Metaphor: ReFantazio takes a lot of things from Persona and refines them.
Altus Games have been regularly releasing fun, creative games that make you think with the games challenging your regular day-to-day ideologies. In particular, it briefly touches on topics such as philosophy, religious mythology, and morality; this specific game is no different. Let us dig deep into what this brand-new JRPG game is all about.
I would describe the essence of Metaphor: ReFantazio as Persona meets fantasy. An interesting plot arises when you mix nuanced societal issues with politics and morality. At the beginning of the Metaphor: ReFantazio, a character named Louis kills the king of the fictional kingdom, Ukia. The lone heir to the throne who proceeded to the king was cursed, resulting in him being unconscious.
Here, we meet the protagonist for the first time. Joined by a fairy called Gallica who follows you around, you have a group that is tasked with caring for the prince, who they all thought was dead. You have been given the responsibility of spreading the word to someone in the kingdom’s army, which is the starting point of your journey.
However, you’ll soon find out that the army unit that was supposed to help you is secretly plotting against the kingdom that they were supposed to protect. You narrowly manage to defeat the former protectors of the kingdom, and Metaphor: ReFantazio uncharacteristically gives the name “humans” to the race of your opponents. When battling, our character unleashes a newfound power called “archetypes,” which offer them the strength once held by the greatest heroes in mythology.
The protagonist and his group, inspired by their newly found powers, plan to assassinate Louis at the king’s funeral. Fortunately for Louis, the king, due to an unknown mysterious power, gets in the way and orders all citizens of Ukia to compete in a tournament for his crown. It’s up to you if you want to help the prince, save the kingdom, or possibly take it for yourself.
A lot is happening in Metaphor: ReFantazio’s plot, and there are a lot of nuanced complexities in the universe, but I appreciate how the game manages to put in a lot of substance without it feeling like they were just filler material. Although it did feel overwhelming at first, it can feel like the game is throwing a lot of information at you.
The game likes to distinguish socioeconomic classes, where the rich seem to be extremely wealthy and vice versa for the poor. I suppose it’s a way for the game to reinstate its narrative. The world’s landscape is alive with unexpected twists and outrageous occurrences.
Let’s talk gameplay and combat; the gameplay is, as before mentioned, pretty close to Persona, which is segmented into day and night time. The gameplay also revolves around a calendar, where you must complete your objectives by a specific time – though, from my experience, I never really felt as though I was in a rush.
There’s a lot to do in Metaphor: ReFantazio. You’ll be venturing around the beautiful scenic town, and just like any other RPG game, you’ll be able to talk to your companions and interact with objects and places to gather information.
You have the luxury of choosing between the objectives you want to complete. Did I mention this game’s vast and rich side quests? But I suggest that you be mindful of the tasks that you choose since the minor tasks can seem huge in the long run as they accumulate.
These activities are important as they can level up your virtues, enabling you to go up the ranks. Depending on your goals, you can pick various objectives, such as tracking down monsters for bounty hunts or spending time with your companions, which have their own perks.
When a character is affiliated with a certain archetype, they aren’t limited to that archetype only. You can morph into a brave knight to attract attention and defend your team, a mage to shoot spells from a distance, or a warrior to cause crowd damage or hefty slashes.
Speaking of which, there is XP gain and leveling up to improve stats, among a few more things. As your character levels up, you will have points to spend in stats in a somewhat different way than the default stat gains for your companions that you’ll pick up along the way. Because they’re close to you, they can summon these odd creatures that help them defend themselves against humans.
However, those archetypes can be leveled up and changed, and each has a rank associated with them. And when you level them up, they gain power, offering you passives and other bonuses associated with the archetype’s role, such as mage, healer, tank, and so on.
On top of it, you are able to unlock new types of that archetype when they reach max rank, which lets you have even more success. When you’ve mastered them, you’ll have skills that you can use them as you begin swapping out archetypes. Along with leveling and basic equipment, there is a little bit of meta-progression.
As mentioned, Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s combat mechanics are similar to Persona’s. It’s very engaging, and some of the monster designs are rather peculiar. I was eager not only to advance the plot but also to discover what unsettling creations the developers would conjure up next. The game also features a turn-based battlefield with front and back ranks. Every character gets a turn and an action in said turn.
During the open-world exploration, you will face a lot of opponents with several different abilities. This option provides the possibility to defeat opponents who are weaker than you easily. In this mode of battle, you may hit enemies at your level or higher to surprise them and have an advantage in battle. If they manage to hit you first, then you are at a disadvantage in battle.
That means small and weak attackers get beaten quickly in the action mode, while those at your level or equal to it get fought in a usual turn-based style. However, there are some new interesting features. They have an auto-battle mode with various techniques that you can customize. And it’s a little hit or miss, but I feel like, for the most part, it’s been not very pleasant. Unfortunately, bosses are where it falls short as well, and the dungeon layouts can feel a bit repetitive.
Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s fighting is now much simpler, and for many people, it may be too easy. Most of the parts within the strategy are missing. At least you will not need to spend a lot of time grinding. Also, it takes quite a while to get used to the game.
Even with a great introduction, you will need around 4-5 hours to feel comfortable playing it; the opening hours of the game can feel slow enough to deter away new players. It’s not the most technically impressive RPG game.
Visually, Metaphor: ReFantazio lives up to the high standards set by other Atlus games in terms of graphics and overall art design. But at times, the game can be visual chaos, with far too much action happening onscreen at the same time.
It stylistically slaps you in the face and rejoices. It is not always polished, perhaps, but it only takes a very little time to grow accustomed to its aesthetic. Screen tearing is another issue that many of its players, and so have I experienced.
On to the sound design, the game features Shoji Meguro’s finest classical orchestra pieces, which sound fantastic. The voice acting is top-notch, and one of the more charming aspects of the game is the ethereal chanting during the combat sequences. Although I think Gallica is a bit too chatty, at times, it can be really annoying. She reminds me of Atreus from God of War—in a bad way; I wish they had added an option to turn her down.
Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s strength comes from weaving a more captivating RPG with fantasy, philosophy, and politics in one sumptuous narrative. Pressed in bright visuals, turn-based combat, and deep themes, gamers truly get submerged into a morally gray world filled with mythological elements.
Some of the designs for the dungeons are a bit repetitive, and some gameplay mechanics definitely have room for betterment, but this game never really feels like a drag. Add to that a beautiful soundtrack, and Metaphor: ReFantazio is a game not to disappoint both role-playing game enthusiasts and fans of Atlus’ inimitable storytelling. I would highly recommend this game to JRPG and non-JRPG fans alike!
