Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

 Wii U
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 410 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 314 out of 410
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 410
  3. Negative: 63 out of 410
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  1. AJCk19
    Apr 28, 2023
    4
    It is a average JRPG that hasn't done anything more different than Digital Devil Saga or Bravely Default. But if you are a hardcore fan of Persona or Fire Emblem, it probably will be at least a 6 stars. Lastly, the censorship basically kilt the game on arrival.
  2. Goodnightmoon
    Jun 7, 2021
    10
    This is a wonderful game that deserves way more recognition. While it may be a little too cheesy and it has some annoying anime tropes, TMS is a very special game.
    The setting and story are pretty unique, the characters are trying to make their way into the Japanese show business and along the way they have to fight with the obstacles of the industry and their own personal demons, this is    This is a wonderful game that deserves way more recognition. While it may be a little too cheesy and it has some annoying anime tropes, TMS is a very special game.
    The setting and story are pretty unique, the characters are trying to make their way into the Japanese show business and along the way they have to fight with the obstacles of the industry and their own personal demons, this is represented with demons and dungeons in a similar style as Persona.
    The gameplay is fantastic, one of the best combat systems of any JRPG ever, its addictive, accesible but deep and very eye-candy. The presentation of the game as a whole is really good, very vibrant and colorful with a ton of style. The music, while not my style, its really well produced and fitting with the game, its high quality J-pop for the most part.
    The whole vibe of the game is quite light-hearted, maybe a bit too much for a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off but its really charming and quite engaging.
    An absolute gem, a game that always makes me happy, great gameplay, great presentation, likeable characters, unique story, its just really good.    … Expand
  3. Galix
    Jun 10, 2020
    8
    Un jrpg que muchos pasarán por alto por no estar traducido y por girar en torno a la cultura idol de Japón pero que sin duda agradará a todos aquellos amantes del género que estén dispuestos a darle una oportunidad.

    Lo bueno: - Gran sistema de combate, entretenido y dinámico. - Muy buenos personajes. - Buen apartado artístico en cuanto a diseño. - Bastante largo, incluso yendo solo    Un jrpg que muchos pasarán por alto por no estar traducido y por girar en torno a la cultura idol de Japón pero que sin duda agradará a todos aquellos amantes del género que estén dispuestos a darle una oportunidad.

    Lo bueno:
    - Gran sistema de combate, entretenido y dinámico.
    - Muy buenos personajes.
    - Buen apartado artístico en cuanto a diseño.
    - Bastante largo, incluso yendo solo a por la historia.

    Lo malo:
    - Historia muy mediocre.
    - Textos en inglés que, si bien no son difíciles de entender para quien sepa un poco el idioma, echarán para atrás a más de uno.
    - La participación de la saga Fire Emblem es más bien anecdótica.    … Expand
  4. LoganWayne
    Apr 1, 2020
    10
    Underrated game. This is the one of the best RPG I have played. This is the closest game to Persona series that Nintendo console owners can have.

    Other people might have concerns with the censorship when Atlus ported it outside Japan, but it did not affect the gameplay at all. I'm not mad that Atlus adapted the gameplay of Persona more than Fire Emblem or Shin Megami Tensei, I'm    Underrated game. This is the one of the best RPG I have played. This is the closest game to Persona series that Nintendo console owners can have.

    Other people might have concerns with the censorship when Atlus ported it outside Japan, but it did not affect the gameplay at all. I'm not mad that Atlus adapted the gameplay of Persona more than Fire Emblem or Shin Megami Tensei, I'm actually surprised and happy!

    Battle system is the best part of this game. I don't have a problem with the story being corny at times or that the protagonists aspire to be superstars. I don't. This game still deserves a 10 for me.

    I hope Atlus continues to support more games to Nintendo consoles.    … Expand
  5. gaboblack
    Jan 30, 2020
    10
    Un gran JRPG! Muy divertido, su banda sonora es excelente y su sistema de combate es brillante.
  6. gui789
    Jun 22, 2019
    10
    Um jogo grandioso, capaz de entreter por dezenas de horas, enredo
  7. TheCoffeeTalker
    Jan 6, 2019
    8
    Amazing! The gameplay mixed with the beautiful graphics combined with the wonderful story makes this the perfect JRPG for the Wii U! And if you are looking for a good JRPG that has plenty of things to do and includes large amounts of gameplay, well jackpot!
  8. XV_
    Sep 30, 2018
    8
    (More like a 7.7). For a game with a lot of personality as TMS#FE its main characters don't have a lot of it, but somehow or kind of #FE manages for you to feel for them, in the end, I kinda had a rush of nostalgia true the epilogue, like saying goodbye to true friends.

