Her Love in the Force is a Romance Game Visual Novel by Voltage, Inc. for iOS and Android devices.
The protagonist is a rookie cop from a small Japanese village, who dreams of becoming a detective. A chance to fulfill that dream comes to her, and she suddenly finds herself enrolled in the prestigious Public Safety Police Academy in Tokyo, a school exclusively populated by men. The instructors are all elite detectives in the Tokyo Metropolitan PD, with a reputation for being sadists of the highest order, who have made it their sole mission to put all the students through the ultimate Training from Hell in order to train the next generation of ace detectives.
During her first week, the protagonist is given a chance to become a full-time aide to one of the instructors, whose orders are to be obeyed without question: Seiji Goto, the ace detective; Hyogo Kaga, the arrogant and cruel captain; Hideki Ishigami, the cold and emotionless demon instructor; Ayumu Shinonome, the Insufferable Genius with a knack for hacking; and Shusuke Soma; the enigmatic lieutenant that teaches Kendo. While she juggles her training, her academic duties and her duties to her instructor, the protagonist finds that there's more to the stern instructors than meet the eye.
Despite the title, this work has nothing to do with the metaphysical concept from Star Wars.
The game contains examples of the following tropes:
- The Ace: Seiji Goto is regarded as one of the best detectives in the department.
- Accidental Public Confession: While the protagonist inadvertently confesses her feelings to Soma, the earpiece she's wearing just happens to stop malfunctioning so that everyone else can hear her.
- Action Girl: The protagonist has shades of this in the routes. Naruko - the only other girl in the Academy - has these moments as well.
- Alternate Continuity: Goto and Ishigami previously starred in Expansion Pack routes of My Sweet Bodyguard, and the main cast of that game appear in some routes of this game. However, the two games do not share continuity: for example, though the Broad Strokes of Goto's backstory are the same, the specific details such as the name of his dead partner, the nature of their relationship, and the circumstances of her death are different.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Near the end of Soma's second route, the protagonist accidentally reveals how deeply she cares about him as she tries to convince him that the other detectives can be trusted, and will come to save them.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Kurosawa is very cheerful, happy-go-lucky and a Cloud Cuckoo Lander. But when it's time to do his duty, he's every bit as deadly as the other detectives.
- Cool Big Sis: The second main story of each route introduces Riko, a forensics expert, who fulfills this role for the protagonist as she struggles with her feelings for her love interest. Naruko sometimes fills this role as well.
- Cynicism Catalyst: For Goto and Kaga, it was the murders of their respective partners that changed them. See Dead Partner below.
- Dead Partner: In both Goto and Kaga's routes, the protagonist discovers that both detectives' partners were murdered a few years prior to the game. It's made clear that there are still unanswered questions regarding their deaths, with hints to a conspiracy within the police department itself.
- Divided for Publication: The main story is split in two. The first part centers around the protagonist struggling with her Academy training as well as being an aide to her instructor and getting to know the man behind the detective, ending with the protagonist realizing that she's fallen in love with him. The second part deals with the protagonist agonizing over her feelings for her instructor, while slowly finding her feet in the Academy.
- The Dreaded: Hands down, Ishigami and Kaga. Ishigami even has the nickname of 'The Demon Instructor' in the school.
- Fair Cop: Pretty much the entire cast.
- Fish out of Water: Typically, the students that are accepted into the Academy either come from influential families and/or have stellar police work under their belts. This fact makes the protagonist - a cop from a small town who's more used to looking for lost pets than terrorists - wonder how exactly she managed to get into such a prestigious school. In all routes, the protagonist finds out - either by herself or through the instructors - that her letters of recommendations were forged by her former chief.
- Forbidden Romance: The previews for the sequels hint at this, with Narita instituting a ban on romances between students and teachers and vowing to out anyone who engages in such a relationship.
- Frameup: Kaga gets accused of selling confidential police information to criminals in the second part of his route, after the real culprit is nearly found out.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- Applies to Chiba, an older student who becomes one of the protagonist's few friends. He falls in love with her in Ishigami's route; when she makes it clear that she's fallen in love with Ishigami, he continues to be friends with her and supports her.
- Chief Namba in his route. He keeps hinting to the protagonist to pursue Goto instead, mistakenly believing that he's too old and jaded for her. Coincidentally enough, it's highly implied that Goto falls in love with the protagonist during Namba's route, but doesn't pursue her once he sees how much she loves the chief.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Soma has shoulder-length hair that he often keeps in a messy ponytail.
