90%Xbox Series X/S

Would be higher but last month is a bit of a slog.

70%PC

Atlus jRPG formula is just not that good. Those games are filled with borringnes and useless filler content. Story, characters and world are good, but that's just not enough. Not enough good story moments. Good art style but poor graphics. Solid but uninspired combat system. This game is literally Persona but with different skin.

90%PlayStation 5

good

90%PC

Doing the Atlus formula the best way. While this isn't a Persona or SMT game, the team clearly draws from their experience from making those games and improves in every way. But being separate from those series allows Metaphor to stand for itself and be a truly different experience even though the combat and dungeon style is somewhat similar. The story and experience feels much more adventurous, as we go to new places and actually journey. No longer are we stuck in Mementos or fighting demon after demon. Now we are saving the people of a strange land and learning the struggles they face. I've been looking forward to this since it was teased in Catherine and I think the time taken has truly paid off.

This game feels more true to the fantasy genre than some other series that defined the genre in the past, often I would feel similarities to Final Fantasy, Nier, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade 2, and I'm sure other JRPG fans could callback to other series they love. The class system is akin to Xenoblade 3, in that everyone can learn the classes derived from primary NPCs but must level up their classes separately which makes some characters to become your main healer and others become your main dps and it's different for everyone. Additionally, every character excels at certain classes but it is still up to you on how to pick and choose their levels. I made Strohl a healer initially and he ended up being my main healer and mage throughout, likewise I made Heismay my General regardless of the later dps he would bring. I do find it a little unfortunate that you can't diversify classes completely due to the limitations of time, magla, and social ranks. I split up my resources too wide early in the game and had characters learn many classes but I should've specialized them into just a few - thus even by the end of the story I had to grind to get people to their proper level.

I also loved the difficulty. As an Atlus fan I played on hard. And this was proper hard. Do not try to reserve items. Do not venture unprepared. Don't save money or magla, use it. In other Atlus games I could make the game harder by holding back on preparation and still be able to get by. But this game does not hesitate, you can die to regular monsters if you get ambushed (which is much easier to do than in Persona 5) or if you're wholly unprepared. Thankfully the game knows how hard it is and gives you many chances to level up, skill up your classes, and try again. I personally love that the game auto saves often so you can try the fight again from right before you got into it. The bosses are also really hard with acceptable gimmicks, unlike Persona 3. I also found the game to be pretty lenient on grinding until the ending, I was able to beat bosses at my current level but when I checked the network I saw that others were several levels above me in the same dungeon. I'm not sure how I fell behind, since I did all the side quests and bounties, but I didn't feel like I needed to catch up.

The story is excellent as well. I personally feel that the "Metaphor" this game acts as to provide itself as an example of a society that has racism, classism, and other prejudices taken to the extreme. We see many instances of how the blatant discrimination leads to the worst possible outcomes for the good people of this world. Our quest to save the day isn't as clear cut as "be good", because our enemy shares our sentiment. It's one thing to have a good heart, but it's another thing to have the power to apply it. I personally believe the "social links" are by far better than those of Persona. Each follower gives a good and thought-out look into how people try to navigate around prejudice and the structures that reinforce them; through the followers we, the player, can see how everyone is harmed in a society built on discrimination and corruption - and our hero is truly right in trying to break through. It really is a metaphor for our current social and economic society, even if we aren't as bad as the fantasy. I'd say anyone who considers this to be "woke" are rather blind to the institutions that keep people down in real life and how the game is merely a facsimile of them. And especially since the US Election occurred, playing this game alongside real events shows how accurate the story is but also how we can stay hopeful in loss and how political power and social behavior is deeply affected and rooted in fear, anxiety, and values. Everyone wants peace, but peace isn't the same for everyone. And as we go, the big bad starts to feel less daunting in their motives.

And not to forget Shoji Meguro's soundtrack making every moment memorable like always.

Of the few issues: the PC port crashed several times randomly, usually right after a loading screen. The 3D models look off compared to the portraits. Some classes became useless after early game. And the weather system makes side bosses harder than main bosses. The level scaling for the last dungeon is terrible.

100%PC

peak

100%PlayStation 5

I feel like this game is more meta then some give it credit. I feel sadder and stronger mentally after finishing it. Because the world right now has a lot of similarities with what you see in the game. It is indeed a fantasy that gives you strength. But it also makes me sad.
If you have some time and motivation to play a JRPG that is full of love and hope choose this game.

45%PC

Combat and day to day management are pretty fun. The relationship building is kinda enticing too, but the main story and characters outside of the party are terribly boring to me. I played for about 15 hours and it just kept getting less interesting. The politics are simultaneously layered and shallow. I don't care about choosing between a religious fundamentalist or an ally of the villain I am trying to get close to. I found myself having to look up who half of these characters were because the names and relationships were so sparse and uninteresting. The dialogue is mostly cliche but at least there were a few interesting companions. [SPOILER][/SPOILER]

100%PC

GOATED

70%PlayStation 5

Best gameplay in a Persona-like game yet. Loved the QoL for the Follower system where you don't have to achieve a certain affection level to unlock the next rank. Archetypes are much better than the traditional Persona system if you wish you could stick with the MC's main Persona instead of fusing it away. Story and characters were only "OK", but that could be impacted by how long it took me to finish the game and my loss of interest.