    If you like RPGs and Idols or at least anime style idols i think this combination is a made in heaven, but if you    (More like a 7.7). For a game with a lot of personality as TMS#FE its main characters don't have a lot of it, but somehow or kind of #FE manages for you to feel for them, in the end, I kinda had a rush of nostalgia true the epilogue, like saying goodbye to true friends.

    If you like RPGs and Idols or at least anime style idols i think this combination is a made in heaven, but if you dislike at least one of those you better stay away. The story is as generic as a lot of the modern FE stories but what truly shines is the combat, is so addictive till it gets old at the very end, the customization of skills is pretty deep and you will invest a lot of time on this system (for the better or the worse), the thing is that this part of the game is clunky as hell, picture yourself in a dungeon then grind a lot, then go back to the main hub to upgrade your skills, then go to the dungeon and grind, then repeat, it would be great that you could do that on the go but no. There's a lot of grinding so if you mind that kind of thing also stay away, also the music was a hit or miss for me, not my kind of music but some tunes were really cool. As for the things that invested me aside of the combat system where the sidequests, every sidequest has a cinematic reward with like a performance about one of the main characters and some of them are amazing or hilarious, also the presentation is amazing, but I can see a lot of people hating it or loving it. In the end, it was a very fun RPG with some interesting turns on the combat formula and presentation but not much on the story and character department to really shine like a star.    … Expand
  9. Kenmei
    Aug 17, 2017
    9
    After having gone back and played this after completing Persona 5, I've got a new appreciation for this title. While still not on the level of any of the recent Persona games, there's clearly a certain charm here with this game. Everything here seems simplified from Persona 4 and there's some things here that clearly influenced some of what Persona 5 used when it was released. Things areAfter having gone back and played this after completing Persona 5, I've got a new appreciation for this title. While still not on the level of any of the recent Persona games, there's clearly a certain charm here with this game. Everything here seems simplified from Persona 4 and there's some things here that clearly influenced some of what Persona 5 used when it was released. Things are cool and flashy, nowhere near how cool Persona 5 was and still is but there's alot to love here with this game. And while the story can be very hard for western audiences to relate too, the characters here usually do a solid job of making things interesting, even if everything is in Japanese subtitled. It's a very good game for a system that desperately needed them. I wouldn't call it great but I can see how they used this game and some of the features as a stepping stone for stuff that came later with Persona 5 so I've got a better appreciation for the things this does. JRPG fans who own the Wii U should give this a go. I'd recommend playing and beating Persona 4 and 5 first but this is a solid entry level game for people looking to get into the main Persona series later on.… Expand
  10. IvyPace
    Mar 9, 2017
    9
    Oh I love this game so much ! It's so fun, so bubbly, colorful, cute, full of nice songs. The combat is fluid and fun, but after some grinding you can get somewhat bored of it. Also the censures from the oriental version to the occidental version are totally pointless. There was no need for that :( Besides this is an incredible game and must for those who really like JRPGS, Cute stuff orOh I love this game so much ! It's so fun, so bubbly, colorful, cute, full of nice songs. The combat is fluid and fun, but after some grinding you can get somewhat bored of it. Also the censures from the oriental version to the occidental version are totally pointless. There was no need for that :( Besides this is an incredible game and must for those who really like JRPGS, Cute stuff or simple RPGs like me… Expand
  11. WookieWill
    Mar 6, 2017
    5
    I truly did want to enjoy this game, but it has an overly generic story, bland characters, and a leveling system that promotes far too much grinding. The way to mitigate the abundance of time that will be needed to properly level your characters is to have the DLC for the game and that grants the player too much exp and gold, but still not giving them the items necessary to level up, soI truly did want to enjoy this game, but it has an overly generic story, bland characters, and a leveling system that promotes far too much grinding. The way to mitigate the abundance of time that will be needed to properly level your characters is to have the DLC for the game and that grants the player too much exp and gold, but still not giving them the items necessary to level up, so there is still an overwhelming amount of fighting the same palette swapped monsters to obtain a fissure claw so you can craft a sword so you can kill more stronger monsters, etc. etc.… Expand
  12. ricklongo
    Jan 3, 2017
    7
    Initially announced as Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is an Atlus JRPG that mixes several elements from those beloved franchises. Luckily, the result is a game that's very much its own idea.

    The protagonist is Itsuki Aoi, a high school kid who finds himself involved in an interdimensional war with mythical beings of another world. The force that allows    Initially announced as Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is an Atlus JRPG that mixes several elements from those beloved franchises. Luckily, the result is a game that's very much its own idea.

    The protagonist is Itsuki Aoi, a high school kid who finds himself involved in an interdimensional war with mythical beings of another world. The force that allows humans to fight those beings is called 'performa', which gets more powerful depending on each person's artistic talents. As such, the cover-up for Itsuki and his ever-growing group of comrtades is Fortuna, a developing talent agency.

