By Justice or Mercy
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By Justice or Mercy review
In-depth walkthrough, choices, characters, and tips for By Justice or Mercy
By Justice or Mercy places you in the shoes of a tormented protagonist returning home after years away, driven to reclaim what was taken from him; this guide covers story beats, gameplay systems, character routes, and practical strategies to shape your path. Whether you want to pursue retribution or forgiveness, understanding the game’s choice architecture and relationship mechanics is essential to unlocking different outcomes. I played multiple runs and include personal observations, problem-solving tips for tricky scenes, and step-by-step advice to make the most of the choices you face.
Story & Core Themes of By Justice or Mercy
Let’s get one thing straight from the start: By Justice or Mercy isn’t a game where you just pick a side and coast to the finish. It’s a deeply personal, often uncomfortable interrogation of your own morals, wrapped in the compelling package of a choice-driven visual novel. You don’t just watch the story; you are the architect of its consequences, for better or worse. This chapter digs into the heart of it all: the gripping By Justice or Mercy story, the branches it sprouts, and the weight of every single decision you make.
Overview: Premise and tone 🎭
You step into the worn boots of Aris Thorne, a newly appointed Justiciar in the fractured city of Lestoria. The By Justice or Mercy protagonist isn’t a blank slate superhero 🦸; they’re a complex individual haunted by a past tragedy that directly fuels their drive for order. The game’s genius is how it makes this personal history the engine for every moral quandary you face.
The core premise is elegant in its tension: Lestoria is a powder keg of social inequality, ancient magic, and political corruption. As Aris, your job is to investigate crimes and pass judgment. But here’s the catch—every judgment is a choice between strict, uncompromising Justice or empathetic, potentially risky Mercy. The tone is consistently gritty and somber, punctuated by moments of genuine warmth or shocking brutality, depending on the path you cultivate. It feels less like fantasy and more like a moral procedural drama where the clues you find are often people’s shattered lives.
Major story branches: Justice vs. Mercy ⚖️
This is where the By Justice or Mercy narrative choices stop being theoretical and start carving canyons through the plot. The game isn’t about picking “good” or “evil.” It’s about choosing between two flawed, philosophically opposing systems for maintaining order.
Pursuing the Justice path means upholding the letter of the law, often with severe punishments. It’s about deterrence, order, and arguably, fear. Choosing Mercy focuses on rehabilitation, context, and second chances. It’s about healing, but it can also be seen as weakness that emboldens criminals.
The brilliance of this justice vs mercy game is in the trade-offs. A “just” ruling might placate a vengeful noble and bring stability, but it could crush a desperate soul who stole to feed their family. A “merciful” decision might save that soul and earn you a loyal ally, but it could erode public trust in the law and invite greater chaos.
These choices don’t exist in a vacuum. They feed into visible relationship meters with key characters—like your idealistic apprentice, Elena, or the hardened guard captain, Rourke. Their approval isn’t just for show; it unlocks unique dialogue, alters their behavior in critical moments, and can even determine whether they stand with you or against you in the finale. The game also features a brilliant built-in guide and gallery that tracks the choices you’ve locked in and the story branches you’ve opened, which is essential for understanding the scope of your impact.
To visualize the core divergence, here’s a breakdown of what each path fundamentally alters:
| Aspect | The Path of Justice | The Path of Mercy |
|---|---|---|
| Core Philosophy | Order through deterrence. The law is absolute. | Order through understanding. Context matters. |
| Public Perception | You are respected and feared. Stability increases. | You are loved by some, seen as weak by others. Social tension simmers. |
| Key Ally Reactions | Rourke’s trust grows. Elena becomes conflicted or distant. | Elena is inspired and loyal. Rourke questions your resolve. |
| Primary Narrative Consequence | Crime rates may fall, but at the cost of rising resentment among the oppressed. | You create personal loyalties but may empower opportunistic factions. |
| Towards the By Justice or Mercy endings | Leads to endings about unwavering authority, revolution from below, or becoming a tyrannical symbol. | Leads to endings about reform, chaotic upheaval due to perceived weakness, or transformative peace. |
Personal case study: My first playthrough 🕵️
I went into my first playthrough determined to be a paragon of Justice. Aris’s backstory of loss resonated with me, and I thought, “This city needs a firm hand.” My early cases were clear-cut: a corrupt merchant swindling refugees, a guard taking bribes. I handed down harsh, by-the-book verdicts. The relationship meter showed Rourke’s approval ticking steadily upward ✅, while Elena’s began to dip, accompanied by subtle dialogue about “forgetting the human cost.” I shrugged it off. The law was the law.
