Many gamers in the gacha game fanbase know all about HoYoverse and its two most popular games, Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. But do they know about HoYoverse’s otome gacha game?
Otome games are a specific subgenre of visual novels that have an emphasis on romance. There are usually a set number of romantic interests, with each one having its own storyline or route. Players will have to make different choices throughout the game that will determine what kind of ending they will get – Great or Perfect or Good or Bad ending. There are a lot of variations of how these games are set up based on the studio that made them. While not as mainstream as other genres of games, there is a huge following and love for otome games, and it seems HoYoverse decided to take a piece of the action.
What Is HoYoverse’s Otome Game?
HoYoverse’s otome game is Tears of Themis. The game originally launched in China in July of 2020 but became available globally in 2021. It is a mobile game, only available for Android and IOS.
The story’s premise revolves around solving cases and defending clients in court, much like the famous Phoenix Wright games. The main character is a female defense lawyer who works for the Themis Legal Office on criminal defense cases. Through these cases, there is an overarching mystery linked to a drug called NXX. The MC then becomes part of an organization comprising the four main love interests. She works with them to solve the various cases.
Tears of Themis Is a Gacha Game
Like all HoYoverse games, Tears of Themis is a gacha game. Within the game, players will have to win debates by using character cards, each with their own affinity, to break down the opponent’s Heart Points and their argument. The gacha system is linked to these cards. There are three different levels of cards that players can collect:
- R Cards = 3 Stars
- SR Cards = 4 Stars
- SSR Cards = 5 Stars
Players are guaranteed to get an SR card every ten pulls and an SSR card every 20 pulls. Players will need to collect Tears of Themis, similar to Primogems, to buy Visions, the name for the pulls. Players will be able to collect the Tears by completing different events and activities in the game similar to other gacha games.
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The higher-level cards come with two benefits. The higher the level of the card, the more powerful it will be to use in debates. SSR are particularly special as they come with a side story related to one of the love interests.
Tears of Themis Is a Phoenix Wright Dating Sim
The story mechanics are very similar to the Phoenix Wright games. The game uses the visual novel format. Players will have to find clues and ask other characters questions to piece the case together to successfully defend their client in court. They will also use the evidence they have found in a courtroom, where they will use the debate battle system with the evidence to win the case.
As stated before, the debate battle system uses the cards players collect in the gacha game to build decks and deplete the opponent’s HP. Each card will have one of the following three affinities:
- Intuition > Logic
- Logic > Empathy
- Empathy > Intuition
Each affinity has another that they are strong or weak against. The opponent’s arguments will also be assigned an affinity. Defeat the opponent using the rock-paper-scissors method with the affinities.
The cards and debate battle system adds another layer to the already familiar mechanics found in the Phoenix Wright franchise. The biggest difference between the two games is the romance aspect found in Tears of Themis. As much as players want to, they can’t make Phoenix date Edgeworth. But in this HoYoverse game, they can at least pick their favorite male lead out of the group.
The four MLs consist of Luke Pearce, Artem Wing, Marius Von Hagen, and Vyn Richter. Each one will have main character chapters to play through, along with side stories that are tied to the rare cards gained in the gacha system. Players will also receive both text and voice messages similar to the mobile game Mystic Messenger.
Tears of Themis is still actively getting updates and events and contains an active players community.
For more HoYoverse fun, find out what is missing in Genshin Impact that Honkai: Star Rail has.
