Metaphor: ReFantazio is a tricky game to talk about. Atlus' newest RPG comes from some of the team who worked on the acclaimed Persona games, though aims to set itself apart. For starters, it takes place in a medieval fantasy world, in Euchronia, rather than in present-day Japan in Persona.
However, for the first couple of dozen hours, it repeatedly invites comparisons to Persona by borrowing many of that franchise's ideas, both defining and minor ones.
Yes, progression revolves around day-night and calendar systems, and social links – where the protagonist befriends and forms relationships with characters in the world – is another essential part of the game, here called 'bonds'.
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Party members have their big 'awakening' moment as they join your team. Social stats are back as 'royal virtues'; instead of levelling up the likes of knowledge and charm, you now have to worry about wisdom, eloquence, and tolerance. There's even a Velvet Room-esque location on a different plane of reality (Akademia), helmed by a mysterious man and where you manage your Personas Archetypes.
So it does take a long time, a lot longer than I would have liked, for Metaphor's own ideas to come to the surface.
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Metaphor's title is rather on-the-nose, as the world of Euchronia, though it has magic, is meant to serve as a mirror to the real world. It's a cruel world filled with inequality, conflict, discrimination, and injustice.
The protagonist dreams of a utopia where everyone is treated equally, and strives to make that a reality. His journey begins following the assassination of the king. With no apparent living heir, the king's death results in a royal election to determine his successor.
The prince, however, is alive albeit in an eternal slumber, and the protagonist's mission is to find a way to break that curse. One thing leads to another, and the hero of the story ends up entering the royal election race himself.
Uneven pacing prevents large parts of the first half of the game from shining. The game isn't particularly subtle about its themes, and it takes a long time before the twists take the story in a more interesting direction.
Mechanically, the royal election, one of the more unique ideas, is less open-ended than you might initially expect.
You do go around interacting with different characters and communities, but progression and your election ranking is very linear – which is at odds with the flexibility you have in how you can spend your time.
I'm reminded of last year's The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. Though its themes and aims were different to that of Metaphor, by comparison, the way it used mechanics and gameplay to make you feel more involved in an election race really stands out.
Despite some strong writing, Metaphor's pay-off with bonds isn't as impactful as the equivalent moments in the Persona games.
And perhaps surprisingly, the calendar system, a highlight in Persona, contributes to further pacing issues in Metaphor. Whereas in Persona, the calendar helps to illustrate the passage of time as the main character lives out their daily life, in Metaphor it doesn't carry the same weight nor is it used to significantly enrich the storytelling.
Furthermore, despite free time being a limited commodity, I was able to max out every bond and complete every quest that I could find before the end of the game without being the most efficient with my time.
Time management never felt stressful – which can be seen as a good thing. But it also goes against the impression that time is meant to be used wisely, and is a missed opportunity to make the protagonist's actions feel like they matter more.
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So Metaphor falters in execution in some areas, but the deeper into the 100-hour game, the more its brighter qualities shine. It's perhaps no coincidence that the further it manages to set itself apart from Persona, the more that it is allowed to flourish, and as a result, the second half of the game is more convincing.
One of these brighter qualities is its world-building. From Martira, a castle town rocked by numerous kidnappings, to Virga Island – home to many of the Mustari, a tribe persecuted because they don't follow Euchronia's state religion – the settlements have their own stories that help to flesh out Euchronia.
In turn, this feeds back into the larger narrative. With the future of the kingdom on the line, the protagonist's journey to all corners of the map allows him and his allies to see people's different perspectives on the status quo and their anxieties.
It is, in some ways, a more ambitious narrative from Atlus. If there is a drawback to this, it's that a few of the stories of the individual party members, as likeable as they all are, don't get as much attention as they deserve.
The battle system and mechanics are also a highlight. Instead of Personas, Metaphor's battles are structured around Archetypes, which essentially work like job classes. Party members can unlock and level up around 40 different Archetypes that cover a wide range of roles, from physical and magic damage dealers to tanks and healers.
The Archetype system becomes more expansive and rewarding later on, when allies are able to inherit up to four skills from other Archetypes, adding further layers of customisation to your party.
Battles themselves are engaging. They're turn-based and incentivise targeting enemy weaknesses as you might expect, but have enough other elements to keep encounters fresh, including turn icons determining how many times your allies can attack, party formation, and synthesis attacks where two allies can combine for a more powerful attack.
Outside of battle, you can attack enemies in the field in real time. If an enemy is significantly weaker than your party, they will instantly be defeated without the need to enter combat, which is a nice touch and helps to keep dungeon exploration moving.
There is plenty to appreciate in Metaphor – with a story filled with political intrigue and an impressive world – but oddly enough, it's some of the ties to Persona that hold it back from reaching its full potential.
The game is at its most intriguing when it manages to differentiate itself from Persona, so it's a shame that it didn't have enough confidence to fully forge its own path.
Metaphor borrows defining features of Persona yet executes these ideas in a less meaningful way, and in taking much from the beloved series, it takes a long time for Atlus' latest to carve out its own identity.
Platform reviewed on: PC
Metaphor: ReFantazio is out on October 11 on PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X/S.
