#tokyo mirage sessions fe encore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ajentmm · 1 year

Text

A Star is Born Refine Theorycraft

♫ Kowashitai ♫

♫ Daijisou ni kakaeta watashi o zenbu ♫

♫ Kimi ga kono kodoku o ♫

♫ Itami o iyasu no ♫

A Star Is Born is the one and only banner for Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE (specifically the Encore remake cuz no one had a Wii u). Everyone argues if Warriors or Heroes or BS are “Fire Emblem Canon”, but everyone agrees, “This game ain’t Fire Emblem.” Not only was this a reskin of Atlus’s Persona formula, it’s the weebiest game to exist. Even Love Live doesn’t want to sit next to this game in the school cafeteria. And yet, these idols got into Fire Emblem Heroes (while the Banana Twins are forgotten to time).

I do joke about this game, but I enjoy diversity in a gacha game's cast. There's only so many mediaeval fantasy human you can take before pleading for a the cliché ninja. And of course, I respect idol culture. I own this game, I just quit after getting the last party member. And that's ends my disclaimer.

Before I get to our idol heroes, I wanna talk about the big mechanic from TMS#FE, sessions. In TMS#FE, when using an attack that is effective against a foe, all the other allies can attack in a chain if the that ally also hits with an effective attack. If that foe falls, the session can continue to another target. And for added difficulty, the foe’s can also perform sessions when they attack your allies when they attack with an effective attack. When this mechanic was put into Heroes, we got the Blade Session and Shield Session skills.

Blade Session 3: If unit initiates combat, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd during combat = 3 + number of allies who have already acted × 3 (max value of 9).

Shield Session 3: If foe initiates combat, grants bonus to unit's Def/Res during combat = 9 - number of foes who have already acted × 3 (min value of 3).

Blade Session grants more Atk/Spd the more allies have acted, like when a session works for the player. Shield Session grants less Def/Res the more foes have acted, as if they are taking more damage from the foe’s attacks. There are three levels to this skill that grants, +3, +6, and +9. Now, I’ve been thinking about a tier 4 version of these skills. They could have more Damage Reduction, True Damage, or Self-Healing. But the best outcome I can think of, is just more stats. This skill has no restrictions, it can be inherited by anyone. If we give it DR or Self-Healing, we’re giving it to Armored units, which would be great, but maybe overpowered. If we give it True Damage, we’re giving it to ranged cavaliers, which would also be overpowered. And of course, staff units aren’t allowed any fun toys. So, I’m looking at a tier 4 A-Slot skill that anyone can inherit, AR-D Atk/Spd 4 and AR-D Def/Res 4.

Blade Session 4: If unit initiates combat, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd during combat = 5 + number of allies who have already acted × 2 (max value of 11).

So, these skills grant between 5 – 11 to the given stats. The minimum has been raised to 5, it now has four levels, as it has gone up by 2 for every unit that acted. That’s +5, +7, +9 (the old max), and +11 when you have 3 units that acted. Blade Session 4 would be better Swift Sparrow 3, but won’t provide the survivability that Surge Sparrow or Remote Sparrow have, nor the consistency of stats. On a team of four, you’re the last to act to get the max value, which isn’t the easiest situation to occur. Additional, we have skills like Ideal, Catch, Clash, or Finish, that all give about +7 to two stats, in both phases. Even AR-D skills have this advantage. What would be better is using a more reliable A slot skill and putting Blade Session 3 in the seal slot.

But what would a more accurate adaption of the session mechanic look like? To fulfill this niche need of mine, I figured refines of the only heroes from the game would be a good jumping point.

Tsubasa: Madcap Idol

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 39/32/40/26/30 Max Invest 47/40/48/33/35

Mirage Feather: Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Spd+3. If unit initiates combat after an ally has already acted, grants Atk/Spd+6 during combat and unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Moonbow – Blade Session 3 – Chill Spd 3 – Hone Fliers

So, Tsubasa is already a great two type effective weapon that grants a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack, so long as you meet the condition of a session. This can mean following up on an ally’s attack, or having an ally assist her (with a rally or movement skill). This is great, but I’m just going to modernize it a bit.

