RPG Site: Were there any particular challenges that stood out in the switch back? Did the console switch force you to change anything in particular?
Yokota: Well, for example, we worried about the size of the screen. When you're in a battle against someone, up until now it was just one-on-one battles. That worked on a smaller screen, but we thought maybe for the new game generation it was too simple. So we discussed with Mr. Kusakihara, and we suggested what he wanted - what he's wanted for a long time - is a new aspect, which we call battalions. It should be better looking first, but it could also make the game more fun.
RPG Site: And ultimately, it looks more like a real battle.
Kusakihara: Time after time, the gaming consoles are getting more powerful than before. It became really difficult for us to really demonstrate that this is actually a war when you only had one-on-one battles. It's just not realistic. So it was, of course, a big subject. Also, Koei Tecmo is very good at this sort of big, huge battle simulation. So we had a great amount of help from them in achieving that.
RPG Site: So, let's talk about the school side of the game... what was the thinking there? Was it inspired by any other school-based stories? The comparisons that seem most common among fans is to think of Persona or Harry Potter as a point of reference...
Kusakihara: In truth it's not from Harry Potter, or Persona, or anything like that - it actually links back to an older Fire Emblem. Back a long time ago, we developed a game for the Super Famicom called Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. When you look at the story, the three characters were from a monastery - they were friends, they worked together - and then they have to go to battle against each other. That's almost the same plot as that older game, if you look at that. So we had the image of this old game in mind before - that's maybe our most significant influence on this project.
Theres more at the link, nut good news; they are now aware of rhe demand for TMSRPG Site: One last thing... are you aware of the sort of immense fan fever, the demand, for Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE to come to Switch?
Yokota: Ahhh. [laughs] Well, thank you for the comment - I will go to Atlus, and perhaps we can talk about that!