100%PC

LEON STROHL MY BELOVED, also Louis Guiabern makes me nervous.

80%PC

Esperava um pouco mais do final, mesmo assim, a história segue bem contada e com temas relevantes, que me cativaram bastante. Elenco de personagens super carismáticos e bem trabalhados, cada um com seus conflitos individuais, sendo explorados através das social links igual como é em persona. Trilha sonora incrível, sistema de batalha com melhorias e muito dinâmico, no geral eu gostei muito de Metaphor.

95%PlayStation 4

One of my favorite games of 2024 and a must play for JRPG fans. Story and characters are great, even if some plot twists are predictable. Soundtrack and art design are amazing. Followers and the calendar system are improved from Persona. Combat is strategic and punishing, but also very satisfying. The Archetype system is fun to play around with, although it does pigeonhole you into taking the jobs you need for Royal Archetypes .

Overall, one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played.

85%Xbox Series X/S

85 %

50%PC

Это ужас, я проходил игру 2 месяца где-то, по началу ещё было не плохо, хотя уже тогда минусы бросились в лицо а их просто миллион
- Отвратительная графика уровень 2007 года если не раньше
- Анимация из 2000 года
- физики нет как и прыжков
- свободы нет
- все сайд квесты отстой, что ещё ждать от японцев
- Мир игры ничтожный, который почему то хочет казаться крутым и большим
- Локации по пальцам пересчитать и все они ультра маленькие, как таковых локаций нет, только города и сраные подземелья, которых в игре штук 10 и все они одинаковые и созданы из убогих лабиринтов, Это самый большй минус тут просто всё искуственое, все локации создают фон что там в далеке всё большщое но этого нет вообще, это наверное самое худшее что я видел от Jrpg, локации с деревнями, долинами, и разными просторами это просто картинка, не маленькая локация а просто сраная картинка, это просто капец!
- Отвратиткельная боевая система, убогая прокачка, илюзия рпг,
- нет сэтов брони, нет вообще такого понятия как одежда, ты за 3 года игры не поменяешь ничего из одежды, просто слов нет
- почти весь сюжет кроме процентов 10% обычный если не нижне, в начале в середине и в конце только что-то было но это 5-6 часов от силы от 50 всей игры.
- убогая система времени
+ Раскрытие персонажев, их их истории
+ 5-6 часов игры и повороты в них это конечно круто, но это всё(
Как ставить этой игре оценку, если она во всё просто ужасная и только в части сюжета она супер. а это всего 5-10 процентов все игры, нельзя же из за этого закрывать глаза.

70%PC

just got really tired of it by the end. good overall though

80%PlayStation 5

In many ways a great game. An original story with some meaningful, if a bit simplistic and naïve, things to say. The meaningful: anxiety is not a thing to be feared, but a wellspring of growth and strength. The simplistic: politics is the art of the possible, and no one will ever completely agree. The naïve: through the power of friendship, we can change the world! I suppose that’s anime for you.

Special mention must be given to the soundtrack: it is truly outstanding. The instrument samples sound a bit fake, but the vocal recordings of the Buddhist monk and the choir are rich and powerful. It is such a creative soundscape—I have never heard music quite like this before. Without its music, the game’s story and lofty musings would likely collapse into an embarrassing pile of sophomoric pretensions. Thankfully, that is not the case.

My one complaint is that the game’s length. It is simply too long. Way too much meaningless dialogue and text. I honestly believe you could cut out half the text and the story would still make perfect sense. The game could probably be about 40 hours if you lose the outdated calendar system. Maybe next time.

In the end this is an epic fantasy, a tale which invites the player to consider what it takes to rule and govern. In our egalitarian times, it’s quite interesting to see a work meditate on the goodness of a righteous king. Take the throne, return to the father, and become who you were born to be.

95%PlayStation 5

To me, there are only two things that get in the way of this game being perfect (and one of them is a nitpick):

1. I wish it would be a bit more unique compared to all the Persona games. I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity in that regard.
2. (the nitpick) I would prefer that this game didn't require a second playthrough in order to complete it 100%. Once you know all the twists of the story, it becomes a chore to replay it. Just enable all bosses and difficulties from the get go and allow us to switch between them as we please.

Apart from those small gripes, if you accept the game for what it is (which, regardless of my points above, I actually did) you will experience one of the best games you have ever played, especially if you like Atlus games in general. The story keeps you hooked and does not refrain itself from tackling polemic topics. The characters are so uniquely and meticulously designed, from their appearance to their backstories. The combat is turn-based but feels fast, and you can skip the skill cutscenes if you want. The archetype system allows character to fill multiple roles, although I'd recommend match roles to characters based on their stats.

