Metaphor Refantazio review

 Fantasy lives on...

Persona has risen very much from the depths of niche-hood into the very heart of relevance thanks to the runaway smash-hit of Persona 5. Just like the Yakuza franchise had done before it- 5 introduced a whole new breed of potential fans to the wonders of the Japanese game market- wherein forgoing the absolute cutting edge of technology allows for quicker turn arounds, developers who are more familiar and adept with their current toolsets and, usually, more introspective and interesting stories. I still find myself utterly stunned with just how many ATLUS projects we've seen in the past 5 years compared to the best of the western world. Five games in as many years- (with one technically being a re-release with more content in 'Persona 5 Royal') What about Naughty Dog? Last of Us Part 2 and... remasters of both games. With an upcoming second remaster of Part 2 soon. My point is- the Asian gaming market is on the rise and for good reason.

Of course I did find myself wondering just how transitive the success of Persona would ultimately be on ATLUS as a whole. I mean sure- I ended up really gelling with the brand and introducing myself to the wider world of their products- but I'm an anomaly with too much time on my hands. Shin Megami Tensei V certainly did decently, but it's still a niche brand in comparison to Persona and it seemed like ATLUS really understood that what with how thoroughly the team committed to milking Persona 5. What else did they have? Soul Hackers 2? That game got panned, unfairly so I'd argue, for the crime of not really being anywhere near as good as the Persona games. (Not that it was really trying to be- you could feel the lower budget seeping through every aspect of that game.) Which is what brought me to considering Metaphor a risky proposition.

Don't get me wrong- from an artistic standpoint I thought that marrying the ATLUS formula with the creative freedom of a pure fantasy world was such a no-brainer that it honestly astounds me that the team seem so surprised that they went this direction ultimately. The tacit comprehension of complex themes disseminated and personified into tangible aspects of a thematically driven plot, broad and emotionally driven character writing that colours shades of personality into even the most drab places, a deep grasp of various international cultural myths and the intellect to cleverly appropriate those aspects to create fascinating world spaces. (Take note: 'Devil May Cry'; you haphazard culture-nicker, you!) ATLUS had been cultivating these skills with every one of their projects up until now- of course they were primed to bring it together into a fantasy. In fact, a fantasy setting could even be the perfect melting pot to bring all those talents to their ripe-most fruition!

Now those are very bold proclamations that I make, and it was with a tempered heart I reflected on what Metaphor would actually be. First off, ATLUS were forming a new team to make it, Studio ZERO- which could either be an investment made in confidence that this would form a team worthy of carrying their own legacy for years to come- or a calculated risk to isolate a limb in the off-chance it may need to be cauterised if things go south. In a manner so very fitting for the subject matter of the day, I gave into my fear of the unknown and allowed anxiety to close off my heart to the hype train for Metaphor- only really re-engaging around about release time when I figured- "Eh, there's a free demo- might as well see what it's like." Needless to say, I brought the game on the spot soon after.

In many ways Metaphor feels like a marriage of everything ATLUS has achieved up until now, in every aspect from the character writing to the storytelling to the gameplay. But for the sake of observable and easily communicable evidence, lets start with gameplay. Metaphor borrows the press-turn combat system from Shin Megami Tensei alongside it's buff/debuff stacking kit- accessing the much greater tactical burden and reward afforded this system over the more pithy, albeit quicker and punchier, Persona route. Yet it neatly nicks the celebrated Social Link relationship heart of the Persona games in order to bring the relationships to the forefront of the narrative and world every bit as successfully as that franchise does. Picking and choosing.

This comes from the pedigree of Studio ZERO which is picked from across ATLUS' greatest hits with talent from Neon Genesis and elsewhere padding out the other artistic positions- presumably lending to the uniquely lively style of ReFantazio's visual artistry. And personally, as one deeply entrenched in ATLUS' emotionally-poignant examinations of the human condition, I am so happy to find Metaphor not just full to bursting with one of the studios most complete breakdowns of their theme, but a beautifully evocative commentary on so much more besides, from the very nature of power to the purpose of art as a concept. Once more ATLUS amaze with how aware and clever their narratives can be- leaving not a pinch of doubt in anyone's mind when they took the 'Best Narrative' award at the Game Awards.

