#tokyo mirage sessions encore

[katfreaks-hidyhole]

The Tempest Trial team for “To Sing to You”

[memietroubadour]

Maybe a tierlist for the outfits in TMS? I get if it’s too much though.

Ngl I haven't finished the game yet so I might change this at some point but here's a tierlist to start. If Kiria's OG Reincarnation outfit was here it would also be in F

[leowifefang]

my takeaway

[veebs-hates-video-games]

I'm feeling a need to make an in progress post for the first time in a while instead of waiting until I finish something, and this time it's Murder by Numbers' fault. Behold, ranting from Discord:

viBRAToryblurriness: Please end my suffering viBRAToryblurriness: This is the most out of place music I've heard in a game in longer than I can remember viBRAToryblurriness: I tried muting it but then the only thing I could hear/focus on was the clicking of the buttons I was pushing, and that was actually worse viBRAToryblurriness: It's not that the music is horrible or anything (even though I wouldn't voluntarily listen to most of it), but it's very not finding clues and solving a mystery music or the kind that's acceptable to make people listen to for more than like 20 seconds at a time viBRAToryblurriness: Like at least one of the tracks reminds me of one of the shop themese in TMS#FEE or something, but you only hear that occasionally for very short periods so it works fine there viBRAToryblurriness: I was trying to think of things to compare it to and my brain said it's like what if the original Quake had a score by Abba instead of Nine Inch Nails, but that's wrong because that would be awesome viBRAToryblurriness: Is that a thing? Why hasn't someone made that a thing viBRAToryblurriness: Also the gameplay loop of rub robot on environments for clues/rub clues on characters for dialogue is kind of underwhelming viBRAToryblurriness: Like I don't feel like I'm doing anything clever 95% of the time, just going down a checklist viBRAToryblurriness: Which I would be more forgiving of if I actually wanted to get that dialogue for its own sake viBRAToryblurriness: But I keep going wildly back and forth between that was mildly amusing and I wish half these characters would never talk again viBRAToryblurriness: I am going to be extremely spicy and say that despite Engage being the one that keeps getting two hour long videos shitting on its writing and story, the writing and story in this actually bugs me significantly more viBRAToryblurriness: Not because it's worse, but because it's 90% of the game and a genre that lives and dies on its story and writing, and I have Issues with it in this one that aren't made up for by anything else viBRAToryblurriness: Also the actual picross puzzles commit the unforgivable crime of being handcrafted and clearly supposed to look like something without actually looking at anything, because most of the detail is contained in the color channels and not the 1-bit black and white puzzle itself, but worse than that the finished colored versions also don't look like anything half the time viBRAToryblurriness: Go look at Mario no Super Picross from 1995 and marvel how they had solved that problem already nearly 30 years ago, and yet people keep getting it wrong to this day

[three-moving]

the temptation to replay tms#fe is SO strong but. i do not own tms#fe.

[bluerosesburnblue]

Do you intend to play Hogwarts Legacy at some point? Or are you done with the franchise? (I wouldn't blame you.)

Mmmmmmaybe...? I don't currently have any plans to play it, but I do still have some mild interest in what it entails

To be honest, if I was ever gonna play it it was gonna be on PS5. But I didn't have a PS5 until I was gifted one a month ago so it just flat-out wasn't on my radar. And at this point I am physically restraining myself from buying and/or starting new games until I finish the ones that I already own and already started. I have such a backlog of games that I want to play and I'm so slow. *glances over at Pokemon Scarlet, which is sitting half-done and has DLC coming out in a couple of weeks and Persona 5 Royal which is taking me over 2 years to beat*

It's not even like I'm not enjoying them, I just get so caught up in completionist stuff that they never get done. So if I do ever decide to play HPHL, it'll be in a while from now after I'm done with other games

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

You know I find it so funny that everyone sees Tokyo Mirage Sessions as a funny happy idol game when

-The game literally starts with over 500 people being fucking murdered, with three of your party members and one of their sisters being the only survivors

-Tsubasa Oribe, who is reported as being the only survivor because she was the only one who survived that was in the audience, only wanted to be an idol to try and find her sister and figure out what happened to her

