Metaphor ReFantazio review: A journey of words and wonder

Atlus is finally ready to release its fantasy RPG, Metaphor ReFantazio, in a few days and I had the privilege of testing the waters beforehand. After a grand 70-hour emotional roller coaster of a journey through the United Kingdom of Euchronia, I am finally ready to share my thoughts with you.

Learning from the experiences of the various Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games, Atlus has tried to evolve and reinvent the very familiar JRPG formula with Metaphor ReFantazio. Let's take a deeper look at the game to find out how much the masterminds behind the Persona games succeed with their latest venture and whether you should give it a try.

Metaphor ReFantazio: A race for the throne

The plot and world-building: More than fantasy

A race to take the throne (Image via Atlus)

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Metaphor's story is straightforward and akin to a typical fantasy journey, where the protagonist goes to defeat a great evil that threatens everyone. Along the way, he will meet various people who will become his driving factor to take on the challenge and overcome the big bad guy.

Politics is the very foundation of Metaphor ReFantazio's Euchronia. You will see every major player scheming in one way or another, which has plunged the kingdom into chaos. The presentation certainly felt like something straight out of the pages of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire at times, and I absolutely loved it.

Each candidate has their stake in taking on the challenge to become the king (Image via Atlus)

The world-building of the Kingdom of Euchronia comes into play here. Throughout your journey, you will see that nothing is as black as white as other fantasy RPGs. You will see a world divided by race, religion, and politics–all of which keeps the tribes separated. The world is gloomy, with many people giving up hope due to the blatant discrimination from the people in power.

Metaphor ReFantazio's prologue has one of the slowest starts to a JRPG, as it takes its time to hammer home the various beliefs and world views of the citizens in the United Kingdom of Euchronia. You will see a world imbued with fantasy, yet feels lived in and real due to the actions of the various people you meet.

The medieval fantasy setting is also quite gloomy and dark compared to anything Atlus has offered till now. If you venture to the dark corners of the city's alleyways, you will find corpses rotting with no one batting an eye. Everything about this fantasy world will somehow project the hopelessness of the real world and how we dive into such media to escape reality.

A phenomenal cast of characters supported by strong voice acting

A story heavily relies on the characters and Metaphor ReFantazio has many memorable ones (Image via Atlus)

The various characters you meet, whether they are your allies or the very thorn in your path, are the foundation of a good RPG. Metaphor ReFantazio's world-building greatly relies on the various factions and characters. Each character you meet in the game goes through their own journey, and most of them change by the time you reach the ending.

Your followers represent the core of this change, as each of them grows and evolves as you progress their story and social link. Their worldview changes from that of naivety to someone who has learned to look past themselves.

A good story must have a solid antagonist, and Metaphor ReFantazio offers quite a few of them. Whether it was the traitor Louis or the calm and calculated Forden, each impacted the story, and by extension, our journey.

Mix the excellent writing of the characters with a stellar cast of voice actors and you have some of the most memorable moments in an RPG. I have played the game with the Japanese voiceover, and as always, every voice actor delivered a phenomenal performance. The best part about Metaphor ReFantazio is that it features a fully-voiced protagonist, which elevates the journey even further.

I will not dive into any spoilers, but once you reach the ending, you will understand why the fully-voiced protagonist was the correct choice for this game.

Art and design: Medieval yet modern

The world feels very medieval, yet advanced (Image via Atlus)

Metaphor ReFantazio brings one of the best-designed worlds for a fantasy game till date. While the medieval touch is there, as the various cities of Euchronia are reminiscent of the paintings of the Renaissance period, it also feels quite advanced in terms of technology. While the streets of Grand Trad, Brielhaven, and Altabury Heights feel like they are straight out of medieval Europe, you will also see technology like the Gauntlet Runners that indicate the world is quite advanced.

The designs for the characters are also unique, as you will be able to distinguish each tribe by looking at them. Whether it's the elven Roussainte with their long pointy ears, the horned Clemars, the bat-like Eugief, or the winged Ishkias, each character is designed with a certain characteristic that makes them stand out.

The monster designs are also some of the best, as none of the MegaTen designs have been used. The various monstrosities you face in Metaphor ReFantazio have been crafted without the MegaTen template, giving the game its own identity, and not as another spinoff to Atlus' SMT series.

