Metaphor: ReFantazio (PS5) Review

Fantasy redefined?

 

 Metaphor: ReFantazio is a brand-new RPG offering from Atlus, the legendary developer behind Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. Featuring a grim fantasy world and stylish visual flair of Atlus' previous works, it's been one of the year's most-anticipated RPGs. Focusing on a group of rebels out to forge a utopia, it's yet another grand adventure from the esteemed developer. Strangely, I never heard of the game until just a few weeks before its release when I played the demo—which made me pretty hyped to check out the final game. So does Metaphor: ReFantazio delivers a fantastic experience? Let's find out.

 Taking place in the medieval-inspired land of Euchronia, eight tribes live amongst each other with dissent and unequal treatment. When the king of Euchronia is assassinated and his only son long dead, it sparks a chaotic race of who's worthy of the throne. As a young candidate entering the Royal Tournament, you'll need to journey across Euchronia and rally support from its people to bolster your chances of taking the throne. That's easier said than done when your tribe, known as the "elda", is held in lowest regards and generally regarded as a scourge on society, so it'll be an uphill battle for the crown. You're joined by a wide range of characters from various tribes as they all seek to live in a world free of prejudice and strife, with each having their own tragic stories to share.

Dive into a dark tale filled with intrigue and
an underdog band of heroes.

 Metaphor dives deep into themes of racism, discrimination, anxiety, and the makings of a true utopia. Pretty heavy topics but surprisingly, the story handles it well with its setting and cast of characters, who all have experiences relating to these themes. The story's elevated by the cool and stoic villain, Louis Guiabern, who served as a great foil to the main character. I did take issue with the game's pacing in the latter half, where it wasn't sure when it wanted to end. It teases that the "final battle is near" on like three occasions, but the story kept dragging on. Even the final boss—while admittedly cool—did drag on and I was waiting on the credits to finally roll.

 Metaphor: ReFantazio is a turn-based RPG akin to Atlus' prior works. You control a party of four as you explore dungeons, battle tough enemies, level up, and develop your bonds with characters. "Archetypes" are Metaphor's version of personas, where each character has their own unique archetype (or class) like a mage, fighter, healer, and so on. The main character can learn all of them, which opens up many opportunities for experimentation. I focused my build on a Str+Mag, which decimated a lot of enemies by the end. Dungeons were solid as they're packed with lots of treasure chests to hunt for, puzzling layouts to navigate through, and challenging bosses to beat. 

Fight some disgusting-looking
monstrosities known as "humans".

 Each of the main dungeons were unique and I enjoyed exploring them. They're littered with branching paths that contain treasures, enemy encounters, and some light puzzles to solve. One of them even looked like it was plucked straight outta Etrain Odyssey, another Atlus series. The world is presented through a map where you can travel to destinations with your "gauntlet runner", basically your mobile ship. You can visit story destinations, small villages that offer unique items, and caves or towers that house tougher enemies. Similarly to Persona, the game features a calendar system that will have you organizing your limited days between spending time with followers and prepping for dungeons to continue the main story.

 You can spend time with certain NPCs to level up their follower rank, granting you special boosts for a specific archetype class and perks like reduced store prices. They were pretty good to watch as each character had their own compelling stories to watch. Some are on the generic side but those that did standout were Heismy, Alonzo, and Brigitta's stories. To access later ranks, you need to increase your "Royal Virtues", which are stats like courage, bravery, eloquence, imagination, and tolerance that unlock new dialogue options and progress certain follower stories. These can be done by reading books that increase them or by talking to special NPCs that raise these stats.

Exploring around town and talking to its inhabitants was always fun.

 It took me a grand total of 65 hours to beat with me doing most of the side-quests and follower bonds, so it's one long fantasy. Replay-value is high in case you've missed out on certain archetypes, side-quests, and follower stories the first time around. That said, Metaphor has some glaring shortcomings. Namely, it's the repetitive side-dungeon design, which could have benefited from more variety as you'll be exploring the same-looking caves, forests, and towers each time you undertake a bounty or quest. Also, you can't change archetypes mid-battle to prevent enemies from exploiting your weaknessess or use an archetype with a skill that they're weak to. This means that you'll need to restart the game again or wait for a game over to reorganize your party.

 Metaphor: ReFantazio has a superb art-style that's captivating with flashy menu designs, unique character designs, grizzly enemy designs, and beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds. Unfortunately, textures were bad as they looked low-quality and there were clipping issues between characters and surfaces-- both of which stood out during cut-scenes and diminished the visual charm slightly. It ran well on PS5 despite some slight stutters and frequent load times. The voicework was solid, with many of the cast delivering some neat performances. I did take issue with the protagonist's voice as he sounded wimpy and unfitting of a candidate aiming to be king. The soundtrack by Shoji Meguro was great and nailed the fantasy setting well. The highlight has to be the epic battle theme. 

Metaphor boasts a beautiful art-style and gorgeous menu design.

 Despite its shortcomings, Metaphor: ReFantazio managed to deliver a great time with gripping story and characters, challenging gameplay, and solid production-values during the 65-hour journey. Initially, I was expecting the game to offer a original RPG experience since it was touted as a completely new IP from Atlus, but it turned out to be derivative of the Persona series, gameplay-wise. That's not to say that I took issue with that, but I was hoping for something never seen before given that it's Atlus we're talking about. Still, I enjoyed my time with the game and fans of the genre and Atlus will surely enjoy what Metaphor: ReFantazio has to offer.