Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE : Special Edition (Review)

Slay monsters—and slay like a pop star—all at the same time, in this brand-new RPG from acclaimed developer Atlus. A sinister force from another dimension has invaded modern-day Tokyo, resulting in a fantastical barrage of style, fashion, music, and, of course, danger. So fight back—command your creative potential, save the world…and become a star.

Story - As describe in the synopsis above. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE takes in place where a special group of people called Mirage Masters protect the city from another dimensional beings called the Mirage. The Mirage have the ability to take over a hosts body and are able to perform special abilities, even control the host depending on the ability. The Mirage Masters are the select few who have the ability to see these beings are blessed with the gift to fight them and even partner up with Mirage beings that join them in their cause. The story follows the characters of Itssuki Aoi, Tsubasa Oribe, Touma Akagi, Kiria Kurono, Eleonora Yumizuru, Mamori Minamoto and Yashiro Tsurugi. The story does a great job of giving each character a sure amount of time for back story and character development so you can really connect with them. If their not fully feature in the main arc their side missions will help you understand each characters motivations, and relationships with one another. The story is played through chapters that makes the pacing of the overall story feel like you're watching an anime show. With that being said the story and the characters do suffer from a few anime cliches that you can overlook. For example the cliche of a character having feelings for a childhood friend but too shy to tell them is heavily present in the game. However the story does a great job of capturing the pop culture of Japan. It nails the spirit and tone of the great city from the music, the anime cutscenes and even some real location. The characters are great and you will feel invested in at least one of them to keep you playing.

Gameplay - The gameplay follows the turn based combat system of your typical RPG. However that is just the core of the gameplay. The gameplay features a lot of elements to it's system that makes it refreshing. For one thing the gameplay has a lot of strategy during the actual battles. You have certain enemies that are weaken by certain characters and attacks. Finding out which works and what doesn't is all part of the learning curve. The Mirage Masters are aided by their Mirage partners which have a certain set of skills, weapons and ultimate attacks. Each Mirage also has their union upgrading system which can only been done at the HQ. Unlike other games where you buy weapons, attacks and skills, Tokyo Mirage Sessions makes everything an upgrade at the Bloom Palace located in the Fortuna Office. Here you make upgrades and improvements through the Mirage character Tiki. You have two option of upgrades the Carnage Unity and the Radiant Skill. Carnage Unity is where the items you obtain from enemies during battle. These items are used to form new weapons and enhances the ability to learn new skills. I like the use of this system because it makes you have to battle regardless. You want new weapons you have to battle and figure out which type of enemy leaves what item to upgrade your players. One thing I also enjoy is that just because you uprgrade it doesn't mean that new weapon will work on all enemies. Some of the previous weapons will effect the enemy more than the upgrade. Thankfully you can always switch back and forth with the menu system. The Radiant Unity is where you learn new skills for your player and their Mirage. It's a simple system the more you battle and win the more skills you learn. These two elements with the addition of the Stage Rank which is how you get new skills to use for the Radiant Unity. Stage Rank increases the more you fight in combat and enables the longer duration of Session chains. Session chains is a unique system added in battle. Depending on your attack your allies will also attack with an attack of their own one after the other to do multiple damage on the enemy. Sessions is trigger by which attack, the enemies weakness and who is in your party. The battle system and leveling up system is great and enjoyable not to mention it's very challenging. This is an RPG that is a breath of fresh air and doesn't hold your hand. Dungeons have a variety of puzzles that range from easy to normal. The dungeons do play in typical Atlus form by going up from floor to floor but it doesn't feel tedious. Finally the game offers side mission but they do it in a way that it doesn't interfere with the stories narrative. The game is divided into chapters and intermission. The intermission is where you're able to complete side missions that gives you chance to get rare items, more background on characters and strengthen the relationships of the group. It's a nice way to approaching the side quest without it taking away from the main arc. I hope more RPG's take this route.

Graphics and Presentation - The graphics are a little outdated if you want compare it to the next gen standards. However for the anime feel this games is going for it is spot on. The game does a great job of incorporating real actual locations from Tokyo and bring them to life. The anime cutscenes are beautiful using a bit of 2d art with the 3d backgrounds with the proper use of lightning is the highlight of the games graphics. Voice acting is in full Japanese with English subtitles and the performances are stellar and campy at times depending on the character. 

Special Edition Features: The special edition features the games soundtrack, codes for their DLC such as the costume set, Tokyo Millennium Collection and Hunter Support Quest Pack and a booklet detailing the process of making the characters along with concept art. 

Final Score 4.5 out 5 stars - With a great story, some cool side missions and challenging bosses I would definitely play this game a second time around. The game offers something rarely seen and that is a full spot on representation of pop culture in Tokyo. The J-Pop story element makes it that much more entertaining.