Metaphor: ReFantazio

Absolute fantasy. Highly underrated, great story, music and gameplay.

Everybody told me that as a long serving SMT and Persona fan, I would love Metaphor: ReFantazio but after ~16 hours of me desperately trying to like this game, I am simply at a loss. I don't know, I just don't like it. I feel conflicted because at its core, Metaphor is not really a bad game per se. Although the graphics and soundtrack are a noticeable downgrade from Persona 5 for example, amongst the piles of slop today I would still say that Metaphor is overall a decent game as a whole. It is similar to SMT and Persona in a lot of ways, but at the same time it just feels like at least to me that the fun was removed from Metaphor. You are severely restricted when it comes to MP. I know that once you level up the Thief archetype later on you can just steal MP and that you do have passive MP recovery with the Mage archetype early, but it just feels like such a slog thus far. The first real dungeon was a massive grindfest, spending MP felt like giving up a kidney and the combat also feels kind of off. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I can hit an enemy weakness but not get a bonus chain attack, yet enemies can just endlessly chain into my weaknesses and 100-0 in one turn? I actually love grinding up in JRPGs, and have finished multiple Persona titles and such multiple times on the highest difficulty, those still felt fun and rewarding but combat here just felt so dull and flat. The graphics are okay, or perhaps "unique" if we were to be nicer, but definitely a step backwards from Persona 5. It's not bad, just not what I would have expected with how recently released Metaphor is, you would think that it would be at least the same or slightly better. Not much to say here. Onto the soundtrack, I get that they're going for the big kingdom, knights, armor and grandeur military style of pomp and circumstance but it just feels flat. You're constantly listening to a military march and there's nothing that immediately catches your attention like Persona 3, 4 or 5 did with their iconic tracks. While the music does fit what the game's setting is going for, it's again just bland. The story is about as generic as you can get, the characters......are there? I guess? Whereas I always connected with the Persona characters and story, this one just didn't manage to pull me in or make me care about any of the characters in any way, shape or form. Random nobody that everyone in society looks down upon, but hey I can summon gundam, and anyone that joins my party also gets to randomly summon gundam, don't ask bro it's all good. Performance is fine, obviously I'm way overkill for this title but I had no issues other than to get 4K Borderless, you couldn't do that upon first launch and had to first go Full Screen, pick 4K resolution then the game allows you to go into Borderless. Not a big deal, I experienced no stutters, no frame drops or any technical issue, so from that perspective this is a positive for sure. Controller support was also very good with my 8bitdo Ultimate 2 Bluetooth, and the Steam interface allows remapping of controller keys and all that seamlessly and everything worked like a charm, no different from console. I'm at the point where I sort of feel bad for abandoning the game, but just have absolutely zero motivation to play more or finish. Pretty disappointing as I had looked forward to playing this one for a while, all I can hope for is that Persona 6 will manage to deliver, though if this is the start of a new trend, I am concerned for Persona 6 even beyond just the incredibly high expectations fans already have for it.

