Metaphor: ReFantazio review

If you asked a whole bunch of RPG fans what the very best games in the genre are, there would likely be a whole lot of people who’d reply with either Persona or Shin Megami Tensei. Atlus has created a whole host of RPGs that have gleefully stolen hours of my life away, and I wouldn’t ask for a single minute of that time back. It has been a while since these wonderful developers have made something entirely new though, or at least it was until Metaphor: ReFantazio came along with a decidedly more fantasy affair.

Our hero in this magical medieval adventure is an Elda, which is an incredibly rare race that faces a huge amount of discrimination. This particular Elda though was a childhood friend of a cursed prince, who has been sent on a mission to dispel the curse by slaying its caster. This task is thrown into disarray when the king is murdered, and the whole kingdom is shaken while the search for a successor begins.

The story of Metaphor: ReFantazio is one of political intrigue in a world where those who are different are shunned. To try and fix this issue the king used his powerful magic to ensure the next on the throne would be chosen by the public, hoping that a bit of democracy will help bring everyone together and grant them a ruler that serves them best. With no other way to locate the one who cursed the Prince, you and your ragtag bunch of friends decide to run in the magical election and set off on a globetrotting mission to do so.

Despite being a game that for the most part is about an election and combating xenophobia, you end up in your fair share of scraps in Metaphor: ReFantazio. Combat is turn-based, and fans of Atlus’ other titles will feel right at home with it. Hitting weaknesses to gain extra attacks is the name of the game here, with each of your characters having access to all sorts of different weapon types and spells to do so. It’s an engaging system, if not necessarily a ground-breaking one from the team that made all the modern Persona games, and is thoughtful and fast paced enough that it never gets dull.

Most characters in Metaphor: ReFantazio can only use magical abilities thanks to weapons called Igniters, but your party all awaken the power of the Archetypes contained within which help them in battle instead. Archetypes are essentially character classes, with options ranging from the simple mage and healer Archetypes to more interesting offerings like gunner, and merchant. Building a balanced team that takes advantage of all manner of Archetypes will ensure fights go much smoother, but how you decide to do this is up to you.

Although taking advantage of weaknesses is often the key to victory, there are plenty of other ways you can use Archetypes to build your characters. Maybe you’d prefer to use stat buffs to power up the team in battle instead of just slinging spells, or to inflict powerful status effects on the enemy to cripple their offensive ability. Each Archetype has something different to offer your party in battle, and you can even inherit skills you’ve learned from other Archetypes to create the moveset that works for you.

In the race to become king it’s often important to show off your battle prowess, but it’s just as important to make connections and improve your kingly qualities. Much like in the Persona games there’s a whole social life time management side to Metaphor: ReFantazio, where you’ll get to spend time with your party members and other allies. Each character you can hang out with is associated with a different Archetype, all of which can only be upgraded if your bond is high enough with the person associated with them. I loved spending time getting to know all the wonderful and nuanced bond buddies I had, and it’s rewarding to do so too.

When you aren’t building bonds you’ll likely want to make your protagonist a more well rounded character that’s more appealing to the masses. There are five key stats you can raise by taking part in various activities (from reading books to sitting on a bench and people watching) and they are important for influencing people at key moments. Maybe a new bond will only be available if your courage level is fearless, or you’ll need to have a more vivid imagination to convince someone to help you. Again it’s not too different to how you raise your personality stats in Persona, just with a more regal twist.

If you’ve spent time as a superpowered school kid saving the world in Persona before, then you will notice the similarities that Metaphor: ReFantazio has to that beloved series. There are some ways it stands above those classic RPGs though, like the dungeon designs that are much more interesting with puzzles, chase sequences and other exciting elements that shake up the action.

It’d be disappointing if a landmark new Atlus RPG didn’t have the visual flair and banging soundtrack that fans have come to expect, and thankfully that’s not something you need to worry about. While perhaps not quite on the same level as the bold colour menus of Persona, Metaphor has a gorgeous style in its own right that’s a little grittier (which suits the overall tone). On the audio side there are dozens of songs throughout the game that I’ll be listening to regularly even now I’ve seen the credits roll, and alongside this all the voice acting is superb too.

Although easily one of the best RPGs you’ll play this year, Metaphor: ReFantazio does have a couple of small negatives worth mentioning. For the vast majority of the game I was absolutely gripped and struggled to put the controller down, but the final act dragged on just a little bit too much. There’s also a slight issue relating to hitting enemies to get into fights, which is a bit clunky when you have certain weapon types equipped. Again this isn’t a huge issue, but will be noticeable if you make your main character more magic based like I did.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is yet another must play RPG from the team that brought us Persona, with sensational combat, engaging time management elements, and a truly intriguing story wrapping it all together. You will need to commit a whole lot of hours to this wonderful game if you want to see the credits roll, but if you can find the time you’ll be rewarded with one of the best games of this stellar year of video games.