Mirage Feather: Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Spd+3. If unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Spd+6 during combat. If unit initiates combat after an ally has already acted, unit can make a guaranteed follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

I’ve now moved the Atk/Spd outside of the condition, so it works in more combat situations. Then, I made her desperation effect a guaranteed follow-up, just like B!Lysithia. She can now always get desperation from “performing in a session”, so long as the foe isn’t faster and has NFU.

If unit initiates combat grants Atk/Spd+6 to unit during combat and unit deals damage = 15% of unit's Spd, and also, and after combat, if unit has weapon-triangle advantage or deals effective damage to foe, inflict [Exposure] and "foe cannot counterattack" on target and the nearest foes within 3 spaces until the end of their next action, and grant unit [Pathfinder] for 1 turn.

For starter, this is another Atk/Spd+6 and True Damage based on 15%, but only when inisating combat. For every 7 Spd she gets, it 1 true damage. She can get 2 in this weapon allow (include the +3 from equipping). At 40 + 15 Spd, she would then get a total of 8 true damage, and with 48 + 12 Atk, she can do 68 damage, not include any skills, weapon advantage, or effective damage. Speaking of which, if she initiates combat against an armored, cavalry, or red foe, then the true session starts. It inflicts Exposure and Flash on that target, making them defenseless against another attack, and inflict the same penalties and nearest foes, in case the target is defeated. Additionally, Tsubasa gets [Pathfinder], the bonus that allows allies to move through your tile as if it had zero movement cost. An infantry ally that’s two tiles away, can move to the opposite side of her like warp, or an infantry ally that’s adjacent can move through her tile to effectively get 3 movement (4 if they have a movement boost). This effect is identical to Def/Res Smoke 3, which applies a debuff to defenses, which provides pathfinder to the unit. The difference is the condition to trigger it, and the tradeoff of 6+Atk to allies for Flash. While you can’t have two Pathfinders, she can still inherit that skill for more frequent triggering and for +12 damage for yourself and allies. Another skill you can inherit is Spd Smoke 4 for more True damage and Dodge in enemy phase, as well as a Trace skill to reposition for better use of Pathfiner.

Kiria: Cool Façade

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 38/41/20/29/34 Max Invest: 46/49/27/36/42

Mirage Rod: Grants Atk+3. Inflicts Atk/Res-6 on foes within 2 spaces during combat.

Iceberg – Atk/Res Solo 3 – Lull Atk/Res 3

The queen of cool, Kiria, is a unit that stats Atk and Res with no room for HP, Spd, and Def. Her Mirage Rod is just Atk/Res Rein, just like Tharja’s perftome (since Tharja is her Mirage partner). With the debuff, her and her allies Def/Res is 6 higher and her and her magic allies have 6 more Atk. She futher increases the

Mirage Rod: Grants Atk+3. Inflicts Atk/Res-6 on foes within 3 spaces during combat. If unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, grant Atk/Res+5 to unit during combat, restore 7 Hp to unit per attack (even if attack deals 0 damage), and if unit’s Res > foe’s Res, reduce damage from foe’s attack by a percentage equal to the difference x 4 (max 40%).

So, we have increased the Atk/Res Rein to Hold to increase the range. Then, we have the Player Phase Standard condition to be more Atk/Res, self-heal, and Dragon Wall. If would be more likely that she would get a follow-up, but for this refined, she’s going to be more supportive, mage tank and nuker, not a Mage tank buster thou. I also wanted her to survive a counterattack so she can provide the after-combat buff in the next part. I also gave her PPS instead of Solo because fighting a mage with damage reduction and HUGE attck when they are the last one on the enemy team is a bit unfair. If that Kiria had Close Counter, gg. For now, she gets 39 Res, but with the Hold, it’s 45 Res diffrence. Any foe with 35 less Res will have their damage reduced by 40%.

If unit initiates combat, grant Atk/Res+5, grant damage = 20% of unit's Res, and after combat, if unit has weapon-triangle advantage or unit's Res > foe's Res + 10, inflict [Exposure] and "foe cannot counterattack" on target and the nearest foes within 2 spaces until the end of their next action, and grant unit [Pathfinder] for 1 turn.

