Metaphor: ReFantazio at a Glance
Category | Our Rating (out of 10) | Comment |
---|---|---|
Graphics | 10 | Stunning art combines grotesque monster designs, a fully realized world, and breathtaking UI to create something wholly unique. |
Gameplay | 9 | A flexible class system and smart turn-based combat make exploring the myriad of different dungeons fun and challenging. |
Story | 10 | A story that is as much an introductory sociology and politics course, carefully balanced with thoughtful characters that enhance its heartfelt message of hope. |
Replayability | 9 | Countless twists and chances to spec into different classes mean that a second playthrough of this 100-hour behemoth is something you’ll look forward to. |
Overall | 9.5 | Metaphor: ReFantazio might just be a game, but its defiant political message is as real as any other great work of art, daring us to dream of a better future. |
I was extremely skeptical of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s pre-release. While a fan of director Katsura Hashino’s work on all the previous mainline Persona games, I was doubtful that Studio Zero had the chops for a game set up with such stark political themes of social injustice.
It is worth remembering that Hashino oversaw the original Persona 3, a game with such an offensive scene featuring a trans woman on a beach; it needed to be massively reworked for this year’s Persona 3: Reload. More recently, Persona 5’s depictions of predatory camp men and corrupt law enforcement as reformable always left a bad taste in my mouth.
Despite this, I am thrilled to say Metaphor: ReFantazio not only smartly tackles complex issues around race, culture, and what makes a true democracy but has also become its own powerful manifesto of radical hope for the future. This might sound a bit direct, but the game isn’t subtle: it’s literally called “Metaphor.” The story follows a race for the crown in a nation divided by inequality and cultural and racial barriers. Our full Metaphor: ReFantazio review goes into the details.
Beyond Metaphor
In fact, the game is direct in wanting the player to know that art is simply a reflection of the real world; that in Metaphor, our world is nothing more than a fantasy in banned books said to depict a true utopia. As if all that wasn’t enough, the nine races of the land of Euchorina – the Clemar, Roussainte, Eugief, Nidia, Paripus, Ishkia, Rhoag, Mustari, and Elda – are all depicted as somewhat humanoid species with horns, or a third eye, or bat-like features, the monsters of this land are called Humans.
If it sounds like Metaphor is laying on its messaging a little thick, it is, and in fact, for the first two dozen hours, it felt like the game had relatively little to say other than “racism is bad.” However, as the world of Euchronia opens up to you and your diverse party begins to visit different parts of this kingdom to hear from the people of the land, the political class, and the religious figures, you realize that Metaphor has a keen understanding of how social divides warp and grow ever more toxic over time.
Characters like the young Halfblood Maria and the grief-stricken Heismay will stay with you long after the credits roll because their unique worldviews are well-defined and beautifully written. In fact, a special mention has to go to the game’s localization, which manages to juggle both the “ye olde” English and the complex ideas and lighthearted moments to create dialogue that is so powerful I often found myself screenshotting particularly impactful lines.
Race For The Throne
It’s weird to think of it this way, but Metaphor is ultimately an election campaign with a lot more monster hunting and magic than most. While some bidding for the crown would do it for selfish reasons, others hold strong and well-defined beliefs. Whether it be the Libertarian who just knows he hates taxes or a Paripus who doesn’t know how else she can fight back against the systemic profiling her people face, they all get time to make their case.
Metaphor doesn’t treat all these candidates as deserving equal attention and respect and even goes out of its way to deconstruct the fallacies many of these candidates promote in the name of power. However, the game understands that all these candidates, right or wrong, have had their ideals borne of very real emotions.
Metaphor knows that just because someone is doing something wrong doesn’t mean they haven’t justified and rationalized it, which is why ultimately this game bares down on being about one very difficult question: is true equality a world where everyone is protected, or is it a world where the powerful rule the weak? After 110 hours of Metaphor: ReFantazio gameplay, you’ll know what Studio Zero believes, and you’ll know what that team thinks of those who would say otherwise.
This will, and should, be, a genuinely diverse game—a game that takes a stance on the world and how we can fix it. After years of hearing Ubisoft declare that Far Cry games set during coups and national uprisings “aren’t political,” it is refreshing to play something with the courage of its convictions.
And There’s More
This is all without mentioning that outside of its story, Metaphor: Refantazio is just a damn good role-playing game. Landing somewhere between the combat systems of Atlus’ two marque turn-based games, Metaphor’s fighting is something that combines Persona’s speed and flair with Shin Megami Tensei’s punishing difficulty that can see fights quickly get out of hand, all while mixing in a flexible job system that leads to countless interesting synergies between classes and characters.
While this combat system is great, it’s not perfect. Much like SMT, fights that go badly have a nasty habit of snowballing out of your control to the point that your whole team can be wiped out if you make one wrong move.
Studio Zero seems aware of these and as a result, there is a “Reset Encounter” button that allows you to instantly restart a battle during your turn. However, even this doesn’t always alleviate the issue, as I have video recordings from my time playing the game where, in late-game fights, status effects wrecked my party’s ability to move so badly that I simply took my hands off the controller over three minutes, waiting for my characters to die to attacks doing relatively little damage.
That said, this snowball effect can work to your advantage, too, resulting in incredibly satisfying moments where you beat a boss with 50 times your health before they even get to attack. The only part of these systems that feel like they aren’t working as designed comes in the end game. Party members can unlock different classes called Archetypes, and to learn how to use them, you must reach prerequisite levels in other classes. This means if you, like me, level Heismay the Eugief into the Faker class, but his later jobs require you to be level 15 as a Magic Knight, you’ll have to do a lot of grinding just to unlock his new Archetype.
The other issue that only becomes pronounced late in the game is Metaphor’s brutal item management. Unlike other RPGs, in which when you level up, you recover MP, the only way to recover MP is to either sleep for the evening or use an item. The problem is MP recovery items are much more limited than health items. Each new town only sells a handful of MP remedies compared to the limitless HP items. If you are anything like us, and you complete every quest and every side objective, this may leave you a bit snookered in the final showdown.
This sequence is so protracted that eventually, my party ran out of ways to damage the final boss outside of using small, purchasable 200-damage items (note that at this point, most magic attacks should be doing at least 1,000 points of damage) and constantly healing. The final fight took me almost two hours to finish in real-time.
The Bottom Line
While Metaphor: ReFantazio has a slight end-game balancing issue, it cannot detract from what is a thrilling journey across a beautifully realized fantasy land. While its setting may be fictitious, its messages and unending belief in people’s ability to build a better world are very real. The result is a once-in-a-generation story that will inspire you to fight for what you believe in. It’s one of the best JRPGs you can play in 2025.
The Metaphor: ReFantazio release date is scheduled for October 11, 2024, so there isn’t long to wait for you to sink your teeth into this hotly anticipated JRPG. The game is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.
Metaphor: ReFantazio’s price is $69.99 regardless of platform, and pre-orders are available on all platforms. If you want the game ready to go as soon as possible, you can secure your copy early on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Marketplace.
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References
- Pre-purchase Metaphor: ReFantazio on Steam (Store.steampowered)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio PS4 & PS5 (Store.playstation)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio | Xbox (Xbox)