Metaphor: ReFantazio sets high stakes

Metaphor: ReFantazioThe developers of are not subtle about the themes they seek to address in this game. The upcoming RPG takes place in a medieval setting that is a mirror of our contemporary world. The depiction of a world within the world of a utopia, shown as a modern city during a cutscene, is considered an anomaly. The characters in the game read it in a book, in which it is said that no soul is born in discrimination and that all lives are equal. “It really seems like a fantasy,” says Gallica, the protagonist’s companion.

The Persona series has always incorporated real-life issues into fantasy-filled worlds. These efforts failed and did not always block the landing, with Persona 5 Tactics being a recent example. Now, as Persona’s core former developers prepare to launch Metaphor: ReFantazio later this year, the stakes have never been higher, as they take the next step with a bold attitude, but also a certain familiarity.

During a hands-on demo at Summer Game Fest 2024, I played three different sections of Atlus’ upcoming RPG, totaling about an hour. The first took place early in the game before the protagonist summoned his powers, acting as a sort of tutorial that introduced the story and some of the key design elements in relation to Persona.

Image: Studio Zero/Atlus, Sega

On the one hand, the protagonist is voiced. This may seem like a small detail, but compared to previous Atlus games which often had more of a self-inserted hero, voice acting adds authority and a more specific sense of personality to the choices you make during conversations. From my experience in the game, it seems that not all dialogue is fully voiced, but rather that which occurs in the main story-related sections as well as in conversations with key characters, which is fair . At other times, such as when undertaking activities with companions – such as spending time with his comrades to increase his social bonds – the protagonist would speak a few sentences instead, like Joker from Character 5 made when performing certain actions.

Story structure is another exception. You’re essentially going on a road trip while recruiting people and responding to requests. There are main goals that serve as deadlines, but other than that, you’re free to explore and spend time however you want. The demo gave a glimpse of this in the second section, as I went into a dungeon looking for a missing person. The beautifully drawn world map also has indicators for time of day and weather conditions.

Again, if you’ve played Persona before, you’ll be able to jump into this game. However, while exploring the dungeon, I witnessed some remarkable features that shake up the usual process of trying to get an advantageous attack on enemies to engage in combat. In Metaphor: ReFantazio, there are several ways to do this. If you spot a stronger enemy, you can perform multiple attacks in real time to weaken them before launching into a classic turn-based encounter. Don’t expect full hack-and-slash gameplay, as the protagonist can only perform a few sets of attacks, but these seem satisfying every time.

If you manage to sneak around an enemy without them seeing you, you will perform a powerful attack instead, leaving them stunned. For smaller or weaker enemies, you can simply take them out in real time without needing to do an actual encounter for what would essentially be a quick turn. The dungeon I did wasn’t too big, but it was refreshing to be able to take on groups of enemies with ease and gain experience and loot while progressing towards the objective.

Image: Studio Zero/Atlus, Sega

Speaking of which, exploiting weaknesses remains the bread and butter of any turn-based combat. The main difference here is that you no longer have Personas at your disposal. Instead, Metaphor introduces archetypes, which work the same way: you adopt the qualities of the archetype as you fight, learning different skills to use in combat. The Archetype line is made up of the usual RPG classes you would expect (mage, warrior, etc.). Each time you meet a key companion and bond with them, you will unlock a new archetype. I was able to get a glimpse of the skill tree corresponding to the archetype, and it appears that some of these classes can be upgraded up to rank 20, so it will probably take you a while to unlock the full potential of each.

These archetypes can perform joint attacks with other party members, adding another layer on top of the usual basic attack and magic abilities. Some focus on damage caused by a specific element (fire, ice, etc.), while others can heal party members or add a debuff to multiple enemies at once.

Most abilities and items carry the same naming conventions as Persona and Shin Megami Tensei in general, which makes things easier to understand. Even in the demo, combat quickly became quite difficult, especially with enemies also being able to store extra rounds themselves. I had an absurd amount of healing items, but I dread the thought of encountering some of the enemies I fought without first stopping at the nearest merchant. (In case you’re wondering, yes, the protagonist can die during combat and you can continue to use your party members instead of playing on screen.)

Image: Studio Zero/Atlus, Sega

From my short time spent getting in and out of combat, the visuals of Metaphor: ReFantazio look even flashier in motion. I was afraid that the general artistic design would imitate Character 5 too closely, compromising one’s own vision in favor of excessive stylization like Persona 3 Reload did. Although it can be a little overwhelming at first, MetaphorThe art direction constantly cements its own tone, which is partly complemented by the use of anime-style cutscenes, which occur more frequently during story beats and also appear when you enter turn-based combat .

As I recall my time with the demo, there’s a long list of reasons to be excited Metaphor. The enemy designs, the potential around archetypes, all the subtle refinements to systems that have been iterating for decades in the Shin Megami Tensei universe as a whole – it all feels like both the culmination of ideas and a holistic approach to creating a new series. But I keep coming back to the themes of the story and their potential to show whether or not this group of veteran developers have thought about the legacy they’ve built over the years with their teams as a whole.

When I first entered the dungeon, it was made clear that someone had attacked a group of guards and we were tasked with searching for survivors. The first one we found, who was breathing his last, said he would rather die than talk to the protagonist’s peers. As the main structure of Metaphor revolves around bonding with characters from across the kingdom, each with their own history and race, I’m curious to see how the game will approach the concept of equality, or lack thereof, that its characters view as so rare. The use of different vocal dialects for companions, as well as the story bringing these themes to the forefront even in an hour-long demo, is promising. I hope these themes are an aspect of the game that manages to break away from the familiarity we’ve become accustomed to in recent years.