Atlus has a reputation of making some high quality RPG experiences. The creators of the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series returns to bring a wonderfully stylish and fun RPG called Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE to the Nintendo Wii U.
Long title aside, Tokyo Mirage incorporates the amazing storytelling abilities that Atlus has perfected with a strategic turn-based battle system to create a fun and unique experience for any fans of Atlus games or RPGs in general.
THE STORY
The story of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE introduces players to the cast of characters, all longing to be music idols, as their town becomes inhabited by spirits called Mirages. These Mirages drain the life essence from people and, in some cases, possess them.
What follows is a story about the power of music and what it could mean to people’s lives.
Whatsmore, little do we know (and not to give too much away) the world of Mirages ties into Fire Emblem in an interesting way. It’s Fire Emblem meets the manga/anime series Bleach and it works really well here.
This is especially true when we find out later on that an event surrounding one of our main protagonists five years prior to the story ties in to the present.
It’s a rather unique story with some very compelling characters. While the main cast have characteristics that are basically anime caricatures, they do get to do enough in the story to add depth to their characters. I especially enjoyed going through different chapters and side stories to learn more about each character. Each cast member gets their time to shine within the story and to see what part each has to play.
The story is also presented in a beautiful way. A lot of the cutscenes are animated so it feels like you’re watching an anime and even though the graphics may not be as polished as some games, the character models and battle sequences are stylish and nice to look at. The cutscenes and talking points within the story are a little lengthy but the story is intriguing enough for all the text to be worth reading.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE mixes turn-based battles with a little strategy. Like many of these RPGs, there are some rock, paper, scissors elements to the battling. And the Fire Emblem sword, axe, lance triangle makes its way over to this game to add even more depth to the battle system.
If you think this is a lot to take in, don’t worry, the game does a really good job of explaining how battles work. And even after the fact, there are various markers that make up the battle screen so as long as you pay attention, you’ll be fine. And once you’ve had some battles, you’ll be conquering dungeons in no time.
But Tokyo Mirage Sessions isn’t just fighting; there are puzzle dungeons you’ll need to solve as well. There’s plenty to do within each chapter of the story, so be prepared for the long haul.
You can control your character in the overworld of the game, but it’s pretty standard stuff. If you’ve played Digimon Cybersleuth, it’s exactly like that. However, when you get into the dungeons, there are no random encounters. You’ll run across the Mirages and they’ll chase after you. Fortunately, you can use your sword to strike them down and avoid a battle. You’ll want to master your timing when you get deeper and deeper into dungeons.
This is especially the case when there are a lack of points to heal your party or to even save. Yea, by the way, there is no autosave option in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost my progress because I forgot to save, so keep that in mind.
But that adds to the challenge and makes the difficulty level of the game commendable. You’ll struggle at first, but then you’ll get the hang of it and get confident. And just when you think you’re ready at a run at the boss fight, you’ll get laid out. There have been many a time where I’ve had to just grind to level up my party to stand a chance against bosses and the savage encounters.
RECAP
Overall, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE has a fun, unique story with some stylish and smooth gameplay. You’ll sink hours into playing through the chapters, side quests and leveling up your heroes to become as strong as possible.
The weapon and battle systems are deep yet easy to figure out and once you finally master Sessions and the other nuances in battle, you’ll feel really accomplished.
The lack of autosave puzzles me and if there’s anything you take away from this review, it’s to constantly save your progress while you journey into dungeons.
The difficulty of the fights and bosses are worth mentioning. If you think this will be a cakewalk, you’re mistaken. And don’t be surprised if you have to allot some time to grind your party.
