Tokyo Mirage Sessions: #FE — originally billed as Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem —is title with a hidden, obscure meaning for those who’ve followed the odd little Wii U JRPG from announcement to release. TMS, for Tokyo Mirage Sessions, is a play on the pseudo-recognizable “SMT“, for Shin Megami Tensei, very gently evoking the core franchise on display here.

After playing a few dozen hours of this massive, 50 to 60 hour quest, however, I particularly like the “#FE” part of the game that hangs off the end of the title. It’s a crouton of a Fire Emblem reference in a game putting nearly all its weight on the Shin Megami Tensei end of the see-saw, but it makes all the difference.

Idolize me

Level design, combat, and setting in SMT are all distinctly influences by Atlus’ post-apocalyptic near-future role-playing games (which makes sense given that Atlus actually developed the thing). As such Tokyo Mirage Sessions is set in the SMT-favorite location of modern-day Tokyo. The game follows a group of young idols—sort of professional celebrity role models—through a dense Japanese culture tour.

Events unfold from the perspective of the aloof and often clueless Itsuki Aoi, but the plot mostly follows in the wake of his best friend and rising star Tsubasa Oribe. Together they, and a growing cast of like-minded performers, get wrapped up in a tale of self-expression, third-person dungeon crawling, and turn-based combat.