Then came the “Turning Point” case: The Stonemason’s Folly. A skilled mason, desperate to pay for a healer for his dying child, used forbidden earth magic to repair a noble’s villa, dangerously destabilizing the structure. The noble demanded his hand severed (the traditional punishment for unsanctioned magic). The evidence was undeniable.
The game presented me with the facts, the stern face of the noble, the mason’s terrified pleas, and Elena quietly mentioning the man’s sick daughter, a detail not in the official report. I was locked in. My “Justice” playthrough demanded a harsh sentence to uphold the ban on chaotic magic. But for the first time, it felt less like upholding order and more like cruelty.
The screen presented my options:
A) [Justice] Sentence him according to the full extent of the law. The magic was reckless; the law is clear. Make an example.
B) [Mercy] Commute the sentence to hard labor and confiscate his tools. His crime was born of desperation, not malice. He can still provide for his family.I hovered over option A. My entire playthrough was consistent until now. Switching would feel like a betrayal of my own Aris… but maybe my Aris was wrong. I took a breath and clicked B.
The immediate emotional impact was profound. The noble stormed out, vowing consequences. Rourke’s approval meter took a massive hit 📉, with him later confronting me about setting a dangerous precedent. But Elena’s look of relieved gratitude, and a later scene where the mason’s daughter thanked me, created a different kind of warmth. I had fractured my authority but saved a family.
This single By Justice or Mercy narrative choice created a hybrid path. I wasn’t purely Just or Merciful anymore. The game’s branching dialogue adapted beautifully—characters now referenced my “unpredictable” judgments. This decision directly led me to one of the more nuanced By Justice or Mercy endings, which I’ll call the “Fractured Reformation” ending.
Because I had mostly followed Justice but showed key mercies, I faced a finale where a full-scale rebellion erupted (fueled by my earlier harsh rulings), but I had enough personal loyalty from individuals I’d spared to negotiate a fragile, new council instead of a bloody massacre. It was a bittersweet, unstable peace—a direct result of my inconsistent, human choices.
What I learned about pacing and save management:
* Save Before Every Judgment: This seems obvious, but the game lulls you into a rhythm. The Stonemason case taught me that pivotal choices aren’t always marked with giant flashing lights. Save scumming isn’t cheating here; it’s how you explore the By Justice or Mercy story depth.
* Pacing is Key: The game expertly spaces major moral choices between periods of investigation and character interaction. Use these quieter moments to talk to everyone. Those conversations fill in the context that makes the big decisions so torturous.
* Use the Built-in Tools! The game’s gallery and flowcharts aren’t spoilers; they’re retrospectives. After a playthrough, reviewing them showed me just how many tiny dialogue choices I’d missed that could have softened Rourke’s disapproval or strengthened my bond with Elena.
My first run taught me that By Justice or Mercy is at its best when you let yourself be conflicted. The most compelling narrative isn’t found on a pure path, but in the messy, human space between them, where every choice truly costs you something. It’s a masterclass in how choice-driven visual novels can make you ponder not just the fate of a character, but the weight of the gavel in your own hand.
By Justice or Mercy offers a branching, choice-driven experience where the consequences of justice or forgiveness shape character arcs, endings, and unlockable content. Use the chapter strategies to plan runs, manipulate relationship meters intentionally, and avoid common installation pitfalls. If you aim for completion, follow the checklist and leverage community resources while keeping backups of saves. Try one focused run to learn the mechanics, then experiment with divergent choices to discover the full breadth of outcomes.