- Love Dodecahedron: In Shinonome's route. The protagonist falls in love with him, he's been in love with his Childhood Friend Sachi for a long time, and Sachi herself is Happily Married and unaware of Shinonome's feelings for her.
- Magic Plastic Surgery: How Maruoka was able to get back into the Academy after being expelled by Ishigami.
- May–December Romance: Chief Namba and the protagonist in his route.
- Multiple Endings: Par the course for a Voltage game. At the end of each chapter, there's a meter with an arrow that swings towards a Good or Happy Ending, depending on the choices the player makes.
- New Meat: Every student counts as this, but the protagonist stands out because of her limited experience.
- One-Gender School: The female Protagonist and Naruko are the only female students in the academy.
- Plucky Girl: The protagonist embodies this trope. No matter how badly she does in school or at work, she always bounces back and refuses to let go of her dream.
- The Reveal: In all routes, it's revealed that the protagonist's former Chief forged her letters of recommendation so he could help her get into the Academy and fulfill her dream. How she finds out and the fall-out from it varies from each route:
- In Goto's route, the protagonist finds out after calling her chief and decides to withdraw voluntarily. She's encouraged by Goto (who knew all along) to remain in the Academy.
- In Kaga's route, he uses the information to blackmail the protagonist into becoming his servant/pawn.
- In Ishigami's route, he informs the rest of the instructors and the protagonist is brought in for an inquiry. After it's established that she had no idea of the fraud, it's agreed that she can remain in the Academy, provided she gets top scores in the next major assessment.
- The same situation in Ishigami's route happens in Soma's route. However, Soma points out that the school and Public Safety would look careless if word got out that they admitted a student without verifying their documents thoroughly. The protagonist is allowed to stay, provided she passes the next assessment.
- In Shinonome's route, he tells the protagonist about the fraud and uses the knowledge to blackmail her into being his gopher.
- And in Namba's route, the protagonist is outright expelled near the end of her route. She eventually gets readmitted after helping the detectives solve a case.
- Sadist Teacher: Ishigami and Kaga, whose classes are dreaded the most by the student body. Narita, however, is this trope personified, as the other two have Hidden Depths.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In the second part of Ishigami's route, the protagonist is on an assignment to retrieve data from a suspect. The plan becomes complicated due to unexpected terrorists taking hostages, and the teams are given orders to evacuate once they retrieve the data. She elects to stay behind when she realizes that there are still some hostages.
- Sex God: Soma is so good in bed that the protagonist is still dazed the day after sleeping with him.
- Sherlock Scan: Shinonome is a master at this, to the point where the protagonist briefly wonders if he's a telepath.
- The protagonist has the potential to develop this skill. Shinonome notes that she has a near-perfect photographic memory, and develops her studying/training around harnessing that skill.
- Spin-Off: Of My Sweet Bodyguard, via Alternate Continuity.
- The Stoic: Ishigami, who has a reputation for being cold as ice.
- Stoic Spectacles: Ishigami again, as the most stoic of the detectives and the only one to habitually wear glasses.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Ishigami usually has a cold demeanor but is also a Nice Guy and has an endearing love of cats.
- Sweet Tooth: Ishigami really likes pudding, and Goto tends to subsist on sweets if the protagonist doesn't make sure he gets proper meals.
- Trademark Favorite Food:
- Mochi and pudding for Kaga and Ishigami respectively, with Kaga complaining about Ishigami's preference for "that soft stuff" on more than one occasion.
- Cheese for Soma.
- Shinonome seems to have a soft spot for peach nectar.
- Training from Hell: The students are pushed to their limits academically and physically, and are also given on-the-job training by helping out with dangerous missions.
- Undercover as Lovers: This usually happens between the protagonist and her chosen instructor
- Soma and the protagonist go undercover as a married couple in the second part of his route.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Shinonome has been in unrequited love with his childhood friend Sachi since they were kids. He eventually lets go of it when he falls in love with the protagonist.
- Unusual Euphemism:
- Naruko: Have you... climbed the stairs of adulthood... with Soma?!
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Kurosawa in the first part of Ishigami's route. The protagonist discovers that one of the students (Maruoka) is planning something bad. As she goes to alert Ishigami, she runs into Kurosawa on the stairwell. Before she can tell him what's going on, Maruoka appears and politely asks Kurosawa if he can 'borrow' the protagonist for a while. Kurosawa sees nothing wrong and agrees. This leads to the protagonist becoming Maruoka's hostage as he launches a terrorist attack on the school. She's physically assaulted, has a bomb put on her and ends up being shot during her ordeal. Kurosawa is understandably remorseful and apologises to her as she recuperates.
