Official Release Date: TBA 2021
Developers:  miHoYo
Publishers:  miHoYo
Platforms: Mobile (Android, iOS)

STORY (From Tears of Themis Official website)

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.

GAMEPLAY

Tears of Themis is not your conventional otome game. Besides its straightforward visual novel narratives, its gameplay also consists of other elements such as; investigations, debates, court trials, and the infamous gacha card raising aspect. For a more detailed visual explanation about the gameplay and the game’s mechanics, please watch the video above.

Card Raising
In the initial gameplay, you will need cards or “Visions” to clear stages and proceed to the next chapter of the main story. In the closed beta version of the game, the player is given at least 10 visions to use at the start, and each vision will reward you with a card either in the R, SR, or SSR rank. You can upgrade, evolve or level up these cards using the in-game materials you’ll get either from completing stages and accomplishing in-game tasks.

Debates
During debates, you typically battle random characters you’ll encounter in the game through wits and words using the cards you’ve collected. The cards are categorized into three different abilities: empathy, logic, and intuition. The debate portion is similar to a turn-based battle system where you use cards to represent your arguments. Logic cards easily trump empathy. Empathy cards trump intuition, and intuition cards defeat logic.

Investigation, Questioning and Analysis
Besides the Debates, throughout the gameplay, you’re also going to do a lot of detective-works such as the conventional investigations where you scan the entire location to look for clues, the Q&A portion where you interrogate potential witnesses and suspects regarding the crime at hand, and the “Analysis” portion where you summarize everything, connecting pieces of evidence you’ve gathered to figure out how the crime panned out.

Court Trials
The trial stage is usually attained at the very end of each chapter where the protagonist defends her client to the court and proves their innocence. This segment is very similar to the game Ace Attorney and in my opinion probably the most satisfying stage to clear.

ART, MUSIC, VOICE ACTING

Never in life have I been blessed with such beautiful aesthetics in a mobile game until Tears of Themis! Wow, I was totally gawking (and drooling) scene after scene throughout the game.🤤 No kidding! The animated CGs are just magnifique!! (screams in a fake French accent).

Every CG scene you’ll encounter in the game will have moving sprites, and I think it’s also worth noting that the background for these stills was also realistically animated. It’s really super pleasing to the eye!

Voice Acting

Yuki Kaji (Luke Pearce) – Kei Okazaki (Collar x Malice), Finis (Code Realize), Kanato (Diabolik Lovers), Kazue Souma (Hakuoki), Kakeru (Norn9), Rath (Black Wolves Saga)

Junichi Suwabe (Artem Wing) – Van Helsing (Code Realize), Kaoru Rindo (Cafe Enchante), Ren Jinguji (Utapri), Higa (Bad Apple Wars)

Kaito Ishikawa (Marius von Hagen) – Dante Falzone (Piofiore Fated Memories), Il Fado de Rie (Café Enchanté), Dimitri (Fire Emblem 3H), Hikage (Psychedelica of the BB)

Jun Fukuyama (Vyn Richter) – Itou Keita (Gakuen Heaven), Aido (Vampire Knight), Mozu (Bustafellows), Tokiwa (Dairoku), Tweedle Dee & Dum (Heart no kuni no Alice)

MAIN CHARACTERS

I love love love all of the main characters, MC included. I thought all of them were just brilliant! I’ve heard that the main story will not let you branch out to a character’s route, however, there ARE romantic routes for each main character in the game, and you can play it (separately) by unlocking a character’s chapters during your “Visits”. For more information about the “Visit” section, please watch my first impression video for a more detailed visual explanation.

LUKE PEARCE

• the blushy childhood friend
• jack of all trades

Luke is a professional private investigator who’s always a step behind when it comes to love. He’s an outgoing private investigator 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 love for the girl he grew up with…
(Taken from the game’s official website)

First Impressions: Admittedly, I’m not big on the childhood sweetheart trope but oddly enough Luke just highly made that exception. Perhaps it was Yuki Kaji’s voice acting or just Luke’s general endearing personality that got me hooked. Idk! But after solving cases with him, I’m totally sold with this blushy hunk!

ARTEM WING

• Jumin Han 2.1
• Stoic Attorney

A top attorney with a 99% win rate. A lawyer 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.
(Taken from the game’s official website)

First Impressions: Ya know… my immediate thought process the first time I glanced at Artem Wing was clearly this. (HA HA I know I’m not the only one!)😂 And its probably why he instantly became my best boi (oshi) before even playing the game. (Cackles) Luckily, Artem in the game does not disappoint! I was totally swooning over his SSR scenes and stories (which were hard to get btw lol). In Tears of Themis CBT, his chapter in the main story was probably my favorite case.

MARIUS VON HAGEN

• Playboy CEO outlook
• a big dork!

Marius is the heir of the global corporation, known as the Pax Group. His ways are always out of the ordinary, and he’s someone 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.
(Taken from the game’s official website)

First Impressions: I wasn’t too enthused with Marius’s previews when I first dove into the game but after actually getting to know him in the story…mannn, his dorky, flirtatious, & over-confident personality just hit me with the bullseye ya’ll!😚 He’s absolutely a fun LI, no doubt will be a fan fav to many!