    In his quest, Itsuki roams Tokyo to find special gates to another dimension (called the Idolosphere), where colorful turn-based battles take place. Exploration of the overworld is very limited, as the game's Tokyo is made of several self-contained spaces instead of a single open world. Each of the game's several Idolosphere-based dungeons, however, offers more secrets and hidden passages to uncover.

    One of the game's best traits are the battles, which are extremely colorful turn-based affairs. They're technically deep without being overwhelming, and require players to carefully choose between several attack types and magical elements in order to maximize combo sections. The enemies are all based on the Fire Emblem universe, which adds a great layer of fan service.

    Equally interesting is Tokyo Mirage Session's focus on the Japanese music industry. As the story progresses, Itsuki and his friends go through several side quest to awaken their performa, which invariably lead to music videos showcasing their development as artists. Now, I don't really know the first think about J-Pop, nor am I really interested in it, but even so I though this was a pretty nifty idea. The music itself, while not my cup of tea, should be pleasant to fans of the genre, and the insight into Japan's ubiquitous idol industry makes for a novel background.

    There's also a weapon-crafting side that's vital to progression in the game. Each character has their own weapons, and each weapon offers different attacks and static abilities to learn. There a lot of depth here, and I often spent many minutes lost in the intricacies of transforming hard-earned loot into fine new swords, lances, and axes. The one problem is that the process is a bit obnoxious, as you're forced to skip the same animation every time you make a new item.

    Finally, there's the elephant in the room: the censorship. This is something that almost never bothers me, and sometimes it even rids otherwise fine releases of cringe-worthy sections. (Hey there, petting minigame in Fire Emblem Fates!) But here, there's no two ways about it: it's a problem. It gets to the point that whole plot points stop making sense altogether until you search the web and discover that critical details were censored. It's a bummer, and makes it harder to actualy care about the story.

    TL;DR:
    TMS has all the characteristics of a classic Atlus RPG, which means satisfying turn-based combat, but also some anachronic conventions (such as limited exploration and animations that get repeated over and over). Although marred by censorship of critical plot points, the final package is a fun adventure with a music industry-based background that I hadn't seen in a game before. It's admittedly a niche title, but if you're a fan of JRPGs, or Fire Emblem, or J-Pop (or all of the above), this one should be right up your alley.

    Rating: 7.5    … Expand
  13. CVegaOrtega
    Oct 28, 2016
    10
    Excellent game. I had my doubts about it, because it seemed too anime for my liking, but the characters are charming and the history is good. The greatest thing about the game it's the gameplay, hands down the best combat system i've seen in a rpg, it's a great mesh between Fire Emblem system and the SMT system. The upgrade for the weapons are great, and the soundtrack its too. Like,Excellent game. I had my doubts about it, because it seemed too anime for my liking, but the characters are charming and the history is good. The greatest thing about the game it's the gameplay, hands down the best combat system i've seen in a rpg, it's a great mesh between Fire Emblem system and the SMT system. The upgrade for the weapons are great, and the soundtrack its too. Like, seriously, first rpg that i don't want to skip the common enemies.… Expand
  14. Afenger
    Oct 8, 2016
    9
    Um rpg indispensável para fãs de persona, a utilização dos personagens do fire emblem traz boa recordacoes quando se ganha skills no jogo. Ficou interessante vale a pena ser jogado um modo de batalha classico e facil de se entender.
  15. pixiejoe7
    Aug 25, 2016
    10
    This game is really good. The gameplay/combat is easily the best thing it has going for it, better than SMT titles. The characters are likable. The music is catchy. The story is your standard jrpg stuff. Only real complaint would be that it could've used mirages from more FE games. One of the best jrpg's to come out in a long time.
  16. GoombaJMR
    Aug 25, 2016
    9
    Excellent game from Atlus (and Nintendo) that combines our favorite franchises (SMT & Fire Emblem) together for a very strange and unique experience. The music in this game is kind of interesting, with songs that you'll either like or dislike (not much in the middle) and excellent battle themes overall. Boss and mid-boss themes are very Persona-like, with Shoji Meguro style guitar riffsExcellent game from Atlus (and Nintendo) that combines our favorite franchises (SMT & Fire Emblem) together for a very strange and unique experience. The music in this game is kind of interesting, with songs that you'll either like or dislike (not much in the middle) and excellent battle themes overall. Boss and mid-boss themes are very Persona-like, with Shoji Meguro style guitar riffs and solos, while final boss and certain other themes are a mix of FE orchestrated goodness and some good electronic beats that actually don't hinder the melody of the music. Some of my favorites (search these on Youtube for a spoiler-less listen) include Quest Battle, Final Dungeon (no name spoiling), Boss Battle, Extra Battle, Shibuya, and the Final Boss theme of course ;). The idol songs were actually mostly catchy too, with my favorites being Black Rain, Reincarnation, Dream Catcher, and Raindrop Memories (or something like that).