So again, she is going to nuke when initiating combat based on her Res. Her Res, no investment and with weapon, is now 44, which gives 8 true damage again. Iceberg is of course going to give her even more. She than gets the same effects as Tsubasa if she fights a green unit, or she has 10 more res than her foe, so foes that have 40 more in-combat res than her (because the difference is 50 thanks to Atk/Res Hold) and aren’t green, are fine. Although, then need to deal with her total 82 Atk stat and 8 true damage.

Mamori: Microwavin' Idol

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 43/37/24/42/33 Max Invest: 51/45/31/50/38

Mirage Axe: Grants Res+3. If unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Def/Res+6 to unit during combat and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Bonfire – Shield Session 3 – Vengeful Fighter

Next, we have Mamori, a reliable axe armor, who’s axe already gives her the ideal effects for Near Saving before that was a thing. Infact, in TMS#FE, she already blocked enemy attacks that targeted her allies. She couldn’t counterattack, but if the foe was going to do zero damage, it’s a win. However, she was also suspected of sessions, so a foe’s sword attack could send the whole enemy team against her. That reminds me, I’ve held back the new Shield Session, just for her.

Shield Session 4: If foe initiates combat, grants bonus to unit's Def/Res during combat = 11 - number of foes who have already acted × 2 (min value of 5).

Shield Session function similarly to Guard Bearing, where the first encounter in enemy phase is the best, it can be, but if you need to survive more than one fight, you will want consistency. Also, the foe can lower that number by having one unit attack a different unit, use an assist, or wait, and that can lower your stats by 2. Now if this is on an armored unit with save, the first solution wouldn’t work. This skill is either for your tanks to soak damage (if they have other tools to selfheal or protect from Specials, or your support units that may be in range of one foe and needs that protection, not that you should put your healing is range of any foes.

Anywho, back to Mamori.

Mirage Axe: Grants Res+3. If unit is within 3 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Def/Res+6 to unit during combat, foe cannot make a follow-up attack, and restore 7 Hp to unit per attack (even if attack deal 0 damage).

If foe initiates combat, inflict Atk/Def-6 on foe during combat and reduce damage from foe's first attack by X%. (X = 60 - number of foes who have already acted × 20 (min 0), and also, if unit has weapon-triangle advantage or unit's Def > foe's Def + 10, inflicts Special cooldown count+1 on foe before foe's first attack during combat, and Special cooldown count +2 on foe after combat. (Cannot exceed foe's maximum Special cooldown.)

Oh look, it’s that self-healing I mentioned, plus more Atk is helpful. In an invert of our other heroes, Mamori’s skill actives when the foe initiates combat and it reduces the foe’s Atk/Def and damage reduction. This works like Shield Session, giving her a whopping 60% when hit by the first foe, 40% from the second, and 20% from the third. In addition, if she has weapon effectiveness or more Def than her foe, the foe gets their pre-charged Special uncharged, and then further uncharged after combat, in case that foe survives and has Special Spiral (if the foe doesn’t have Special Spiral, it can reset their Special countdown. This can protect her against mage tank buster, lance or blue physical weapon foes, but not the other colored tank busters that can out Def her by 10, like Val!Chrom. Val!Takumi is a better fit for that.

Eleonora: Shooting Starlet

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 42/37/38/25/24 Max Invest: 50/45/46/32/29

Mirage Longbow: Effective against flying foes. Grants Spd+3. If unit's Spd > foe's Spd, foe cannot counterattack.

Rally Atk/Spd+ - Atk/Spd Push 4 - Spd/Def Ruse 3

Here we have Eleonora, an archer with a niche of not being counterattacked if they out speed the foe. That’s it. Now to add the fancy stuff.

Mirage Longbow: Effective against flying foes. Grants Spd+3. If unit's Spd > foe's Spd, foe cannot counterattack. If unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, grant Atk/Spd +6 to unit during combat

If unit initiates combat, inflict Spd/Def-6 on foe, grant damage = 15% of unit's Spd, and after combat, if unit deals effective damage against foe or unit's Spd > foe's Spd +10, inflict [Exposure] and "foe cannot counterattack" on target and the nearest foes within 2 spaces until the end of their next action, and grant unit [Pathfinder] for 1 turn.

