We’ve played ‘Metaphor: ReFantazio’, and are convinced it’s one of the strongest Game of the Year contenders

What do you get when you mix all of the incredible systems and tropes from the Persona series with top-of-the-line technology from the latest generation of video games, a brand new fantasy setting, and then let the developers use all of their experience? There’s still a fair bit of time before we get a full answer, but after having tried Metaphor: ReFantazio for a few hours we’re convinced that the answer is something along the lines of “the most ambitious RPG of this generation”.

From a mind-blowing setting that challenges the classical notions of the fantasy genre to challenging and complex combat systems that take everything you know and love from previous games by the same team, Metaphor: ReFantazio is shaping up to be one of the biggest contenders for the title of “Game of the Year 2024.” We had the chance of being invited by Atlus to try out an extended demo of the upcoming title, and during our painfully short 4 and a half hours with the game, we were enthralled, engaged, challenged, and absolutely floored by both what we saw, what we heard, and the potential on display.

A new kind of Fantasy

Our time with Metaphor: ReFantazio consisted of two very distinct sections: the first was a look at the beginning of the game, which took us from the introduction of the story and the protagonist, revealing to us a very complete setup for what the plot of the title is going to be like and the overall pace of the title. The second portion of our preview pushed us a little further down the line, and let us explore the main systems of the title in a more open manner.

Of course, as RPGs live and die through their story and the many plot twists and surprises therein, we can’t go into many details about what we saw during our time. Suffice it to say that Metaphor tells a grand story that involves royal assassination, a lost heir to the throne, political subterfuge and drama, and as trailers have revealed recently, an epic race around the land as a tournament to decide the next regent of the land launches people into a frenzied popularity contest.

It is weird in the best possible way, making full use of the fantasy theme to present players with an intriguing mystery from the very moment you begin playing and never letting up. What we can say however, is that if you’ve tried playing the more recent Persona titles and have felt they drag on at times, this could be the game for you: Metaphor has a much faster pace to its story and events, at least in the introduction of the game, which means that the fun is present at all times.

Style that goes well beyond fantastic

Perhaps the one thing that anyone can see with a simple glance about Metaphor: ReFantazio is the fact that, no matter what is shown about it, the game is oozing with style. It should come as no surprise for fans of the dev team, but every single aspect of the game has received attention in the form of small details keeping with its chosen style. It’s a bit psychedelic, a bit modern, and a whole lot of bombastic and eye-catching, from the design of its characters and races to the menus of the game, splash screens at the end of every battle, or even just the transition between day and night. The team at Studio Zero dialed up the visual spectacle to a whole new level of crazy.

The design showcased at every moment in the game is bright and bold, contrasting with the dreary and dark moods and themes of the people of the world who are going through a variety of crises. This, in turn, is accompanied by some of the most grotesque and bizarre enemy designs this side of the main Shin Megami Tensei series, as you face off against the most horrible monsters of all who are invading and destroying the magical land of this world: “humans”. Yes, perhaps a bit on the nose, the main monsters of the title are called humans by the various races of the land, but the way they are presented is as if someone took biblically accurate angels and force-fed them through a gothic-surrealist filter.

These are a perfect example of the kind of clashing imagery that sets the tone in the presentation of the game, resulting in a striking and engaging look that can’t be compared with any other fantasy title. It is unique, compelling, and powerful enough to keep us hooked in wanting to see more of it. Even the music is extremely unorthodox, with an enormous range of themes in only the first few hours of the game. It all works extremely well though, even if at times the changes from smooth, jazzy tones of the city suddenly change to a whimsical piano jingle for some hijinks, only for the music to explode into an operatic Buddhist-chanting battle theme that gets your blood pumping the moment the vocals begin.

Monsters to slay, a world to explore, and governments to destabilize

But of course, we’re not only captivated by the surface-level aspects of the title, as the gameplay is one of the most complex and deep experiences we’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing in a game.