    The art by toi8 is excellent, and I hope to see more from him/her (he has recently also worked on I Am Setsuna, which I have yet to try). The 3D models are detailed and the animation is fluid in and out of battle. The enemy design may not strike everyone as excellent due to them looking kind of crazy and not FE or SMT like. Either way, after playing for 20 hours, the enemy design started to grow on me and I started to like them a lot. This includes the cute cleric, cuter ghost thing, the horses on wheels, and the pegasus fliers. The mirages that are on your team (there are 7) are spectacularly designed too, and I spent a great deal of time using the SP skills (special) to watch them kick some serious a--.

    The game may seem a bit plain and FE-less in the beginning, but more elements are added throughout the game (particularly past the 15 hour mark for me), including the use of Master Seals (awesome!), weapon strengthening, and unique field skills that make our life much more pleasant. I played the entire game on normal and rarely had trouble with the difficulty (though I have played a lot of SMT AND FE), with the exception of bosses every once and a while. Sometimes you'll bring the most incompatible party members with you to a fight and get demolished when the boss goes first or second (and moves twice). For example, I would bring two lance users and those two would get targeted like crazy by a boss that uses axe attacks (axe beats lance), while almost always ignoring my sword user. So the battle system is great, the music for it is crazy good, animations and models right on target, decorations and backgrounds are colorful, and effects are just brilliant.

    The story isn't very strong and focused, which is similar to the recent FE games, but all story segments are fully voiced in Japanese (excellent job) and your attachment to the characters will naturally grow from hanging out with them during intermissions (and even the main story). Because I kind of rushed the playthrough of this game (got around 55% of play records and didn't really clear many requests) due to me moving to LA for college and not being able to take the Wii U with me (siblings..), I really am looking forward to playing through the game again to see more dialogue between my favorite characters and mirages. Anyways, buy this game if you have a Wii U - even if you don't like J-Pop and stuff, the excellent battle system and great bonds you can make in the game can open your scope (in a more direct way and not 'I heard it's about this' way) to two excellent franchises that currently reside among the top of JRPG franchises!

    PS: I have read about the censorship and found it to be no big deal (though I would have LOVED the hot springs DLC). I think it would be a better idea not to censor things, but it's not like they deleted a dungeon or did anything that would really limit our playtime (unless one would like to stare at pictures in a dungeon for hours). I also think that the people who are complaining about this like crazy are making it a bigger deal than it is and are ruining it for themselves. This is an excellent gaming experience and I feel that just some censorship will not (and did not for me) have a significant impact on the actual gameplay for this. Another reviewer commented on a dangerous bug regarding the Artists menu from mid to endgame, but I did not run into this issue despite clicking the artists menu quite often to check my progress on character side quests.

    Gameplay: 9.5/10
    Story: 8/10
    Music: 9/10
    Presentation: 9.5/10
    Length: 9/10
    Overall: 9/10    … Expand
  17. Pendrodamus
    Aug 20, 2016
    0
    Combines the worst of multiple IPs and doesn't even try to get it right. It feels like this was just a blatant cash grab. I'll never understand Japan's fascination with idols and pop stars. It's unhealthy if you ask me.
  18. vanou
    Aug 19, 2016
    10
    Very fun game, not so difficult but challenging enough. Great graphics, amazing music, but you have to like japanese culture. A must have for the fans.
  19. yiric4
    Aug 18, 2016
    8
    dont care about censorship **** off

    battle sequences take forever after u get every a talent and lets them get an attack in even when not in your party
    text messaging app on gamepad sucks
    not a fan of ****
    music is okay
    still good rpg
  20. drew95gt
    Aug 10, 2016
    9
    This game is GREAT! Don't listen to all of the negative reviews as most of them are complaining about the (very mild) censorship with the localization. If you like Persona, you will more than likely enjoy this game as it is VERY similar in feel. The Fire Emblem content is kinda limited to the Performa and some late game elements...not going to be specific as I don't want to spoilThis game is GREAT! Don't listen to all of the negative reviews as most of them are complaining about the (very mild) censorship with the localization. If you like Persona, you will more than likely enjoy this game as it is VERY similar in feel. The Fire Emblem content is kinda limited to the Performa and some late game elements...not going to be specific as I don't want to spoil anything. Seriously though, this is probably my favorite game since Persona 4 Golden. This game will truly end up being an underrated classic down the line, do yourself a favor and pick it up.… Expand
  21. Lone_Wolf_Sones
    Aug 7, 2016
    8
    For the sake of providing context I have never touched a SMT or a Persona game. I am a fan of Fire Emblem however and it is arguably the aspect that drew me to the game more than any other. I was surprised by how much I have enjoyed my time with it so far.

