Have you ever dreamed of getting on stage? Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore offers you the possibility of living in your own flesh what it feels like to be a mass hero, both for your microphone skills and wielding a celestial sword.
When Iori Yoshizuki (co-star of Katsura I’s manga) acts as a model in his first job while still in high school, appearing in a swimsuit in a men's magazine is a turnaround in his life. Fame, the status it gives him in his class and not really knowing if what he does is right, clearly shows that something is wrong.
The Idol phenomenon in Japan, with groups as well known as Momoiro Clover Z or AKB48, are usually linked to a large number of merchandising, song-related elements, lively lively concerts, photographs for magazines of all kinds and an audience ranging from adolescence until maturity: indeed, there are many followers who are approaching fifty years.
In Tokyo Mirage Sessions these insecurities are addressed, by putting ourselves in the shoes of a group of young people who want to be stars, and doubts also arise when the photo shoots uploaded or the ads for swimsuits begin to star in the offers of work that reaches the agency Fortuna: the fear of criticism or failure increases. It is a pity that all this is edulcore and not bet on a vision somewhat closer to the reality of Japan (moved with more force today to South Korea), being simply issues that serve as the guiding thread of the main plot of the game: the most dangerous Mirages of the Idolesphere are absorbing the talent of humanity, to conclude their evil plan in order to rule both worlds.
Despite this, being in this aspect below productions as Persona 5, it is surprising how the formula used in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore —data 2015, date of the game's initial release under the premise of a crossover between Sin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem— still lives up to the circumstances. Well, this JRPG, although it can take back more than one for the J-Pop theme on which it is based, has many of the virtues that make us love games like those in the Persona saga, and some nuances of Fire Emblem which, far from interfering with the game mechanics, give a distinctive air to our fellow travelers: the Mirarol Buenrolleros.
Tsubasa, you can
Although in the game at hand we will play the role of Itsuki, it is the circumstances surrounding his travel companion on which the main plot of the game revolves. Although her dream is to become a great singer, she sees it impossible to achieve what artists like Kiria Kurono or Yashiro Tsurugi have built.
They are his travel companions, the workers of the Fortuna agency and the strength he acquires when he is forced to fight against evil, the elements that unleash all his innate talent. And is that, can you think of any more spectacular way to end the demons that ravage Tokyo than annihilating them thanks to the artistic gifts of the main cast?
Tokyo Mirage Sessions in a JRPG video game where combat, the improvement of our protagonists and their Mirages (equivalent to the Person), light exploration and the achievement of secondary missions accompany the most important objective of the title: to advance through the main story overcoming a series of dungeons (similar to the palaces of Persona 5) plagued by enemies, interesting objects and clashes with bosses. All this peppered with various proposals: each idolesphere has its own setting, they include exclusive mechanics and simple mini-puzzles that liven up the trip and, despite being far from what is proposed in other video games on the market, they are not as monotonous as those of some Dungeon Crawlers
The headquarters is established in the Fortuna agency building, where we will track the activity of the evil Mirage, we can see the status of the secondary missions and access another plane of reality: the Bloom Palace, commanded by our beloved Tiki ( recurring character of the Fire Emblem series). She reinforces the bond that our characters share with their Mirage, we can unlock secondary skills for the protagonists – using resources that we will find in the dungeons -, access new and powerful weapons – remember that they are distributed among spears, swords and axes -, awaken new and spectacular Mirage attacks and, after quite a few hours of play, access some rather striking surprises.
The Bloom Palace will be one of the few places where we will have a conversation with our ethereal partners face to face, and we will also have the possibility to access a part of the Idolesphere where to train, gain experience (which accelerate the progress of the characters) and unlock the new EX adventures, which we will talk about later. The good thing about all this is that it is very well linked to the combat system: the progress achieved is noted ipso facto.
Let the show begin
One of the factors we liked most about Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is its inspired turn-based combat system. With important traces of the Persona saga, we will handle three of our protagonists while, at the top of the screen, we are shown in detail the turns of each contestant (enemies included).
Each with its specific group of weapons, as well as attacks and exclusive spells, the protagonists unleash a festival of effects of fire, wind or electricity assisted by their Mirage, while the classic buffs (improved speed, increased strength, etc) and debuffs (poison or sleep, for example) follow one another on the screen. The most interesting thing about this system is the fact that, by finding the weaknesses of the opponent, we can trigger the Sessions, in which one or more other partners come into play in the same turn.