So, she has Spd+12 difference to the foe for her Spd check and +12 damage and +7-9 true damage to make it count. She then has the same effects as Tsubasa and Kira, when she fights a flier (without Iotes Shield) or out speeds by 10. Phantom Spd could have been helpful here, but I’d imagine IS wants to keep that for melee units. Either way, she’s able to initiate safely, and then allow her allies to pick off the rest.

Itsuki: Finding a Path

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 41/37/30/33/32 Max Invest: 49/45/37/41/37

Mirage Falchion : Effective against dragon foes. Grants Def+3. If unit initiates combat, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Def during combat = 3 + number of allies who have already acted × 2 (max value of 7). If foe initiates combat, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Def during combat = 7 - number of foes who have already acted × 2 (min value of 3).

Swap – Sol – Atk/Def Link 3 – Drive Def 2

And just to finish off all the TMS#FE heroes, our last hero is Itsuki. Itsuki got a raw deal for the lead protagonist of the game. He was a Tempest Trial unit, with a perf that gave him effective damage against dragons and a variant of Blade Session and Shield Session that granted Atk/Def to himself. Seeing as he is the leader and . . . talent agent(?), I wanted to give him a more supportive weapon that increases the potienal use of my new Session mechanic.

Mirage Falchion: Effective against dragon foes. Grants Def+3. If unit or allies within a 2 tile radius of this unit initiates combat, grants bonus to unit’s or allies’ Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = 4 + number of allies who have already acted × 2 (max value of 8). If foe initiates combat against this unit or allies within a 2 tile radius of this unit, grants bonus to unit or allies’ Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = 8 - number of foes who have already acted × 2 (min value of 4).

With this change, Itsuki get a boost to all his stats, from moderate +4, acceptable +6, and remarkable +8, while then giving this bonus to his allies too, within a 2 tile radius.

If unit initiates combat, grant Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4, and also, if unit has weapon-triangle advantage or unit deals effective damage, "foe cannot counterattack" on target and the nearest foes within 2 spaces until the end of their next action, and grant unit [Pathfinder] for 1 turn.

Now, Itsuki is a grail unit so I did nerf his ability to set up sessions like the rest. The is no [Exposure] and he doesn’t get true damage when initiating, but his base effect can elevate this, and [Pathfinder] on a free unit is still really good. For many, Itsuki is their only TMS#FE unit, so when a game mode requires these units, I want him to be the best support unit you could ask for.

Well, out of all the refined batches I’ve done, this is the one I will be the most disappointed in if this not anywhere close my goal. They could just one effect from Def/Res Smoke 3 or Flash+ in their unique effect, I’ll be happy. If they give them [Triangle Attack] or [Dual Strike], I’ll be happy. If they use weapon effectiveness or weapon triangle advantage as a condition, I’ll be happy.

If IS makes them just another functional unit that will be out classed in a year, I will become the Joker.

Not that one.

Yeah, that one.

#Fire Emblem Heroes #Theorycrafting #refines #game design #tmsfe #banner refines

2 notes · View notes

veebs-hates-video-games · 3 months

Text

I finally finished Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, and it only took me barely less than two years to do it. Woo.

I took a lot of extended breaks from it because I kept getting burned out on it, but the stuff I liked I liked enough to eventually make it through the rest. The game probably would've been better and I probably would've needed a lot fewer/a lot shorter breaks if it were like 20 hours shorter (it took me about 80 to do almost everything you can do on a single playthrough), which would've been really easily doable with a few QoL improvements and slightly better design decisions with stuff like combat and the dungeons, all while still keeping all the story/character stuff that I genuinely liked and never had a problem with.

The two biggest problems I had were the dungeons themselves and the lack of useful guidance/direction/tracking for a lot of the side content.

Dungeons first: they're just too long. Make more of them but have each one be smaller, or keep the same number and make them a bit shorter. I always was like "are we there yet?" by the time I got to the end of them, and they really started to drag. The unique gimmicks for navigating each of them were mostly fun the first time through, but some of them suck suck suck every time you have to go back there for a character's side quest or a request or something. If I ever have to even look at Illusory 106 again I'm going to hunt down the person who designed it and bludgeon them with a Wii U gamepad.

