I am an avid fan of fantasy, but aren’t we all? There’s something appealing about being whisked to a world unlike our own. The adventures you can have within it and explaining said adventures to others. Seeing them be amazed by what we describe to them, and noticing the little gleam in their eyes. Their own desire to pursue an adventure just like our own, but do it in their own way. There’s a reason why fantasy is probably one of the most popular genres/settings to tell stories with, and that’s because conveying certain subject matters and morals can be done easier through fantastical depictions rather than real life examples. It’s easier to explain to an audience why greed is bad through fantasy characters rather than use real life examples. You want to inspire your audience to do better and aim to be better individuals. Not remind them of why real life is terrible and why they should stop trying all together. This might not be the greatest explanation in the world and I can already see a ton of people offering evidence as to why I’m wrong. I just wanted a fun reason to explain why I and so many individuals love fantasy and all its glory.
A lot of the greatest video games ever made take place in fantasy settings. Divinity: Original Sin not only revived CRPGs in the mid-2010s, but showed how a tabletop RPG can be carried over into a realized video game format. The developers of that game would go onto making its sequel and eventually Baldur’s Gate 3. A game that oozes with adventure and the exciting imagination you come to expect from the Dungeons and Dragons universe. The Legend of Zelda, one of the many main faces of gaming, is a sprawling timeline of fantasy adventures where good always finds a way to prevail over evil. Dark Souls, while not as light hearted as the games previously mentioned, uses its themes and setting to convey themes of life, loss, cycles, philosophy, and see why sometimes it’s better to end the prolonged suffering rather than let it go on. Then you have one of my favorite video game franchises, Octopath Traveler. Eight unlikely friends venturing together. Helping one another despite their differences and goals, and basically seeing each other as family by the end. Well that’s how I see it at least. You have Elden Ring, Sea of Stars, the two recent Pathfinder RPGs, The Elder Scrolls, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, etc. So many long running or well beloved fantasy games that’ll remain talked about for many years to come.
Fantasy is great, and with that short introduction segment out of the way we can move onto the main star of the show. A fantasy game I’m super excited to discuss as it just might be one of the best experiences I’ve had recently. Rising to be one of my favorite games. The game I’m talking about is Metaphor: ReFantazio. You may have heard of Metaphor already as it was nominated for multiple awards in 2024 and even Game of The Year. It was made by the same exact people who developed the Persona series, and you probably know that as well seeing how they’re also regarded as some of the best JRPGs out there. Metaphor is Atlus and P-Studios’ new child and their attempt to move away from the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises. Some of the DNA was carried, but nonetheless a fresh new clean slate for them. It would be their attempt of high fantasy and they wanted it to be the best it could be. Taking everything they’ve learned in the past and cramming into what I believe is a dream RPG. The ultimatum. A collection of all the good ideas they’ve had in the past now refined, retuned, and broader in scope. Metaphor was not just a new beginning, but somehow a test and the guys at Atlus did not disappoint. Hence all of the awards it got nominated for and being cemented as a modern JRPG classic.
Now it’s been a long while since I’ve touched a game by Atlus and P-Studio. Last Persona game I ever reviewed was Persona 5 Strikers back in 2021, which was almost four years ago. I always wanted to play the third and fourth game, and midway last year I started up Persona 4. Only for it to then be thrown on the backburner, because I found shorter games to finish and review. It’s not like it was a bad game. I was impressed by the first few hours of it, but I have this fear that it’s gonna take me too long to finish it. That the 60+ hours put into one of these games could’ve been spent playing shorter lesser known products. Indie games that deserve recognition, because let’s be real, everyone knows what Persona is now due to the success of the fifth game. Anyone running up to you and still saying Persona 5 is underrated is living under a rock and hasn’t tried literally any other video game. What I’m saying is that I want my opinions to matter. I want my voice to matter, and the only way it’ll matter is if I’m saying something no one has either heard or thought about. So I kept pumping out these reviews to shorter games only to reason the life was getting sucked out of me. Near the end of last year I felt burnt out on writing reviews. I was losing the energy I usually had for games and writing, and honestly wanted to quit.
