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Metaphor: ReFantazio Review - The RPG Files

Joseph Bradford Updated: Posted:
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From Metaphor: ReFantazio’s first moments depicting the assassination of a King, I was hooked. In a cutscene that plays even before the game brings you to the main menu, the gritty, dark fantasy world of Euchronia is brought into full light. It’s an unequal, harsh, and dangerous world where the strong - and those privileged enough to be born into the right tribe - survive. This introduction to the story I would spend the next 70 or so hours over course of the last few weeks was brutal - yet immediately made me want to learn more and more.

Developed by the minds behind the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, Metaphor: ReFantazio trades the modern-day and supernatural settings of its predecessors for the medieval fantasy-flavored world of Euchronia. As mentioned before, it’s a darker setting steeped in inequality and injustice, and this is noticeable at every turn. The Clemar and Roussainte dominate politics, while the lesser tribes like the Paripus and Mustari are ostracized and downtrodden. 

Our protagonist hails from the Elda tribe, a group of people who are seen as the lowest of the low and, as has been constantly reminded through nearly every interaction or piece of dialogue while passing NPCs by on the street, the Eldan people are often blamed for causing calamity and misfortune. 

The main story picks up after the assassination attempt, with the Kingdom of Euchronia embroiled in a succession crisis. With the King gone and the world unaware that his young son, the Prince, long thought dead, is actually alive, this sparks a power void that power players are all too eager to fill. Yet, the King seems to have held aspirations of preventing a tyrant and, even more importantly, a dream to create a more perfect, equal society, so an election to decide who the next King will be is forced using a spell cast by the King in the event of his death.

Dennis from Monty Python and the Holy Grail's dreams just came true.

Metaphor refreshingly wears its worldview on its sleeves, imagining a utopia where everyone is equal, yet doesn’t shy away from the fact that to see this world realized, it requires hard work. It pictures a world where anyone can be who they want to be, while acknowledging that a perfect world might be unattainable. Yet, the underlying message is one that we should never stop striving towards that goal.

This is most starkly told through vingnettes of a book our protagonist carries with him that showcases an idealized version of a modern world. These story beats are powerful as they aren’t told simply through a bog-standard narration, but through the conversation of our main characters, each with a different take on this utopian world and how it can be achieved - or whether it can be achieved at all.

It’s here where Metaphor aptly earns its name. Metaphor asks about the power fiction and stories play in shaping our world, and it does all while effortlessly maintaining its own stance on things, all while never seeming preachy or like it was browbeating an ideal into my own head. It made me grapple with the role stories have played in shaping my own worldview, something I think a lot of people my age are keenly aware of, but it’s a topic I’m not sure I’ve given more of a passing thought myself. 

Metaphor’s story is made all the better thanks to its incredible world-building and cast of characters. I admit that the cast didn’t hook me immediately like the cast of Persona 5 did, but quickly I started to love this motley crew of characters who all strive to see a better world. Each time my party would sit down for a meal, I’d find myself smiling at Hulkenberg’s excited reaction to a new delicacy, breaking the facade of the stoic knight she typically wears, while each quiet moment spent talking to Strohl made me want to see a spin-off title where our Eldan protagonist and Strohl simply go on wild adventures to better the people around them.

Metaphor Re:Fantazio Maria

Side characters who still play a major role in the journey, such as the hardened merchant Brigitta or the wacky engineer who powers the Gauntlet Runner taking us on our journey Neuras feel like fully fleshed characters in their own right. I especially found myself bonding with Maria, a young girl who has to grapple with loss and her place in the world and mirrors in many ways my own daughter, and some of the scenes with her brought tears to my eyes. 

Even some of the antagonists are endearing, such as the mistrusting yet ever-faithful Fidelio, who quickly became a favorite of mine. Even the villains, such as the Sanctist Sanctifex Forden or Lord Louis Guiabern, would steal the stage whenever they were on screen, demanding I sit up and pay attention. 

Metaphor Human Combat

Metaphor: ReFantazio gameplay follows ATLUS’ tried and true formula. The JRPG is segmented into days, which are in turn segmented further into various times of day where you’ll be able to explore, level up your character’s Royal Virtues (social stats from previous ATLUS games), grow your bonds with your party of followers (think Social Links from Persona 5 Royal). All this is done while aiming to accomplish your main quest in the time allotted. 

Magic in the world of Euchronia is typically only possible through the channeling of items called Igniters, yet our protagonist and party members have learned how to wield the power of Archetypes. It’s here the Persona comparisons will be most apt, as the Archetypes are a type of evolution of the Personas byfrom their series.

Yet, whereas a specific Persona was typically only available to one character, such as Ryuji’s Captain Kidd or Johanna only being useable by Makoto from Persona 5, Archetypes are effectively classes each character can unlock and use. This variation on a theme feels like the natural evolution of the system, and makes coming up with party dynamics much more complex and allows for some serious experimentation to find the best make up. 

