Recently, we found out that the Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei collaboration bound for the Wii U would be getting released in North America, with a new name that makes no mention of the fact it is a dual series mashup: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (pronounced "Sharp F E"). Now, we got a more interesting tidbit about the game's localization efforts courtesy of a response Nintendo gave GameInformer; Atlus will instead handle the localization Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, not Nintendo, despite them publishing the title. Nintendo's full statement as provided to them is:
“Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was localized by Atlus in a way that is consistent with the localization work they do on games they publish. It was a priority to ensure the game feels familiar and appeals to longtime Atlus fans. Any changes made to the in-game content were due to varying requirements and regulations in the many different territories Nintendo distributes its products.”
Though when Nintendo mentions localization changes, many tend to start feeling queasy. The ashes of recent localization controversies still fill the air, such as the removal of the "skinship" system and changing of a support conversion in Fire Emblem Fates and the removal of some character customization options and changes to a character's swimsuit in Xenoblade Chronicles X. That's not even speaking of Bravely Second: Endlayer which had the changing of an outfit and renaming of a class standing as far from the most significant change as the side quest changes stood out there. At the moment, however, we only have a few videos for comparison, such as a music video and the trailer from Nintendo Direct, and it appears at least one costume has been changed already (compare the costumes at 10:59 to the one in the music video) or just look at the comparison below:
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE will feature Japanese audio with English subtitles to preserve its Japanese setting and the Japanese pop idol influence. The current release date is set to June 24th on the Wii U.
There's a collector's edition up for grabs for 79.99 that will be available at Gamestop and Amazon (though it is not known if other retailers will have it as of this writing) that will feature a song CD, artbook, sing song cards, a sticker sheet, and download codes for upcoming DLC.
You can get a hands on of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE at PAX East for the first time in English.