Many may have never heard of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, one of the most popular role-playing games of the now regretted softeca - not too much, to tell the truth - Wii U. Continuing the series of direct ports to switch, Nintendo has now decided to convert the title Atlus, in a revised and corrected version full of novelties and cleaned up almost in every aspect. Just like the previous Wii U titles to be converted to the hybrid platform, this "Encore" version of Tokyo Mirage Sessions also includes the same, identical main adventure seen and played about three years ago, enriched by a whole series of secondary chapters dedicated to members. of the party. Will it be worth it?
Idol Mon Amour
The story will be tied again around the events of Tsubasa Oribe and his friends Touma e Itsuki. The sister of the latter, a famous idol loved by everyone, has disappeared into thin air and Tsubasa decides to follow in his footsteps, following in his footsteps in the artistic and musical fields. On his path he will find various clues to his disappearance, up to the final revelation of the most intricate and paradoxical mystery of what you will be called to believe). Anyone who has tried the various Personas at least once, in Tokyo Mirage Sessions will notice the presence of some alter egos in all respects similar to those of the Atlus series of role-playing games: we are talking about the The Mirage,, supernatural entities (both benevolent and far more perfidious and ruthless) able to feed on the spiritual energy (as well as the talent) of the various artists. Each character we meet on our path will have one - or more - Mirage with them to take into battle.
Better to be clear, however: the light-hearted and rather "light" tones of Encore, a more colorful and sparkling change of setting, as well as a range of events and situations diametrically opposite to that of the Persona series, is able to make this Switch edition shine with its own light of Tokyo Mirage Sessions for the same, identical reasons that made the original release on Wii U valid. The extra stories (lasting about half an hour), are a good addition, thanks to the presence of dungeons dedicated to each of the members of the party (including the decidedly full-bodied one called Area of Aspiration). Anyone who decides to complete them will be able to get their hands on additional music and costumes (some inspired by Fire Emblem Three Houses), as well as various background on the main storyline. For the rest, Encore offers the same, identical combat system seen three years ago, with a really tasty strategic and tactical component, combined with a speed of execution in all respects faithful to the Persona series. In addition, winks and Easter Eggs are certainly not lacking (such as the possibility to call back into battle during the Sessions Tiki, Maiko and the instructor Barry).
A Remake (but not too much)
As for other additions in this Switch version, you won't find much: the possibility of speeding up the animations during the Sessions, in addition to the addition of the so-called Dojo mode, lower the difficulty for the less accustomed to the genre. Too bad, too, that, based in fact on the western Wii U version of the game (and not the original Japanese one), Encore suffers from a whole host of censure evident (especially as regards the costumes of the female protagonists). Even the technical sector of production, already at the time only sufficient especially as regards the polygonal complexity of the characters and the variety of the dungeons, also in this case will make the various exploratory phases not too beautiful to look at. In any case, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a game that focuses primarily on the gameplay, even before the cold technical data. In docked mode, moreover, the game suffers a worse stability of the framerate, while in portability the animation sector (often somewhat woody) is sacrificed. In any case, the style of Encore - tremendously J-Pop from start to finish - will make you overlook a graphics that are not at the top, especially those who viscerally love the sparkling and excessive Japanese atmospheres, without ever falling into cliché or vulgarity.