That and the cranking out of reviews was starting to strain my personal life. My last game review was on Alan Wake 2, and after I got that review out I took a break from reviewing. Played a lot of games without writing reviews, and it felt really good. Promised myself I would only write for games I had a lot to say about and if not it was fine. Expect less reviews from this point onward. 2025 is off to a good start and why not start it off with a game I played during the holidays and recently just finished, Metaphor: ReFantazio. I was expecting another Atlus RPG seeing how it was by the Persona people. What I was not expecting was more than that. Back in high school I remember Persona 5 being one of my favorite games. That statement has kind of fallen as after multiple replays I started to notice some flaws. Stuff that I hoped Atlus would fix if they decided to do another game like this again. Metaphor: ReFantazio is literally just that. It mends almost every single problem previous Atlus RPGs had and I would even say I vastly prefer this over the past Persona titles. There’s so much I want to say about this game and I’m not sure if I can say it all within this review. I’ll try my best though. I want to explain why Metaphor: ReFantazio is an incredible game and why it deserves your attention even if you don’t like one of these kinds of games. Prepare for an exciting adventure as we traverse the plains of Euchronia.
Onward!
Story
This segment explains everything up to the start of the 2nd chapter, and the reason why I do this is so you can have a better understanding of what the story is? Are we good? Good.
The game takes place in the kingdom of, you guessed it, Euchronia, which houses several races all of which live under one ruler. You have horned individuals, which are basically elves, fairies, bat people, these sparkly eyed figures, those born with wings, humanoids with animal features, three-eyed believers and many more. They don’t always get along though. For the longest time they’ve discriminated against each other and the government has done all they could to maintain the peace. One of these ruling factions being the Sanctist Church, led by Sanctifex Forden. His people have been supported by the king for many years, or that’s what you think. We’ll get back to this point later. A tragedy has occurred recently as we’re shown the King of Euchronia lying in his bed. Weak and unable to move, and an individual stands alongside him. A general that was banned out of the church by the name of Louis Guiabern, and he’s angry at the king. He hates the state of the country, the discrimination running about, and the king’s failed efforts to control it. He then pulls out a dagger and slowly shoves it into the king’s chest. Killing him instantly and walking out unnoticed. This kick starts the rest of the game as the country faces chaos.
Without a king there isn’t anybody to rule the people, and without order there is no way to guide and maintain the public. The king did have a son, but the son died years ago during an attack by a group of nightly assassins. All hope is lost as there is no successor to the king, or that’s at least what you think. The king’s son is actually alive. What actually occurred that night was that the prince had a curse placed onto him. Thorns surround his body and with each passing day they grow. Feeding away at the prince’s soul until he’s no more. His body was hidden within a sacred forest so that it wouldn’t further be tampered with, and the people who lived within the forest could research how to lift the curse. The only option they come to is finding the person who had cast the curse, and they believe it to be none other than Louis. That and they then discover Louis had killed the king in a plan to become the next ruler of Euchronia. Not wanting to attract too much attention they decided to send someone whom they believed was the least noticeable and could carry out the job quickly. You, an elda boy, one of many to hail from this forest. Alongside you is Gallica, a fairy who hails from the same forest wishing to aid and guide you in this long and arduous journey.
Your job is to join the kingdom’s forces, get close enough to Louis during the king’s funeral, and stab him in the back and you’ll be assisted by Arvid Grius. During training you are attacked by a big fierce monster, which is dubbed Humans in this game. The Human nearly kills everyone, but you and a horned noble named Strohl manage to survive. You awaken a power within you by the name of Archetypes, and with them you are able to combat the monsters outside the kingdom. Strohl unlocks this too and learns of your plan to save the prince and kill Louis. He wishes to help, and you make it to the funeral for your plan to be ruined even more. The castle rises to the sky, the king’s face is at the bottom of the castle, and a spell is cast showing those who are the most capable of becoming the new king. Some of those individuals include Louis, members of the church, and you. Anyone with this magic casted onto them is protected, and when Grius tries to stab Louis he is stopped. Grius is killed, Louis retreats, and you alongside Strohl and a knight by the name of Hulkenberg storm into the castle ruins to save those within it. You manage to do just that while stopping a necromancer who serves Louis. Everything is going horribly wrong and now your goal is further out of your grasp. Not all hope is lost as an opportunity emerges.