I found myself spending quite a long time trying to decide the best Archetypes for each character, and while it does feel like Metaphor wants characters to gravitate towards specific styles, I found myself diving deep to find what worked well for me. Strohl starts as the battle-ready greatsword-wielding Warrior, yet he often took the role of a Gunner or the support role of General late in the game, while my protagonist often bounced between the default Seeker lineage and the Healer lineage, providing damage and crucially important revive spells.

Where this system feels even more refined is the ability to inherit skills from other Archetypes. This system made me feel like no time leveling another Archetype felt wasted, as I could inherit the most powerful and useful skills from another and use them with whatever style I preferred. Eventually, my Protagonist was a weird mix of Thief, Seeker, and Cleric skills, providing quite a fair amount of utility in a battle, while Hulkenberg’s Knight skills mixed well with Wizard magic. 

Metaphor Combat Human

Combat, on the surface, looks like a carbon copy of Persona’s turn-based combat, yet even here it feels more refined. Each character is assigned a turn icon at the top, and an action uses up one of those icons. Passing a turn to a different party member will only take up half a turn icon, allowing for some flexibility if a nearby party member has a skill an enemy is weak against, for example. 

Yet just because you have all your turn icons doesn’t mean you’ll always get to use them. Enemy resistances, such as blocking an attack or even whiffing and missing entirely, can wipe out a cluster of turn icons, adding to the drama. Hitting a weakness also doesn’t give a character an extra turn like it does in Persona, instead, it simply uses half of a turn icon and moves on with combat with the next character.

I’ve had combat encounters where I started with four turn icons only to attack once because a group of enemies evaded an attack, and I’ve had turns where I end up attacking eight times thanks to weaknesses and critical hits. It’s such a flexible system and part of the strategy is learning how to maximize each turn. There are even skills that reward you with more turn icons, but even then it can be a crap shoot, with skills such as the Faker Archetype’s Faker’s Roguery, which either rewards with more turn icons or can randomly take away turns. I honestly found rolling the dice with that skill pretty exhilarating, and when it would take turns away, I simply tried to optimize what I had left. Yet when I was rewarded with four extra icons, I felt triumphant.

Combat itself isn’t as simple as finding a weakness and hammering it home. Metaphor reminds that even support skills are necessary to overcome enemies, such as dispelling a spell barrier to allow for elemental attacks to get through, or finding yourself against and enemy who gets exponentially more powerful if you kill the minions around him. Boss fights against the grotesque creatures simply known as “Humans” typically have multiple stages to get through, meaning understanding the flow of battle is just as important as understanding what something might be weak against. 

This simple complexity makes Metaphor: ReFantazio’s combat sing in ways that I felt even Persona’s didn’t. I’ve never found myself simply going through the motions here like I would in Persona, and I think part of the reason is down to the fact that not every fight needs to make it to a turn-based encounter. 

Metaphor Open World combat

Metaphor: ReFantazio adds an action combat element that, while simple, makes breezing through its myriad dungeons much less tedious. Not every enemy in front of me had to turn into a turn-based fight, instead if I was strong enough I could take them out in the dungeon itself and reap the rewards. This one change makes dungeon crawling so much better than any of its predecessors, especially in those long, winding labyrinthine dungeons that are chock full of enemies around every corner. 

I’m not sure I’ve ever considered action combat a quality-of-life feature, but in a game like Metaphor, it makes the overall progression feel less like a grind and more like the adventure the developers are trying to portray.

Exploring the world of Euchronia is another great example of improving on existing design, all while keeping traversal rooted in the world itself. Equipped with a Gauntlet Runner, you can zip around the map using the King’s Magic by teleporting to any major city you’ve been to before. It doesn’t take up time during the day, which made strengthening the social bonds with characters in far-off places during my downtime so much easier than if I had to navigate the deserts and forests of Euchronia all over again. 

Yet, if you need to go to a new location, such as a dungeon or your next city destination, you do have to travel, taking up time. You can’t teleport anywhere you haven’t been to before. Yet even during these travel days nothing feels wasted. The Gauntlet Runner is equipped with activities to raise Royal Virtues, such as reading a collection of books to raise Tolerance, Wisdom and more, while sharpening my sword with Strohl can raise courage. 

Metaphor ReFantazio Map

I will admit, though, early on I felt disappointed by the lack of filler activities, much like we saw in Persona 5 Royal. Yet, as I played more, I found I never really lacked for anything to do - and every interaction, chance to boost my virtues, conversation and more felt like it was propelling the story forward in a way that playing baseball at a batting cage didn’t in ATLUS’ previous titles. 

Completing social bonds with characters (each has eight levels to progress) is important not just because it helps to peel back the layers of what makes each character tick, but also because it makes your Archetypes and your characters stronger. The higher your bond with a character can mean access to more skills that character’s Archetype lineage can inherit. Other bonds can do things such as reduce the price of items at vendors, or send a care package with useful items every once in a while. 