Quest tracking second: it's mid at best and nonexistent at worst. Doing everything through an in-game phone UI is a fun idea, and it works pretty well for some stuff. The organization of it for quest info is not the best though, and having to reread a bunch of text messages to hopefully find the info you need is not great either. The worst offender is the requests though. Hi, sorry I didn't play your game for like five months, but I have no idea what this dingus wants me to do because I can't use the notes app my phone doesn't have to write it down apparently, and they'll only repeat a single sentence to me that doesn't have any useful information for me to figure it out.

Sometimes even when they do tell you and you don't stop playing the game for months in between the information it gives is pretty vague and makes it hard to figure out where to go and what to do too. Cool, I have to get...a thing? And it's in this idolasphere...somewhere? Is it on the ground? In a chest? From an enemy? On the third floor? Near the boss? Oh, I'm just supposed to run around for an hour until I stumble on it (or look it up online)? Cool and good, fantastic way to respect my time. I don't need a glowing line on the floor or anything, but give me something to work with at least.

Anyway, I liked most other stuff about it. The combat system is fun, even if I did get a little tired of it by the end because of the overly long dungeons (also not being able to permanently learn skills and swap them in and out of your loadout whenever you want is a dick move, no one wants to spend multiple hours relearning everything just to try a different setup) and each attack takes like twice as long as it should even with quick session on.

I still think it's one of the better looking games on the Switch. It's not super technically impressive or anything, but the art style and character designs are fun and colorful, and thank you for not trying to push the hardware beyond what it's capable of. Slightly lower detail and simpler lighting but native(?) resolution and a mostly steady framerate will do wonders for image quality and let people actually enjoy all the fun stuff your artists did.

And the characters and story were all surprisingly fun for me. It definitely came out better than a lot of actual Fire Emblem stories, and they really leaned into the shonen anime in a fantasy version of the real world vibes and made it work while still incorporating a bunch of FE stuff while they were at it. I actually ended up liking pretty much all the characters and the way the developed and grew across the story and how that tied in with their FE counterparts too. And they really did just go for it and turn Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light into Shadow Dragon and the Opera of Light, because sure why not?

Kiria's probably my favorite, which isn't super surprising because I also really liked Tharja when I played Awakening (so many people seem to like her because she has female mages aren't allowed to wear clothes disease or hate her because she's a bad parent, but they're both wrong and the real most important thing about her is that she's a snarky bitch in a cast full of people trying to use the power of friendship to save the world). I actually found Itsuki pretty relatable though, which surprised me because usually generic dude main character is completely unrelatable to me in stuff like this. He's just a decent guy who learns that the thing he's best at is helping the people around him feel better about themselves and support them doing their own things, which like yeah me too buddy, if only I'd learned that when I was 18 too.

So yeah, pretty good game that I mostly had a good time with, even if there were a few moderately big issues that frustrated me more than I would've liked (see also: holy crap the amount of time I spent going through the menus just to upgrade weapons must be measured in multiple hours at this point, please streamline stuff like that). I think I liked it more than maybe half the Fire Emblem games I've played and every other MegaTen or adjacent game I've tried too, so that's something.

#tokyo mirage sessions fe encore #fire emblem series #megaten series

0 notes

magicalblerdpenn · 5 months

Text

Just beat This Way Madness Lies. I also beat Tokyo Mirage Sessions Fe Encore and Thirsty Suitors recently so now my video game backlog is the following:

Boyfriend Dungeon (bought this game on sale yesterday and enjoying it so far)

.hack//gu last recode collection- Beat Vol. 1 recently, still have vol. 2-4 to play

Yugioh Legacy of The Duelist Link Evolution- lots of duels in this game so won't be beating it anytime soon. Might not even 100% depending on how I feel.

The Last Campfire- puzzle game I bought recently.

