Lady Thalia and the Case of Clephan

The Lady Thalia series is, among many other wonderful things, an indulgently lovingly crafted piece of queer IF. The series debuted at Spring Thing 2021, winning Best NPCs at the 2021 XYZZY Awards. Since then, it has been exclusively a beloved Spring Thing series until this year's IFComp.

I hadn't played the previous games, so I decided to play them before trying this newest entry. The first title made me smile, the second amused me, and the third left me intrigued to see what would come next. The games were easy to go through since they're lighthearted fun. The quips are memorable, the interactivity engaging, and the historical setting always a pleasure to escape into.

Despite having only played this for the past two weeks, the Lady Thalia series has become my comfort food. I chose to spend my limited free time from Japanese language classes playing these games, and I could feel the stress and pressure dissipate. If I played these games at an earlier date, I wondered if I would feel such a strong attachment to these characters -- perhaps, I might have found the fantasy of being a dashing lesbian Arsene Lupin with a detective girlfriend a bit alienating.

I was in the right mood to look forward to playing The Case of Clephan. However, what I got was more than I asked for.

The last time we saw Thalia, she had agreed to work with Mel at her new detective agency following their surprisingly successful collaboration. However, by the time the game begins, that fantasy of solving interesting cases has eroded away. Thalia is now a secretary, a job her late mother wanted her to choose over her prestigious acting career.

She only starts to feel alive when someone posing as Lady Thalia begins stealing artwork. Thalia and Mel must solve the case of the copycat perpetrator.

Anyone who has played the previous games will be familiar with the core gameplay: you talk to people who may have clues, and with the right responses, you can coax them into telling the truth. If a leading question doesn't work, the game may suggest a different approach (perhaps, a friendlier one). The first time I played a Lady Thalia game, I struggled to read the cues. But with having played the three games prior, I knew what to do and solved these cases rather quickly. Mel can also participate, which gives you two options for the same type of response. While I think the game is too easy, it feels nice to pretend to be a master thief for a few minutes.

Other adventure game mechanics also return. For example, you can solve a puzzle by referencing materials and mapping out an area for a later heist. I'm not fond of these mechanics, but they're simple enough that I don't find them tedious.

All in all, the game is another polished and refined entry of the Lady Thalia series. The gameplay feels smoother than ever, and the writing is witty. It's certainly the best Lady Thalia game to date.

But this entry goes beyond what's expected of the series and what I wanted from it. It tackles something that I think is scary for anyone seeking a long-term relationship: settling down.

By this point in the series, Thalia has strong feelings for Mel, enough to tolerate the drudgery of her secretarial job. However, this also means sacrificing her freedom. She and Mel now depend on each other and must work through their differences.

Although there are scenes that play on their homoerotic tension, I'm reminded that they're working together to secure a better future. The exciting premise of uncovering the identity of the fake Lady Thalia is overshadowed by the possibility that someone knows the identity of the real Lady Thalia and could use that information to jeopardize their current lives.

To me, this colors the game as melancholic, almost like grasping what it means to settle down after years of romantic escapades. Clearly, the couple's current relationship isn't what they had hoped for. However, they don't want to lose it because they care about each other. I see it as them trying to adjust to this new life, difficult it may be.

It was a shock to me. A welcome one at least, but I still wondered how these characters could continue to love each other. I think there's something to this dynamism, this uncertainty that captures how long-lasting relationships work in real life. They're not in full harmony, but they're in constant negotiation and a tug-of-war of desires and needs that don't 100% match.

And it's bitter medicine for someone who was subconsciously seeking an escapist fantasy. I understood these characters as people struggling with the same issues I and others face. It's not an understatement to say that this has been a humbling experience for me.

So, I would understand if people don't feel as strongly about this Lady Thalia entry as I do. But like the previous entries, this game came at the right time, just as I was about to leave Japan for home. Now, I can think about other things besides learning Japanese — for example, how should I care for the people I love? Thalia and Mel can't answer that question based on their gameplay mechanics. I look forward to seeing them grow as a couple and think together about what it means to settle down in a new life.

I’ve been in the tank for the Lady Thalia games pretty much from the minute I first encountered them: I love a heist and a period piece, so add on a flirty enemies-to-lovers dynamic between the lady thief and her policewoman antagonist and I’m more than sold, but the nimble pacing and tightly-designed puzzles take things to the next level. But I’m in an odd situation with this fourth installment: you see, I still haven’t played the third one, since it was released in Spring Thing 2023, and some life events interrupted by reviews of the festival that year. I still want to get back and finish those, and Lady Thalia and the Masterpiece of Moldavia is a reward I’ve set myself for doing so. But that means that I’m coming to this one having missed an episode.

This used to happen all the time, of course – when I went off to high school, I remember being frustrated that I wasn’t able to keep up with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, doubly so because on the odd occasions I could catch an episode suddenly Worf was there – but in this age of on-demand streaming everything, it’s an unfamiliar sensation, and actually not necessarily a bad one? If anything, I’m now even more excited to go back and learn how Thalia and Mel struck a truce that saw the latter leaving the Yard and then the pair going into business together as consulting private detectives. I’m also curious whether Thalia’s heretofore-offscreen husband made his first appearance in that installment, or if the supporting role he places here is his actual introduction (he’s a gay bank robber married to a lesbian cat burglar, you’re each others’ beards, it’s cute). There’s also a distaff Sherlock Holmes analogue who I don’t remember from the first or second game but definitely makes an impression.

