I recently got the chance to play four hours of Metaphor: ReFantazio, the fantasy RPG from the minds behind the Persona series. I came away really enthralled by its world and how it seems to be toying with the barriers of fantasy and reality. I was less thrilled with how Atlus attempted to distance its in-universe political drama from reality, but I’m still intrigued by what the game itself seems to be saying. I saw a lot of the game in those four hours, and I think I’m still waiting to find the flair in its turn-based combat, which felt like it was missing some of the bells and whistles that make games like Persona feel more complex than just hitting elemental weaknesses. But despite any lingering concerns, I still experienced a handful of standout moments in which I could feel Metaphor: ReFantazio worming its way into my brain, sparking my curiosity, and alleviating some of the problems I’ve had with some of Atlus’ previous games. Here are a few moments from my play time that have stuck with me.
Strohl’s Awakening
Much of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s structure seems evocative of the modern Persona games. This includes the party’s journey, with each member going through an “awakening,” similar to how Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves do when they acquire supernatural powers. In Metaphor, these awakenings happen when they gain their Archetype ability, a transformation that essentially functions as a malleable job system, giving characters different powers and roles in combat.
These awakenings occur during dramatic, character-defining moments, and the scenes are pretty hardcore. The party members rip their own hearts out and shout into them like a megaphone. We saw two of these during the demo, including Strohl’s, and it was easily one of the best moments of those four hours. Strohl is a warrior from a noble family, and without getting into too many spoilers, he’s a bit downtrodden about the state of things. When he finally awakens, he rips his heart out and then shouts into it as he rallies a crowd. It’s slightly derivative of Persona, sure, but it’s also fucking metal. I was immediately energized by the scene and am stoked to see the game riff on this further as we meet new party members.
Your protagonist isn’t the center of a battle this time around
One of the most frustrating things about Persona games is that if your protagonist falls in combat, that’s all she wrote. It means keeping your main character alive and well is a core part of your strategy, even in a game with instakill spells that don’t discriminate. I had completely forgotten about this when I started playing Metaphor and got real nervous when a boss started focusing all their resources on my hero and draining his health. But much to my delight, the battle continued after he fell to the ground. I was able to revive him with some items and keep the fight going, eventually overcoming my foe and continuing my journey. This has always been one of my least favorite restrictions Persona has arbitrarily enforced over the years, and I was glad to see Metaphor buck the trend.
Scrolling through the menus
Atlus games are well-regarded for their stunning menu design. Metaphor: ReFantazio is no exception, as pausing the game opens up a delight for the eyes. From the gorgeous illustrations of its characters to the ways its text boxes resemble the worn pages of a storybook, Metaphor makes flipping through the menu feel tactile, like turning pages in a long-forgotten tome and uncovering its secrets.
Skipping fights with action combat
Turn-based RPGs are notorious for grind. Atlus has been gradually introducing ways to mitigate it with mechanics like Persona 5 Royal’s Instakill stealth maneuver that allows you to defeat low-level enemies without having to waste your time on the whole turn-based song and dance. Metaphor: ReFantazio takes this a step further and allows you to attack overworld enemies in real time. Typically this allows you a preemptive strike advantage, but if you can overpower an enemy with these attacks, you can circumvent fights entirely and still reap the rewards. It’s a satisfying, expedient way to get through something often synonymous with tedium.
Opening the protagonist’s book
The moment Metaphor: ReFantazio clicked with me was when I sat with Gallica, my fairy companion, as we thought back on the early days of our adventure. I opened a book the protagonist had been carrying around for the whole game and it described a “fantasy” universe that sounds a lot like ours. The book illustrates a world full of cityscapes and devoid of the divides and otherings of Metaphor’s universe. That’s obviously an idealized vision of the real world, but I was hooked when I realized Atlus’ fantasy world might have something interesting to say about ours. That curiosity only grew when I stumbled upon a small detail in a library…
Finding my name in the world
When I started the demo, Metaphor asked me to enter my name. No, not the protagonist, but myself as the entity that would guide the hero through the world. That was an interesting request on its face, but it became more compelling when I visited Akademia, the Velvet Room-esque space in which I would learn more about the world and my character’s Archetypes. Books were scattered around the room, and there was one that was mostly illegible to my character, with the exception of my name. The implication that I, the player, exist in this world already has my mind racing with all the possibilities of where this story could go. Metaphor is clearly playing with the divides between fantasy and reality, and that is almost more compelling to me than its A plot of elections and power struggles. I can’t wait to see where this thread takes me.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 11. That’s coming up pretty soon, but if you’re already feeling the Atlus itch, Persona 3 Reload’s The Answer DLC is coming up on September 10.
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