Tears of Themis Episode 1 – The Hand That Feeds
Tears of Themis is a story driven game so be prepared for lots of reading. I cannot fathom players who plays the game but skips through all the narrative. It kinds of defeat the premise of the game but perhaps there are other aspects that appeals to them. There are four categories of stories within ToT – 1. Main Story 2. Character Story 3. Card Story 4. Event Story.
The main story is the central narrative in which you are a junior attorney and law graduate from the prestigious Stellis University. It is the year 2030 and you start the game preparing for your advancement exams in order to become a full fledged litigator. In the meantime, you have managed to secure employment in Themis Law Firm, an up and coming law firm. The firm is well known for its senior attorney and partner Artem Wing, who has a stellar record of having never lost a single law suit. As you progress through your career, picking up cases to defend the innocence of your clients, you are often faced with moral dilemmas as the case unveils itself.
You are also joined by four other people who serve as partners, guides and your support and inspiration along your journey. They are Artem Wing, your colleague and partner; Luke Pearce, your long lost childhood friend who has returned as a private investigator; Dr Vyn Richter, a renowned psychiatrist and founder of a research institute focused on understanding mental health; and Marius von Hagen, the current CEO of the Pax Group, one of the largest corporates in the world.
Along the way you learn that many of these crimes have a common thread around mental health issues. By the time you reach episode 4, you will join a secret investigation team called NXX with the mission of discovering the real cause of these mental issues which had resulted in anomalous rise in crime. The members of NXX include Artem (code name: Libra), Vyn (code name: Adjudicator) and Marius (code name: King). Thus unlike MLDD where the characters largely operate on their own, these characters interact and work together, though they may not always like each other. Episodes 1 to 5 part I were released with the launch, with part II and III scheduled to be released on 12 Aug and 2 Sep respectively.
While you may get to see your counterparts in action during the main storyline, to get to know them at a deeper level such as exploring their backgrounds, motivations, interests and ambitions, you will need to read the character stories which is available under the Visit section. As at launch, each character has two episodes where you work with them on resolving some issue. These episodes are gradually unlocked as you level up your affection with them.
Affection is levelled up through daily visits with them as well as when you read card stories available on SR and SSR cards. Card stories are quite similar to character stories as in the focus is on getting to know the guys better but is generally shorter, much like dates. Card stories are unlocked as you level up the cards. Event stories are outside of the main story but adds flavour to the whole experience as you get to explore the world outside of Stellis City and gives developers a chance to follow calendar events like New Year, Valentine’s, Summer Vacations, Halloween and Christmas.
As ToT main stories revolve around criminal cases and the case files record under NXX does a great job of detailing the whole investigation process and findings, I will focus the episode recaps on your character and relationship developments as well as the specific theme explored in the episode and my thoughts about them. Some spoilers ahead too!
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There are 17 scenes in Episode 1 made up of 9 story scenes, 5 debate battles (recommended power level 2617 – 3575) and the balance are crime scene investigations and trial.
The episode begins with an unknown person with the code name Raven radioing in an investigation from an industrial zone. He spots an abnormal shipment of goods which he alludes has nothing to do with Pax or Crimson but rather with Heirson. After making his report, he quickly leaves the scene.
It was the weekend but you are returning to office to study for your advancement exams. As you approach your building, a delivery man informs you that he has a package for Artem. You think that Artem is unlikely to be in office so offered to receive the package on his behalf. To your surprise, you find him slouching on his chair in his office. It appears he must have pulled an all nighter and is showing wear for the effort. You see an X-NOTE on his table and wonder about what difficult case is bugging him. You offer to make a cup of coffee for him. While brewing the coffee, you read the news about Crimson Pharmaceutical‘s success in launching an anti-cancer drug and muse about how the pharmaceutical industry had exploded in growth over the last few years.
Later you receive visitors who have come to seek legal aid from your firm. This is the start of your first case where you were contracted to defend Mr Vernon Green, the owner of Penny Comfort Food, a high end private restaurant that’s under fire from a food poisoning incident. The lawyers of the six affected customers had pressed charges against Mr Green claiming for exorbitant damages. As a result, Mr Green’s health had taken a turn for the worse. The young girl who sought your assistance is Winnie, one of the many underprivileged students who had benefitted from Mr Green’s sponsorship of her tuition fees. She apologises in advance that she wouldn’t be able to pay the fees fully but would work to repay in instalments. Artem consoles her and tells her that he will review the case and where eligible, the fees can be waived or reduced.
While you head out with Winnie to speak to Mr Green to appoint you as his legal representative, Artem takes a call in the privacy of his room. He is speaking to King. In his aggravated tone, he said that he doesn’t believe that the professor would betray NXX, and that since all three of them had different perspectives, it would be better to recruit a 4th member to aid with the investigation. If there is a suitable member, he/she would be sent to Vyn for assessment.
