidents that threaten Stellis’ social security. Many gentle and good people of Stellis have somehow grown violent and volatile. These incidents may have been recorded, but they are often drowned out in a flood of data. Yet someone took notice of them and compiled them for detailed analysis.
Codenamed “X-NOTE”, the project aims to peel away layers of obscuring data and reveal the hidden truth beneath. When all is put on the scales of the law before Lady Justice, you will be the one to weigh their crimes in the balance.”
Court intrigue is my favorite kind of drama. There’s just something so exciting about watching people actively debate in a courtroom while someone’s innocence hangs in the balance- probably why I watched so much Law & Order as a kid. Now I can have both! My courtroom drama and steamy romances in one beautifully made game which recently went under a closed beta from May 8th-18th. It’s barely been 24 hours and I’m already getting getting withdrawals…!
I was one of the fortunate who was able to play and to respect Mihoyo’s wish for privacy, sharing anything storyline related is prohibited so what you’ll be seeing is gameplay related screenshots, pictures provided already from the official Tears of Themis Twitter with possible blurred out text to prevent anything from being speculated. For those of you who enjoyed the closed beta with me – please avoid sharing any details in order to not spoil someone else’s future experience with the game!
Without further ado let’s introduce our cast!
CHARACTERS
“A top attorney with a 99% win rate who’s rarely ever lost in his entire career. His expertise runs across a wide range of fields, truly a display of his elite status amongst his peers. The standard to which he holds himself to is unimaginable. He only accepts the best effort of himself, never letting up. He can remain calm and logical at all times, which makes him not a big fan of those around him. The media jokingly calls him an emotionless robot defense attorney. Little do they know, this is because Artem has grown used to suppressing his emotions and impulses. No one can even begin to imagine the kind of past he bears…”
TLDR~ Soft tsundere central. Comparing him to a character from Mr. Love, he’d definitely relate the most to Victor but dare I say almost better? gasp! Artem doesn’t hold that same childish snobbery and doesn’t hesitate to offer emotional support to our MC, making it easier for me to be drawn to him. Not that I’ve anything against Victor! He’s a great character too but ohhhhhh boy did he make me wanna throw hands. Call me dummy again, punk!
“An heir to a massive corporation who yearns for freedom, whose ways are always out of the ordinary, and who never follow the rules. Marius has a carefree and rebellious playboy public image, all to hide his true self. This is also the reason why the public doubts whether he is capable of inheriting and leading such a vast family corporation.
Born into the epicenter of the struggles of power. Marius grew tired of the endless scheming and politics. It’s an unescapable masquerade ball, and all Marius hopes for is for him to never find his ball partner and let him be the only one that gets sucked into this bottomless abyss.”
TLDR~ There’s actually no one who I can compare his likeness to from MLQC. He’s very playful and insufferably cheeky but I think that adds to his flirty charm but sometimes the conversations make me feel pretty old, maybe that’s because his character calls us Missy but his JP VA says onee-chan (which I’ve always thought meant big sister?) EDIT: Actually no, I take that back – he’s totally Shaw. I’m not sure why I spaced out on the comparisons.
“A psychiatrist who can see through all forms of disguises and turned down many job invitations to become a psychiatrist in Stellis City. He has an elegant vibe and nothing seems to be of challenge to him. Those around him feel at ease and naturally open up to him, displaying their truest self. However, as someone who always observed the volatile human emotions from the outside, Vyn never expected himself to become one with the same emotions.”
TLDR~ His suave, calm and calculated approach to things gives me such distinctive Lucien vibes, I absolutely love it. At first it wasn’t really decided who my favorite was going to be but after finishing the beta, I can confidently say now that he’s the one for me. That’s him, Your Honour! Take me away!
“An outgoing private detective who brings light and hope to everyone around him. He’s able to complete all kinds of jobs without breaking a sweat. Tracking, sniping, combat, tactical driving, and wilderness survival…
There’s almost nothing he’s not good at… all except for expressing his feelings to the girl he grew up with. After reunited after many years of separation, deep down, Luke is still the same old cheery but shy boy.”
TLDR~ He is absolute sunshine! If I had to help describe his character without spoiling anything, I’d compare him to Kiro from Mr. Love Queen’s Choice. Upbeat, friendly but very hardworking.
GAMEPLAY
More often than not, the “battle” sequence of these kind of games ultimately fall short in entertainment. Everything is pretty to look at but the mechanics are so bare minimum unless you’ve got to do thumb karate like in Obey Me. I can happily say this isn’t the case here!