Metaphor presents a fantasy world that slips away from many of the usual go-to tropes that Japanese fantasy in particular falls down- there's no World Tree- thank god! In fact- there's no central worshipping force around which all the world revolves- sorry, Final Fantasy. Instead there's a deeply grounded soul to the world of Euchronia. (very cute synonym there, by the way- with 'Euchronia' literally meaning a utopian era of technological and social achievement- in stark contrast to the world present.) The world is made up of fantastical races split into tribes, with Elf-like Rhodanthe prized for their martial strength to the bat-like Eugief who are treated as an ugly and dirty people- likely for how distinct they look from other more humanoid style peoples. This is a land of social struggles and racially-enforced classism that leads to strife and discord across the land- it's a near endlessly rich world depicting a society on the brink in such a tangible way.

Such a turbulent world is brought to a boiling point where the king is brutally assassinated by a villain we establish directly from the get-go- Louis, or as I like to call him: "Fantasy-Dio". Forgoing the cat-and-mouse of later Persona titles we have our man of the hour front and centre before we even have controls in our hands which gives Metaphor plenty of time to give us one of the best villains ATLUS has ever made. Both distant enough to remain a point of intrigue for a good portion of the story and oppressively present so that his essence looms over proceedings finally complete enough that when the puzzle pieces do start coming together, it feels every bit as rewarding as you'd hope. Louis feels like the perfection of the Takaya-style Strega character that ATLUS have been taking a shot at every now and then ever since Persona 3.

That 'conflux of good practises' comes to a pinpoint in the combat too, which really seems to nail all it aims for. Aside from hitting on a more tactically rich space than Persona without getting overwhelming, Studio ZERO also built in one of the most user-friendly features I've ever seen from a JRPG. At the press of a button you can instantly reset any fight to the start in order to try it again. If ever things aren't going your way, or you used too many resources that one time, or maybe you just missed an opening you really wanted to nail and are willing to save scum to get it right- Metaphor gives you that power in the most seamless way possible and I simply love how accessible it makes an otherwise potentially foreboding fight system. You can get to learn a fight by slamming yourself up against it before starting again with a clearer idea of how to tackle it. Clever- but that's just the iceberg.

What they did for dungeons is hats-off brilliant yet so-very simple. As you can imagine- dungeon delving is an important part of Refantazio, both in side-questing in the surprisingly rewarding side-content on offer or simply hitting the main dungeons throughout the core game. Each of these spaces are visually distinct and usually filled with their own brand of thematically appropriate enemy, sometimes with cute gimmicks such as a fear of mages that causes goblins to flay into a rage whenever they see a staff and becoming much harder to kill. But engaging with these dungeons takes valuable days to commit to- you don't want to waste a trip on an ill thought-out loadout, do you? Thus was born the informant system. People shoed up in Inns who, for a small pittance, give stories about locations of interest stuffed with hints about the kinds of monsters there, the gimmicks at play and what sort of weaknesses you'll want to exploit or shore-up against. Suddenly you're gearing up for dungeons beforehand- spending wisely on appropriate gear, changing up your party makeup prematurely. In a simple hint system built within the game's fiction Studio ZERO have reinforced the 'adventurer fantasy' so beautifully that I'm going to be asking for something similar out of my future RPGs. That alone has reshaped the standard. So smart! 

And that's without even touching on the boss fights themselves! Metaphor contains some of the most interesting boss fights across the ALTUS catalogue by, again, just injecting a little bit more core creativity in design. Of the larger bosses you'll find mechanics built into various targetable limbs that serve different functions throughout the battle and offer specific steps-up if you target them, explicit attack patterns that demand study and dutiful response and classic attack chains that challenge the player's rounded party composition. Once again, these take the best from across the board. The gimmick fights of Persona 5, the attack patterns of Soul Hackers and the attack chains of SMT (and some choice Persona 3 bosses.) Identifying the best-of-the-best is one victory- bringing them together so deftly is yet another.

