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 Tokyo Mirage Sessions is, by all accounts, a game that probably should not even exist, let alone be as good as it is. It was revealed in January 2013 with a teaser trailer as "SMT x Fire Emblem" and nothing more than a panning shot over the assorted Fire Emblem and SMT protagonists. It fell into radio silence for the better part of two years, including at least one project reboot, changing from a Fire Emblem-esque SRPG to an Atlus-style JRPG. And when TMS as we know it was revealed to the world, it was with this. Suffice to say that this was not what *anyone* had in mind for a crossover between SMT and Fire Emblem. And yet somehow this game is good. Beyond good, even. I would unquestioningly call it my Game of the Year for 2016, and it's probably my favorite game on the Wii U period. The plot's a little trite, but the characters are great, the music is phenomenal, the combat is fun, and just overall it's so much fun and I sincerely hope that I can get that across to you as the reader. What Tokyo Mirage Sessions *is* is a mix of Atlus's assorted SMT sub-franchises, with some very light Fire Emblem flavoring. The overworld is taken wholesale from Persona 3 or 4, the dungeons are straight out of SMT IV with unique themes and "puzzles" like Persona 4, the sidequests are similar to Devil Survivor's FATE system, and the combat (while it's own beast later on) is probably closest to Strange Journey. The game takes place in Tokyo, and revolves around the entertainment industry as our party members attempt to make their way as idols, TV personalities, actors, and everything in between while a J-Pop soundtrack blares in the background (complete with full-on AMVs). In fact, if not for the fact that your characters' The LP This will be a screenshot LP first and foremost, with video links scattered liberally. While you don't have to watch any of the videos, the character models are incredibly expressive and I highly suggest you watch the them if you can, especially for the anime cutscenes and AMVs. Videos will be called out in the post  like this and be placed at the start of their relevant scenes, so they should be very easy to find. Updates will be whenever the hell I feel like it, Additionally, if you're not familiar with the SMT spell vocabulary, I suggest you brush up on that before we start. I'm not asking you to know whether Posumudi or Me Patra cures Panic off the top of your head, but you should probably know that Agi is fire and Dia is a cure spell. Spoilers  Okay but seriously, keep black bar discussion to a minimum. It's pretty easy to see where the plot is going, but I know a lot of people didn't play this because it was a Wii U exclusive sent to die at retail in a year filled with games like Uncharted 4, Final Fantasy XV, The Last Guardian, and more. A little discussion on the next dungeon or sidequest is fine, talking about the final dungeon in Chapter 1 is not. Additionally, there is a section about a quarter of the way into the game that was heavily changed during localization. When we get there, we'll discuss what it was and why it was changed, but if I see a single use of the word "censorship", even ironically, I am locking the thread and delaying the next update by a day. This is your first and only warning. except vagina bones, that poo poo was hilarious  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 3.5 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6  Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16  Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29  Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Artix fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Nov 27, 2017 |
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Jan 30, 2017 18:07
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reserved
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Jan 30, 2017 18:08
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 So one quick note before we get started - as mentioned in the OP, this game is really into the whole "entertainment" thing. So much so that you don't even start a new game, you debut. It's a little touch that doesn't really mean anything, but it's interesting to see just how thoroughly the game has committed to its aesthetic.  We're playing on normal because while this is definitely on the easier side as far as SMT games are concerned, it can still kick your teeth in without warning if you're not paying attention. If it gets really boring we can always kick it up later. Opening Cutscene/Game Intro The first half of this cutscene has a film grain effect on it, so if any of the screenshots look weird, you know why! I highly recommend watching the videos when possible, but I'll hit all the important bits with screenshots if you're unable (or unwilling).   We open on an opera scene, with 13 year old Tsubasa Oribe in the audience.   Our leading man is Chikaomi Tsurugi, and at his side is Tsubasa's older sister, Ayaha Oribe.  Meanwhile, Chikaomi's son, Yashiro, is hanging out backstage.   Tsubasa is understandably excited to see her sister perform, but suddenly, in the blink of an eye...  ...she disappears.  The audience is initially confused, but that quickly becomes panic when parts of the audience begin to disappear as well.  Yashiro disappears in a strange purple mist...  ...and soon, Tsubasa is one of the only people left in the audience.   Chikaomi admirably carries on with the show, but soon he vanishes just like his son.  Tsubasa, now desperately fighting back tears, is surrounded by the same purple triangles that caused Chikaomi to disappear...   ...when a strange breeze comes in, and creates a shield that protects her from whatever is going on.   A little surprised, a little relieved, Tsubasa becomes the only person to walk away from this whole ordeal.   And so, five years later...   Tsubasa is now all grown up (or at least as grown up as we're gonna get, this is a JRPG after all), and leaving school for the day.  We also get our first shot of Itsuki Aoi, the main protagonist of the game.   Tsubasa pops in her earbuds and loads up Kiria's latest single, and as she walks off...  ...we get our title drop.  From here on out, it's mostly just the opening credits (and its excellent backing track, seriously go watch the video), so I'll pretty much skip right to the important bits.  For starters, Tiki is in this game! Or to be more precise, TIKi - she's more of a vocaloid than anything, so if you're imagining a Fire Emblem-themed Miku, you're 90% of the way there.   We also have these guys to thank for a phenomenal soundtrack. As you might expect for a game explicitly about idols and such, a ton of work went into music, and lord does it show. Nintendo must have cut Atlus a blank check, because the soundtrack features a large amount of completely original J-Pop, at least a half dozen professionally produced AMVs, a full cast of singing voice actors... It's almost obscene how much money must have gone into this game, only for it to bomb.  And let's not forget the animation. It would have been remarkably easy for Atlus to cheap out on the animation budget (and they absolutely have in the past), but even the anime cutscenes are almost entirely on model and animated well, if a little quiet in comparison to the rest of the game.  Strap in folks, it's gonna be a wild ride.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:09
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#FE is a really cool game that's hurt by battles taking too long and being too easy towards the end, this is gonna be good
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Jan 30, 2017 18:13
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This game is great and unironically one of my picks for GOTY 2016. It just works so well and it's a whole lot of fun to play! If you haven't played it and have the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend it!