Archetype designs are unique (Image via Atlus)

Similar to the monsters, each Archetype also has a distinct look, making them quite easily recognizable. Shigenori Soejima had a lot of freedom while designing Metaphor's characters, enemies, etc., and bringing in talents like Kazuma Koda and Ikuto Yamashita enhanced each design to another level.

Metaphor ReFantazio's art style and designs are genre-defining and honestly help make it one of the best JRPGs when it comes to visual presentation.

Metaphor ReFantazio features a vibrant and beautiful UI (Image via Atlus)

Another thing that many people might not appreciate fully is the UI design, but like Persona 3 Reload and 5, it is nothing short of beautiful. I especially loved the nice touch of the king's face being present on top of the interface during combat. A hand indicates when it is your turn, and rotates to the other side when your opponent gets their turn. Small touches like these elevate the game to a work of passion and art.

Beyond the story: Engaging gameplay and a stellar collection of soundtracks

Gameplay and combat loop: Evolving on Persona and MegaTen

Metaphor ReFantazio evolves on the very familiar formula of SMT and Persona (Image via Atlus)

Atlus makes a bold move with Metaphor ReFantazio, combining aspects of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, with the systems feeling more in line with the latter. Many have said that this game is a fantasy Persona, and I cannot say they are wrong. It feels extremely similar to Atlus' popular JRPG with a few tweaks.

You have your Social Stats (Kingly Virtues), Social Link/Confidant (Followers), and even the Persona power-up (Archetypes). But gameplay-wise, some of them feel a bit different. The game also follows a Calendar system and borrows many things from Persona 5, like having safe rooms (Magla Hollows) in specific dungeons.

Except in a few special cases, archetypes are not restricted to any characters in Metaphor ReFantazio, allowing you to use whichever character you love the most. For example, I had Faker on Strohl for most of my playthrough while the protagonist was on Wizard. Strohl starts with Warrior, and I could've changed him into a Mage, Healer, or anything I wanted.

Archetypes in Metaphor ReFantazio are also quite similar to Persona, but you can only equip one at a time. This led to me rethink my strategies often before engaging a particular enemy.

The combat feels familiar, yet retains its own identity (Image via Atlus)

Combat is extremely fun in Metaphor ReFantazio. Each Archetype brings unique weapons that alter the playstyle. The Seeker is your standard fighter style, where you slash your way through swords, while the Mage allows you to conjure AoE attacks in the overworld, allowing you to deal with multiple enemies.

The action combat is probably my favorite feature as it redefines JRPG combat. Gone are the days where you need to beat each enemy by dragging them into a turn-based combat arena, as Metaphor ReFantazio allows you to easily dispatch weaker enemies without a minute of animation during each enemy encounter. Bosses and tougher foes still require you to enter the turn-based system.

Except for dungeon bosses, you can engage in action combat with any enemy. If you succeed in stunning them during the encounter, you will enter the turn-based arena by dealing a significant amount of damage to them. But if you get hit during the action combat, you will be at a disadvantage, and the enemy will have the first turn.

Another system that makes its way through is Shin Megami Tensei's Press Turn mechanic, which allows you to add one more turn to your order when you hit an enemy's weakness.

The Akademia is the Velvet Room of Metaphor ReFantazio but has a major quality-of-life update that I appreciate. Unlike the Persona games, you can open the Archetype menu on the go—even in dungeons—and customize your powers accordingly. This opens up many windows of readjusting skills and passives, according to the boss of a dungeon, without needing to return to the entrance to visit the Akademia.

However, this system does not make visiting the Akademia obsolete, as only the Archetypes can be accessed from the main menu. Then there's More's social link, which you can only access by visiting the mysterious place.

A Traveler's Voice system allows you to check other players' activities. This system comes in very handy if you are having a hard time in a particular dungeon or against a boss, as it allows you to check other players' party configurations and reconfigure your own with the press of a button.

Hopefully, Atlus will retain these features when the rumored Persona 6 comes around, as this will elevate the experience for that game hundredfold.

Epic orchestral soundscapes: The heartbeat of Metaphor ReFantazio

What is even an Atlus game without good music? (Image via Atlus)

Shoji Meguro brings back his expertise in crafting epic orchestral scores, and this is very relevant in Metaphor's music. Once Gallica imbues you with the magic of music, you will be able to hear some of the best sets of video game soundtracks crafted by Atlus.

Whether it is the theme of grandiosity when you are roaming the streets of Grand Trad, or the tranquil notes as you enter the Akadamia, Metaphor's music is one of the best for a JRPG.

