I’ve never “loved” the Atlus-style RPGs like Persona or SMT, so I approached Metaphor: ReFantazio with skepticism. After I finished my 80hr+ initial playthrough (skipping a lot of the side content), I am having a tough time considering a better game released in 2024. It’s difficult for RPGs, especially set in a fantasy realm, to stand out like they did back in the 16-bit era, but I was genuinely surprised by the many twists in the story. Where Metaphor shines is the writing. The cast is well-written and you find yourself caring about the party. The characters have unique personalities and feel “real.” Louis, in particular, feels like this generation’s Kefka or Sephiroth. The story has many twists and turns (some telegraphed, some surprising.) This game should be experienced by anybody who values good narratives. The game touches on real-world issues through the lens of fantasy and does an admirable job of painting the world in shades of gray rather than black and white.
The classic turn-based battles are a lot of fun and require a lot of thought, especially towards the endgame. The job system allows a lot of choice and exploiting enemy weaknesses (while compensating for your own) gives Metaphor a layer of strategy. Metaphor can suffer from some rather brutal difficulty spikes, especially for those playing on anything above the easiest setting. If you’re not an RPG veteran, the learning curve can take a bit, but the game does a good job of slowly introducing the more complex concepts of the job system, so you’re never overwhelmed. The fact that you can change many of the settings certainly helps.
I also found the time mechanic to be an interesting way to move things forward and sometimes force hard choices. Generally, actions such as building relationships or exploring dungeons can consume half a day, and the game has hard deadlines to complete main quests, so it’s very difficult to experience everything in one playthrough. New Game Plus gives players the ability to go back through (it does restart your level from the beginning, so you won’t necessarily be able to breeze through it) and experience things you missed out on. There are also optional bosses and dungeons that add an additional challenge.
If not for my huge backlog of games, I would’ve immediately jumped into New Game Plus, a feature I tend to ignore unless the game really grabs me. It’s not a perfect game (the pace, especially early on, can be slow, and there are some significant difficulty spikes towards the latter end), but it’s definitely my favorite Atlus game and I’m eagerly awaiting a chance to return to this world! It’s hard to be unique as an RPG in 2024, so many of the ideas have been done and expanded upon. Generally, a game has to find a unique way to stand out in such a crowded arena. With its fantastic narrative, strategic turn-based combat, and quest time mechanic, Metaphor: ReFantazio feels like a fresh RPG. Anyone who enjoys this genre should definitely seek this game out.
Josh is a life long gamer, from the days of playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES to plowing through the RPGs of today. He enjoys taking games of all eras and can be found on X @agentclarke001.