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Jan 30, 2017 18:14
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This is a very good game.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:16
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Oh boy, I'm really excited for this, even though I have no idea what to expect other than peak anime.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:21
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This is my favourite game from 2016, everyone should play it on it's poor dead console.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:21
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I know nothing about this and haven't been curious enough to actually take a look at it before now. Hopefully the good things people are saying here ends up applying to me as well!
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Jan 30, 2017 18:26
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I don't have much to say that hasn't already been covered - this game is a beautiful little miracle and I am strapped the hell in.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:28
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this is the first time i've heard people saying the game was good, but i guess I didn't really pay much attention once i learned it didn't sell very well
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Jan 30, 2017 18:29
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I really like this game. Haven't finished it, because millions of games came out but I had a ton of fun while I was playing it.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:32
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I'm wondering how you're gonna cover the gamepad stuff because there's a lot of it.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:34
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Well I guess if I can handle LPing one very anime game I can handle reading an LP of another very anime game. I know you've had this in the works for a while now, so good luck going forward! From Opera to J-Pop. I think I have musical whiplash. 
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Jan 30, 2017 18:39
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Now this is game I would've never bought on my own. Nothing about it looked good, I'm not a big fan of Atlus' franchises to begin with (I got really bored really fast of Persona 4, I got super stuck on 3 even though it did a better job at keeping me interested, I haven't played any mainline SMT) and my Wii U is basically a big paper-weight that only gets used for Super Smash Bros. anyways. I wasn't going to put money on a game that looked this...anime. It's too anime, even for me. But I'm definitely interested in following a LP of it, because hey, if it's really that good, I might as well see it in action. That said Artix, going from a game that looked good but was terrible to a game that looks terrible but is apparently good?
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Jan 30, 2017 18:51
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This game was so good, even if it becomes rather easy to chump enemies by the end. It's actually a massive shame that the game bombed, because of just how much effort was put into the game. The characters are some of the best things in the game, and I can't wait for us to meet them.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:54
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So precisely how much of this game is actually #FE? From my understanding it's not very much.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:54
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Kurieg posted:So precisely how much of this game is actually #FE? From my understanding it's not very much.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:56
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There are a few things, but most of this is SMT, but that's not necessarily bad.
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Jan 30, 2017 18:56
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Thanks for reminding me that I should probably finish this game at some point! But seriously, I agree with everyone else, this is easily one of my favorite games of 2016. Hopefully it gets a Switch release so (maybe) more people can experience it. Honestly, this is probably the most fun I've had in any Atlus game, but then again, the battle system is a lot more simple than most Atlus games IMO
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Jan 30, 2017 19:04
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Man the last thing I need right now is being convinced to buy another game by an LP.
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Jan 30, 2017 19:16
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Man, it's such a shame that this was an exclusive. I'm glad you're LPing it, because I would've never gotten to experience #FE otherwise!
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Jan 30, 2017 19:33
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This game is pretty drat great for what it is. I wasn't able to finish it because it started having some really weird loading issues, so I'm looking forward to this.
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Jan 30, 2017 21:29
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It's funny you start this now. I am just starting to get into Fire Emblem and reading through the series by way of SSLP on the archives and a couple on site and I was thinking about getting this when I was done going through taht.
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Jan 30, 2017 21:42
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Oh man, this game was a real mixed bag for me. I love Fire Emblem and liked most of the SMT games, but the J-Pop aesthetic wasn't something I could ever really gel with. It's definitely a very stylish game, even if it's not the style I like, and there's some cool stuff in here. I, like most people, apparently, didn't get all the way through it, but this is making me want to boot the game up again.