The battle soundtracks feel particularly epic when you gain the advantage in battle, with the music reflecting that as the background choir seemingly cheers you on in your journey. But if you are ambushed and lose advantage, the song takes an ominous tone, yet the choir feels like it's cheering you on and telling you not to give up.

This feels extremely in line with the game's story, where your followers are hoping for your success, cheering you on to not give up and continue your journey.

Shoji Meguro brings back his experience from creating the soundtrack for Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, and it shows. Metaphor ReFantazio's soundtracks are simply phenomenal and suit the game well.

Performance: Runs like a new Gauntlet Runner

The game has no performance issues from my experience (Image via Atlus)

Similar to most other Atlus releases on PC, Metaphor runs surprisingly well on my PC. So, when I heard from my colleague and a few other places that the demo was terribly optimized, I was quite surprised. Hopefully, this will not be the case with the release version. For what it's worth, the review build I played gave me 100 FPS in most areas, except in places with too many particle effects, like the streets of Grand Trad. The framerate remained around 90, with no noticeable dips.

Unlike the Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis expansion, I also did not see any visual bugs like screen flickering or resolution exceeding my monitor's bounds. I completed the game with the highest settings, with a few tweaks here and there.

Here are my PC specifications if you are curious.

Ryzen 5 5600X
AMD RX 6600 8GB VRAM
16 GB RAM

A few issues with Metaphor ReFantazio: Fantasy is not perfect

Alas, nothing is perfect (Image via Atlus)

As much as I can sing high praises for the game, it is not without its flaws. The biggest issue I faced with Metaphor ReFantazio was the game balancing and XP distribution. The lower your difficulty level is, the more experience points you get. While it might not seem like a big deal at first, it is how these XP are distributed that throws the game balancing out of the window.

I was playing at normal difficulty, and each boss encounter was giving me around 2-4k XP, which was barely enough to increase the level by even one. By the time I reached the game's second half, I was severely under-leveled but somehow pulled through. This ticked me off, and I switched to the Storyteller difficulty, and the XP gain went from a meager 4k to a whopping 11k, and sometimes, even more.

While I am not against difficulty in video games, locking XP this way felt very odd, as the game is not easy by any means. Even in Storyteller, some bosses felt genuinely challenging, and this led me to wonder why the developers decided to implement such a poor game-balancing system. Given the game follows a Calendar system like the Persona series, this limits your time to go farming XP, which can get boring very quickly.

Another weird problem I faced was the Fast Forward system. Unlike Persona 5 Royal, which speeds up the entire animation, Metaphor only speeds up the dialog speed. This felt like a step back as it led me to watch the same animations over and over again. It's a nitpick from my end, but it does make you wonder why when Metaphor ReFantazio's predecessor has such a system, it's absent in this game.

I must nitpick about the story of Metaphor ReFantazio. Not diving into any major spoilers, but it does feel like certain aspects could be fleshed out a bit more. The game does a good enough job of explaining the lore and history of Euchronia and the world, but it felt like some parts—specifically the remnants of the old world—needed a bit more exposition. Again, this is a minor nitpick that did not ruin my experience of the game in any sense or form.

In conclusion

Yet, we engage in Fantasy to look for hope in a hopeless world (Image via Atlus)

Metaphor ReFantazio is a fantastic game with a heartfelt story and a lot of unexpected twists and turns. Just when you think that this will be the last surprise in the plot, Atlus somehow manages to surpass it. The already strong plot becomes more interesting with its Game of Thrones-esque political twists, a well-written cast of characters, phenomenal music, and visual presentation.

Similar to how its predecessor Persona 5 evolved turn-based combat for RPGs, Metaphor does the same and evolves the combat into something familiar, yet completely new. I do hope that future Atlus games follow this combat system.

From Project Re Fantasy to Metaphor ReFantazio, Atlus has come a long way. It is the perfect synthesis of the studio's prior projects, perfectly combining the gameplay loop for Persona and Shin Megami Tensei. To say it is something short of a phenomenal game would be to do it injustice. Metaphor ReFantazio is a genre-defining JRPG that evolves on the already fantastic Persona Formula.

Despite a few issues with the game balancing, Metaphor ReFantazio remains the best JRPG I have played in a while and my personal favorite RPG of 2024. If you love the Persona series, you will love the game, and even fans of fantasy RPGs should give Atlus's upcoming title a try.