-Touma Akagi (put him in FEH) only wants to be an actor because his parents abandoned him as a child and the thing that saved him and stopped him from giving up on life was totally-not-Kamen Rider and now he wants to spread that hope to other children

-Kiria Kurono’s a victim of bullying and deeply represses her love of cute things because she thinks it makes her “gross” because of the way she looks and this ends with her growing and changing and accepting the way that she is

-Eleonora “Ellie” Yumizuru is obsessed with going to Hollywood because she’s always treated as an object or a doll at home and she never felt like she belonged, so she wants to go to Hollywood because she feels like she’ll finally be accepted for who she is there.

-Mamori Minamoto is perfect. She is not traumatized because she’s 11, but her arc is about learning how to stand up for what she wants because the adults around her have been deciding what she wants to do all her life and now she wants them to fuck off and let HER decide what she wants to be and do as an idol.

-Yashiro Tsurugi (put him in FEH too) is also severely traumatized. He watched his father get murdered by Gharnef and never got over it, got saved by Tiki, and now his life’s purpose is to find her again and when he finally does he realizes that she’s completely lost her memory. Also canonically doesn’t know how to eat because his father, while he loved him, kinda sucked and taught him to think only of improving his craft and so he left all the stuff that he considered unimportant to his assistant who he fired after he was against his transfer to Fortuna Entertainment.

Anyway TL;DR TMS is the happy fun idol game but also if you take a couple of seconds to look under the surface you’ll find that every character has reasons for being who they are and they’re so amazing please play Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore for the Nintendo Switch

.

[unowneyenon]

nobody knows what i’m talking about probably but the tokyo mirage sessions #FE encore soundtrack? stunning, groundbreaking, serving at every opportunity. not even imo thats a FACT it’s genuinely GOOD. NOBODY i know plays this game but i know i would absolutely show up to a Kiria concert irl with my freaking glowstick and just shake that shit. and their concerts fill STADIUMS and for Kiria to have a whole labyrinth on stage and Tsubasa to just FLY??? worth my money more than taylor swift

[aokozaki]

Once again thinking fondly of the Tsubasa Oribe cover of Reincarnation that was added in the Encore version of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

[candyn-gutz]

see i got my switch like..... almost 3yrs ago now? it was a gift for my 16th birthday bc that happened during the pandemic and my dad was like "we can't get you a car rn" and i was like "i like this better actually" (and i still like my switch more than i like my shitty car back home)

i think the first games i got for it were Animal Crossing New Horizons and Breath of the Wild??? and now i have. Many. also i have the semi-obscure atlus title Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore its very fun and silly its like if Persona and Fire Emblem had a baby but that baby was an idol in Shibuya so its kinda like if Persona, Fire Emblem, and like. Enstars had a baby. minus the rhythm game elements.

from that explanation alone the game sounds banger. 2 me.

and right now i only have botw and dbd (i cant even play it bc the controls are so fucked) but yea i'm waiting to get into uni so i can get into playing on it again :']]

[rockint765]

Tsubasa Oribe from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore! This is a collab with @balloonboyismyson who made the original sketch!

[magicalblerdpenn]

My Switch Lite video game backlog right now. Games I haven't beaten yet:

Hades (not in a hurry to beat it tbh)

Grow Song of The Evertree (also not in a hurry to beat)

Yugioh Legacy of The Duelist Link Evolution (not really beatable since there are over 500 duels)

Etrian Odyssey III remastered (been playing it on and off; it was ported mostly well to Switch and works great in handheld mode)

Tokyo Mirage Sessions Fe Encore- taking a break from this game, but I think I am most of the way through it; currently on the chapter 5 interlude

This Way Madness Lies- I think I'm close to beating this one but I'm not sure. This is an indie RPG about magical girls in a Shakespearean theater troupe and it's made me laugh a lot.

Scott Pilgrim video game- recently bought; have completed level 1 with all characters and will soon pick a character to beat the rest of the game with (might do Ramona first tbh)

.hack//gu last recode- this is 4 games in one and a recent buy. Currently playing through Vol. 1.

[ajentmm]

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.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

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.

[z-cerulean]

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)