Metaphor: ReFantazio review for PC, PlayStation, Xbox

After the modern Persona trilogy, director Katsura Hashino created/joined Studio Zero within Atlus to begin work on a new project years ago, and after who knows how many years of development, Metaphor: ReFantazio has been released. Blending elements of everything Atlus has released up to this point, Metaphor is a beautiful culmination of decades of development efforts. Combining Persona’s day-to-day life and social links, Shin Megami Tensei’s Press Turn system, and a class system reminiscent of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems’ Fire Emblem, Metaphor is the ultimate JRPG of the decade.

We play as a (currently) unnamed protagonist in a time of turmoil amidst regicide and racial tensions. Upon the death of the king, the nation is left without a ruler and the race to earn public favor to earn the right of claiming the throne and kingship. Meeting your cast of characters that will be accompanying you on the journey includes Hulkenberg, Strohl, and their runner pilot Neurus. You’ll meet more of the colorful cast of characters throughout your journey, learning about their struggles and how the racial tensions have affected them as well.

The storytelling of Metaphor: ReFantazio is similar to that of previous Atlus entries, with that meaning it’s a rather long and time-demanding game told through a myriad of cutscenes and dialogue. You do get an added benefit of the citizens of each town having passing dialogue about current events taking place in the story, giving you a bit more of an insight into what the people of each location think. Combining excellently animated cutscenes sporadically between dialogue and Grade A voice acting did a stellar job at really making you care about what’s being told and what characters have to say. Of course, that implies that the story is equally stellar, and it absolutely is. The struggles of being a nobody trying to earn public favor to become royalty and claim the throne to be king is done very, very well in Metaphor, and the writers really pulled out all the stops for this entry. It’s full of tense moments, light hearted comedic stings, and a lot more. Metaphor truly might be the best story told in recent times both from Atlus and from JRPGs as a whole.

Of course it wouldn’t be an Atlus game without the compositions of Shoji Meguro, returning once more to make an absolutely phenomenal fantasy soundtrack. Combining all sorts of blends of styles, Meguro continues to produce some of the best RPG music ever. Unlike previous titles in the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, you’ll become accustomed with operatic vocals to really drive home that older fantasy setting.

Combat’s a bit different from previous Megami Tensei titles (yes, this includes Persona). You’ve got the option to choose from all of your available “Archetypes”, which are this game’s equivalent to classes. You cannot switch them like party members or Personas, so whatever you’ve got equipped is what you’re locked into for the combat encounter. This can necessitate multiple attempts at a challenging fight, or the purchase of information from information brokers found in Inns around the world. This really amps up the challenge, especially with the turn system bringing back the Press Turn system from Shin Megami Tensei. You also have the addition of a “position” system, like how Final Fantasy VI allows you to place party members in the front or back. This enables ranged units to draw less aggro, take less damage, and still have full damage, whereas melee units deal less damage in the rear as opposed to the front of the party where they deal full damage. Class changes put an emphasis on leveling multiple classes on a character to further unlock stronger ones down the skill tree, so if you want a better Archetype, make sure to check requirements and level accordingly.

The game is not easy by comparison to their other games, either. With the Press Turn system enabling enemies to also gain extra half-turns against you, a lot of enemies throwing out full-party attacks, and the inability to change up your Archetype mid-battle, you’ll really have to plan your party ahead of time. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t switch out party members, but you won’t be able to change anybody’s movesets or anything unless you are outside of combat.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is genuinely a genre-defining release. Atlus has once again proven that they are kings in the genre (get it?), showcasing decades of effort and development history culminating in what I think is a deserving Game of the Year contender. Between Katsura Hashino’s direction, Shoji Meguro’s compositions, and everyone else that’s part of Studio Zero, Metaphor truly shines even in a year, and arguably decade, full of such excellent JRPGs. As an absolute must play this year, Metaphor: ReFantazio really blows it out of the water as something you should get your hands on if you’re a fan of the genre, and stands out as a premier entry point to the genre if you’re unfamiliar.

Note: Atlus provided us with a Metaphor: ReFantazio code for review purposes.