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Jan 30, 2017 22:47
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See what I was expecting was a real SMT/FE absolute downerfest of a game And i would have loved that (Featuring dante from the devil may cry series) The TMS got announced and i dunno i think my eyes glazed over with rage for a while and I denied its existence. But I guess the gameplay is good though very slow to pick up if i heard right, even if I think the character designs are hot overdesigned trash and the story is a trite PoS. /rant Hassou tobi erry day
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Jan 30, 2017 23:14
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Huh. I heard this game was pretty bad, but apparently that's not the case? I guess I'll be following this to see for myself.
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Jan 30, 2017 23:28
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Artix posted:Additionally, there is a section about a quarter of the way into the game that was heavily changed during localization. When we get there, we'll discuss what it was and why it was changed, but if I see a single use of the word "censorship", even ironically, I am locking the thread and delaying the next update by a day.
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Jan 30, 2017 23:30
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TMS kind of reminds me of Baten Kaitos Origins, in that it is a fantastic RPG that was doomed from the beginning by being released on a Nintendo platform that was already on its way out. I love both Persona/SMT and Fire Emblem, so I decided to buy the game knowing pretty much nothing about it and got one hell of a pleasant surprise. The gameplay isn't that great (really solid though) and the story is nothing special, but this game is so much fun to watch and listen to - by the time I started getting tired of seeing the same animations over and over again during normal battles, I was already halfway done with the final dungeon.
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Jan 30, 2017 23:43
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I am bookmarking this thread for later, but I cannot start reading it now, because my brother just finished the game and will be lending it to me. From what I have seen of him playing, this game is really good! I will be back after completing it.
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Jan 31, 2017 00:04
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This game is better than it has any right to be. I bought it fully expecting to hate it, but... I like it. Kind of a lot? I still haven't beaten it, but I'm close! I'm at the very end. Hopefully I'll be able to beat it while following this LP!
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Jan 31, 2017 00:20
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This was definitely the best game I played in 2016. I loved it a lot (enough to even buy the soundtrack!) and I was really sad to hear it sold awfully even by WiiU standards. Then again, so did a lot of really excellent games on the WiiU.
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Jan 31, 2017 00:30
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My only prior exposure to this title was angry YouTube videos about The Great Vagina Bones Heist of 2016, so I look forward to learning about the actual game!
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Jan 31, 2017 01:53
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I remember this...and I remembering seeing it and immediately dropping it because it was...really not what I had been waiting for years on end for. It sucks to hear that it was really good and bombed. Because I feel it dooms any chance of a version closer to what people were expecting from ever happening
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Jan 31, 2017 01:58
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I am very much looking forward to this being someone who missed out simply out of lack of a Wii U. I've heard basically nothing but praise for the game.
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Jan 31, 2017 02:51
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Oh hey, it's Persona 4 but everyone is Rise and a bit worse in more or less every way. This game is weird and basically the opposite of what I wanted it to be but pretty drat good nonetheless. I say this as someone who dislikes all but like 5 animes and I'm including Persona 4 in that list even though it's a game, by the way. Jen X fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Jan 31, 2017 |
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Jan 31, 2017 03:06
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drat you, Artix! Now I have to get back to this game and finish it before you catch up! I already have two Dragon Quest and Xenoblade games on my plate! I'm not superhuman! Seriously, though, if I had regular access to a TV I'd probably already be done with this game. The only real problem with it for me is the lack of off-TV play. I suppose I should look into hooking up my Wii U to my monitor. Surprise, surprise, a game made by Atlus is fun to play.
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Jan 31, 2017 03:20
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Wow, an extremely anime video game turns out to be polarizing, no one could have seen that coming. It'll be curious to see how the game stacks up since I've read a mix of opinions on it. (I'm glad it's a screenshot lp so I don't have to listen to jpop)
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Jan 31, 2017 03:54
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I really enjoyed most aspects of this game. There are a couple of costume choices I didn't particularly care for, the plot is kinda meh, and I have issues with the main character, but I really enjoyed the gameplay, a lot of this game's style, and while I didn't care for Itsuki there was a character I absolutely loved and I am eagerly awaiting their time in the limelight so I can fanboy over them without having to resort to little black boxes.
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Jan 31, 2017 04:37
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This game is fantastic and basically everyone that actually did play it agrees that it was easily among the best games last year, which is crazy because it was a year packed with a ton of other fantastic games. It is a shame that so few people ended up playing it because it just is such a fantastically well made JRPG, and I can only hope that it becomes its own sort of mini-franchise. One of my favorite things about this game just at a glance is that it is super obvious that this game is basically Persona 4.5, in that you can tell that Persona 5 largely has come about as an evolution on this game. As a note of people mentioning this game being nothing like they were expecting from the original announcement of an SMT and Fire Emblem crossover the reason why it is so different from that expectation is because Atlus for a while was trying out a cross over SRPG but they ended up constantly coming to the conclusion that if they were going to do a SRPG it would be way better for IntSys to make it instead, so instead they came to the agreement that the best course of action was to basically just do an Atlus-style take on something like Fire Emblem instead.
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Jan 31, 2017 04:53
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