The church announces a competition on who is to become the next king. Opponents are to travel to three corners of the world and fulfill specific tasks. Those who manage to do so and stay high in the ranks can become the next ruler. You decide to enter this race. Not only does this increase the chance of the prince taking the throne, but maybe by doing so you can attract the attention of Louis. Show him what you are really made of and strike him when he isn’t looking. To do that though you have to figure out how to break the king’s magic protection. You also notice there’s a lot of church entries in the competition. Turns out they’re not very good either and may just be as bad if not more selfish than Louis. They want to maintain their influence over the public and will stop at nothing to get their way. You’ll traverse the world, make new allies, and build up in skill and strength to face Louis and all to come. Good look Elda. It’ll be awhile until you can rest.
Gameplay
A lot of the DNA seen in the Persona series has been carried over to Metaphor ReFantazio with some saying it’s literally just fantasy Persona, and they’re not wrong. The game is divided into two pieces, being the traditional JRPG dungeon crawling and time management. After the 1st few hours of the game you’re thrown your first major dungeon and given a set amount of time to achieve the goal set before you. Fail to complete a main story dungeon before your time runs out and it’s game over. Dungeon crawling is what you come to expect from one of these games. You explore, fight enemies, open the way forward, and try to reach the end without dying. If you do die you can either reload an autosave which there are a lot of or reload in a save room. There’s a lot of them throughout dungeons and you can fast travel between them freely. Reason why is cuz you don’t want to spend all of your time in the story dungeon. You run low on health, mana, or just aren’t strong enough. It’s important to venture out so you can recuperate, buy new gear, and even tackle side quests to gain experience points and level up more easily. You have a time limit, but at the same time you’re not being forced to do it all at once. “Take your time,” the message taught by the Persona is still relevant here and more than ever. You can even spend days hanging out to learn more about your party members. Solve their problems and increase your bond rank. Doing so unlocks exclusive perks, bonuses, and Archetypes.
Speaking of which, it's probably time for us to talk about combat. As you venture through the many dungeons of this game you’ll run into a wide range of enemies. A lot of which want to kill you on site, and this is where you’re given a choice. Run away, engage, or break their guard. You can attack them first and if you manage to break their guard without getting hit you can then try to engage and get the first move. If they attack first or ambush you they go first instead. Once in combat it’s all about taking turns until everyone on either side is dead. You have these crystals that dictate how much you can do each turn and when they’re all out it’s then the enemy’s turn. One choice you have is to pass turns without using crystals. That way a character who may have a damage type or skill you want to use instead can go next. This does come with a caveat. When you do this the crystals in the top left hand corner shrivel up. Meaning if you try to pass again they are used, so when this happens it’s best to just do something. A bonus tip to know is that if you strike an enemy with their weakness when a crystal is not shriveled you instead shrivel it the next turn rather than fully use it. This means you can prolong the amount of actions you can do. If you play wisely you can get the edge on them. Unleashing numerous blows and hits.
You’re not just limited to attacking and blocking. There’s a row system where you control where a character is positioned during a battle. Placing them in the front allows them to dish out more damage and take less personal damage, but have an increased chance of getting hit. Placing them in the back decreases chances of them getting hit and damage they receive, but decreases the amount of damage they can deal. Some enemies will focus on certain rows, so it’s best to move away from danger or when they’re about to deal an attack you know you can dodge properly. So that’s two factors that make Metaphor different from Persona. Let’s amp it up a bit by throwing in the new Archetypes. Replacing your Personas are the Archetypes. They allow you to perform special skills such as stronger attacks, buffs, debuffs on foes, healing, elemental spells, and much more. What makes Archetypes different to Personas is that they are basically classes. They have unique traits and quirks, and another change is that you can swap Archetypes between both you and your party members. Allowing you to create the optimal team and tackle the problems set before you. New Archetypes are unlocked by creating and improving bonds, so that’s why it’s really important you spend time to improve bonds outside of dungeons. Sometimes bringing the right kind of Archetype can change the tides of a difficult battle.