In between her investigations there will be encounters with rude NPC’s who will try to interrupt her work with mundane or serious accusations. So what’s an attorney to do when someone stands in the way of justice? DEBATE! Some character types might repeat but reading each flavor text presented to their argument is fun to read.
Like other joseimuke’s there is deck building involved where you choose certain cards to use but if you think choosing the highest ranking cards will assure victory, you couldn’t be anymore wrong. When you face off with an NPC, they’ll be using Logic, Intuition or Empathy to win this debate and it’s up to you to choose which cards will trump their arguments.
Choosing the wrong card, even if SSR rank, to battle against your opponent can actually result in your loss because it won’t inflict as much damage so you have to be careful in placement and decide just how many of each you should carry in your deck. There’s actually a limit of how many turns you can take before you automatically fail so be prepared! Thankfully the game offers multiple deck saves to prevent rebuilding over and over.
INVESTIGATIONS
The core mechanics of said investigations are summarized in three subjects: Clue Analysis, Observation, Investigation, and Questioning!
Clue Analysis is a small mini-game presented to you that will arrive when the heroine or another character arrives at a question concerning the evidence that’s already been presented. This is where you take what little clues you’ve already seen from interacting with your case partner and piece them together to build a coherent reason as to why the crime happened in the first place.
Observation usually occurs after you’ve met a notable character or suspect. You can view their entire profile and take your time picking out small details you notice on their person like messy clothes, facial expressions, or something on their skin like wounds or dirt. After finding these oddities you’ll have to take an educated guess as to why they appear like that in the first place. For example, why is Sally wearing a shirt ten times too big for her? Is she conscious about recent weight gain and wears it to hide her curves or does it belong to her ex-boyfriend and was simply too petty to return it?
Investigation finally gives you a chance to look at the crime scene! Pick and choose certain items around the area to explore potential involvement, helping you piece together the mystery and maybe get some conclusive answers that might turn around your case completely. Sometimes you’ll do this twice and it requires you to find a certain amount of clues but don’t worry if they’re hard to find, there’s a little magnifying glass tool that helps you locate the ones you’ve missed.
Last by certainty not least is Questioning feature. This is where you’ll talk to the suspects involved and start asking questions that are related to the crime; detailing as something as personal as relationships to things like location and time frames. Despite just being a click and read, they go into quite a bit of detail in storytelling and the chosen NPC’s for this Beta were very entertaining – not one person felt like the same character trope.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
Since I’ve played Genshin Impact already, I felt pretty confident that Mihoyo wouldn’t let me down as far as the presentation used for these characters and boy was I right! The art is absolutely flawless, following the trademark “diamond eyes” design and giving every NPC that little twinkle for pupils that gives each character a little dash of magic. Designs are well thought but not zany so these characters came across as grounded, no matter what kind of extravagant background they may come from.
Any cutscene or introduction you receive from the main characters are all animated. It’s so beautiful to watch our heroine actually MOVE on cue to the storyline; when Artem asks her to review his notes, you can see her frame actually lean over and expression change from curiosity to intent focus. When you receive video calls – their mouths move, hair flows in the breeze and they shift in place. This is also a feature when you’re interacting with each character for “affection” to rank your status with them and achieve more personal story chapters.
MISC & CONCLUSION
There’s a few other pictures I took above to kind of show off what other things to expect when this game fully releases but as the WIP message dictates, it’s not set in stone just yet so I’m hopeful we get to enjoy these mini games soon! For those who’ve played the closed beta with me can already tell there’s a few features I’m not mentioning but it’s moreso to avoid spoilers, respect confidentiality of releasing any plot related info, and let everyone else enjoy these little surprises when they come. For once, I’m not going to spill all the tea!
In the mean time I hope you’ve enjoyed what content I was able to cover so far! If you guys can’t tell yet then I’ll say it right here, right now: PLAY THE GAME! It was so much fun! The game comes with a few voice packs for Chinese and Japanese (I think another language as well but I forget) so you can choose either or. The storyline and its pacing is great because it finds a nice balance between the romance and drama. The guys are enjoyable to be around but different enough to feel like they have their own stories to tell and all the cases you solve with them make it easy to get addicted – you end up wanting to grind as much as you can just to find out what happens! I’m crossing my fingers that we’re going to get another beta test in the near future but until then? I’m going to practice my best OBJECTION! voice so that I’m completely ready for a full release. Perhaps an attorney themed cosplay? Ahuhu~
Until then, take care!
Bonne.
The Pretty Blerd Guardian! 
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