Tears of Themis has released a gargantuan game update with a wide array of new features, including UI adjustments, interactive visit invitations, fieldwork, lounge decoration, and more!

The update was released on October 13th, and with so many new things to explore, we thought we’d write a quick and dirty guide to the most important changes.

We also received a press release from miHoYo with some brand new info on the upcoming ‘Symphony of the Night’ and ‘Howling Pumpkin’ seasonal events, so we’re sharing the news here to help players plan that S-Chip budget in advance, ’cause things are about to get spooky in Stellis…

Fieldwork

One of the biggest changes in the new update is the addition of ‘Fieldwork’. If you played Vyn’s Birthday event, you may already be familiar with some of the mechanics, but if not, then there’s no need to worry – it’s not too difficult to get the hang of after a little bit of trial and error!

When you open the game, you will see that the new ‘Fieldwork’ button has been added to the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. When you click this for the first time, you’ll get a mini tutorial from D.A.V.I.S, before being let loose in the various districts of Stellis.

Each of these districts corresponds to a particular love interest, and completing ‘Legal Aid Cases’ here will boost your reputation with that area. As your reputation increases, you’ll be able to claim rewards for reaching certain milestones. If you reach reputation level 25 in a district, you can even claim a new ‘visit’ outfit for the love interest associated with that area.

For example, the district ‘Waterfront’ is connected to Artem. By completing legal aid cases and lawsuits, you increase your reputation. Once your reputation hits level 25, you can click the compass icon in the bottom right and claim your reward: a ‘casual’ outfit for Artem, which can be equipped in the ‘visit’ section of the game.

Other tasks provide a variety of rewards, including Stellin, card upgrade items, and a new ‘namecard’ theme for your player profile. There are task lists for each district, as well as a general ‘achievements’ list with even more rewards available.

One of the features we first encountered in Vyn’s Birthday event is the ‘fatigue meter’. When you first enter a district, there will be three legal aid cases available to complete. Once you’ve cleared them all, you will need to wait for them to refresh. Completing five legal aid cases will unlock a time-limited ‘Lawsuit’, which is more difficult but also offers more rewards.

The default ‘fatigue meter’ maximum is 50, which allows you to complete five legal aid cases a day. However, you can increase your fatigue maximum to 90 by spending S-Chips. To do so, you’ll need to increase it twice, as the maximum goes up by 20 each time. You can also spend S-Chips to make the legal aid cases refresh instantly, instead of having to wait for the full timer.

Aside from the Stellin, reputation, and other bonuses, completing legal aid cases also gives you ‘case files’, a new resource to exchange in the ‘Mall’. This exchange feature offers items specifically catered towards upgrading skills – as well as Stellin – so it’s a great way to stock up on those rarer items without having to grind the anomaly levels.

It also looks like there will be special investigation cases added at some point, so the functions we have now with the new Fieldwork feature are likely just the basics, with new additions and elaborations being added later.

My thoughts: I didn’t know how to feel about a whole new gameplay mechanic being added, especially seeing as there are so many minigames to grind already, but the gameplay isn’t particularly complicated, and it adds something new to make the daily tasks a bit more exciting.

Because of the fatigue meter and refresh times for legal aid cases, there’s an inherent limit on how much you can grind each day, so it doesn’t feel like too much extra work. Furthermore, having the districts connected to individual characters lets me spoil Artem even more, and I like having choices that make it feel like I’m romancing a particular character, rather than being forced to pursue all of them at once.

It definitely feels like the beginning of something new, so I’m curious to see how this feature is developed in the future, especially if it leads to more outfits for the boys…

Visit Invitations & Outfits

This is probably the new feature that I’m the most excited for – customisable outfits and backgrounds for visits. ‘Visits’ are where you interact with the love interests to raise your affection score, which you can do through playing games and ‘touching’ them.

With the new update, we can now unlock and purchase new outfits and backgrounds for this feature. Currently, the only new outfit available is the ‘casual’ outfit for each character, which is unlocked by raising your reputation to level 25 in the fieldwork districts, but it looks like more options will be added later.

Each of the outfits also comes with new interactions. For example, in Artem’s visit, you can tug on his tie, but he isn’t wearing a tie in his casual outfit. Instead, he’s wearing a turtleneck, which you can pull up around his face. Similarly, in Vyn’s new outfit, you can lift up the hem of his sweater.