Final thing I want to discuss is that once you progress far enough into the game you unlock the Gauntlet Runner. This vehicle that helps you traverse the land. Traveling takes time and you’ll want to carefully consider journeys before departing on them. Not saying you can’t do anything on the Gauntlet Runner. It has several stations you can attend to and you can still spend time with party members if possible. Outside of that there’s not much else for me to discuss. Well there are the virtues, which are basically this game’s social stats but those are pretty self explanatory if you ever played a Persona. Heck even a Fallout game! This is the most complex and grandest an Atlus RPG has ever been, and I love almost every single aspect of this game. Let’s just hope you catch up to Louis, learn how to lift the prince’s curse, and save the country from damnation! Fantasy shall not die today.
Thoughts
At the beginning of this review I stated it feels impossible to fully explain what makes this game amazing. In a notebook I jotted down everything I liked about Metaphor ReFantazio. What it did really well and how some ideas are smarter than we gave it credit for. Metaphor is not just a big amalgamation of all of Atlus’ great RPG ideas but also a stride to be better. To take what they have learned to more mature territories. To show they are willing to mature without sacrificing all that made them wonderful before. That is what Metaphor ReFantazio is to a lot of people, but to me it’s more than that. I have so many feelings with this game, and I’m afraid I won’t give it the full love it deserves. I may have jotted down everything I liked, but part of me feels that I’m missing something. Still, I'm gonna try to do my best and show you what I think. The combat is yet more of what made the Persona games good. Decisive without having to be too complex or hard to wrap your head around. However, I always felt like the Persona games could use a bit more depth if not more challenge. Metaphor gave me just that as not only is it a fairly difficult RPG but also one that rewards strategy and preparation. I love the Archetypes and how they can be changed between characters. Allowing different builds and party formations. Something the Persona games lacked as every character was forced into a specific build or playstyle.
I love the crystal system as despite being exploitative when you have the right equipment and list of skills rewards you for figuring out how to prolong the amount of actions you have. Extending your turn and trying to get the edge before the enemy does so in return. The row system, while becoming obsolete with time, is a neat idea, and the fights that do make good use of it are done really well. That and there’s classes like the Gunner that rewards you with max output for putting characters in specific spots. I forgot to mention that Archetypes have Synthesis skills, which are basically team up attacks. Where two party members can team up to perform a special skill or attack depending on their Archetype. It takes two crystals and mana across both characters, and it feels like this risk reward feature. Get more or less depending on how you use it. All of this is so great and I never got tired of the combat. That wasn’t until the endgame of course. Only major critique I have with Metaphor is that while challenging it’s not completely balanced. Some of the endgame encounters don’t feel as well designed as dungeons prior and I wouldn’t be surprised if a majority of players either quit or crank the difficulty down to low. However, I can overlook this problem as a lot of RPGs nowadays suffer from this. Devs' fearful players are too overleveled for the end, so at least I can understand what went wrong gameplay wise.
Dungeons are very well designed and I would say I liked them more than the ones in Persona 5. The ideas aren’t extravagant and are ones you expect from fantasy, but I’m a sucker like I said in the intro. Enjoy venturing through castles, crypts, caverns, and all that make you feel uneasy. The constant thought of if there’s a light at the end, and then you see a gleam at the distance. I always enjoyed the dungeon crawling and combat, but to me it’s the social stuff I always cherished in these games and it’s better here. There’s less relationships than in Persona 5, but they feel more focused and better in terms of quality. I prefer the characters in this game more so than Persona, because not only are they better written but they aren’t constricted by Persona having to base them around arcana cards. Metaphor ReFantazio has one of the most diverse casts I’ve seen in a fantasy game and I loved just about everyone. Strohl, Hulkenberg, Heimsmay, Junah, Eupha, Basilio, and the strange souls who decide to ally themselves with you. They’re all likable, you understand their struggles, and are willing to support them just as much as they support your cause. I also like how our protagonist is voiced and is given a goal from the start. Helps him feel more like a character rather than a straw man who is there. Something I felt in Persona 5.
