#mystic code

I really love how the “arguments” (minigames where you use your character cards) are built into the plot. That solves one of the biggest problems I had with A3! where I would get invested in doing shows and neglect the story or vice versa.

The first episode took me around 2.5 hours. In that time I also messed around with the gacha and attraction/visit mechanics which were all gorgeous and intuitive. My favorite part of the visits is definitely being able to play games with the guys. I’ll have to experiment more with the interactions between the guys and mc since I poured all of my affection into Luke (obviously).

I haven’t even mentioned yet how absolutely stunning this game is. The animated CGs and mouth movements while the guys talk are subtle elements that give this game SO much life. The little details are so gorgeous, and the polished look of the game leaves me unbothered by small bugs and translation issues. Many otome games that I’ve played with weird translations or bugs feel rushed but Tears of Themis does not feel rushed at all. I have full faith that small issues will be fixed promptly since the first bug update was the day the game came out. This fact combined with how frequently and reliably mihoyo updates their other game, Genshin Impact.

Tears of Themis is also almost entirely voiced! The card stories that I’ve done so far are not voiced (much like A3!) but all of the characters from the main episodes have been so far. I personally am using the Korean voice pack with english subtitles but when I pre-downloaded the game there were two types of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean voice overs all available. All I can speak to is the quality of the Korean VAs but after finishing episode 1, the voices I’ve heard are really well done.

Despite the love I have for this game already, there are some things I don’t like. For example, the romance not being a part of the main story plot. This is common in a lot of otome games, but games that do this tend to not keep my attention as well. That’s to say, if you’re a big fan of Mystic messenger or Dangerous Fellows this game will not be like that. From what I can tell the romance is going to be a separate story that goes along with the main plot but is separate and optional. (Although I am open to being pleasantly surprised!) I also don’t like that lack of choices the player has in the game. The majority (if not all) of the choices I made in episode 1 were during the court case (which is at the end of the episode). It was also hard to measure the possible consequences of my choices within the story. As a player and fan of “choices matter games”, I like to see the consequences of my actions and decisions within the story. Though, I can’t tell if this game will give me that. Lastly, I will talk about the gacha mechanic. I don’t hate gacha games, I am an avid player of Genshin Impact and I played A3! for some time. But I feel that this is the best place to talk about this aspect of the game. Gacha mechanics in otome games, in my experience, can make or break the game. I loved the plot of A3! But I found myself more invested in that than the actual plot over time. The plot was more of a chore for me to get more rolls. But in the Ikemen series games that I’ve played, I was invested in the story but the horrible gacha rates and infrequent rolls eventually made progressing through the story take way too long, draining all of the enjoyment out of the game. The rates in Tears of Themis seem decent, and the guarantee of an SSR card right of the bat is definitely appreciated.

As a fan of both Mihoyo, and otome games, I was excited to try this game when I first heard about it. Episode 1 was exciting and fun, and while writing this my AR has been recharging and I will be taking on episode 2 as soon as I’m done. I hope this game continues to be engaging and fun as different mechanics are fleshed out and the story develops even more. I would recommend this game for any otome fan to try, especially if you have a few hours to kill and just want to give the first episode a shot. The visuals are stunning, the characters are charming, the story is intriguing, and the gacha elements seem relatively painless.