But new outfits aren’t the only change to visits, in fact, they’ve had a bit of a general overhaul. Once you’ve completed the first part of each character’s personal story, you can set their visit background as your ‘invitation’, via the player profile. Doing this means you can do your visit interactions on the home page, instead of needing to go to the visit feature specifically.

However, in order to change the background, you will still need to go to the visit feature, which you can now also do by clicking on the hand and heart icon towards the bottom left of the screen, just above the phone button. Once you’re in visits, you’ll see the new menu buttons for changing outfits and backgrounds in the same menu as the ‘games’ button.

When you change these settings, it will only affect the selected character, so you’ll need to go into each character individually if you want to set a new background for all of them. Changing the visit background will also adjust the one on the home page, so you don’t need to worry about setting a new invitation for each background change.

Currently there are four new backgrounds to choose from – one is given as a reward, and the other three have to be purchased from the Mall. The free background is the cityscape called ‘Central Business’, and the three purchasable backgrounds are ‘Amusement Park’, ‘Aquarium’, and ‘Flower Field’.

If you’re interested in buying the new backgrounds, they’re available under the ‘Time Limited’ tab in the store, which has also had a bit of a makeover in the new update, although the new features are mostly centred around making it easier to keep track of monthly card subscriptions. In the ‘event’ tab of the store, you can also buy ‘exquisite lumber’ – a new resource used in the other major update addition, the NXX lounge.

Lounge Decoration

Aside from Fieldwork, the NXX Lounge is probably the biggest addition in the new update. Here, you’re presented with an under-furnished lounge space in dire need of a makeover. A new event has been released alongside the update, called ‘New Home Day’, which features tasks to complete in order to receive the resources and blueprints needed to build furniture and decorate your new lounge.

Currently, there’s only one furniture set available, ‘Wooden Style’, however there will be new sets and styles to choose from as more options are added to the game. In order to build the furniture, you’ll need a lot of Stellin, exquisite lumber, and blueprints. The easiest way to get these is through the event, and I’m not sure how the acquisition of blueprints will work once the event ends, so it’s a good idea to collect as much as you can now.

As you build the lounge decorations and fill the space, chibi versions of the NXX team will appear, which you can interact with. I’m curious to see how this feature is developed, as it currently just seems to be another grinding, collection mechanic that feels similar to avatar decoration features in other mobile otome games.

As it stands, I don’t really look at the lounge unless I’m specifically going there to craft a new piece of furniture, and I can see myself forgetting that it exists at all. However, I haven’t completed the set yet, and I’m sure more features will be added, so I’ll wait and see what else is in store before dismissing it completely.

Besides, there’s nothing wrong with simply enjoying collecting pretty things and decorating with them – it just feels a little lacklustre at the moment compared to some of the other content we’ve been getting in Tears of Themis.

NXX – Study Levels

If you’re wondering how to collect ‘exquisite lumber’ for your new lounge decorations, then head to the ‘Study’ section of ‘X-Note’. A new level has been added specifically for collecting this resource, although you can only complete three debates a day (unless you spend S-Chips for more attempts, of course).

There are a few other UI changes to this section of the game, all of which seem to be designed to make it easier to track what you have and haven’t yet completed. You can also now spend S-Chips to unlock study levels that wouldn’t usually be available on any given day… are you seeing a theme here?

Furthermore, during debates, several changes have been made to make it easier to track the buffs and debuffs granted by certain cards. Each one appears on the bar separately, even if they’re the same type, and they have a small countdown to let you know exactly how many turns they have left before they expire.

Tasks & Achievements

In addition to the daily tasks, we now have weekly tasks and a new ‘Achievements’ page. Completing these grants bonus XP and other rewards, which is incredibly useful right now considering the amount of Stellin that the furniture needs!

Achievements are separated into five categories – one for each love interest and then a ‘Story’ section. Previously, in the task menu, there was a tab called ‘Story’, but these tasks have now been moved to the Achievements page, where new, character-based tasks have also been added.

Player Profile

If you had trouble choosing which badge to display before, then I have good news for you! We can now display up to four profile badges, select new visit invitations to make our home pages interactive, and even customise our namecard. Plus, there’s now the option to set your birthday in your profile, on which date you’ll receive a special player birthday event.

Once your birthday is set, you can change it, but you’ll need a special key to do so. These can be purchased from the Mall, but you’re also given one for free, in case you set the wrong date by accident.

