January 2013. Wii U He had been in stores for a short time and Satoru Iwata stepped up with a Nintendo Direct that many Nintendo fans will remember with special affection. It was in that broadcast that the Xenoblade Chronicles X was seen for the first time and it was there, too, that an almost surrealist collaboration was announced: Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem.
Little do we know what the original idea of Nintendo and Atlus would be like with this project, but what it ended up coming to stores. After much silence, the Great N raised the curtain and announced Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe, a crossover / spinoff that brought both worlds together in a kawaii turn-based RPG on all four sides. A title that came to Wii U passing without sorrow or glory, but now has the opportunity to get back on stage.
Switch, which has become the perfect exhibitor to resurrect those jewels that failed to shine brightly enough, now houses an improved version of this JRPG with a capital jota. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore It is about to be released, we have played it thoroughly, and we have much to tell you, or little, if you already played the original.
Part-time artists
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore is a lot of things at the same time. It is a turn-based RPG game that reviews each and every one of the key points of the genre, adding a jota in front that this time makes more sense than ever. On the one hand, for its mechanical classics; on the other, by how he drinks from the Japanese idol culture.
And is that here the story is about a group of high school students who, after a series of events, discover that it has special powers, and not only that, but that they will mix with the flower and cream of the Japanese "artisteo." His life is turned upside down to become artists, or idols,
With this premise we know Itsuki Aoi, Tsubasa Oribe, Touma Akagi, Kiria Kurono and many more characters. The main cast is broad, and makes the plot have a lot of merit, because it is able to stop at each and every character and give them enough time to introduce themselves, to develop, to get to know them in depth and familiarize yourself with the whole cast.
Divide but not bored. Because, although the first face it shows is that of performances, music and performances; the other is the one that serves as a vehicle for the true thickness of the game. What would an RPG be if it only focused on singing and dancing? Tokyo is being the place of very strange events, and those responsible are the Mirages, beings from another dimension among which is the cast of Fire Emblem, although quite different from how we used to. Understanding what's behind all that and not losing your balance with everyday school and professional life is the center of everything.
Sing and dance, but also hit
With that narrative and contextual center, we find that Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore is the perfect title for lovers of Japanese culture. Everything, from its characters to dialogues or situations, seems taken from a manga. And that is good, but also bad.
Good because any fan of anime and manga can enjoy it, especially if there is a certain predilection for the magical girl genre; bad because, if it's not your thing, surely it's hard to give it a try. The same thing happened to the server at the beginning, but it is precisely the game mechanics that save this title in the eyes of the general public.
Because if, TMS Fe Encore is very niche, but inside it mixes some ideal concepts to attract any lover of the purest RPG … and hard. It is extremely intricate in mechanics, and it also requires a lot, so much so that we advise keeping every little time so as not to lose hours of progress.
Fighting the sound of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei
We have already talked about the Mirage and the characters of the Fire Emblem. These creatures become the beings that accompany our main cast, and in turn become the weapons they use. This instrumentalization has been perfectly used to move one of the mechanics of the Fire Emblem saga: the triangle of weapons.
Here the ax defeats the spear, the spear to the sword and the sword to the ax, as in any traditional FAITH (except Three Houses); but the elementary weaknesses, something that TMS #Fe collects with its other hand from the Shin Megami Tensei saga, and which one could say that also picks up the shift system.
Those are the two external ingredients of the combat system, and in some part of the character development; but they are not the only thing at all. The most important point of the combat system are the Sessions, combinations of strokes of the characters that use enemy weaknesses and that unlock by learning new skills. The curious thing about this ?, that performing more Sessions serves to obtain more pieces of the enemies and, thus, to be able to develop new Carnage (weapons) to continue obtaining new passive and active skills. Do you want more? There is also class system. Do you think that is not enough? They also level up, differently than the character level.
It is a set that requires some distance to be assimilated, and above all time and tutorials to understand everything. Fortunately, and despite its complexity and breadth, not hard to master. Those responsible have managed to establish a system full of elements and layers, but that can be tamed easily, the enemies are already in charge of the difficulty.
More musical than ever
Behind that surface so typical of the most kawaii anime and after those dialogues that can sometimes be unsettling, it hides a surprisingly hard game. In fact, the thing of hiding is literal, because the difficulty of the game remains in the Idolaspheres, dungeons that are born from the life of the person controlled by the Mirage that governs them. Yes, like the Palaces of Persona 5.
There puzzles are found, combats are found and the components that feed the exploration are found. There is shown the other side behind Shibuya Tokyo, concerts and messages by Topic. That is the one that condenses the essence that can attract the gamer of the classic RPGs.
But there is also the musical, and that is why he joined the group for something Avex
Too much bis
Although its appearance deceives and is more attractive than it seems for the mainstream, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore fails in something that those who played the original will most notice: lack of weight news. Add all the DLCs that came to pay for the original Wii U, and even add a new story that runs parallel to the main one, but does not go much further.
And there are some other novelty that we are not going to mention to give room for surprises, but the set is not enough. In fact, if we also consider that they have not dared to translate it into Spanish, it seems that you wanted to play safe. Provide little extra content that is relevant and stay true to the original. A movement well executed, but little daring.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore, a second chance
For many, this is probably the first time to try TMS #Fe. Those who already played the original Wii U version will find a title that now becomes portable, which adds some extras, but does not have much newer to contribute. Although it also keeps everything good and bad of the original.
Those who won't play it should give it a try. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore is a surprise So it hides behind its color and its anime aesthetic. Hilvana a story full of clichés in an ideal cast for a simple plot with some RPG mechanics with all the lyrics.
Do not judge it by its covers if you are not attracted to either manga or anime, because you may be missing a sensational opportunity to discover a demanding and magnetic game. In fact, it will end up trapping you to the point of discovering you humming your songs unintentionally. By then, we are sorry to tell you that it will be too late.
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