    One of my initial concerns from watching the trailers up until release was the j-pop and how battles would play out. I never really    For the sake of providing context I have never touched a SMT or a Persona game. I am a fan of Fire Emblem however and it is arguably the aspect that drew me to the game more than any other. I was surprised by how much I have enjoyed my time with it so far.

    One of my initial concerns from watching the trailers up until release was the j-pop and how battles would play out. I never really felt they did a good job of explaining just how the game functioned in terms of its battle system other than that you entered dungeons and that these Fire Emblem characters were a bit like summons. This game was announced in 2013 at E3 and here we are 3 years later with it finally in hand. Though it needs to be said the game was actually in development for 5 years (according to the artbook, more on this later).

    As I said I was unsure of the j-pop and general premise of the game. I was concerned whether the music would resonate with me since I don't speak or know Japanese. I was pleasantly surprised though as the music is actually quite good. I guess the best way I can describe it is that the music complements the tone and themes of the game. American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow claimed "Music is the universal language of mankind." I think its an apt description for the music in TMS. The vocals are able to convey the emotion a particular character may feel. You don't need to understand what they are saying to enjoy the music (or the story) and appreciate it. It may even be for the best that they retained the original voice work as English dubs can be of questionable quality. (There are English subtitles).

    The battle system definitely has roots in traditional turn based JRPG's. What I found so interesting is the way you can chain attacks together and the fact that as you level; the weapons you use also level which give your characters new abilities. These abilities when used to exploit enemy weaknesses can chain with others in your party. This can lead to some incredible moments where you perform an overkill on a challenging enemy.

    The visuals may not be the best the WiiU has to offer but they are very pretty to look at and the game has a nice visual style that extends not only to the menu and UI but the beautiful animated cutscenes. Then there are the designs of the Fire Emblem characters themselves and they just look awesome. There were some censorship choices made which can be jarring but I don't want to belabor that point and detract from what is an otherwise enjoyable game.

    Perhaps the biggest take away from the game is just how much it immerses you in Japanese culture. Shibuya is an interesting place. While I have never set foot in Japan I appreciated that I was able to see a statue of Hachiko the dog even if it is in a virtual setting. Its a surprising level of authenticity that I really enjoyed.

    The authenticity extends to the approach they took designing the game. The art book in the special edition has 3 pages of commentary from three of the developers. In it they reveal that they actually consulted actual Japanese music producers. They also had a touching thank you to Satoru Iwata for creating the opportunity for the game to come into the world. Even after his passing Satoru Iwata has managed to help deliver a game that is just fun for everyone to play. The game does have the kind of cringe that comes with some japanese games. However you shouldn't let that dissuade you from giving it a shot. The battle system is great and you may just find yourself pleasantly surprised. I know I did.    … Expand
  22. nonchalantgamer
    Aug 2, 2016
    8
    Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a fun game with a lot of style, and a deep combat system.

    First off is the combat system which is very fun, and offers a lot of depth, and continually gets deeper as the game progresses. This progression allowed the combat to stay fresh throughout the 60 hrs, and is easily the best part of the game. Now the Story is one of J-pop, and initially this threw me    Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a fun game with a lot of style, and a deep combat system.

    First off is the combat system which is very fun, and offers a lot of depth, and continually gets deeper as the game progresses. This progression allowed the combat to stay fresh throughout the 60 hrs, and is easily the best part of the game.

    Now the Story is one of J-pop, and initially this threw me off, but once i got into it a really enjoyed it, and the side quests were fun, and offered up development for the characters. The Voice acting is on par, and the songs are played by real pop idols, and sound incredible.

    The visuals in-game are solid, with smooth animations. But where the game shines is in the cut-scenes, which look, and feel like an anime style show which i instantly fell in love with.