As for the namecards, every player has the default option, but character-specific namecards are also available through completing Fieldwork tasks – yet another reason to grind the district of your favourite love interest! These namecards are purely aesthetic, but other players can see them when they look at your profile… and you can see them too, of course.

Upcoming Events

Not only did we get this giant game update, but two new events are coming up soon to celebrate the spookiest time of the year. The first is ‘Symphony of the Night’, which will run from 20th October to 3rd November, followed by ‘Howling Pumpkin’, which starts on 28th October and finishes on 11th November…

“Players can delve into the thrilling investigations to find out the mastermind behind the attack on the Big Data Lab, as well as stand the chance to encounter various mysterious happenings in the pumpkin field. Complete the challenges to unlock tons of rewards and bonus!”

– miHoYo (Tears of Themis)

Symphony of the Night

Symphony of the Night
Investigation Event
20th October – 3rd November

The limited-time Event “Symphony of the Night” will be available during 2021/10/20 11:00 to 11/3 04:00 (UTC+9). While the world falls asleep on a seemingly peaceful night, a mysterious contract was sent to the NXX team members, just at the same time as the Big Data Lab came under attack.

For unsealing the truth behind the case, players must work closely with the four male protagonists and conduct a series of special investigations as soon as possible. During the event, players will first activate the “Vesper Box” and accept the mysterious contract.

Investigation areas and cases can be unlocked using “New Clues” gained from finishing limited-time tasks. The Chatroom of NXX will also be opened during the event period, for players to share and track locations with the NXX team members. With the cases solved, players are getting closer and closer to the truth…

Complete the “Symphony of the Night” event, unseal the mystery to receive S-Chip ×800, Stellin, Selection Star II, and the event-limited badge “Witch’s Gift”!

“Symphony of the Night” Event Shadow of Themis will also be available during the same time, with two SSR and two SR cards having drop rates increased in the event Shadow of Themis: Vyn SSR “Between Good and Evil,” Marius SSR “Fabulous Feast,” Luke SR “How I Remember You,” and Artem SR “Fixated on You.”

Event Trailer

Howling Pumpkin

Howling Pumpkin
Collection Event
28th October – 11th November

The next limited-time Event, “Howling Pumpkin” will open from 2021/10/29 11:00 to 11/12 04:00 (UTC+9). During the event period, players can harvest pumpkins of varying shapes and sizes in the pumpkin field, to unlock different pumpkin archives, and encounter various mysterious happenings in the pumpkin field.

Participate in the “Howling Pumpkin” event to obtain the Event-Limited “Jack-o’-Lantern Badge” badge, S-Chips ×480, Oracle of Justice, and other rich rewards!

Final Thoughts

Honestly, this update came with a lot of changes, and most of the new features seem to still be in their baby stages. Tears of Themis already has plenty of resource collection and stat-raising minigames to grind, so I can’t help but feel a little bit dubious about more repetitive gameplay mechanics being added.

I’m curious to see how these features are developed, and whether or not they’ll be tied into the story and interactive parts of the game. I imagine eventually we’ll get a Chapter 6 of the main story, but I’m particularly looking forward to the release of Chapter 3 for all the personal stories.

I don’t mind new features being added – and I actually really like the visit invitations, backgrounds, and clothing – I’m just hoping the story doesn’t get too bogged down in all the grinding mechanics. The Lounge feature doesn’t interest me at the moment, but perhaps I’ll change my mind once more furniture sets are available, and I have a clearer idea of what the finished product looks like.

I will say, however, that the new UI changes have all been amazing. Normally there’s a lot of resistance to this sort of re-shuffling and re-designing, but so far, every change I’ve come across has just made the gameplay easier and more streamlined. Having countdown timers on the buffs in debates wasn’t something I thought to ask for, but I’m very glad that miHoYo delivered anyway.

In regards to the new events – Symphony of the Night looks interesting, and I’m definitely going to try and get some of the cards, so I’m looking forward to learning more about this event. As for Howling Pumpkin, the theme is very seasonal and the art style looks cute, but I’m waiting for more information on the gameplay mechanics before I give more of an opinion.

What do you think of the new update? Are you excited for the new Halloween-themed events? Leave a reply below and let us know!

Game Info

Game Name:
Tears of Themis
Producer: miHoYo
Platform: Mobile
Available to download: here!
Age Rating: 4+ / Everyone

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