Hades- bought it in February and still haven't beaten it yet

Etrian Odyssey III- turn-based dungeon crawler I really should play more of when I want to slow down and explore

Grow Song of The Evertree- should pick this up again when I'm in a nonviolent gaming mood

Scott Pilgrim game complete edition- will pick this up again when I am in the mood for a beat em up

#penn's gaming thoughts #switch lite #jrpgs #indie games

0 notes

blisscast · 7 months

Text

The Show Must Go On! - Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe Encore

A normal-looking talent agency in Tokyo takes care of dealing with Mirages, bizarre beings living in a parallel realm called the Idolasphere, who steal creativity from people in order to become stronger. Luckily, there are special benevolent Mirages, who are actually characters originating from the Fire Emblem series, who are ready to help our main cast with their mission! Will they make it? Or will their creativity vanish?

Disponibile anche in 🇮🇹

https://blisscast.wordpress.com/2023/09/21/tokyo-mirage-sessions-fe-encore-my-journal-page-69/

#tokyomiragesessionsfeencore #jrpg #persona #video games #fire emblem #nintendo switch

0 notes

chickkickins · 10 months

Text

is Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore a Persona Game?

#fire emblem #persona series #shin megami tensei #i’m being facetious

1 note · View note

z-cerulean · 1 year

Text

2022 Media Thread Summary (until 11th of November)

Played: - Shin Megami Tensei V (True Neutral) - Super Mario Bros. (Speedrun route) - Fire Emblem Fates (Birthright, Conquest & Revelations) (Revisit) - Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand (Super Famicom) - Shin Megami Tensei IV (Law & Neutral) - WorldEnd Syndrome - Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows - Etrian Odyssey IV (Postgame) - Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Revisit) - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS) - Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (P4 Side) - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (Steam) - Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) - Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Golden Wildfire & Scarlet Blaze) - Castlevania (1986) - Pokemon Blue Version - Pokemon Legends Arceus - Super Castlevania IV - Pokemon Crystal Version - Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (Bonds Ending) - Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore - Mega Man Zero 2

Watched: - Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - Cowboy Bebop (1998) - Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - All of Us Are Dead (2022) - Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) - Marvel Studios' Moon Knight (2022) - Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School (2016) - The Blackadder (1983) - Blackadder II (1986) - The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) - Last Night in Soho (2021) - Nobody (2021) - Freaky (2020) - Predator (1987) - Predator 2 (1990) - Prey (2022) - Predators (2010) - The Predator (2018) - Paper Girls (Season 1) (2022) - Ensemble Stars! (2019) - Alien (1979) - Aliens (1986) - Alien3 (1992) - Alien Resurrection (1997) - Alien v.s. Predator (2004) - Alien v.s. Predator Requiem (2007) - The One (2001) - Fullmetal Alchemist (2017) - Ambulance (2022) - Morbius (2022) - Carter (2022) - Prometheus (2012) - Alien Covenant (2017) - Marvel Studios' Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) - Rick and Morty (Season 5) (2021) - Marvel Studios' Werewolf by Night (2022) - Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)

Read: Spy x Family (Ch 1-69) Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Finished)

#media thread

1 note · View note

yourladystar · 2 years

Text

With the CYL6 midterm results out, I'll give my quick thoughts on it (at least as quick as I can be).

You know, this just might be the first time since... I wanna say the first CYL where the reactions to the midterm results have been mostly positive. Normally there's at least one character that people are upset is in the top spot, but this year it's pretty chill. And that is pretty much exactly how I feel. Yeah, F!Byleth is just whatever, but this seems to finally be Chrom's year, Seliph is a nice surprise, and adult Tiki- can we please keep her in the top 2? She has not gotten an alt since 2017, and good f*cking God we need to remind IS she exists!

Onto the other results (since I feel it's best to appreciate all the ranked spots, not just the top 2), Alfonse being in the top 10 makes me very happy. He's been steadily rising in the ranks over the years, really emphasizing how he's Heroes' best new character and has been gaining his own fanbase. If there's any OC I'm expecting to get an Ascended alt, it's him.