Outside the restaurant, you were shocked to see a familiar face that you had not seen in eight years. Luke, your childhood friend whom you have lost contact with after he left Stellis University to study in National Central University, well known for its bioengineering degree. As Luke lost his parents when he was young, your parents had pretty much cared for him as their son and you grew up alongside with him. Luke had loved Sherlock Holmes as a youth and you had always accompanied him as his trusty Watson.
You lost touch with Luke when he suddenly disappeared from campus as he was selected for a secret research project. He tells you that he recently returned and was going to find you after he settled some matters and would be staying in the city for a while. Luke is overjoyed to see you again as you recollected the pleasant memories you had with him. You learnt that Luke had been hired by Winnie to further investigate into the food poisoning case as it seemed that there could be more to it than pure negligence.
Back at the law firm, Artem returns to the pantry and finds your exam preparation notes. As he skims through your neat handwriting, he is reminded of his search of a partner to assist him with his court cases. He messages Celestine, the founder of Themis Law Firm, to ask if she has any recommendations. He wanted someone who had an indomitable spirit who would not bow to authority as well as someone who could serve as his mirror to provide alternative insights. Celestine comments that it is likely he will only find this person if fate brings them together. His mind wanders off to you.
After completing the investigation at Penny Comfort Food, you follow Luke back to his office in order to fix the broken CCTV. You were surprised to see his PI office decked up as a antiques shop. He explained that it would be easier for his clients who are looking for discretion. As Luke set down on his workstation to retrieve the memory card, you observed that he had matured over the last 8 years and a sadness fills you that you had missed much of that phase of his life. Luke asks after your parents and you explained that they too had been called away for a secret research project too so you haven’t seen them in a while. He tells you to let them know that he’s back in Stellis City and that they can be more assured since he’s around to take care of you now. You tease him about how matured he has become as he used to pull you along on his mischievous endeavors.
Back at the law firm, it suddenly dawned on you that you’re bringing the case against DeliCart, a company that is going to be funded by Pax Group. Pax Group is a client of Themis and you feared that this might cause a rift between the companies. Artem reassures you that if Pax Group cuts off their contract over this, it is no loss to the firm, and if they were to threaten you, he would go all out to sue them too. You chuckle at his outburst. Winnie arrives at the law firm later that evening with conclusive evidence but tells you that Mr Green would loathe to use it in court, as it would seem like he was responsible for sending the perpetrator, whom he cared for dearly to jail.
At the conclusion of the case, Artem compliments you for your rational and decisive action in court to present the evidence. He also enquired about the Heirson effervescent which had been packed in together with all the evidence. You told him that Mr Green was taking them as he was suffering from depression. Artem looks thoughtful but makes no further reference to it. He then asked you to help him deliver a set of documents to Dr Vyn Richter, a well known psychologist but tells you to behave discreetly as Dr Richter is just a business associate.
Meanwhile at Pax Group, the manager who was responsible for looking into investing into DeliCart is under fire. It was revealed that the owner of DeliCart is a relative to this manager which had caused him to turn a blind eye over their underhanded operations. The CEO fires the manager and tells him that as long as he is the CEO, he will never taint his mother’s legacy with such dirty money.
Episode 1 introduces two key characters in the story – Artem and Luke. You appear to hold Artem in high respect both as a senior in your company and for his industrious reputation within the industry. As for Luke, both of you separated at age of 16 years old, in the cusp of youth. Having spent so much time together then, it’s possible that there was some kind of love between both of you. At least, it appears to me that Luke did like you as he wanted you to follow him to the capital.
We are also introduced to Heirson Pharmaceuticals and their effervescent that Mr Green used to curb his depression raises suspicion. Artem, Vyn and Marius/King is part of NXX and they have some kind of fall out over the professor’s betrayal. This led them to seek a fourth member to help with the investigations. At the end of the episode, Artem is impressed by your ability and recommends you to Vyn for an assessment, which you are unaware of.
A few themes were explored in this episode – the pressure of making a living in a cosmopolitan city and the extreme practices of companies to ‘motivate’ their employees and coerce their clients into taking up their services; the role of guardianship and where to draw the line between love and discipline; and dilemma of convicting the culprit even though it would hurt your client emotionally. As it is often said, justice is blind. To be honest, I was struggling between the choice of presenting the conclusive evidence or not. I believe it has no implications on the progress of the game but it does question my own values.
On one hand, my left brain tells me that the perpetrator needed to be brought to justice no matter how he was pressured into doing it. As long as he is allowed to get away scot-free, he would not learn his lesson as he was neither grateful nor repentant towards Mr Green. The company responsible for destroying the once good loving youth had to be held responsible for their malpractices, and without incriminating them, they would also get away with it, continuing to destroy lives.
On the other hand, I can also feel the parental love for the child and the weight of the guilt for adding the final nail to the coffin and possibly ruining his future. I was worried that this might cause his health to deteriorate and even result in death. In which case, what was the whole purpose of saving him? In the end, I rationalised that Mr Green as the pseudo parent had also failed to discipline or train the perpetrator up in the right ways that could resulted in him going down this path. For that reason, he should pay the price by bearing the guilt. I wonder if my child ever commits a crime, would I convict him? What are your thoughts about this?