Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Needs To Be Ported To Nintendo Switch

Cameron Hawkins May 6, 2019 1:00 PM EST

As one of the best JRPGs in years, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is trapped on the Wii U and that needs to change.

In the video game industry, there is non-stop talk about how basically every game ever made should be ported to the Nintendo Switch. Why that is is pretty simple: you can take it with you anywhere: you can receive a console-quality experience without requiring a TV. That is a generally good argument as to why everyone wants everything on Switch, but there are games that should be on Switch for more than just that. One game specifically has consistently been brought up in my mind, and that’s because it’s a game that hardly anyone has played: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is one of the best JRPGs to come out of this generation, and is personally one of my favorites ever. Developed by Atlus, the creators of Persona 5 and a plethora of other critically-acclaimed games brought a Persona-like experience while incorporating the characters and lore of Fire Emblem. If that entices you, then you should play this game as soon as you can. The bad news, however, is that it is currently stuck on the Wii U.



“Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is one of the best JRPGs to come out of this generation, and is personally one of my favorites ever.”

The Wii U is known for being a financial flop for Nintendo, mainly due to its lack of innovation and third-party support: that alone made this game born to fail. Originally, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was planned to be a Shin Megami Tensei crossover with Fire Emblem, but Atlus decided to make the game its own thing part way through development. Once the game was planned to come out, it received some negative attention due to the game’s focus on Japanese idol culture, censorship, not having an English VO and, of course, being on the Wii U.

I remember going to my local GameStop the day that the game came out to pick up my pre-order, going to the register with utter excitement to finally play the game after knowing about it for years. When I asked for the game, the employee had no idea what I was talking about, what the game was, anything; I had to explain it to him. As time progressed after the game came out, I quickly saw it receive clearance price tags. Nobody was playing it. I still do not know a single other person in my life that has played the game.

If you don’t know what Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is, you can think of it as a Persona game, but instead of Personas, your source of power is from a Fire Emblem character which is called a Mirage. While you do not particularly build relationships with other characters during the daytime like in Persona, you do accomplish side missions for them. It is stylish and owns the type of game that it is. The dungeons are cool and unique, and the battle system is amazing.

Personally, I prefer Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE to Persona. Attacking enemies that have the potential for your whole party to follow up your attack one-by-one is always satisfying. And you can’t have an Atlus game without great battle music, and there is plenty of it here.

“Everything about Tokyo Mirage Session #FE was set up to be against it, but it is one of the best JRPGs of this generation and it should not die on the Wii U.”

We recently learned that the rumored Persona 5 for Switch is actually a game called Persona 5 Scramble, a Musou game like the Dynasty Warriors series. While this might have been a disappointment for Switch owners, this is the perfect time to port Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. It is made by the same developer with very similar gameplay mechanics; it’s perfect. On top of that, the Switch has been the system where many developers have been putting their games on to get traction where they wouldn’t on other systems like Xbox One or PS4.

Everything about Tokyo Mirage Session #FE was set up to be against it, but it is one of the best JRPGs of this generation and it should not die on the Wii U. It can live a second life on Switch as long as Nintendo pushes it out into people’s faces due to its niche approach. It deserves to be praised and it deserves to be loved. If you like Persona, you should play this game. If you like Fire Emblem, you should play this game. At the end of the day, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is a love letter to the Fire Emblem franchise and it is a shame to see a work of art such as it to just rot away.