Metaphor: ReFantazio – Review

Metaphor: ReFantazio feels like a love letter to everything Atlus has become known for in the role-playing game (RPG) genre, while simultaneously blazing a bold path forward. Developed by Atlus subsidiary Studio Zero — comprising of industry veterans led by Katsura Hashino, the director and producer of the modern Persona games — this fantasy RPG arrives in celebration of Atlus’ 35th anniversary.

The plot centres on the protagonist who ends up a candidate in a major tournament to become the king of Euchronia. With only a few months to rally support from the kingdom’s people, players are tasked with traversing its regions, forging bonds, and facing monsters while building a movement strong enough to claim the throne.

Notably, the game wears the familiar armour of Atlus’ beloved Persona series, complete with turn-based combat, social links, and a calendar system (certain sound effects are even reused from Persona 5). That said, it also draws inspiration from several other games, including ones from Atlus’ own catalogue. For example, characters can move between front and back rows during turn-based combat to mitigate physical damage, similar to the Etrian Odyssey series (Ariadne’s Thread even shows up as a fun easter egg). Furthermore, an extension of the Press Turn system from the Shin Megami Tensei series is expertly combined with Metaphor: ReFantazio’s take on ‘Personas’ — Archetypes.

The Archetype system is a refreshing spin on job classes which allows party members (instead of just the protagonist) to take on distinct roles in battle. This system offers extensive customisation and strategic options, such as summoning a powerful knight’s skill set or combining spells from other classes. Despite the obvious Persona comparisons, the end result is something more akin to Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, elevating traditional turn-based battles by giving each playable character the flexibility to experiment with different classes, skills, and combos.

For those concerned about the grinding nature of turn-based combat, Metaphor: ReFantazio introduces Fast Battles — an option to quickly dispatch lower-level foes in real-time on the overworld. This quality-of-life addition ensures that the action doesn’t slow down, while maintaining the excitement of strategic encounters. This can also be used to stun tougher enemies before engaging in turn-based combat, which can prove to be a useful strategy especially later in the game.

The level of challenge the game presents is a satisfying one, where more formidable opponents may require full-party strategies, which involve exploiting enemy weaknesses and pairing up party members for Synergy abilities, without being too punishing. Of course, the level of difficulty can be adjusted on the fly for more hardcore players.

Atlus has always excelled at world-building, but Metaphor: ReFantazio might be its most ambitious attempt yet. The world of Euchronia feels alive, thanks to a wide variety of non-player characters (NPCs) and diverse lands to explore. In fact, the game’s lore is richly detailed, with a compendium covering the world’s various races, their history, and social hierarchies. While the politics may feel surface-level at times, it doesn’t shy away from encouraging deeper conversations, such as debating philosophies and moral dilemmas.

Meanwhile, players may strengthen their bonds with key characters using the Follower system, a familiar mechanic drawn from Persona‘s social links. The process is streamlined here, as the protagonist gains the ability to zip around previously-visited locales and teleport directly to buddies worth talking to. Unlike typical Atlus protagonists, the hero of this story is given a voice, a decision that adds humour and humanity to the weight of the story.

Every ally’s backstory offers a window into the game’s broader themes of social strife, vengeance, and redemption. Each exchange is warm and genuine, turning these moments from straightforward game mechanics into meaningful conversations. In addition to benefits associated with the Archetype system, spending time with companions may yield rewards that boost social stats, opening up new dialogue options with NPCs.

Instead of being contained to a single environment, Metaphor: ReFantazio maintains deft pacing by changing up the scenery just often enough, regularly providing new NPCs and side activities for the player to interact with to keep things interesting. The rate at which new features are doled out lends a certain friendliness to the time management aspect of the game. While there are still defined deadlines to complete main objectives, players can freely engage with these different elements without feeling like they’re sorely missing out if they don’t commit to certain tasks.

Visually, Metaphor: ReFantazio is striking and Studio Zero has stepped away from using a single colour palette (frequently employed in the Persona games) to convey its themes. Instead, menus and environments are splashed with a vibrant mix of styles and colours, giving a clear sense of variety when navigating between them. Though the anime cutscenes don’t always impress, the sharp character designs and in-game graphics more than make up for it with their attention to detail, texture, and atmosphere.

It’s worth noting that patches have mostly resolved the initial performance problems from the PC demo. Even if there might still be slight hitches in the frame rate in denser places, locking the frame rate to 30 can help alleviate the issue.

Shoji Meguro (Shin Megami Tensei series), a long-time Atlus composer, makes a magnificent return on the soundtrack. From soothing melodies to energetic, frenetic chants, the music is as dynamic as the world itself. Religious and political themes are woven into the soundscapes, evoking a sense of reverence and urgency and amplifying the emotional impact of both combat and exploration.

At the end of the day, Metaphor: Refantazio takes established and well-loved RPG components, such as a vibrant world with multi-faceted characters, a layered combat system, and emotional storytelling, and pushes them to new limits. It’s not afraid to ask important questions or tackle challenging topics, but it does it with hope and a true affection for the genre.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.