Perhaps of main interest for many is the battle system, which was a bit confusing at first: at the core of the experience you get the same turn-based battle system of games like Persona, in which you’re presented with a variety of commands to select from. Just as with its predecessors, various elements and resistances will come into play, with battles feeling almost like puzzles you have to solve through experimenting with the many abilities you’re able to unlock, all in an effort to overwhelm your enemies to come out of each fight alive.

And while “Personas” are not in the game, the protagonist of Metaphor ReFantazio and his companions are still able to summon otherworldly spirits (this time called “Archetypes”) to take on aspects of them and unleash powerful magic attacks. So what’s changed?

Well, aside from the turn-based system, players can now engage in combat in real-time with enemies wandering around the areas you explore, using their weapons to do direct damage to them without needing to go into the command battle system. At first, this may work only as a way to get an advantage before jumping into regular combat, but as you grow stronger you may be able to defeat certain creatures without needing to enter that phase. However, if you’re hit by an enemy you’ll immediately change to turn-based combat, with you losing the initiative and allowing the monsters to take an attack or two.

Still related to combat and abilities you can unlock is the Archetype system mentioned above, which allows you to unlock different “classes” you can assign to the members of your party to create whatever team you want to use. These, of course, are found and upgraded through the relationships and bonds you build throughout the game with different characters, with the social aspect still being an important part of the game.

By the time you enter your first proper dungeon, you’ll have access to several of these, ranging from the classic fighter and wizard “Archetypes”, to more support-based styles capable of healing or buffing your group. But these get weird very quickly, with things like “merchant” and “gunner” that you wouldn’t expect to be able to use. Changing a character Archetype also changes what kind of weapons they’re able to use, and by the looks of it, customization of your party is going to be a main part of the experience. Just take a look at the unlock tree for this part of your character.

Just as well, your protagonist is able to grow not only through combat experience and equipment, but through the things that you choose to do, say, or enjoy throughout the day. As you’re taking part in the Royal Tournament to become king, you’ll have to build up a few stats for the protagonist that reflect the way that he is seen by others throughout the kingdom. From choosing to train one day, to braving extreme tourist attractions on a given visit to a town, you’ll gain special stats that affect the kind of ruler you can become.

So of course, if you need to have your character go through these experiences and the Tournament takes place over the entire nation, you can expect travel. And oh boy is this one of the most exciting things about the title: On board a “Gauntlet Runner”, which is a landship that literally runs on giant mechanical chicken legs to transport people quickly, you’ll be presented with the opportunity of choosing your own route throughout the land and exploring to your heart’s content.

And we do mean choosing, as you can find big or small towns, caverns, lakes, and many points of interest more in a world map that gets progressively filled as you talk to people around the world and accept sidequests and missions. While it’s not a traditional seamless open world, this method of traveling gives the game a more open-ended feel that could let you immerse yourself in the world. Not every point of interest is a place you can explore on foot, as sometimes these can be more scenarios that play out through animation or dialog, but others could be explorable fields, big towns you can walk around in, or even one of the many handcrafted dungeons in the game (no procedural generation here).

This by itself was already exciting enough, but when combined with the way the game tracks your progress through each day, it means that exploration comes at the cost of time passing you by. Perhaps you’ll miss out on an event by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or you might find yourself in a predicament where you don’t have enough time to help everyone you promised to lend a hand to. But that is part of the design planned by the developers.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough time with the game to enjoy it at its fullest, and our experience was cut short leaving us hungry to keep playing. And just like that, we can’t really go into much more depth when talking about Metaphor: ReFantazio. It’s presentation is astounding, it’s music makes our blood pump with excitement, and its story hooked us from the very opening scene. There are mysteries afoot, a meta-narrative that hints at more going on than we can expect, and compelling characters that we simply can’t wait to learn more of.

And of course, it’s all entangled with one of the most challenging RPG combat systems we’ve tried in years, with some optional dungeons kicking us down to the dirt and dragging us all the way to our last save. We can’t wait to get our hands on the full version of the game once it releases on October 11, 2024.

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