I’m not really sure how it’s happening, but one of my absolute favorite Wii U games has an enhanced port releasing for the Switch next week! It goes by the ridiculously long name: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore and is about as outlandish as it sounds. This isn’t a bad thing though, quite the opposite in fact. You see, rather than the usual “save the fantasy world” JRPG plot, players instead have to save our world…while working as idols, musicians and actors because…reasons. I realize it sounds odd, and I can explain, but first check out this trailer. It does a decent job of introducing exactly what Tokyo Mirage Sessions is.

The setting and scenario are both fun enough to engage with, and the characters are fairly endearing overall, but it’s battle system that’s the real star of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. It’s not the deepest combat system in the world, but it’s got enough going on to remain entertaining for the majority of the game’s 50+ hour run time. At the strategic level, most battles boil down to prioritizing dangerous enemies and bringing them down first. It’s an easy thing to do most of the time, but becomes more complicated (and important) as the game wears on. Focusing fire isn’t enough you see. If your characters don’t have compatible skills, then victory becomes something much more difficult to achieve.

This is is because of the “session” attacks mentioned in the video. These are chain attacks that allow multiple characters to attack, and they function as the player’s main means of dealing damage. Successful sessions require that characters have related skills, which are acquired by leveling-up weapons. There’s a ton of skills to pick from in Tokyo Mirage Sessions, so there’s actually quite a bit of room to develop your own character builds. This is all topped-off with some excellent presentation too.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a game awash with bright colors and fanfare. It’s all pleasant to look at and listen too, and this includes the battles. All the characters seem to give their attacks everything they’ve got, transforming otherwise uninteresting animations into entertaining spectacles. Every battle concludes with victory poses, cheers from the audience, triumphant fanfare and some sort of advancement in the form of new skills or a level-up. It’s downright infectious at first and still manages to inspire a smile even way late into the game. If you enjoy JRPGs and haven’t played Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE yet, then I heartily recommend picking up the Switch version! This new version even has new dungeons, weapons, features and sessions, making it a total slam dunk) in my humble opinion anyway…)

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Have you ever played Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE before? What did you think of it? Think you’ll give it a shot this time?

Lede image from Nintendo eShop page