But though there’s a lot to catch up on, the game gives you the context you need, and the characters are as always drawn with such bright colors that you feel you know all about them from the moment they come on screen – actually, now that I think about it, Lady Thali4’s handling of Mel on this front is especially deft, since she hasn’t had that much screen time to date, even including her role as deuteragonist in the second game; nonetheless, her dogged approach to investigation and clumsy approach to romance were exactly what I expected based on her prior experiences.

The puzzles are likewise unsurprisingly satisfying. By now the series structure, of alternating case-the-joint sequences where you learn about a target through some light social-engineering mechanics with the actual heists, where you might need to pick some locks, crack a code, or engage in a chase is well established, and even though you’ve gone straight, the rhythm hasn’t changed: it’s just that this time out you’re trying to catch a copycat thief who’s appropriated your name in the act, and investigating their potential targets before they strike. This doppleganger plot is a great way of continuing to play to Thalia’s strengths even as she’s shifted to the side of the angels, and the set-pieces continue to be great fun, with a break-in at the headquarters of an off-brand Golden Dawn a particular highlight. None of the individual challenges are that challenging – you’ll get to the end regardless – but you are graded on the verve and brio you bring to your role, with top marks reserved for those who manage to balance the need to hide your tracks with the urgency of keeping up with your rival. The other fun addition to the series’ systems is interrogation sequences where you play as both Thalia and Mel simultaneously; in the stratified world of Edwardian (I think?) England, what you say might not matter as much as who says it, after all.

“Much as it was, but with some fun new twists” is also my take on the writing. The prose has always been alternately zippy and wry, which kept a smile on my face throughout:

"He chuckles. 'Scandalous of me, I know! To come to an art gallery—making an appointment, no less—with no interest in the current exhibition and no intention of buying anything!'

"You probably do six things more scandalous than that before breakfast each day, but you want to know where he’s going with this, so you laugh along."

I also enjoyed the running joke where Thalia keeps workshopping different nicknames for Mel, which is all the funnier for not drawing undue attention to itself. But the focus on these two characters’ relationship also creates space for things to get more serious at times, including a nicely understated scene where Thalia and her ex talk around their breakup. The central romance is of course the main event, and through the inevitable ups and downs, there’s no getting away from the sweetness of the two falling in love:

"She looks like she hasn’t slept properly in several days, and some of her hair has escaped its bun and is falling in her face, and there’s still a yellowing bruise around her left eye, and of course she’s also currently angry with you. Nevertheless, some part of you is still convinced that she’s the most attractive woman you’ve ever seen, simply because she’s Mel."

I’m not sure whether this fourth installment is my absolute favorite, as there were some minor blemishes to my enjoyment on the mechanical side – I found navigating through the gallery backrooms was a bit more confusing than I wanted it to be (since on my first visit, I had to choose between which door to try, whereas during the subsequent one you need to pick which room to go to), and while an Arts and Crafts exhibit is a cool backdrop, I think the final heist felt like it was over a bit quicker than the prior ones; the titular artifact also feels like it’s underdeveloped. But the story here could well be the best it’s been – all the more reason for me to circle back to the third installment to find out for sure!

It felt weird to see Thalia operating on the right side of the law. She herself would probably respond to that statement with a derisive snort, pointing to the not-altogether-legal ways she goes about securing the knowledge needed to crack the case.

Nonetheless, it’s a change. Instead of the pure egocentrical thrillseeking of the art heist, our heroine now performs a service (paid, but still) to her fellow man or woman. She even works together (gasp) with Mel! And there lies the most interesting development of this installment in the Lady Thalia-series. Thalia and Mel worked perfectly as adversaries, cop and thief. I’m very pleased that their relationship dynamic still holds, even though they’re on the same side now.

Gameplay-wise, Lady Thalia 4 uses the same approach as the previous iterations. Conversational gambits, probing whether the NPC in question will respond best to a Friendly, a Direct, or a Leading tone. Time-sensitive preparation schemes to ready a building for later infiltration. Tense nightly break-ins, this time to gather evidence as opposed to stuffing antiquities down the front of your jacket.

While all these things were interesting, they’re also familiar and well-known by now. In previous installments, I would have held my breath as Thalia sneaks through the dark corridors. Now that I’ve grown used to this, and also now that I have a better grasp of the forgiveness-level of the Lady Thalia-games, I don’t get so worked up anymore about the tresspassing bits.

This time, my enjoyment was more focused on the conversations and the personalities. Great to see how Mel and Thalia are still developing, both in themselves and in their relationship. The NPCs’ characters are diverse, showing through in the interviews. And the scenes with Thalia’s husband-for-show and his amant provide comic relief and sniggers.

(There’s also a rather sad turn of events concerning another recurring NPC. Although I understand the develoment from a narrative viewpoint, I’m still sure I will miss that particular NPC’s stern and straightforward way of interacting with Thalia.)

Funny, moving, exciting.