Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE He arrived on Wii U on June 24, 2016 and despite not being a bestselling title, he loved the majority of players who took him.
Possibly for being a title that for many happened something unnoticed Atlus Y Nintendo, developer and distributor respectively, decided to give it a second chance and announced in the Nintendo Direct that took place on September 5 last year that it would launch a port for Nintendo Switch calledTokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore.
A few days ago we made you a Advance of what this new version would offer us, but this time we will share with you an analysis of it and we will tell you in detail everything that this port offers.
Will there be enough news to get back to him? Let's check it out!
What's new in the Switch version
This version is very similar to the previous one, although at the same time it incorporates a series of novelties and they are the following:
- New dungeons: For players who want to level up as quickly as possible, they can now access the three additional dungeons that were previously only available as downloadable content. They are ideal for those who want to improve their combat skills without wasting time. New exclusive outfits for the characters.
- New EX Story: We can explore the new Area of Aspiration dungeon as part of the new Tokyo Mirage Sessions EX Story ♯FE Encore! By completing these unpublished episodes, we will get new outfits, objects and songs; We can listen to these latest in Fortuna Entertainment.
- New outfits for each character (some from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and other video game series).
- Maiko, Tiki and Barry They can join the fight and participate in the Session attacks.
- New musical theme of Tsubasa and Kiria, entitled "She Is …", and that we can unlock by completing the corresponding EX Story.
- Two new mixes; one is sung by Tsubasa and is the theme of the game's opening: "Reincarnation"; and the other sings Kiria: "Maybe Friends, Maybe Lovers."
- Faster loading times: The loading times between the different sections and scenarios are sped up in this Switch port.
Argument
The story begins when the sister of Tsubasa Oribe, a popular Idol, a fact that happens five years before the time in which this title takes place. Tsubasa, in order to find his sister, decides to appear in a Idol contest. He has the feeling that if he enters the world of entertainment in Tokyo, he will discover what has happened to his sister. Itsuki Aoi, the character that we handle throughout the adventure and the leader of our team (the only member that we cannot change or remove from the team), observes with Tsubasa that great celebrities are being possessed by enemies of the other dimension. At that time we are presented with three key elements of the story: Idolaspheres (other dimensions where we will find the dungeons), the Performa (the material of the soul) and the Mirages (beings from another dimension).
In this title the Japanese music industry becomes the cornerstone of the plot. It tells us how in Tokyo, the Japanese capital, the Idols (famous and influential artists within the Japanese audiovisual and musical entertainment industry) have an inner power that an army of enemies wants to obtain. The protagonists Itsuki Aoi and Tsubasa Oribe are involved in the battle between good and evil; Good is born from the inside of the Idols and evil, from beyond. Faced with such a scenario, there will be no choice but to deal with evil to save not only the characters possessed by the evil Mirage, but also the city of Tokyo and therefore the whole world.
Playability
As the name implies, the whole adventure takes place in Tokyo, famous for such emblematic places as Shibuya or Harajuku where we can buy items to improve our attributes in stores and vending machines.
We will have a team initially formed by few members, to which more characters will later join. One of the most useful tools to maintain contact with all of them is Topic, a social network that allows us to be aware of what is happening around us. On the other hand, this application can also be used to view the Map, in addition to following our progress through Tokyo and every dungeon.
The fighting is by turns (direct inheritance of Shin Megami Tensei), take place in a amphitheater prepared for concerts and we will enter them when we are within the Idolasphere and let's touch a spectrum (there are normal, more powerful and special ones). We will have physical and magical attacks. For the former, the power triangle of the physical weapons of Fire emblem (swords are powerful against axes; axes, against spears; and spears, against swords). In addition, the arrows have been incorporated, which will be powerful against the type of pegasus character. For the seconds, reference is made to Shin Megami Tensei, although the essence of Fire Emblem will also be used for specific magic such as wind or darkness.
All characters are characterized by belonging to a guy linked to Fire Emblem as swordsmen, horsemen, pegasus, archers, armored warriors, magicians and different types of monsters. In our team, the characters match any of these types mentioned except monsters. On the other hand, the Master Seals (Master Seals), which will allow us to change our Mirage class and therefore our characters to enhance them.
But what certainly attracts the attention of the game's combat system is that it is constantly evolving and improving with new additions until practically the end of it, so although the mechanics of the a priori fighting may seem very repetitive and simple, it ends up becoming increasingly changing and complex. Among the many actions that we can perform in the fighting we find Special Performances (Special attacks that inflict devastating blows that can take effect regardless of the enemy's strengths or weaknesses, or provide us with additional health to change the course of the combat, in order to perform them we will have three bars that are loaded by carrying out attacks and some of these attacks will spend one or two bars and), change characters (Although we will have several characters can only fight three at the same time and we can change any of them before attacking except the protagonist). On the other hand we also have the Sessions (If we hit the opponent with an attack to which he is vulnerable, one or more members of our team will lend us a hand with an additional movement, as long as they know how to execute a chained attack, but we must watch since the enemies can also use their own Sessions to take advantage of our weak points), Duo arts (duet attacks in the middle of a Session, happen by chance and are related to the Lucky statistic) and Ad-lib performances (skills that the characters learn according to their participation in the fighting and that are related to the secondary missions and cover a very wide area and may have additional effects).
Keep in mind that each character and enemy has its own weaknesses and resistance, which is very important when attacking. Even some attacks will not affect certain enemies and others can be absorbed (filling their life) or even reject them to harm us. Obviously when we meet a new enemy we will not know their weaknesses and resistance until we have fought with one of the same type previously (some question marks will appear), so we must try different attacks until they encounter their weaknesses and thus be able to initiate Sessions and defeat them more easily. The same will happen with the powerful final enemies of the dungeons, which we will have to attack until we discover their weaknesses. In addition we can also buy and equip accessories to boost the statistics of the characters, as well as acquire new weapons.