As much as I love ATLUS and their wide catalogue of RPGs (Megaten is one of my personal favourite series ever), I went into Metaphor: ReFantazio with a clear, unbiased mind. While I had heard of the many accolades the game had received, I had kept myself entirely in the dark prior to playing so I could get an optimal first playthrough, free from the thoughts of anyone else. I am happy to report that Metaphor may be one of the best RPGs I've ever laid my grubby little hands upon. I think the full price is justified, as this game was made with such love that it deserves to be rewarded for how amazingly put together it is. The basic combat is your classic bread-and-butter, and dear god is it a great combat system. Like many other SMTs in a post-Nocturne world, combat works on the "Press Turn" system. You get as many moves as you do active party members, and hitting weaknesses grant extra moves while missing attacks or hitting immunities make you lose moves. I could go on and on about how it may be one of the best systems for an RPG ever, especially since the enemies are wholly capable of using and abusing this style of combat against the player party if you let them. Bonus points if you are playing Hard difficulty or above, where every encounter is granted +1 Press Turn icon as a difficulty modifier. It doesn't let you play stupid. You must also abide by the rules of combat, lest you get sweeped within an instant. One of the first major bosses required me to switch up a lot of my character's gear and abilities so they could resist attacks, as weakness exploits were leading to me getting wiped out swiftly. Even with that in mind, the game is not unfair by any stretch of the imagination. If you take the time to learn the tricks of the trade, you will have loads of fun. Of course, the basic system is only part of combat, as you can mess with things such as the tactics menu to direct your party members strategically. Or you can hop between the front and back lines, swapping damage for defense. It all comes together into one perfect package, and you will absolutely enjoy it It might be one of the most gorgeous games I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes upon. Just something about the grittiness of the character portraits and the world they live in tickle my brain in all the right ways. The environments make me want to scream because I can't handle how beautifully put together they. The Tradia Desert, as desolate and death-ridden as it is, still has a macabre beauty to it. Or Akademia, for being just a small section of disconnected library, takes my breath away with its ethereal yet simple charm. All these places look amazing. Same with the characters designs. The main cast all pop, and really stand out against the more drab, dark fantasy background. The luscious locks of Louis, or the plaid jacket of the MC, stick out loudly and proudly without looking strange in context of the setting. Since Metaphor is its own entity, separate from a beast like Megaten, it gets to experiment with more fun, radical designs that could not exist within those worlds. One benefit of the beautiful graphics of Metaphor is that they helps sell and reinforce the narratives that exist within the world. For example, the hub city of Grand Trad, even if it is only a few streets and shops, feels lively. The infrastructure looks extravagant, yet at the same time not over-designed. The hustle and bustle is real within the city. Business is always booming, and the streets are littered with many different colorful characters. On the other side of the coin, the oppression felt by the shunned clans of peoples is palpable. There is a very clear presence of some species in the nicer areas of the city, while the ones that are frowned upon through no fault of their own are relegated to back-alleys and the such. These areas are darker, with grime and decaying carcasses strung about. Both these elements, of the ideal fantasy world mixed with the crushing reality of disparity between groups, work hand-in-hand to build a living, breathing environment. While discussing the story isn't really an option, as a good story is the backbone of any RPG worth its salt, Metaphor knocks it out of the park. I do appreciate its eagerness to tackle very real social problems (it even opens with a disclaimer to not actually attack authority or religious figures, which made me laugh in surprise). Metaphor does not shy away from showing the problematic parts of society, such as blatant racism, instead hoisting them forward and forcing the player to engage with these elements through story and gameplay alike. I also love the final objective being so concrete right from the get-go. Having such a clear goal instantly is a real boon, where some games love to meander or let the story slow burn until a real end-goal appears at some point into the future. It's not that one way of writing is better than the other, but it is something to keep in mind if you have a preference! I also love the writing surrounding these characters, it is simply to die for! Even within the first few hours, I can get a good idea of the characters, what their struggles are, and I can relate to them. They feel... real, in a way. Even within the complete fiction of Metaphor, I think the characters feel real and relatable. That is, apart from their high degree of eloquence, which could only exist in fantasy or within the far past (even if the characters are mesmerizing to listen to, the English voice work was excellent). I'm only about 10 hours in, and have only cleared the first major dungeon, but I have nothing but praise for this part. Hopefully, as my thoughts and feelings on Metaphor develop in the future, this point still rings true! (I have played a lot more. Haven't finished the game, but gotten pretty far. This point still rings true.) And of course, it wouldn't be an ATLUS RPG without a killer soundtrack, spearheaded by the legendary Shoji Meguro. It seems that no matter what he touches, he is able to will up a cornucopia of bangers from start to finish. Any mood, for any occasion, has an associated song attached to it. My personal favourites, besides the god-tier boss themes, are the Akademia theme and the battle theme for an advantageous battle. They get the blood pumping real quick I understand why Metaphor was nominated for GOTY now. I could honestly argue it deserved it. It is... incredible. Don't hesitate, just get it (even full price is worth it I fear)

良い点 ・世界観やストーリーは中々良く出来ている ・男性キャラはかっこいい。モンスターも良いデザインだと思う ・キャラが強くなっていくのはとても爽快感がある ・部分的にだが過去作からのシステムを良く継承していると思う 悪い点 出来る限りプレイヤーの時間を奪うように設計されているように思える ・バトル速度の変更が出来ない事、演出無し倍速戦闘なんてものはない 　（魔法等の演出はかろうじてスキップ出来る部分はある） ・マップ移動や戦闘に入る度に読み込みが発生するがバックグラウンド再生は出来ないようになっている ・6キャラ×約40種類のジョブチェンジシステムのようなものの演出をほぼカット出来ない。7～10秒ぐらいの演出を獲得する度に何度も見る事になる。 ・獲得経験値は多いとは言えないし倍速戦闘もない為レベル上げにとても時間がかかる。 その他多くの部分で妙に時間がかかるような作りとなっているように思えた （個人的に男性キャラに比べて女性キャラのデザインが少し微妙に思えた。人によるとは思うが） 現在100時間以上遊んだものの気軽に人に勧められるようなものではないと思った 良い部分は確実にあるし面白い作品ではあるものの もう少し気軽に快適に遊ばせて貰えたら良いのではないかと感じた