At the beginning only those of the main team will intervene, although when the plot progresses we will be able to overcome the ten offenses chained against our enemies with the assistance of secondary casting and the intervention of non-playable characters (novelty of the Switch version). Without a doubt, a show that is even more striking if the initial movement is an exclusive Special. Its operation is subject to the attacks that we accumulate against our adversaries, which fill the Special bars up to a maximum of three. That is where we will put the most challenging Final Mirages against the ropes.
Touring Tokyo
Being the undisputed protagonist battles of the dungeons, a period of rest called "intermission" will be offered between chapter and chapter. Although they can be done at any time, the missions and secondary tasks will make more sense during these "breaths."
While we strengthen our relationship with such different characters as Tsubasa or Touma, we will witness trunking, exciting and even surprising moments. In some of them we will be asked to fight inside the Idolesphere, even though the “visual novel” character is the one that stands out the most in these missions.
In addition, many characters spread across the various Tokyo stages will require our help. The system of small errands is entertaining, offers more content to the game and makes us progress. Unfortunately, they often resort to the same "dump" premises or to revisit dungeons that we have already overcome.
Be that as it may, every excuse is good to visit places as emblematic of Tokyo as Shibuya, the Daitama Observatory or the commercial district of Harajuku. They are recreated with enough care, we can access several shops to get special accessories, exclusive costumes or different collections of posters, and if we need to recharge the batteries, we can always buy a good Ramen in Shibuya, opt for the cafeteria if we are more sweet, or use the different vending machines that are distributed throughout the game.
It is a shame the shortage of establishments, as well as the absence of exclusive animations when you use their services or the recreation of the typical food of each place, elements that are more careful in titles such as those belonging to the Shenmue or Yakuza sagas. However, it is very nice to unlock new areas, solve the secondary missions proposed by Tiki, or visit the commercial places to see if there are new products for sale.
The road to fame
While we overcome our fears of interpretation, as the vocal skills of the singers are improving, and new announcements and offers come to Fortuna agency, our relationship with the protagonists of the adventure will grow. The cast is bulky and diverse enough to maintain our interest throughout the more than 40 hours of main adventure – despite the cliché manids we will meet every two by three – resolving missions and side orders rewards us directly in combat – with new options, special moves and alternative skills – and, if we want to complete the game 100% (overcoming the Arena's challenges and solving Switch's exclusive EX missions) it's easy for us to reach a hundred.
These missions take the wishes, insecurities and aspirations of the protagonists as a backdrop. The goal will be to overcome a palace divided into chapters (they will be gradually unblocking as we progress through the main story) where powerful enemies and treasures everywhere lead us to a jackpot: develop new and powerful skills of our travel companions.
However, we are facing a video game that, although it does not reach the levels of quality content available in titles such as Dragon Quest XI or Persona 5, we have been pleasantly surprised by its general level. And that is also reflected in his particular artistic direction.
Lights, camera, sound and … Action!
The Tokyo Mirage Sessions anime finish, with stylized character design by Toi8 and trickster art direction courtesy of Hideo Minaba, works great. We are facing a video game that does not stand out in the technical, but it is really colorful to enjoy its colorful battles or its striking scenarios, which inevitably remind us of the films of Makoto Shinkai or Mamoru Hosoda.
Speaking of performance, the video game that concerns us corrects most of the problems of the original version, offering a stable framerate at 30fps in both dock and TV mode, while the sharpness that it presents on a laptop is somewhat worse when playing it on the big screen . Of course, the recreations of the concerts, the cinematic of the video clips, as well as the beautifully animated introduction in a traditional way by Studio 4ºC are really surprising (both artistic and sound). A pity that the Japanese voices do not come subtitled in our language, something that would have facilitated to follow the history of these aspiring artists who, after their silent passage through Wii-U, intend to give the note in this new attempt via Nintendo Switch.
CONCLUSION
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a very good JRPG. Far from being a mere Spin Off of the sagas to which reference, it has its own character. The characters – despite the clichés – make themselves loved, at the playable level the title works very well, and the content it offers gives many hours of fun. The discreet novelties of this version (the new EX adventure, the costumes or the exclusive song are appreciated), as well as the controversy generated by the fact that they maintain certain censored details, are not reasons to pass up this Idol themed videogame, because hides much more than it may seem at first.
THE BEST
- Audiovisual is a show
- A good combination of turn-based action, visual novel and character progression
- It offers a large number of varied contents …
WORST
- … although some of them of shallow depth
- The TV mode resolution causes an annoying aliashing
Very good
Remarkable game that we will enjoy and remember. A good purchase, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well taken care of at all levels.