By participating in the fighting, our characters will win experience, they will level up and learn new skills which will be useful sea during the adventure. On the other hand each character has a Stage Rank (scenario range) that represents their position in the entertainment industry and that will also increase as they level up. On the other hand, it is also possible level up weapons to execute much more powerful attacks.
Definitely, a system that is very fun and that is improving and expanding as we move forward in the game, so it makes the player always be surprised with new mechanics when he thought he already dominated the fighting. It is undoubtedly one of the best sections of the game and it is obviously essential to be able to complete it successfully.
The title is divided into 6 main chapters, during which we must overcome dungeons until they reach their final enemy and defeat them. In these dungeons we must solve small puzzles to keep moving forward and in the longest we will find different portals that we must activate to be able to teleport and thus make the journeys between different areas of the same do not become tedious. In general the structure of the game is always the same, but to give the game more variety there are calls Intermissions, that is, spaces between chapter and chapter where nothing relevant happens and where we can devote ourselves to perform side missions (Side Story) which are totally optional, although highly recommended, since they will allow us to obtain important objects, as well as new ones enabled and attacks. The design of these is very irregular also, since while some are fun and entertaining, others are extremely absurd and even tedious. But as we say, being optional each player can decide if he is interested in accepting them and completing them or not. Of course, once one is accepted if we want to accept another, they will let us know that we must start from the beginning what we are doing at that moment. When we get tired of carrying out these missions or if we simply want to continue advancing, it will be enough to go to a certain point on the map to continue the main adventure.
Finally it should be noted that this title, like most Switch games, Can be played in portable mode, desktop mode and TV mode. Also also it is compatible with the Nintendo Switch Pro controller and the cloud data save svc.
Graphics and sound
On a graphic level Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is not a title that stands out for being a technical wonder, but it is a very colorful and colorful title. A clear example of this is that, with the exception of the protagonists of the story and some secondary ones, which are well modeled, all the characters that will appear on the stages are shadows of generic colors.
However, the great quantity and quality of animations presented by the characters in battle, as well as in the main story and in side missions. Without a doubt, this is where the game looks the most, especially in the special attacks and also in the duets during the Sessions.
The design of the different scenarios is quite discreet, being in general quite simple. We will visit different locations in Tokyo, but in all cases these scenarios are quite limited in terms of extension. The Idolasphere deserve a special mention, that is, the different dungeons located in another dimension where we will spend much of the game. Unfortunately, with some exceptions, most dungeons have a rather irregular design, some being very simple and linear and others quite convoluted.
On the other hand, the title has a magnificent soundtrack where evidently the different musical performances stand out, either through the main story or during the fighting, in the duets. All very lively and also has good sound effects, many of them being from Fire Emblem (for example when the characters level up).
Finally it should be noted that unfortunately this title continues to suffer from several problems already present in the original version: censorship (in his day the design of the clothes of the characters in the western location for sexual reasons was changed) and It has Japanese voices and texts english or french. Censorship despite not liking practically anyone, is something that can be overlooked, since beyond the visual, it does not influence the gameplay; but certainly, the fact that it does not come translated will make more than one who did not play it in his day also contemplate it now. Keep in mind that in a role-playing game, where there are many conversations, so having a minimum knowledge of that language is essential to understand the story well.
Duration
Like most JRPG, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a long title, which will take us to complete approximately 50 hours.
Obviously the time it takes for each player is very relative, since it will depend in large part on whether he dedicates himself only to advancing, he entertains himself in performing all the side missions or gets stuck in some boss (You can change the difficulty level at any time during the adventure). By completing the secondary stories, the characters will gain additional skills that will help them achieve stardom and improve as Mirage Masters.
On the other hand, we must also invest time in level up to our characters (in some moments it will be practically essential to be able to continue advancing with guarantees since the bosses are getting harder), buy objects, accessories, costumes, etc. In short, effectively manage the inventory to try to improve our team to the maximum and thus be able to face all the enemies we encounter. And as if that were not enough, the game also has several internal achievements. Therefore we have entertainment for a while.
Curiosities
- The Japanese version of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is based on the port of Nintendo Switch from the western version of the Wii U game, which had censorship (The original Japanese Wii U version of the game was not censored and initially it was expected that this version for Switch would not be in that territory either). This fact caused many Japanese users to complain to Nintendo, so the Japanese company apologized for this fact and promised to reimburse the money to those who requested it.
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE of Wii U received a special edition call Fortissimo Edition, which included a special box, the game in physical format, an art book, a CD with the soundtrack along with some song cards, DLC codes and a set of stickers.
conclusion
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a good role-playing game, with a very original story, great soundtrack and tremendously fun and always surprising introducing new mechanics throughout the adventure. This version also adds a lot of content, so if you do not play it in your day and you are attracted to its proposal, it is certainly a good time to give it a try. On the other hand, if you already played it on Wii U, the news may not be enough to replay it.
As we have also commented previously, not everything is good and it is that the technical section, beyond the fighting, is very simple and the design of its dungeons is very irregular. A proposal that will surely delight the most staunch JRPG fans and that will leave others somewhat indifferent. As always you should be the one who makes the last decision after reading all the above.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore It is available in physical and digital format, through the Switch eShop, from January 17 at a price of € 49.99. You must have a free space on your 11.2 GB console to download it.
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