Runner Up #2: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE started its life as the crazy crossover project of Shin Megami Tensie x Fire Emblem. The final game wasn’t quite what anyone was expecting, but it’s a wholly unique JRPG that wears its themes and ideas on its sleeve.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions focuses on a young group of heroes who all have aspirations to join the entertainment industry in Tokyo, Japan. They inadvertently find out about evil beings known as Mirages that want to suck the energy out of all humanity. The group befriend friendly Mirages, who are actually characters from the Fire Emblem universe, and harness their power to combat the forces of evil.
The game has a huge emphasis on J-Pop and the Japanese entertainment industry, even letting players visit real locations around Tokyo like Shibuya and Harajuku. Each of the party members get their own Mirage, similar to Personas, and they’re all members of Fortuna Entertainment, a talent agency created as a front.
While Tokyo is certainly a setting we’ve seen before, Tokyo Mirage Sessions presents itself in a fun and colorful way. There’s a certain vibrancy to the world both in look and feel, that you don’t see in a lot of RPGs. The cast each has their own hangups and problems they have to work through during the story, and the main character can help them with that along the way. You’ll also get to communicate with each one via text message, adding even more development.
Battles are themed almost as performances themselves, combining elements of both SMT and Fire Emblem. The weapon triangle of Fire Emblem is present, while the elemental weaknesses of SMT games also are a factor. Using each of these weaknesses to exploit enemies is key, allowing your party to chain powerful “Session Attacks” together. It’s a fun and challenging system, that has you adapting to the different enemies you face.
When you aren’t exploring dungeons, you have the option of running around Tokyo, talking to your party members and other NPCs, and creating bonds with them. Tokyo Mirage Sessions’ inspirations from other JRPGs and the Japanese entertainment industry are quite clear, but the game embraces them wholeheartedly. It’s a charming title that plays very similarly to Persona, but still has its own distinct flair.
