Publisher: Nintendo

Platform: Wii U

No. of Players: 1

ESRB: T

Atlus is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to RPGs. While it is known for localizing games that would otherwise be ignored, their own “Shin Megami Tensei” series has been one of the big names of the genre. The newest spin-off “Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE” is not quite as strong as past games in the series and has generated a lot of controversy over its idol theme. But once you get past the surface, you will find a solid RPG underneath it, complete with the difficulty you would expect from “Shin Megami Tensei.”

The story is not much to write home about. 18-year-old Itsuki Aoi and his childhood friend Tsubasa Oribe are pulled into the entertainment industry in order to fight against beings from another world known as Mirages by allying with benevolent ones. The Mirages are characters from the “Fire Emblem” series.  So the good Mirages include characters such as Chrom, Caeda and Cain, while the bosses include villains such as Gangrel and Aversa.

Beyond that the story advances through the interactions between Itsuki and his friends in the industry. The rest of the main cast, however, largely fulfill various personality archetypes that anyone familiar with Japanese media will recognize. Itsuki is a typical straightforward hero and he works with a ditzy girl, a hot-blooded hero wannabe, a cool reserved mentor, a mood-swinger, the token little girl and the cold loner. While the plot and characters are formulaic, the writing is flavorful and helps make most of the cast likable. It should be noted that the game does not have an English dub, so all of the spoken dialogue is in Japanese with English subtitles. While disappointing, the songs performed by the cast would likely have lost something in translation. It helps that the songs are catchy as is so it evens out.

Things pick up when the party enters a dungeon. Enemies are visible on the map and you are able to strike at them to stun them. After that, you have the option of running by or engaging them in battle. If you stunned the enemy before hand, there is a chance of getting a preemptive strike.

The battle system shares the usual “Shin Megami Tensei” emphasis on hitting enemies with spells and attacks they are weak to. This game takes it further by dividing up physical attacks by weapons and using “Fire Emblem’s” weapon triangle to determine weaknesses. Swords beat axes, axes beat lances and lances beat swords.  Where as previous games gave you extra turns for successful attacks, doing so here can trigger a Session attack. Depending on the attack used, another party member will follow up with an attack of their own, which can then trigger another follow-up attack in sequence. Eventually, characters outside of the active party can join in a Session attack. This makes it easy to take down enemies one by one due to you repeatedly chipping away at the enemy. This is good because the enemies tend to have really strong attacks unless someone in your party resists, is immune to or absorbs the element. Of course, the enemies have access to Session attacks as well, which punishes a poor defense as well. Unlike other SMT games, you are there are no special punishments for striking enemies with something they are immune to.

However, luck also plays a large role in the battle system. Outside of the usual critical hits, using certain attacks will trigger ad-lib performances. These flashy special attacks incorporate part of the users act into a move that hits all enemies and usually provides an additional effect. Similarly, session attacks sometimes provide an opportunity to perform a duo art. These attacks are based on the cast’s collaborative works, such as guest appearances on shows or a song by a duet which not only have additional effects, but can also extend the session beyond what was shown on-screen. Having one of these trigger can turn a losing battle around and have no additional cost beyond what the original attack required, but they can be inconsistent. For example, sometimes an ad-lib performances can trigger when you are down to the last enemy and the attack you were planning to use would have finished it off. Yet you would be struggling against the full enemy party and be up against the wall for the whole fight without being thrown a lifeline.

Outside of battle, each dungeon has at least one gimmick to set it apart from the others, such as arranging a mannequin’s arms to move between floors or having to find the right door to proceed out of a bunch of others that would send you back to the entrance. While they keep things interesting, they tend to get boring by the tenth time you have to face the same obstacle.

Despite its flaws, “Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE” is a solid RPG that deserves far more than to be scorned for not being the “Shin Megami Tensei” and “Fire Emblem” crossover we expected. Don’t let the idol themes fool you. This game is worth your time.

Score 8/10