These flexible fights are made feasible by the archetypes system, which is personally the only aspect I'm still not in-love with when it comes to Metaphor. It presents the overall flexibility of demon/persona-collecting with skill-swapping and collecting in a manner somewhat reminiscent of SMT. Which it gives a lot of play variety, I personally found it robbed the individuality of your teammates until the very late-game when your builds are set in stone. Which in some ways is very much the point of the system, allowing for definite replayability when it comes to totally fresh party builds- but I guess I just have a soft-spot for knowing who my damage dealer is from the moment I lay my eyes on their stat sheet. More of a personal preference issue I guess. Also I'm not a huge fan of the over-designed style of the archetypes, a lot of which look indecipherable at a glance- but that is the first and last time you'll hear be critiquing Metaphor's art style.

Refantazio is ATLUS' most gorgeous looking game by an absolute country mile- solidifying the company's refined anime style just as some bigger slop studios were starting to work their way around to something similar. 5 decent-quality anime waifu-collector games dropped in 2024 and Metaphor totally shot past the rapidly-deprecating generalised anime visual with grace. Metaphor breathes with swirls and patterns that dance in the sky and even in the shading on people's bodies. There is constant subtle movement painted into the groves of this world that conjure to my mind some of the abstract of JOJO's art-style, and which make the otherwise intentionally grim environs, such as the backstreets of Gran Trad, alive and almost squirming. It feels flowing and never stagnant, matching the beating heart of the world and narrative neatly.

And then there's the music, oh the music! Had I been on the Metaphor hype train and spent months listening to what was coming, I probably wouldn't have got it. The bombast, the weird monk chants- none of it gells with the typical ATLUS image in a vacuum- but in context it is pitch perfect. Dramatic, ritualistic, anxious, alive! Music is actually canonical to the fiction of the world, presented as 'the first music' and played within the protagonist's head by his guiding fairy, Gallica, and that pans out with the how every track perfectly enhances the moment. From the hollow tones of the Sandworm burrow to the rapid rap-pace of the 'surprise' theme- ATLUS have once again proven utterly singular in the art of game soundtracks, even when stepping into ostensibly well-trodden musical mediums.

What more can I really say whilst keeping this a specifics light-review? I loved every single character dearly, from the core cast all the way down to the incidentals who show up once or twice but leave an impression. I am absolutely enraptured by the world of Metaphor that even though I feel it almost sacrilege to the spirit of the game to do so I simply yearn for a sequel. Or prequel. Or re-release with more content. Just anything to keep me in this world! Once again ATLUS have nailed their ending in a way only they can. Beautifully rich and narratively fulfilling- they make it look easy. I've come away thinking about this game, it's story, it's themes and mulling over the messages it imparts. I haven't felt this buzzed about an ATLUS game since I first discovered them, and that is the highest praise I can muster given how they are my current favourite JRPG developer. 

After having Baldur's Gate 3 totally redefine the standard for Western RPGs last year I absolutely was not expecting to have similar bars raised over in the Eastern world. And to be fair, Japanese RPGs tend to be distinct enough that there isn't really a thing as 'overall bar raisers'. But if any title was going to do it, it would be Metaphor Refantazo. A step-up from what many, myself included, believed to be their defining game in Persona 5- Metaphor does the near-impossible by encompassing the best of what ATLUS is and distilling it into an inspiration of a product. The game is art and none of my little gripes here and there with things like the Archetype system or certain aspects of the endgame (particularly the final boss composition) detracts enough from my view of Metaphor- as an example to the artform. And you know what examples get, don't you? A recommendation, of course, and an S grade in my arbitrary review scale- which technically breaks my school-theme I've got going for these grades but I gave the same to Baldur's Gate so I figure the ship's already sailed on that one. If you only ever play one JRPG in your life (and I strongly recommend you make the time for at least a few more) let it be this one.