VYN RICHTER

• “Let me be your Clarisse Starling, Dr. Richter!“
• Sus

A psychiatrist who can see through all forms of disguises. Vyn is a top psychology expert who turned down all kinds of job invitations and decided 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.
(Taken from the game’s official website)

First Impression: Vyn was the only LI that didn’t really grab me at the start, but I believe the mysterious air he possesses is what makes him captivating to many. I wished I’ve unlocked more of his side stories during the CBT, I could’ve at least gotten to know him better there, but I was so focused on the other 3 guys that I clearly left him with the least affection points! 😭 I’m sorry Vyn, luv you!

MC/YOU

MC (No default name) is a newly graduate law student, who’s currently working in Themis Lawfirm. She’s feisty, and strikingly witty but also has a heart of gold and is genuinely willing to help others in the name of justice.

First Impressions: One of my favorite highlight in this game was actually the main character. She is just amaaaaaaazing! I mostly prefer brains over brawn with my MCs, and this protag here, was probably one of the smartest heroines I’ve played in an otome game. Seriously. She also has the right amount of sass that perfectly balances out her superb critical thinking. She doesn’t make stupid decisions that’ll get her into trouble, and she’s very well-grounded with her career as a lawyer.

I also loved the fact that she’s VERY aware of how handsome and good-looking all the LI’s are in the game.😁 She totally gets my sense of humor! and I’ve had plentiful of cackles reading the SSR/SR side stories especially during the scene where she pretended to be scared-as-heck in the horror house just to make Artem laugh. This MC is a total keeper and I’m honestly VERY impressed with her so far. 🥰

SUMMARY

With all things considered, I’ll go over the Pros and Cons of my first impression on Tears of Themis Closed Beta Version.

PROS:

♥Stellar Graphics.
The animated CGs of the game spoils you to no end.

♥Very few translation errors.
I’ve only spotted very few incorrect tenses, and probably 2-3 dropped or missing articles in my entire gameplay.

♥Fabulous Voice Cast.
All of the dubbed voice acting in four different languages were done beautifully.

♥Lovable main characters.
You will certainly have a favorite among the LI’s, but Im also pretty positive that all of them will definitely grow on you!

♥SUPERB MC!
Clearly, one of the best and SMARTEST MC’s I’ve played in an otome game.

♥Gripping STORY for mystery fans!
Getting to unravel the cases slowly but surely in the game was a very gratifying experience for me. The story was also very involved and sometimes can go a little bit darker than the norm when tackling a lot of real-world issues, especially topics involving mental illness. I thought this was very interesting, and I can’t wait to dive in deeper once the game officially releases. Fair warning to everyone: If you’re easily triggered by the aforementioned topic, I suggest doing more research first before playing the game, as Tears of Themis is not just your regular fluffy otome game.

♥Lots of BONUSES and Surprises!
Besides the main story and side stories, there are tons of surprises that you can unlock in Tears of Themis as you progress in the game. One, in particular, is the Trials of Themis (video below) which are fun debates (in 2D pixel form) that’ll allow you to collect in-game items and resources for enhancing your cards. Also, another cool feature in the game was the text messages and video calls you’ll get from each LI during the common story or after leveling up your SSR and SR cards. Just like most mobile games, there are lots of events and mini-games you can play that’ll reward you with all kinds of bonuses to help you upgrade your cards.

CONS/NEUTRAL:

➳Gacha element is either a hit or miss.
If you’re like me, who’s cursed with terrible gacha luck, the card pulls can get utterly frustrating, especially when you’re consecutively pulling the same set of cards after thirty tries. 😩

➳SR card side stories are not voiced.
While the SSR cards’ side stories were fully voiced, including the side characters, the SR cards are not. This wasn’t a huge deal to me since the side stories and graphics were equally good as the SSR ones. I just wished they’ve added voice acting into them as well.

➳Cards need to be constantly enhanced.
Since the gameplay involves the card-raising element. You will need to constantly enhance your cards to be able to take difficult debates. Debates are stages that you need to clear in the game so you can progress in the storyline. If your cards aren’t powerful enough to take debates, you’re pretty much stuck where you are in the story too.

➳Different names Spoken vs. Translated
In the Japanese dub, the character’s Japanese names were used instead of their English names, and I believe this goes the same for the Chinese dubs and possibly in the KR dub too(?). This isn’t really a big issue to me, but it makes me wonder why they didn’t just stick with the original Chinese names of the characters for all languages in the first place.

FINAL VERDICT

Tears of Themis is without a doubt, a MUST PLAY on release day!
Truth be told, I’ve gotten quite attached to the characters, and as I’ve repeatedly said, I am totally in love with the main protagonist, in addition to being enthralled with the game’s overall story and premise.

With the game’s superior graphics, I honestly think this belongs in a console instead of the mobile phone. That said, since miHoYo’s latest game, Genshin Impact, is currently available on the PS4 and a possible switch port under development. I’m hoping Tears of Themis would land on consoles as well, maybe not anytime soon but hopefully in the upcoming future (crossing fingers).

I am recommending this game to ALL otome gamers out there! Most especially if you’re someone who enjoys a very edgy yet captivating mystery story. Tears of Themis is definitely THE ace attorney otome game with a whole lot more to offer, and I’m very positive you’ll enjoy it as much as I have.

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