    TMS is a fun, unique game with a lot of style, and a deep combat system. If your a fan you Japanese culture, and anime you should give this game a shot.    … Expand
  23. Truegamer80
    Jul 31, 2016
    0
    Censorship has totally destroyed the sense of this game.
    The japanese version is still an enjoyable game, coherent with premises. If you have a japanese wii u and understand japanese then you should buy the game. If not then avoid this massacre.
    The sense of tms is to show us the beautiful japanese culture and pop idol culture. Nintendo has censored the game in the west and has offended    Censorship has totally destroyed the sense of this game.
    The japanese version is still an enjoyable game, coherent with premises. If you have a japanese wii u and understand japanese then you should buy the game. If not then avoid this massacre.
    The sense of tms is to show us the beautiful japanese culture and pop idol culture.
    Nintendo has censored the game in the west and has offended japanese culture and next all the japanese culture fans (which the game was supposed to be dedicated).
    The idol culture isn't shown anymore , a dungeon has been totally destroyed, the entire sense is lost.
    The censorship itself is clumsy and senseless, for example cover a wedding dress, as if a wedding dress was scandalous.
    This probably to appeal a stupid audience like Sjw or puritans, but at the end sjw and puritans haven't bought the game whether or not, so the game has been destroyed in vain, poor sales.
    This because sjw and puritans don't care about hardcore games or games, on the other side fans are pissed off and don't buy the game, in the end nintendo has destroyed a game uselessly.
    Localization team should be dismissed, wasted time on censorship instead of insert english voices.
    Don't buy censored version.
    Games should be localized for who buy them and respecting gamers, not to appeal casuals or sjw.
    It is a shame.    … Expand
  24. vahn
    Jul 26, 2016
    9
    What a great game: after a long time of stale RPGs with boring button mashing combat system (don't get me wrong: some of these games are good), we finally get a good, old styled JRPGs with turn based system, a relatively good story with not much on it but definitely some cure behind it, a really colorful graphic that spits in the face of phorotorealistic games (I'm looking at you SquareWhat a great game: after a long time of stale RPGs with boring button mashing combat system (don't get me wrong: some of these games are good), we finally get a good, old styled JRPGs with turn based system, a relatively good story with not much on it but definitely some cure behind it, a really colorful graphic that spits in the face of phorotorealistic games (I'm looking at you Square Enix), and overall just a pretty good JRPG that has barely any flaws. I mean it: I had a hard time to find flaws in this game because every nitpick I might have in others just doesn't exist here.

    The story? It's there but it's also got sidestories. How do you know? The controller screen constantly updates you with new content to do, no matter where you are. Weapon can be only crafted but then how do i know which materials I need? Don't worry, the game has a list of items you need to pick, where to pick, from who to pick...and once you can craft it the game lets you know! The game will ALWAYS let you know when something can be done and where. YES they even tell you where to go, as in an actual map location! Everything is told to the player: you will NEVER be clueless on what to do, which is something that many other rpgs tend to do. TMS simply does not.

    What about the combat? It's simply amazing and while I'm usually biased toward turn based systems (action combat is simply button mashing), TMS does this extremely well. For starters you have 3 characters in the battlefield but no worries, you can switch everyone at any moment (except for Itsuki, which is a bit of a let down). On top of that, just like a SMT game would, there's weakness exploits to make but unlike the persona or SMT games where weaknesses grants you an additional turn, instead you get to perform combos called "Sessions". They're rather simple to do since you only need to learn a passive skill, but it's incredibly satisfying to do them and on top of that they grant you better rewards. At the beginning you can only do 2 chains at max (with all your current 3 characters) but eventually you'll be able to chain your entire team in a single, long chain of attacks! This is by no means originals but it's something that nowadays doesn't come in new RPGS, where it's usually just button mashing. In here? You actually need to exploit weakness and win by using them.

    However if I have to nitpick, the sessions can't be activate via normal basic attacks, rendering them useless.

    So technicalities and gameplay are out, what about the story? Well...it's ok. I honestly appreciate the fact that the MC actually talks, unlike most of Atlus other games where the MC is usually silent. I like the character style - which is from Fire Emblem - while I definitely dig into the "fusion" thing about human and spirit The story isn't anything special by itself but it's the idol scenery behind that somewhat makes it quite fun and enjoyable, with lots of stuff based around that culture phenomenon: I really don't like that but I can see the appeal for fans of this stuff, but i can also see people shying away because of this. The characters themselves are decent: I can't really say they're good or bad because they're highly stereotyped, but not in a bad way: Itsuki is your usual dumbass who never understand when chicks want to get him laid, Touma is actually pretty enjoyable and relatively interesting and Kiria is basically your Tsundere but done in a sort of funny way. The rest felt boring, especially Tsubasa and Mamori - even if Mamori is relatively adorable.

    So, great gameplay, nice graphics, great character design, impressive detail with screen and other things and good japanese culture for those who like it...I was going to give this game a 10 because I really had a hard time to find troubles. Except for one, major thing: the censorship.

    Unfortunately, this game is heavily censored and despite dealing with it rather well, it still ruins the overall full experience that the devs wanted to deliver. And while some blame Atlus, I honestly blame Nintendo as they have this bad reputation of censoring for silly reasons (The last cash grab Fire Emblem fates has its minigame and lots of dialogue removed, on top of other many harmless things). I read that it was Atlus' idea but again, considering how tight Nintendo censorship is, I wouldn't be surprised if they did the censorship instead of Atlus. Plus, many Atlus games aren't really that censored to begin with (and If I may add, Etrian Odissey Untold had a DLC which allowed your avatars to be naked with steaming clouds: why a bikini is worse?)

