Shugarplumps

I've spent much too long trying to decide how to introduce myself. I never figured it out, but I suppose it's time to be fashionably (awkwardly) late to greeting the entirety of Serene's Forest! Hello everyone. Call me Cam or something similar! I've been a fan of Fire Emblem for a few years now, and it's helped me make a whole lot of really amazing friends! One of those wonderous friends finally got me to join here, and I hope it's as good of a time as he's convinced me of. While I may not be the best at video games, I don't let that stop me from enjoying them. I suppose this makes me a casual player, but I like to believe when it comes to the characters themselves, I'm more than serious! I love character studies and analysis and all of that good fun. Stats and strategy aren't my strong suit, unfortunately, but I can ramble for much too long about most anything else. In fact, I probably will, I have a bad habit of talking a lot. Something I believe I've already proven with my actual first post, ahah. If you ever want to talk to me, that's alright with me. We already have something in common, after all! In any case, I hope I bring something good to this table! Have a lovely day, and thank you for reading.

All good points! Marketing can definitely make or break a game. If a game doesn't look appealing then it's unlikely that anyone will seek it out and play it anyway. Along with the horrid release date in Japan - The day after Christmas? Really? It almost seems as if they didn't want the game to succeed with the perfect storm of poor advertising and a bad release date. Still, I hope that it will manage to get a port to the Switch! Maybe giving it a boost back into the public eye will help it in terms of popularity, and I think it deserves a chance to be fairly judged. Being rated and ridiculed is better than being swept under the rug entirely, which is what it seems like happened to Tokyo Mirage Sessions. If it was given a fair chance to make itself known as a title I think more people would be inclined to see what it's all about. I will entirely admit that the game has a very weird premise that's unlike either Shin Megami Tensei or Fire Emblem. Combining the two games together and throwing an idol twist on top? It is an odd choice, but it was still enjoyable to play. I think that it's unfair people just look at that idea and reject it immediately as if nothing good can come from being out of the box and different. It might not hold true to either an FE or SMT game but that's because it's not! It's a crossover that didn't just mush the two together into a half-and-half hybrid that likely would've been weird and out of place too. Honestly, I think throwing that weird spin on it was all they could do with two vastly different games being crossed over! It really annoys me as well that people won't give it the time of day and simply judge it off of what they've heard or only portions of what they've seen. I understand that sometimes you have to decide if you're going to play a game or not based on things like that, but deciding your entire stance on it is a little unfair. Please don't blow off the entire game because of stuff like that. If you don't like it and have your reasons from having played or seen a somewhat sizable portion of the actual game, that I can understand, but trailers and bits of gameplay aren't all a game is! I just want to urge people not to judge this book by its cover, even if it's a bit of a moot point now. All I can hope is that it will get a Switch port and people will give it a second chance. Though, being a huge fan of the game myself, perhaps I'm simply biased.

Almost everything, not just game series, all have a 'Black Sheep' of their families. While I cannot say that Tokyo Mirage Sessions doesn't have some competition for that title in the Fire Emblem series, I do believe it holds a place as one of the weirder and often overlooked games when it comes to FE. Even here on Serene's Forest - The unreleased, briefly announced last year Switch title has more posts than Tokyo Mirage Sessions does. Not that I blame the Fire Emblem community for this. It is a strange addition to the series. An odd combination of the Shin Megami Tensei series and various Fire Emblem characters from Awakening and Shadow Dragon. It comes as no surprise me that Tokyo Mirage Sessions, from my knowledge and observations, is often ignored when it comes to both the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem fanbases. The two games are odd to put together into such a collaboration. Most Fire Emblem fans aren't likely going to play a game that is A) a total 180 from the game style they're used to, B) involve only a few characters they know and who also aren't the main focus of the plot a majority of the time (especially in the early game) and C) is just incredibly long and less replay-able when compared to other Fire Emblem games. Shin Megami Tensei fans likely won't play a game framed to be a collaboration with Fire Emblem and contain major characters from that series. Especially that become very important when it comes to the ending of the game. As well as the more lighthearted, idol-focused nature of the game. It takes a certain kind of fan or person, in general, to sit down and enjoy this game entirely. It is no surprise to me that it's not popular. Though, with so many intricate and thoughtful designs for the FE cameos (both as mirages and enemies!), the completely animated and lovely songs, down to the smallest details of the silly texts between the characters that contribute little more than just fun sometimes - So much was put into this game, yet it was the somewhat odd combination of games and styles that I believe made the majority of people ignore it. So, I ask, does it deserve better? Obviously, I believe it does. There was a lot of thought put into it as a whole. From the basic things such as the Mirage's Character Archetype oftentimes managing to match up with their Mirage Master's. The wonderful work that the animators and singers did on the various songs throughout the game. The fun interactions between characters that felt fairly casual and accurate to all of their relationships with one another. Even small cameos like Anna being the shopkeeper at the convenience store and Gaius' lollipop as the symbol for the production company! Or bigger ones like Lon'qu's role as a side character in a side quest. They were enjoyable for FE fans to spot along the way as they played what was, admittedly, mostly a Shin Megami Tensei game. There was thought and care put into this game, and I'm sad that it doesn't get as much love as the rest of either series. Though perhaps you believe the opposite. The awkward plot and sometimes confusing pacing ruined it for anyone looking to enjoy the story. Perhaps the fact that it's barely a Fire Emblem game means it doesn't really deserve the attention of Fire Emblem fans as much as actual, serious, full games in the series. Were the outfit designs (mostly for the girls) even with the censorship done in America too weird? Or being able to dress up Tiki in various outfits and her calling you Big Brother even weirder? Maybe the characters they chose to be the Mirages weren't the best they could have done and maybe should have branched out into more than just pick and choose from Awakening and Shadow Dragon. Whatever the reason is, I thought there could be a discussion on it. Was Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE a good game? Does it deserve better than what it gets? Why did it not become as popular as others? Could it still make a resurgence in the community? How could we make that happen? And would it be a good thing?