yurisprudence: whispers from the local library
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution;
justice without mercy is cruelty
― Thomas Aquinas
A yuri visual novel about jurisprudence.
Warning: This game is not recommended for children under 13. It contains strong language, written descriptions of crime, violence, human rights abuse, and discusses political themes.
An epistolary romance about two law students.
Whether it's more about yuri or jurists is open to discussion in the existing doctrine.
Features:
- ~8k words
- three endings
- one CG and two animations
- ungodly amount of legalese
Credits:
- Parrot_Carrot, artist | twitter
- cygni, editor | itch | twitter
- Blue Sky Moon, CC music | freemusicarchive | website
- mlkrn, writer, programmer, designer, law graduate | itch | twitter
Made for Yuri Game Jam 2021.
No Legal Advice Intended.
Download
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Comments
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She got mad at me because I couldn't dictate the entire course of her life. Harsh lol
EXACTLY. I loved everything but this just threw me off. I will listen to someone and tell them my thoughts, but ultimately THEY must be the one to make the decision. I don't know why you got voted down. I don't know why Justine was proclaimed unjust and indifferent for saying so. It was a cozy, educational game, but that ending was just....wack.
I chose "you should quit" just for funsies and apparently this is betraying Justine? The whole section just seems self-righteous to me.
hi! first of all - thank you for playing!
regarding your criticism - you are completely right, it does come out pretty preachy; the concept I intended was that it should've been... for the lack of a better word, a straightforward metaphor, that the epigraph (Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; justice without mercy is cruelty) and the names of characters (Justine is from Latin iustis - justice, Clemence is from Old French merci -- mercy) hint that the player shouldn't treat the characters as human beings - they're personifications of concepts and should've (in my mind) been treated as such.
(on names - Fidelia is also from Latin fides - faith, as the history of jurisprudence was connected to religion and sacred texts a lot, and the scene with her symbolises separation of law from religion; and Mark and Pax stand for war and peace, as laws are very much connected to all sorts of armed conflicts).
however, my delivery was far from perfect, so here's that.
Hello! I didn't expect a response so this is a pleasant surprise ^^
I did notice how everyone is named after that theme and thought it was clever! Hm ok, I understand what you mean about the metaphor. I think, for me, it didn't quite come through because your characters are three-dimensional (well-written!) and metaphors like that are more one-dimensional or satirical (in my experience at least! Someone may see it differently, of course).
That was the only thing that tripped me up though and, like I said, I loved the coziness and the theme of jurisprudence, along with your passion that came through it.
Ha I had no idea Mark stood for war. That's hilarious because that's my dad's name and he is both a lawyer AND an asshole 😆😆😆
This game is. WOW. You know, you go into something for cute romance, and you leave forty five minutes later with tears in your eyes and you're still unsure what the hell happened. I'm gonna need to replay this and mull over the discussions more. LIKE WHAT THE HELL. This is unforgettable in the most poignant of ways.
Legalese aside the writing is great. Love it.
thank you!
I like the Legalese!
Also, this is my favorite kind of romance. An attraction that begins between minds and personality, a love between ideologies. It's too perfect.
There's something funny, in a rather cynical way, when you play this while being familiar with anarchist theory. All the talk about laws having to protect people who don't deserve it, about how you can't let causes you agree with cheat the system because that will ruin the system. All the phrases that are portrayed as nihilistic and depressed in the game are ideas that many simply see as true, and more than that, as motivations to make things better.
oh well, oh well. sadly, I don't know much about anarchist theories and their stances on the justice system - we've always been taught law is inseparatable from governments, and anarchy is against any order, especially state order, so it always seemed to me that legal doctrine as it is now has no place in it. and well, without legal doctrine there would be no yurisprudence - the whole game is about it, kinda :D
anyways, I am glad you found the game's content interesting! thank you for playing.
I have never once been interested in law and always thought people just did it for prestige and money, with very few people actually in it to help others. This game changed how I view a lot of our legal system. Honestly a lot of the topics brought up about the institution of law and the state made me think more about parallels in the world of healthcare (which is also deeply tangled with the law, as you know) as a premed student. Ideas like true impartiality, bias due to politics, and the role of each player in the justice system are heavy topics, but I feel like they were handled well. Like a well-referenced Socratic seminar!
I can tell your team has put a lot of thought into this VN, and your effort shows. I certainly wasn't expecting to introspect on my own life, ideals, and thoughts of societal structure today, but it was interesting to say the least!
Phew this is definitely the longest comment I've ever written for a VN lol. Looking forward to your next works and hope you all stay safe!
ah, thank you for such a long review! to be honest, it's the best comment I could've dreamed of getting for yurisprudence - because I wrote it as a love letter to my intlaw degree (and out of oh so love/hate feelings towards Ace Attorney) and if it made you think we are a bunch of mostly decent people - that means, it worked :D
That's awesome !
thank you!
You didn't refer to the 2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis but that's all right I forgive you
hahaha sorry I'll try my best to not make such mistakes again and refer to the Moldovan constitutional crisis of 2019 in every game from now on :D please don't hate me I am very sorry for my criminal negligence :D
Show post...
VERY COOL VN GAME DEV
THANK YOU VERY GLAD YOU LIKED IT
A story of love that starts in the head and then the heart can only follow. It's adorable, and brilliant. Thank you.
thank you! it warms my heart to know you were able to see and recognize love behind all the dry legalese :D
Good story. I enjoyed it, even though I didn't major in law in college.
I made the gameplay on Youtube, you can watch it if you want.
oh wow a gameplay! thank you, i am very honored!
Awesome game, really enjoyed the little details. Super nerdy 🤓
thank you thank you! you could say we really did our due diligence didn't we : D