    So yes, because of this censorship fiasco this game just doesn't get a 10 but I still highly recommend it: it's what JRPGs should strive today, which is easy yet fun stories and good combat. We don't need overcomplicated dramatic boring stories with overly action-based combat with only one button required: we want actual tactical fights with just simple, yet good stories.

    And TMS is basically that.    … Expand
  25. Torkon
    Jul 21, 2016
    8
    Not sure where all the negative reviews are coming from, probably because the whole censorship debacle. That issue aside, this is a good game. Looks good for a Wii U game. Lots of style, a really sleek UI, fun battle system and nice difficulty. The loading times are a bit of a drag but honestly that's my only complaint.
  26. dmzv92
    Jul 15, 2016
    7
    Pros:

    - Combat is great. This probably the best version of the press-turn system I've ever played. Hopefully they implement similar mechanics for Persona 5. - The character customization system is really simple but enjoyable. Upgrading your Carnages until mastery was pretty addictive. - The OST is amazing. I'm not a huge J-pop fan but some songs are really catchy. - I thought the way    Pros:

    - Combat is great. This probably the best version of the press-turn system I've ever played. Hopefully they implement similar mechanics for Persona 5.
    - The character customization system is really simple but enjoyable. Upgrading your Carnages until mastery was pretty addictive.
    - The OST is amazing. I'm not a huge J-pop fan but some songs are really catchy.
    - I thought the way you use the gamepad as a cellphone for text messaging was actually a nice idea.

    Cons:

    - Unnecessary and inconsistent censorship. Seriously, if they really had to censor the game they could have done a better job at it. In some scenes you will see cleavage censored and next minutes, you can the characters **** (ie. in the Tsubasa's "Feel" video her boobs are covered but then you can see her in her Pegasus form and her **** are popping out, also in the Aversa bossfight they censored her breasts in the cutscene but in the actual battle they're uncensored, etc...)
    - The story is horrible. Really generic stuff. The characters are really plain as well. Itsuki is the typical aloof guy who is really dense, Tsubasa is the clumsy but cute girl... I have already seen that before. Come on Atlus, you could have done a better job here.
    - Since the characters are so plain most sidequests are really boring, unless you're really into that kind of romance/slice of life anime stuff...

    Bottomline: really decent effort by Atlus that was brought down by the stupid censorship Nintendo put on them and by a bad story and characters. If Persona 5 fixes the issues this game had we could have a masterpiece in our hands.    … Expand
  27. PlayorNaygames
    Jul 15, 2016
    6
    Don't let all the 9's and 10's fool you, this game will not appeal to everyone. As others have stated, this is a Persona game much than a Fire Emblem game. The Persona (or "Performa" in this game) you get are FE characters and there are some neat sound effects and weapons from FE, but that's about it.

    The story and setting are VERY cheesy and Japanese (they're scenes where the    Don't let all the 9's and 10's fool you, this game will not appeal to everyone. As others have stated, this is a Persona game much than a Fire Emblem game. The Persona (or "Performa" in this game) you get are FE characters and there are some neat sound effects and weapons from FE, but that's about it.

    The story and setting are VERY cheesy and Japanese (they're scenes where the characters spin around naked and equip armor like in Sailor Moon ffs and not just the women). Also, this is the 3rd or 4th game now that I have played that takes place in photo-realistic Tokyo. setting and it's getting old. It's cool to walk around Tokyo if you haven't in other games though, so try it out if you haven't before. There are many other settings Atlus come on. I swear it borrows the map engine from Digimon Cyber Sluth, but I cannot confirm that.

    From the opening cinematic and dialog, you're thrust into the games first dungeon and acquire you powers, with no real setup like in a true Persona game. It's ridiculous, but if you can buy into the story, good for you. Atlus doesn't take the time to develop the characters enough to make me care about wanting to save this world. The spend about 30 min. in the beginning with uninteresting dialog before you even get to play. They do try to develop the characters, but most it standard ra-ra go team believe in yourself cliches from many other animes. They're are some funny dialog choices though, but they're very rare.

    The visuals are nice and the art style is fantastic as one would expect from an Atlus RPG. It's very colorful and may get you into these types of games if you felt Persona was too dark. The character animations are good, but not great and honestly need to be better for the West because the game only has English subtitles, but no dubs sadly, which greatly reduces my enjoyment of the game.

    The music is typical JPoP fare that one would expect from Atlus. It's good, but repetitive in places. You will have to endure quite a few musical numbers that are skippable thankfully, but skipping these scenes means you're missing out on a large chunk of what the devs put a lot of production in. The singing isn't bad per se, but being mostly in Japanese, it's hard to get into. It's a double edged sword.