I also feel like progressing bonds in Metaphor is better than Persona 5. The latter did this thing where you had an invisible bar dictating whether or not you progressed in a relationship. If it was not high enough you’d have to waste time to gain enough points to progress further. I can already see some fans willing to argue back saying there’s text telling you if you will or won’t progress a bond. That’s not good. You’re just making the progress information slightly less vague. Over in Metaphor there’s a menu you can open up. Telling you what you can progress, who you can hang out with, and if you need to do a quest or raise your virtue stats to progress further. The virtues are also better than social stats in Persona 5 as even those show you how far you progressed in them and whether or not you are about to increase one. It’s by conveying the information that I feel it’s more exciting when they do increase, or that I feel motivated to waste my time on side activities outside of the bonds to increase stats. I feel every moment matters rather than just 80%.
How’s the overall narrative since it’s the major focus of this game? Does it live up to the hype and convey its themes really well? You’ll be pleased to hear the story of Metaphor ReFantazio is as good as they say, but what if I told you it’s smarter than you expect. What if I told you this is one of the best pieces of political fiction I’ve seen in a video game since Disco Elysium, and I’m not joking. Metaphor has incredibly well written political themes and topics a lot of which we witnessed in recent memory. The story after the first eight hours is this grand race to see which political candidate will become the next king, and it's an absolute mess in the best way possible. Each person strides for an ideal, but there is a list of downsides or twisted reality behind it. One of the candidates whom you can form a bond with wants to fight for a future where all the rich go to jail and they’ll forcefully take their riches to give to the poor. Then you begin questioning and realize not only would she be on the top of that hit list, but some of the people she decides to take from aren’t exactly all evil. I’m not a fan of millionaires either, but there are those who spend their whole lives working their way up through the world just to have affordable living. Only for it to just be taken and thrown out the window? Doesn’t it feel kind of wrong to do this!?
You witness candidates with unrealistic view points or lie their way through the competition just to get some support, and surprisingly it works! The people are blinded by their words, because they’re more focused on the emotions they feel rather than long term consequences and actions. Nobody questions what these people really are and whether they’re a good person. The biggest corrupted punk of them all being Louis, the man you aim to kill. Louis has quickly become one of my favorite antagonists in a video game. The intro cutscene does a good job establishing him as the villain. Showing him starts the main events of the game off, and giving you the goal to spill his blood. However, the more you learn about him the more you understand why he is the way he is. Do I like him as a person? F*ck no, but I know where he’s coming from. He wants a world free from discrimination and prejudice. He wants a world where the government and all those above do nothing to help the people. He believes the only way to achieve this goal is with an iron fist, but the way he carries out this plan is so f*cked up that you just hate what he stands for. You hate him despite you understanding the backing to his plan. It’s a person using rage and violence to blind the views of the public, because they themselves are blinded too.
If you aren’t into Metaphor ReFantazio for the politics that’s fine. You’re still gonna have a great time with the narrative as it does what many fantasy games do best. The thrill of adventure. I like how they place you into the shoes of a person who clearly lived in the same place their whole life. It gives you the excitement that your life is about to change, and it does. You meet these incredible people, you help them through life, and they journey alongside you despite the party not being open to them and their culture at first. Discrimination is a big theme in this game, but unity is as important as a theme if not more. Uniting the people, rising in the ranks of popularity, earning their trust, and winning the throne. Metaphor ReFantazio made me feel. Just like my other favorite JRPG series, Octopath Traveler, it reminded me that life is a journey. Through all the highs and lows there’s still a purpose to be found. In yourself, people you surround yourself with, and your place in the world. You have the ability to change others and help them strive for the best. You just gotta believe and take that big step forward. It’s going to be hard, but if you just put enough determination in you can do it. Metaphor: ReFantazio is not just one of my new favorite games, but it’s one of the best fantasy stories I’ve seen in a video game. Smartly written, creative, energetic, and beautiful. My only complaint, again, is that late game encounters are a bit too hard, but you don’t play these games for combat alone. You play them for the ride, and it is breathtaking one my friend. In the end I am going to have to give Metaphor: ReFantazion a 10/10 for being incredible. Please play this extraordinary game.
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