Speaking of OC's, other than Alfonse and Oni-chan McF*ckme, none of the other Heroes OC's are in the top 20, which is... odd. Normally, they tend to place somewhere in the top 20 to entice IS to release them soon, especially since CYL always starts a little after the newest book begins, so it's shocking that Ash, Elm, and Letizia aren't here. Actually, I'm more shocked that Fjorm and Laegjarn aren't in the top 20. Considering we just got done with a 6 part Tempest Trial focused on them, I was expecting them to be here on pure hype. Though I guess fans aren't rushing for them to get brave alts since they just introduced Ascended alts, or maybe the fanbase is as sick on them as I am (but that's for another day).

Onto a different source of joy, 3 TMS characters are in the top 20. I am really hoping that this will incentivize IS to release the remaining characters in their own banner. People forget that CYL isn't just about picking who gets a brave alt this year, it's about seeing who are the most requested characters that aren't currently in the game. It's a known cycle that characters that score high on CYL are more likely to be added to the game. Why else do you think we got a sh*t ton of Three Houses banners last year? Because those characters scored high on the last 2 CYL's and IS was just giving what fans asked for.

Anyway, I think that's about it. As I said, this is probably the most positive I've ever seen the fandom react to a CYL midterm and if the top results don't change by the end of this, I doubt there will be any complaints.

Just please keep Chrom in the top spots, I don't think I can take another year of the memes.

Well, that about wraps it up-

Wait.

Is...

IS THAT MY BOY IN THE TOP 20?!?!?!?!

Everyone, allow me to officially rescind every negative thing I've ever said about the fandom! You've finally proven you can do something right!

#fire emblem heroes #cyl 6 #alfonse #fe alfonse #tokyo mirage sessions fe #tokyo mirage sessions fe encore #fire emblem fates #corrin #m!corrin #my boy is getting the love he deserves!

26 notes · View notes

wallyhastoomanynuzlockes · 2 years

Text

#Tokyo mirage sessions #Tokyo mirage #tokyo mirage sessions fe encore #tokyo mirage sessions fe #tms fe encore #tms #tms fe

13 notes · View notes

hopeymchope · 3 years

Text

Persona Lite with Fire Emblem sprinkles on top

I’ve been addicted to Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore on my Switch for the past few weeks, and I’m getting close to wrapping it up. I figured it’s high time I talked about it a bit.

The game that would become Tokyo Mirage Sessions (TMS) was first announced as “Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem,” which is absolutely not a good way to describe what this became.

This title led so many people astray.

What comes to mind when you think of (mainline) Shin Megami Tensei games? An apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic setting. First-person-perspective battles. Negotiating with demons. Battles against deities. TMS contains a little bit of the third thing on that list, and none of the others.

What comes to mind when you think of Fire Emblem? Medieval-era settings. Permadeath (either optional or mandatory). RTS-style combat. The famed “weapon triangle.” Support conversations. TMS contains the fourth thing on that list, and none of the others.

But let’s be honest here: For most people (especially Westerners), the first thing you think of when you think about Shin Megami Tensei isn’t even the games with “Shin Megami Tensei” in the title. It’s the Persona series! They’ve grown far more popular than their parent franchise at this point.

So I suppose it was natural that TMS is, at its core, a “Persona Lite” game. The darker edges of Persona titles are removed in favor of something more T-friendly, but the basics are all there: A group of teenagers in modern-day Japan discover a strange alternate dimension that they can access which also gives them the ability to summon supernatural powers/entities. When people start to go missing in this other dimension, it falls to this group of teens to unite and save the day, ultimately leading to them discovering the reason why this alternate world has been bleeding into modern Japan in the first place and, in the end, saving humanity from annihilation. That’s totally how Persona works, and it’s also totally how Tokyo Mirage Sessions works!

However, instead of summoning Shin Megami Tensei demons as “Personas,” the heroes of TMS summon Fire Emblem characters that are “Mirages.” Each character is permanently linked to a single Mirage, so there are no “Wild Card” characters here. However, you can level the characters’ mirages up to make them take on new forms and new abilities. FE fans will notice that all of the characters here are from the Falchion/Tiki/Shadow Dragon stories - the two Marth adventures (Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem) and the semi-recent 3DS hit Awakening.

For some weird reason, all of the Fire Emblem “mirages” wear helmets, masks, or other face coverings 100% of the time. The only exception is Tiki.