    The battle system is good as others have mentioned, but not amazing by any means, if you have played Persona, you've played this before. The key difference is instead of "knocking the enemy down" whne you exploit the enemy's weakness like in Persona, your allies get a free attack if they have an attack of the same type you used. It feels quicker and works well. Persona vets will find battles easy, as enemies have many weaknesses, however, when the enemy finds your character's weaknesses, they still deal tons of damage and can KO them very easily. Sadly, characters are not brought back after the battle ends and you don't get a revive spell until later in the game, so you are forced into loading up on revival items, which are expensive and this makes some enemies fell cheap or unfair (just like in Persona, but even worse because the "strong" enemies level with you, even in old dungeons). You start with full control of your party member which is great . Chaining attacks together is cool at first, but you see it so often it gets old and also later in the game they get longer.

    As long as you defeat enemies, you will unlock new weapons for free, so the only thing you need money for is accessories (and new costumes for you team, if you want, they're cosmetic only). Persona is already a game without many armor slots, so with only one piece of armor to worry about, this is a very light/casual RPG.

    Unlike Persona, there are no social links and no school, but of course your character and friends are high schoolers. This trope has been done to death and it's really stale imo. Maybe that's what sells the best in Japan, but everything about the story is cliche in my humble opinion. Heck one of the characters you get in the beginning feel like a reincarnated Junpei from Persona 3, same moves, stats, and strengths/weaknesses. Another character looks like a clone of the main character from Persona 3. Their personalities are different though.

    Dungeons are big and empty (other than the shadows or "mirages" as they're called in this game. Their are now puzzles though, because the dungeons are no longer procedural, they are the same each time. The puzzles are stupid easy and essential involve flipping a switch. The dungeon themes are interesting to look at, at first, but they really feel like a PS2-era dungeon design still, 2 generations later.

    Overall this is a good game, without many bugs or technical issues and improves some areas from Persona 4, but I would only recommend it to hardcore JRPG fans, who probably did a majority of the reviews on this site. The game is cheesy and basic. With less content and things to do than Persona 4, it's almost a step backward for the series. Thank you.    … Expand
  28. Yaroste
    Jul 14, 2016
    10
    Bright and Sour Candy with Persona flavor. Tokyo Mirage Sessions deserve atleast 8, but i give it 10. "Slay monsters—and slay like a pop star—all at the same time, in this brand-new RPG from acclaimed developer Atlus."
  29. MadWolf84
    Jul 12, 2016
    10
    Buy it and then go ahead and play it with the uncensor patch. :P Combat is great and I think censorship is the only thing dragging it back, but for me it really wasn't a problem. (Thanks to the patch)
  30. Ahmy
    Jul 12, 2016
    10
    Are you looking for "so worth it Jrpg" if you do then you are right in front of it.
    You will hear many bad things about this game, and many awful lies.
    The game is censored at some part (Its true) the game story is not good (semi true) the game is one of the worst jrpg (Lie) Sadly some people are giving this game a low rating because of the censor, but the most sad thing is how some    Are you looking for "so worth it Jrpg" if you do then you are right in front of it.
    You will hear many bad things about this game, and many awful lies.

    The game is censored at some part (Its true) the game story is not good (semi true) the game is one of the worst jrpg (Lie)
    Sadly some people are giving this game a low rating because of the censor, but the most sad thing is how some tend to lie about the game for the sake of censor, because the game is censored i can tell you its a below average Jrpg?!

    Okay here a moment of truth, I didn't want to buy the game because I was ashamed of the censor and I got to hate Nintendo because of this game, and while they censor an outfit by removing it from the game yet you see the character wearing that outfit on a cut scene (weird is not it?) but again this is not the purpose of my review.
    My plan was to not buy this game, and for some reason I got the hype to buy (maybe because it was released a day or so after my salary day!), and I didn't regret buying it at all.
    The gameplay have a nice depth, the more you progress the more it improves.

    Story: 7.5
    gameplay: 9
    level design and character design: 8.5    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best Wii U Game of 2016
4
#4 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2016
6
#6 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 62 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 62
  3. Negative: 0 out of 62
  1. CD-Action
    Oct 14, 2016
    70
    Atlus does not step outside safe territory charted by Persona. #FE will mostly be appreciated by people interested in the Japanese idol scene and those of you who need some more Persona right away. [10/2016, p.55]
  2. Games.cz
    Sep 19, 2016
    70
    Pop and RPG mixture. Certainly we cannot say that this game has no style ... and an incredible amount of fights.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 23, 2016
    78
    Story and setting were made with absolutely no pandering for western tastes. Not everyone will find such a dose of pure, undiluted anime to their liking, but RPG and fighting system make it worth a try. And for hardcore fans of Japanese culture Tokyo Mirage Sessions may very well become one of the best games this year. [Issue#211, p.66]
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