Note, I beat the game on hard. I think anything positive I have to say about the gameplay applies to the appreciated high amount of difficulty. This might just be the worst written game ATLUS has ever made. This is coming from someone who thinks Persona 5 is an extremely poorly written product, and also criticizes Persona 3 harshly even though I mostly like it. The game is severely bloated, with almost zero depth to the story. Plot points happen rapidly with no time to establish tone. Characters are all one note with no depth, being driven by a single very basic core character concept and nothing else. Meanwhile the second half of the game feels severely unfinished. The plot suddenly moves so fast that it feels like what writers call the 'turning points' or 'setpiece moments' of a story mindlessly strung along each other with no attempt to make a rational plot connecting everything. The game does have a point. Spoiler alert, it is criticizing people who angrily rage at specific demographics due to their own legitimate poor experiences and do nothing but spread hate. It is not specifically about racism. It is not really about Trump or any other right wing figure. It's a very deep criticism of Gen Z and Millenial political rhetoric, both left and right. It's about anti immigration. it's about incels and feminism. It's about anti semitism and virtue signalling. It is about realizing that the anger and fear over what distresses you IS harmful to indulge with and letting that drive how you interact with the world both harms yourself and increasingly drags society to hell as we all normalize hate. But acknowledging things objectively, letting them drive you to be a better person and allowing that to drive you to actually help people idealistically, is how you actually become someone worthy of respect. Basically hold onto your fantasy (idealism, hope, morals) and try and make it reality, regardless how flawed the idealism feels. The fact people miss this is only a little bit because they are illiterate (when you get an archtype, it literally gives a giant speech saying something like "Thou art one who would temper anxiety into strength" like ffs it's spelling it out for you) but because the game is seemingly terrified of expressing this clearly. When you get to the big plot twist of the game, there's a few lines that take this entire concept and spell it out as clearly as it can to you. Generally in this kind of fiction, you stop trying to word around the concept. But suddenly everyone starts ranting on about making fantasy a reality. The game just doesn't want to make a political statement in a game that is fundamentally about winning an election. This means when you finally go to face the big bad, and he finally explains his motives. He just seems wildly more intelligent than the entire main cast combined. Because he has views, he has ideology. It's insane, but it's not literal 3yo buzz words on loop. This leaves the game feeling like a 20 hour game that takes 80 hours to finish and has absolutely no literary value. The entire cast sucks so it's not character driven. The big thematic moral of the game isn't even explored and is barely stated. And the big plot turns are rushed and messy. The gameplay is pretty good on hard. It's probably the best balanced game ATLUS has made in decades and an enormous upgrade over Persona 5. The follower buff system is drastically better concieved than Persona 5 and the game does a great job of making you feel always rushed but not pressured. Dungeons are the best they've ever been, and it feels like someone on the dev team saw the same criticisms I had with Persona 5's god awful dungeons and made it their job to fix them all with this game. The side dungeons are copy pasted but mechanically are better than the best Persona 5 dungeons. The main dungeons are all full of unique mechanics and the new Dark Souls inspired encounter system, while easy, allows much more engaging and interesting than Persona 5s pretty looking hallways and auto ambush free win button. I hope they reuse this system for Perona 6 because it's just such an upgrade. The OST is incredible, but feels too small. Many cutscenes feel like the wrong track is playing. If it was a bigger soundtrack, I'd probably call it the best soundtrack Meguro has ever made, and that man is a legend. Basically, the game is a really hard sell. You either hate it because the story is unbelievable garbage, or you like it because the gameplay and soundtrack is great.