Visually, I will say it’s a little disappointing that Metaphor: Re:Fantazio seems built on a more aged engine compared to something a bit more modern, but the art direction does a lot of heavy lifting overcoming the graphics here. The world feels alive, with more NPCs on screen in each town, while the environments from the stunning skyline of Altabury Heights to the soaring cathedrals of Grand Trad are all beautifully realized. The mix of in-engine cutscenes and anime-style cutscenes interspersed at pivotal story moments helps tremendously with the overall presentation as well. 

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I adored the snow-dusted city of Altabury Heights, its many-tiered town situated high in the mountains to the east of Grand Trad, which is a joy to explore. Learning the layout of each town is unnecessary since you can easily fast travel anywhere you’ve been, but I found myself walking the streets to each place I needed to visit, whether it was the Cathedral to purify an item or meeting up with my party at the nearby inn we are staying at. 

Metaphor ReFantazio grand trad

I only wish dungeons felt more varied in their visual design, as most of the underground dungeons especially felt pretty much one note despite having vastly different layouts. These are not nearly as complex visually as the Palaces from Persona 5, but they do get the job done. The main story dungeons, however, tend to be more complex and interesting, such as infiltrating an airship to steal something to better understand the Prince's curse, or navigating a literal labyrinth under a desert mountain to discover a hidden relic. 

This is all reinforced by an absolutely stellar soundtrack and voice acting, especially by the English voice cast. The soundtrack, while it may not have the energetic acid jazz vibes of Persona 5, is epic in its own right, with orchestral and choir musical scoring helping to sell the fantasy setting. Additionally, each voice actor brought weight and gravitas to each role, making me beg for a full anime series like Persona. Seriously, pick up the phone, Aniplex, if you haven't already done so. 

Metaphor: ReFantazio also ran pretty flawlessly on my PC, playing at an easy 4K, over 100 frames per second on our Starforge Voyager II PC during the review process. I even spent a large chunk of my time playing on my Steam Deck, especially as I traveled last month, and even without Steam’s assurance that the JRPG would work, ReFantazio holds a pretty stable framerate on medium settings. Locking the framerate to 30 made for a great handheld experience, which should only get better as ATLUS and Steam work to smooth out Steam Deck performance. Given how well Persona 5 Royal runs on Deck, I’m confident we will get similar results in time.

Conclusion

It’s hard to sum up an experience like Metaphor: ReFantazio. Given that Persona 5 is my favorite RPG (and probably game) of all time, I was fairly certain going into this that I would enjoy my time in Euchronia. Yet, I wasn’t aware I would find myself questioning whether Persona 5 would stay as my favorite ATLUS game in the end. 

The refinements that Metaphor makes on its tried and true formula make Persona 5 feel like a rough draft at times, and I can’t imagine going back to a system that doesn’t function the same way Archetypes do in future ATLUS titles. 

Yet what has made a lasting impression is the world ATLUS has brought to life in Metaphor: ReFantazio. It’s effortless ability to stay true to its convictions and be utterly confident in its message is something many other studios can easily falter at with - yet Metaphor doesn’t. Its fervent desire to see a better world and work towards helping lift people up, not keep them down, is a message that feels all too relevant in modern society. It understands that change like this doesn’t come quickly or easily, but it also doesn’t come through just by talking alone. One character voices this perfectly when he points out that it’s nice to dream, but it’s it takes real action to bring about change. 

Metaphor: ReFantazio also isn’t afraid to challenge itself in this regard, pointing out that while its worldview is one we should aspire to, it’s not without its own set of challenges and pitfalls. All the while it reminded me of the power of stories and fiction to help nurture and challenge the thoughts and ideals we all hold dear with the aim of self and societal betterment. 

It helps that Metaphor is also a joy to play throughout this journey. Metaphor: ReFantazio is ATLUS at the height of its powers, and it’s a game that any fan of the studio - or any JRPG fan for that matter, should play. 

Full disclosure: A copy was provided by PR for the purposes of this review. Reviewed on PC. 

10.0 Masterpiece
Pros
  • Utterly fantastic storytelling
  • Beautifully realized world and characters
  • A meaningful evolution of ATLUS' formula
  • Archetypes allow for some incredible experimentation
  • Stellar audio and visual direction
Cons
  • Dungeons could be a little more visually interesting



In this "whenever we feel like it" column, we'll be talking about, reviewing, and previewing all the best and brightest RPGs coming to the market, even if they're not "MMO" in nature.


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Joseph Bradford

Joseph has been writing or podcasting about games in some form since about 2012. Having written for multiple major outlets such as IGN, Playboy, and more, Joseph started writing for MMORPG in 2015. When he's not writing or talking about games, you can typically find him hanging out with his 15-year old or playing Magic: The Gathering with his family. Also, don't get him started on why Balrogs *don't* have wings. You can find him on Twitter @LotrLore