Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore: Tips and tricks guide

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is out now on the Nintendo Switch, presenting a strange but effective combo of Shin Megami Tensei game mechanics and ideas with Fire Emblem cast members and themes. It's a weird, musical, anime ride. If you get excited by cool anime opening theme songs and lots of magical girl transformation sequences, I can't recommend this game enough.

But that doesn't mean Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is a total walk in the park. It can be challenging, depending on how you like to play RPGs and what difficulty you're playing on. But don't worry. If you're struggling to progress or just need a bit of advice, here are some quick tips and tricks to succeed in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE or its Switch Encore version:

Unlock new Unities right away

Early in the game, you'll get a new "app" of sorts on your Topic (aka Itsuki's mobile phone) that will send you alerts whenever a new Carnage Unity or Radiant Unity is available, and that you can create it by returning to Tiki at Fortuna Entertainment to craft it.

Unities are key to growing strong and progressing in the game, and there are two types to get familiar with it. The first, called Carnage Unities, are basically just new weapons you can craft and equip. It is through having weapons equipped that your character learns new skills, with them "mastering" a weapon once they have learned all the skills they can from it.

Radiant Unities are a bit simpler: it's really just a fancy way of learning a new spell the character can't learn any other way. Both types of Unities can be created when you have enough of the required materials to make whichever Unity you want, with materials obtained from story events, leveling up a character's Stage Rank, and defeating monsters.

It's rarely worth putting off crafting these, especially Carnage Unities. Especially early in the game, you'll be "mastering" Carnage Unities faster than you can get new ones. Mastering Carnage Unities means you can't learn any new skills from them. So, your character is gaining experience in battles that isn't useful. You want to equip a new, unmastered Carnage as soon as you can, but you'll have times when there isn't one available. That's why it's imperative to create new Carnage Unities whenever they're available.

Radiant Unities are a bit less important (unless they're story-focused), as they're essentially just new spells, and they're around for you to get whenever you want them. There's still such a low penalty to hopping back into Fortuna Entertainment from dungeons though (as we'll explain in the next section) that it's smart to go back often and make sure you've taken care of all your Unities.

Leave the Idolosphere whenever you need to

Something I am accustomed to doing in RPGs is stocking up on lots of potions and items before I enter a dungeon, and then not leaving the dungeon until it's completed. RPG dungeons tend to have few if any checkpoints, and leaving midway through usually means completing a bunch of puzzles multiple times and running into tons of random encounters I don't want to deal with.

Not so in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE! The enemies are on the map, so you can hit and stun them before entering battle. If you're paying attention, you never have to fight battles. This is not good advice for just making your way through a dungeon as progression, but it is incredibly helpful when you're backtracking and don't want to get into fights.

Furthermore, once you reach the second dungeon, you'll start seeing regular checkpoints in the form of Warps throughout the dungeon. Once you've made some progress, you don't have to solve the same puzzles over again. You can just enter the dungeon and warp right back to the farthest checkpoint you reached. These warps work with leaving, as well. You learn the ability "Traport" early on, which warps you back to Fortuna Entertainment HQ instantly, without needing to backtrack through a dungeon.

Finally, I'd argue that it's often necessary to leave and re-enter the Idolosphere dungeons. Sometimes, it's because you need a Unity to proceed. Other times, it's because the battles can and do get a bit grueling, and you need to heal. Whatever the case, don't be afraid to leave and re-enter as often as you like. Idolosphere dungeons take up the bulk of each chapter of the game, so you don't gain much by rushing through them. Savor and take your time; you'll eventually conquer them with ease.

Do sidequests as soon as possible

In the game's first chapter, you'll start to encounter sidequests, both minor ones offered by NPCs in exchange for small rewards, and major sidequests from party members. You should do these as soon as you can. This seems like obvious advice, but it's easy for these sidequests to get lost in the shuffle as you follow the main plot. Intermissions especially tend to be stuffed with sidequests, but you'll run across some in the main story too.

The side quests within the dungeons that you run into during the main story are usually built to be convenient -- as in, the items/enemies/locations you need are right in front of you. It's easiest to just get them out of the way while you're already hanging out in the area, rather than having to backtrack later.

It's the character sidequests that are the most important. These sidequests give you new Performas, new Unities, or other new abilities for your cast. It's best to do them as soon as you meet the requirements. They don't take too long to do, and you avoid sitting on important powers that could make a huge difference in how you progress through the story. All this is especially true during Intermissions.

Don't forget to train

As is the case with many RPGs where you can choose when to enter into battles, it can be tempting to just...skip a bunch of them.

Maybe...don't do that?

I know, I know. Battles can be tedious after a while! But a good general rule is to fight everything you come across while normally progressing, and skip if you're backtracking through a very easy area. That way, you're always at about the right level for the next set of encounters.

However, if you're struggling or just don't want to mess with it, one easy way to catch up is through the Training Portal to the Idolosphere in Fortuna Entertainment. There, you can collect Tomes that will grant you a set amount of EXP. These tomes can be gained either from battles or from picking up items. Also, while you're in there, the enemies will gradually get more difficult over time. The best way to tackle it is to walk in, collect all the items, fight until the enemies are above your level, and then exit before they get too tough. Then, repeat.

Tomes only grant you as much EXP as you need to level up and no more, so once you've used some, you'll have to go into a battle to properly level up before using more. Keep an eye on your EXP level, so you're not wasting them. Also, don't skimp on the battles. If the enemies are too tough, return to training. Level up a few times before returning to the dungeon Idolospheres.

Revisit older areas

Especially during Intermission phases, but true all the time: don't just go straight to where you're told to go and hang out there the whole chapter. It's almost always worth revisiting areas not involved with the current plot. Often, you'll find sidequests waiting that you would never have seen otherwise.

Eat! Eat! Eat!

Don't dismiss the power of eating a good, full meal when you can! Items are good for healing when you're in the Idolosphere, but if your party is running low on energy, feel free to exit at any time and eat a full meal at a cafe or get something from a vending machine. These meals will boost some characters' Luck stat, and you'll get a cute description of the food from Itsuki just for chowing down.

What does Luck do, you ask? The full answer is...we don't actually know. It seems to lower the chance of enemies getting Critical Hits on you. However, it may also do other things like increase your own crit or evade chances. Whatever it is, it seems to be good, and worth getting the food buffs for when you can.

Still struggling?

Having trouble with something specific in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE? Let us know in the comments, and we'll try to help you out!