Metaphor, özellikle başlangıcı ve sonu göz önüne alındığında muazzam bir oyun; rahatlıkla en sevdiğim ilk 10 oyun arasına girebilir. Ancak yan içeriklerin yeterince tatmin etmemesi ve temponun zaman zaman beklenmedik şekilde düşmesi biraz sinir bozucuydu. Yine de yaratılan evren tam aradığım tarzda bir fantezi dünyasıydı ve her şey oldukça yerindeydi. Hikayenin gidişatı bir noktaya kadar tahmin edilebilir olsa da araya serpiştirilen plot twist'ler (ters köşeler) oldukça başarılıydı. Oynanış tarafında ise Persona 5'in üzerine çok şey katıldığını rahatlıkla söyleyebilirim. Archetype sisteminin, Persona'ların aksine parti üyelerimizi dilediğimiz gibi özelleştirip onlara farklı roller atamamıza imkân tanıması harika bir detay olmuş. Bu oyuna dair hislerimi detaylıca anlatmaya kalksam bu metin epey uzar; o yüzden kısaca oyunu çok sevdiğimi ve herkese kesinlikle tavsiye ettiğimi belirteyim. xD Oyuna Puanım: 9/10

顶着这样的垃圾技术力，我们ATLUS凯子还能自觉花费将近100个小时通关，该说是品味好呢还是🗡️呢…😞 一款24年末发售的游戏，质感做得跟2012年的老游戏没两样，真得“感谢”ATLUS，直接带我梦回十四年前🙂 ATLUS真没必要碰这种题材，剧情虽说算不上彻底崩盘，但整体质量实在拉胯，槽点多到我都不知道从哪儿开始吐槽。

Pales in comparison to Persona 3,4 and 5 in every way. Dull world, poor writing, utterly uncompelling narrative and plot. Everything you enjoyed in Persona actually feels like a chore this time around.

40 часов я в неё играл, я до конца типа побочные квесты, у меня нервов не хватило ни нервов, ни сил, у меня давление поднялось, ♥♥♥♥♥, я уже не мог её не видеть, не играть, прошёл последнего босса кончалыжно закончилось, точно так же, как и кончалыжная игра началась, ♥♥♥♥♥, 40 часов говна самая скучная игра на свете, тетрис интересней, захватывающий, в тетрисе сюжет больше захватывает, чем это метафор рефантазио это, ну это кошмар, это, это не игра, это кошмар, я не знаю, у меня слов нету, ♥♥♥♥♥ линейка, ♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥, коридор, ♥♥♥♥♥, 100 метровка, просто побежал вперёд без оглядки дошёл до финиша, прошёл её и ♥♥♥♥♥♥, и ничего больше, ♥♥♥♥♥ ни слезы, ни радости, ни эмоций, ничего тебя не удивляет ничего тебя не впечатляет просто, тупо похоронил 40 часов своей жизни . через 20 минут уже забываешь, вообщем, вообще, из-за чего всё началось вообще, начало всей игры забываешь, имя главного героя всю игру не помнишь даже, как его зовут, даже не понимаешь, кто там главный герой эта волшебница с этой палкой, что она хочет, эти ебанутая эта прокачка, вообще, ни в ♥♥♥♥♥, ни в красную армию, эти треугольники собираешь назад, чтоб вернуться, поставить это в сферу, в другую сферу, короче, ♥♥♥♥♥, ну, блевотина ♥♥♥♥♥♥, ♥♥♥♥♥ карты мира, вроде, ну да, красочно сделали команда, что у него за команда убогая, ты думал, ♥♥♥♥♥, клоуном играешь, думаешь, может быть кого-то другого дадут, ♥♥♥♥♥, за место твоего клоуна приходит другой клоун, короче, карандаш я не знаю, это шапито команда, короче, цирк, ну, ♥♥♥♥♥, ну, ♥♥♥♥♥♥, вообще, кто эту игру сделал как они могли так допустить, ♥♥♥♥♥ говно ♥♥♥♥♥♥, я ♥♥♥ его знаю, как у меня сил хватило в нее играть, хуже некуда не дизлайка, минус тысячи дизлайков, я им ставлю, как так, короче, ♥♥♥♥♥ ну, как они так могли, вообще, ♥♥♥♥♥, я ♥♥♥ его бэтмен лего я лучше поиграю, чем в эту ♥♥♥♥♥ собачью, ♥♥♥♥♥ вот, вообще, желания нету в него второй раз сыграть, я не знаю, самую ужасную игру я лучше второй раз сыграю я лучше джокера вот этого нового второй раз пересмотрю, чем вот эту игру буду играть 40 часов лучше джокера этого буду смотреть нового, чем эту ♥♥♥♥♥♥ игру поиграю еще раз