The lack of the darker themes in many Persona games and the fact that there’s no “Wild Card” to manage is what makes this, in my opinion, more like PERSONA LITE. And then you get your Fire Emblem backup characters to serve as extra flavoring. The characters we meet from Fire Emblem are rarely the focus — you spend most of your time with the teen heroes — but they still manage to show off their unique personalities and carry in a load of FE fanservice. (The good kind of fanservice where it’s full of references and nods to the continuity of the series, I mean. Not the other kind where it’s softcore porn.)

Fire Emblem fanservice was one of the biggest delights for me here. If you’re looking for any SMT/Persona characters to pop up and link the continuity together, you can stop looking because they aren’t here. But if you want to see specific characters from the three source FE games pop up here, a metric ton manage to do so. For example: Tharja (from Awakening) creates two golems for training purposes, which she names Bord and Cord after the pair of heroes from Marth’s era. And then the actual spirits of Bord and Cord possess those golems. So naturally, they start bickering and fighting. It’s delightful.

So yeah, there’s plenty of nods for FE fans to appreciate even if your favorite characters are taking a back seat to a bunch of teenagers. Fire Emblem fans will recognize the heroic mirages, the enemy boss mirages, the weapon triangle weakness/strength system and lots of musical cues. On the flip side, Persona fans will recognize the story structure, the magic spells the characters wield (things like “Mazio” and “Diarama” and “Rakukaja”), the common enemies you encounter and cameos from a few of the more famous demons found on signage around Tokyo. Sadly, there are no familiar sounds or music pieces borrowed from SMT/Persona that I noticed.

In addition to the main story, there are also “Side Stories” for your party and side quests from various NPCs. The whole game lasts around 50 hours even if you aren’t trying to 100% it.

And while the music here is mostly pretty good — especially the Fire Emblem themes — I really wish we’d gotten some Persona-style tunes in here. Persona soundtracks are absolutely killer and everybody knows it. I wanted to hear some Shihoko Hirata, some Lotus Juice, some Yumi Kawamura, some Lyn Inaizumi. Alas, that never happens. Sad face.

In fact, as far as vocal tracks go, you’ll only be hearing the performances of the main characters. See, the story this time revolves around a group of teens who are hired by a talent agency to become young starlets of the stage and screen. You meet plenty of pop idols, a cooking show host, aspiring actors, and those who do combinations of the above. There’s a lot of focus on the Japanese entertainment industry, and it’s mostly a very positive portrayal about how hard teen stars work to reach their dreams and how fulfilling it can be when they express themselves through their artistic pursuits. Speaking as someone who legitimately does not care one iota about the idol industry in Japan or Asia as a whole, I’m very happy that these characters managed to remain likable and their pursuits stayed enjoyable throughout. No one here is an ultra-deep character, but no one here is a total cipher, either. I’m additionally thankful that the vocal songs are another highlight of the soundtrack alongside the FE tunes.

The last thing I’ll bring up is the “Sessions” mentioned in the title. It’s a battle mechanic wherein striking an enemy with a weapon or element they’re weak to will enable other characters to start jumping in with follow-up attacks. At first, it’s just one or two follow-ups, but by the game’s end, you might be sitting there for 15 or more consecutive strikes on an enemy after you initiate a “Session” of follow-ups. The greatest quality-of-life improvement built into this Switch port is that you can turn on “Quick Session” to make these attack animations much shorter and more rapid than they ever were in the Wii U original. I never had to play that one, but I can’t imagine I’d have much patience for constantly triggering 15 attack animations with every round. SO glad I don’t have to sit through that.

This is just a two-strike Sessions, so it won’t last long enough for you to take a beverage break.

So yeah, there’s a lot for RPG fans, Persona fans, and most of all, Fire Emblem fans to dig in “Tokyo Mirage Sessions.” And since we already covered that Danganronpa fans are apparently predisposed to enjoying Persona and Fire Emblem, that probably means that YOU, dear reader, are likely to dig this game as well.

#tokyo mirage sessions #tokyo mirage sessions fe #tokyo mirage sessions fe encore #persona #fire emblem #video games #video game reviews

39 notes · View notes