At this point, virtually every worthwhile Wii U exclusive video game has made its way to the Nintendo Switch, and the latest of these ports is Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

This oddball role-playing game by Atlus was originally announced back in 2013 as “Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem” and first released for the Wii U in 2015. The end result was a game that definitely had some elements of both franchises but boasted its own unique flavor, and was limited in its audience on an unpopular console. Now that it’s out on the Switch, it’s finally getting the attention it deserves.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is an upgraded port of the original Wii U title that adds a handful of new features. The core of the game is the same, with virtually no changes to the story, which is still just as weird as it was five years ago.

Buckle up: You play as Itsuki, a young lad who has two friends who are both trying to break into the performing industry. Tsubasa wants to be the next star idol, while Touma is hoping to become an actor in a tokusatsu-style television show. Itsuki and Tsubasa get caught up in a strange event in Tokyo that transports them to a different dimension. Both are introduced to beings known as Mirages, which are powerful warriors and mages that have no memory of their past; evil Mirages are drawn to the power of human “Performa,” an energy that is generated by performing arts and creativity. Itsuki and Tsubasa become “Mirage Masters,” joining with two benevolent Mirages, and are recruited to Fortuna Entertainment so that they can work alongside other Mirage Masters and handle the incidents caused by the antagonistic Mirages. They eventually uncover a conspiracy that involves trying to revive an ancient being known as Medeus, who would consume every last bit of Performa on Earth and essentially wipe out all life.

Yeah, it’s super weird. And somehow it works! It’s really goofy, sure, but the cast of characters is so likeable that it’s easy to forgive the kind of nonsense happening in the storyline. They’ve all got side-stories to explore which helps give more depth to the main plot (and doing so adds benefits to battles, which is also nice).

The fact that the battle system is incredibly fun is also a boon to this game’s success. The battles are typical turn-based combat that you might expect if you’ve played another Shin Megami Tensei title before; you’re limited to three active party members at a time, but once you have more than that you can switch out at any point. The key is figuring out enemy weaknesses – once you do that, you can use a skill that exploits that weakness, which triggers the signature combo move of a Session. A party member that triggers a Session can be followed up in a combo by another active party member based on their Session Skills, and eventually even characters in reserve can join in, leading to absolutely devastating, hard-hitting combo attacks.

In the original Wii U version, Sessions would eventually take forever to watch, because you’d be sitting there waiting for a seven-part combo to finish showing off all of the animations involved. One of the biggest quality-of-life updates that Encore received was the “Quick Session” function, which skips the flashy animations and just gets to the damage. It’s remarkable how much that speeds up battles, which in turn makes the game more enjoyable to play.

In terms of the Fire Emblem influence on the game, it’s pretty limited: all of the Mirage characters are based on characters from the Fire Emblem franchise, though their designs bear no resemblance to what they look like in their games of origin. The classic weapons triad is also in place, which helps determine weaknesses (sword bests axe, axe bests lance, lance bests sword). But that’s about it, so if you’re coming into this game expecting a lot of Fire Emblem, you’re going to be disappointed.

Generally speaking, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is kind of a love letter to the rest of the Atlus catalog. There’s little Easter Eggs for the Shin Megami Tensei games, but also for Etrian Odyssey and some other less-popular Atlus titles. You can even dress up your party members as characters from other games, including some new outfits based on more recent releases exclusive to Encore.

There’s a lot to love about this weird little RPG and I hope now that it’s on a more popular console, that more people will be willing to give it a shot. If you enjoy the Persona franchise, definitely consider grabbing it – I would probably just describe Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore as “Diet Persona.” With a flashy battle system, great music and a style all its own, this game adds a unique RPG to the Switch catalog.

-Carrie Wood