Tokyo Mirage Sessions was one the two Wii U games i wanted a Switch port of, the other obviously being Xenoblade Chronicles X. I didn't expect TMS to be the one getting the port before X but that was a welcome surprise. It definetly felt like an underrated gem that nobody gave credit to because "lol idols" and i'll admit, i'm not really a fan of idols. I purchased TMS Encore a few days after released and spent the next three months playing it.
I know it's not the Fire Emblem x SMT crossover that everyone expected but let me start off by saying that the character designs in this game are pretty dope. The "SMT'ified" versions of Fire Emblem characters are pretty cool (especially some of the promotions) but what i really liked the most was the Carnage Forms of each character. They manage to maintain that Fire Emblem look while at the same time managing to have a unique feel not found in any other Fire Emblem game. The characters themselves are good enough (not you Barry). I wouldn't call them amazing but they serve their purpose and i liked the cast overall. The side stories definitely help flesh out the characters more since the story kinda isn't good at doing that. In fact, i'd say that just like Xenoblade X, this is a game where the side stories are better than the main story. On the subject of the characters, Kiria is best girl, Touma is best boy. As for the actual Fire Emblem characters themselves, the Mirages that are allied with the party stay in character to their original counterparts but i have to give extra props to Tharja for actually not being a bad character. Crazy how Tharja is a better character in TMS than in Awakening.
The gameplay was actually pretty good. It's simple yet rewarding and those Session attacks can get addicting. I will say that it does feel like TMS gets easier as you progress. Once you start unlocking the Open Session passives for everyone, you'll have an overall easier time dealing with enemies than in the early game, where you could only do two Session attacks. I also appreicate the very generous amounts of EP the characters have, since you're almost never going to use the normal attack. Ad-lib and Duo attacks were pretty cool to see and this does tie back into the idol influence that i mentioned earlier. While i don't like the idol genre, the reason this game worked for me is because it actually did something unique with the idol genre, not to mention there were other elements of the entertainment industry. Most things in the idol genre are just reskins of Love Live. Also, i really like the theming of everything in this game. The party members were refered to as "cast members", locations were "scenes" and the characters were "artists". I also think it's pretty cool that the "magic circle" thing that shows up whenever a character uses magic is actually just their signature. It's pretty cool.
My main issues with the game is that there are times when the combat does feel a tad bit too repetitive. Dark and Light skills are also pretty useless since they can't Session into anything and Almighty is almost as useless except it has one use in breaking through Tetra/Makara skills. Some dungeons have puzzle elements but they weren't doing that well. The puzzles themselves weren't hard but a lot of the times, it was just impossible to see what it is you're actually trying to solve, so it results in undeeded trial and error. Also, the inability to swap out Itsuki from the party (i know you can in NG+) is a problem since it kinda limits you at times. In battle, characters can swap out at any time during their turn for no penalty (and it can be done as many times as needed) except Itsuki. He must always be there, even when it isn't beneficial at all.
The music is.....pretty forgettable actually, which is strange to say in a Modern FE world and in a game about music, because every Fire Emblem game since Awakening has had solid OSTs (before Awakening, most Fire Emblem games had like five memorable songs at most). The vocal songs themselves are pretty good but other than that, the soundtrack is just there. Good in the moment but nothing to really write home about.
Overall, the game isn't amazing but it's a solid addition to the Switch's library. It gets the Armagon seal of approval. I do recommend this game.
I know it's not the Fire Emblem x SMT crossover that everyone expected but let me start off by saying that the character designs in this game are pretty dope. The "SMT'ified" versions of Fire Emblem characters are pretty cool (especially some of the promotions) but what i really liked the most was the Carnage Forms of each character. They manage to maintain that Fire Emblem look while at the same time managing to have a unique feel not found in any other Fire Emblem game. The characters themselves are good enough (not you Barry). I wouldn't call them amazing but they serve their purpose and i liked the cast overall. The side stories definitely help flesh out the characters more since the story kinda isn't good at doing that. In fact, i'd say that just like Xenoblade X, this is a game where the side stories are better than the main story. On the subject of the characters, Kiria is best girl, Touma is best boy. As for the actual Fire Emblem characters themselves, the Mirages that are allied with the party stay in character to their original counterparts but i have to give extra props to Tharja for actually not being a bad character. Crazy how Tharja is a better character in TMS than in Awakening.
The gameplay was actually pretty good. It's simple yet rewarding and those Session attacks can get addicting. I will say that it does feel like TMS gets easier as you progress. Once you start unlocking the Open Session passives for everyone, you'll have an overall easier time dealing with enemies than in the early game, where you could only do two Session attacks. I also appreicate the very generous amounts of EP the characters have, since you're almost never going to use the normal attack. Ad-lib and Duo attacks were pretty cool to see and this does tie back into the idol influence that i mentioned earlier. While i don't like the idol genre, the reason this game worked for me is because it actually did something unique with the idol genre, not to mention there were other elements of the entertainment industry. Most things in the idol genre are just reskins of Love Live. Also, i really like the theming of everything in this game. The party members were refered to as "cast members", locations were "scenes" and the characters were "artists". I also think it's pretty cool that the "magic circle" thing that shows up whenever a character uses magic is actually just their signature. It's pretty cool.
My main issues with the game is that there are times when the combat does feel a tad bit too repetitive. Dark and Light skills are also pretty useless since they can't Session into anything and Almighty is almost as useless except it has one use in breaking through Tetra/Makara skills. Some dungeons have puzzle elements but they weren't doing that well. The puzzles themselves weren't hard but a lot of the times, it was just impossible to see what it is you're actually trying to solve, so it results in undeeded trial and error. Also, the inability to swap out Itsuki from the party (i know you can in NG+) is a problem since it kinda limits you at times. In battle, characters can swap out at any time during their turn for no penalty (and it can be done as many times as needed) except Itsuki. He must always be there, even when it isn't beneficial at all.
The music is.....pretty forgettable actually, which is strange to say in a Modern FE world and in a game about music, because every Fire Emblem game since Awakening has had solid OSTs (before Awakening, most Fire Emblem games had like five memorable songs at most). The vocal songs themselves are pretty good but other than that, the soundtrack is just there. Good in the moment but nothing to really write home about.
Overall, the game isn't amazing but it's a solid addition to the Switch's library. It gets the Armagon seal of approval. I do recommend this game.