Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE

This game genuinely seemed like it would be a trainwreck when footage first started coming out for it. It didn't look anything like what the original, working title (Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem) implied; it was a J-Pop idol RPG without any of the darkness of the Atlus franchise or any of the medieval grandeur of the Intelligent Systems one. It seemed like it was certainly going to disappoint.

And, well, it's better than deserves to be.

The game doesn't actually offer that many surprises; it's a turn-based, dungeon crawler RPG with combat that will feel familiar to fans of Persona or main-series SMT (not so much Fire Emblem) and a theme that happens to center around the Japanese entertainment industry.

Here's the most important part of this review: If you can accept this theme for what it is (and it really is) then you'll probably enjoy this game.

The theme is dumb. It's really, really dumb. At this point, I wouldn't be offended if everyone hated this game, because the theme is that dumb. But I was able to accept it, and I learned not to take it so seriously, and with that I was able to enjoy it.

Now, with that being said, mechanically speaking this game is pretty wonderful.

The dungeons remind me quite a bit of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (my favorite in the franchise). They're not randomly- generated and mostly empty like they are in the Persona games, and most of them offer some neat exploration and even puzzles. Sometimes the puzzles are a little frustrating, but it gives the game some diversity. Visually, the dungeons are the best they've ever looked.

The combat, as I previously mentioned, is mostly standard, but a new mechanic, called "Sessions," speeds up the fights dramatically. There's an even bigger emphasis on hitting weaknesses here than in any other game in the franchise, and it works really well. For anyone who has played Radiant Historia, there is a modified version of that combo system here that is equally rewarding.

The boss fights are pretty gorgeous, though not always that memorable. They're a lot of fun though, and always feel incredibly rewarding upon completion. There is a pretty awkward difficulty jump with every boss, and it never feels natural, but it keeps you on your toes. The final boss is an absolute nightmare, but it's one of the most rewarding boss fights I've played in a JRPG.

The characters in this game are pretty loveable if you can get past the concept. They each have pretty distinct personalities and backgrounds and, though they never reach Persona 4 levels of loveability, they certainly do feel like a really close group by the end of the game. Too bad there's no romancing!

The story is alright. Nothing special by any means. If you play for a gripping narrative, don't bother with this one. It's serviceable, and holds the characters and environments together quite nicely. It reminds me quite a bit of the structure of the plots in the Devil Survivor games, with the secret organization with all of its individual agents with their own agendas, and I enjoyed it from that perspective.

All in all, this is a really neat RPG with some fantastic mechanics, a loveable party, a fine story, and a really awful and cheesy concept. But it's better than it deserves to be, and I hope for more of this collaboration in the future.