The Wii U did have some great games on it like Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 but the RPG department sucked horribly. The two RPGs on the system that were physically published were Xenoblade Chronicles X and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. The reason why I mention this is because these games are polar opposites in RPG style, look, and feel. And the main reason why I prefer TMS#FE over Xenoblade X is one thing: The Company.
Do not get me wrong. Monolith Soft made one of my favorite games of all time with Xenoblade Chronicles but Atlus has been doing the same thing for MUCH longer. Both games have their flaws and the reason why I say this is because one is a Turn-Based JRPG and the other is an Action-Based JRPG. Both are very different in their fundamentals but have one driving force that is the same: Keeping the player interested. If your game cannot do that, then what is the point? Both games are at least 60 hours long give or take, so they should keep you interested in both story and gameplay right? That is what ruins Xenoblade X for me.
The story sucked. The gameplay was okay but there was so much to learn through. There are so many systems that it tried implementing but they did not coexist, making the gameplay seem incoherent. Nothing meshed together and you didn’t even get all of the abilities shown off in previews until about 45 hours in.
That is where TMS#FE strives. The Story may seem stupid from an outsider’s standpoint but if you lived in Japan, where the game is based, it would make all the 
sense. The story of TMS#FE is one of the most creative ideas I have seen implemented into an RPG in quite awhile. What other game would have you play as Teens who became idols and sang songs and fought demons who terrorized people into not enjoying life because of music? None. That is why I love TMS#FE. It isn’t afraid to be different from other RPGs. Xenoblade X had a generic story with you crashing on an uninhabited planet and having to survive while having internal conflicts with characters around you. If you have a post-apocalyptic world to explore, at least do something creative with it. Point goes to TMS#FE.
The next thing that both of these games had was breaks in-between each major section of the game. Xenoblade X had requirements you had to complete before heading forward in the main story. TMS#FE had Intermission. Intermission was a time when you could explore dungeons, grow closer to other characters in your party and have them learn new skills and attacks. Giving me something that will help me later on in dungeons is super helpful. Point Goes to TMS#FE.
Next, Characters. Both games had good characters but the ones in Xenoblade X were much blander and very predictable. You had a character who was very buff but was scared of hurting anyone. You had a character who was mysterious and seemed like an antihero then became the main villain. HOW PREDICTABLE!
TMS#FE had vibrant characters, not to mention had characters from Fire Emblem. Yeah, Fire Emblem. THAT FIRE EMBLEM. The Fire Emblem characters seemed much more generic to me but that is okay since they were not a major part of the game. Why TMS#FE strived in character development is because it had the same team behind Social Links in P3 and P4 doing the Side-Gigs with the main party. It showed how vulnerable the characters were as they were still just teens who still had so much to learn. The youngest character you play as is 11. 11 years old and is having to make decisions that are difficult for even me to decide. So, Point goes to TMS#FE.
I know you feel like I’m crapping on Xenoblade X but it has some things in its favor. The World is huge. That is one thing Monolith does well. Making a huge coherent world is not as simple as you think. If you can see it, you can explore it. Also, Xenoblade X has a huge variety of enemies. Most of the enemies in TMS#FE were recoloring of enemies we had already seen. The variety of enemies is what works so well in Xenoblade X. Also, Xenoblade X had the best thing ever in any open-world game: A GIANT ROBOT THAT CAN TRAVERSE OVER ANYTHING. You only get it halfway through the game but it rules! It is so cool and it makes the gameplay vary so much. 3 points go to Xenoblade X.
So that brings us to a conclusion. Both games have their flaws but they also have their strong suits. I prefer TMS#FE over Xenoblade because I am an Atlus Fanboy until I die. But that is not the reason why I made this article. I want to know what you think.
Which one is more superior in your opinion? Comment down below!