Like most Atlus games, the beginning is a tad slow but the story keeps you hooked until the real action starts and you have access to more skills, archetypes, and other systems that the game provides.

Honestly, I can't say that I can be objective in recommending this game to non-Persona fans because I don't have that perspective myself but I would still definitely recommend it even if you have never played an Atlus game before.

80%PC

The story is bad. Too self indulgent for basic themes. Gameplay loop is Persona with a watered down Persona system. Albeit with some better dungeons.

Overall a decent game that got praised sky high for stylistic reasons more than for its substance.

100%PC

Simply incredible.

100%PlayStation 5

Incredible game. Immersive story, immaculate gameplay. Challenging where it needs to be and takes its time to show you how to approach many different situations without being in your face.

70%Xbox Series X/S

I never quite understood what the game wanted from me. That is on me, and is not a reflection of the quality of the game. I always found myself fairly severely under leveled, despite engaging in a fair amount of side content (pretty much all the bounties and side quests I came across). I struggled with a lot of the bosses and brute forced my way through quite a few of them. I have over 88 hours logged and this final stretch of the game is too much of a slog for me. I can tell this is a quality game, it sadly just isn't for me. I really wanted to like it and I'm disappointed to be retiring it, but I think it's high time I move on to greener pastures. I really hope I click with the next Atlus game I play.

100%PC

What a journey, the story is amazing, just as the soundtrack is, and the character are so well written, it's hard to find one i dislike! There isn't a single aspect in this game i disliked, and now it's going to be one of my all time favorite for a while !

90%PC

PRO:
1) Good theme. One of the few JRPGs that openly discusses hard topics and doesn't just solve all problems with love & friendships. Granted it does not go too deep with those topics and still present them in lighthearted ways, but it's a good turning point for Atlus.
2) Combat combines Persona and SMT, which means if you loved Atlus combat before, you'll love it more, and vice versa. I loved it so it's a pro for me.
3) Cool characters. The fantasy setting definitely gives them more freedom with character design and coop stories. Almost all of them are memorable, and there are so much less overlaps in coop story themes than previous Atlus titles.

CON:
1) Story is clearly rushed after reaching the third main city. What should have been an additional arc was cleared in like 3 cutscenes.
2) Balancing needs improvements. The two strongest magic classes join too late to matter. Also, party members join with no archetypes pre-leveled or gain any exp buffs, which makes the last party member unusable due to being severally under leveled. Even if you solely focus on grinding his coop and exp, you wouldn't level him fully until right before the final dungeon.

Also, the graphics are outdated - like PS3 level outdated. But this is Atlus we are talking about, so it is not a shocking surprise there.

75%PC

Might go up, but struggling to get through this...

100%PlayStation 5

As far as the JRPG genre goes, Metaphor: ReFantazio establishes itself as a new modern classic – one that will probably only be bested if, or when, Atlus decides to follow it up with a sequel of their own.

Full Review: https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2025/01/01/now-playing-december-2024-edition/

100%PlayStation 5

10/10

80%PlayStation 5

Lit

100%Xbox Series X/S

good lord

75%PlayStation 5

Gameplay - I really enjoyed it. Very slick turn-based that you would expect from an Atlus game. I actually enjoyed leveling up the different archetypes and the feeling of being OP by the end.

Sound - soundtrack and sound was solid. Not as engaging or memorable as Persona 5.

Graphics - are a bit dated. They don't push graphics too hard at times looking like a last gen game. It didn't really matter to me though because the actual art direction was super polished and slick.

Story - didn't hook me. Some people loved it. Fortunately, I don't really play games entirely for their story. It's a nice to have. I didn't feel as though this game had it.

Replayability - I won't be replaying this game again due to the length.

Overall - gameplay and art direction carried this game for me.

60%PC

Not bad, but a lot of filler content that wrecks the pacing. I loved Persona 4 and Persona 5, but am far from loving this one, despite it's polish and quality-of-life improvements over Persona

80%PC

i'm having a real tough time rating this game.

on one hand i think its combat is the most refined yet out of any of the person or smt games out there. on another hand the combat can be infuriating (might be cause i played on hard).

on one hand the story is really compelling with interesting twists. on another hand i could care less about the follower stories.

on one hand the main cast have really impactful main arcs like heismay, strohl, or eupha. on another hand their follower stories can be hard to care about when they have no real impact or relation to the story like heisenburg, neuras, or bardon.

on one hand the main cast are all enjoyable with none of them being a disliked character. on another hand the side characters are one dimensional one trick ponies (except for maybe gidoux and the followers ofc).

on one hand the story is paced really well. on another hand the story time limit is stressful and feels cramped with a endgame grind right before the final boss.

on one hand the ability to allow you and your party to use most of the archetypes allow for many creative party builds. on another hand the unlock rate and prerequisites for end game classes can be near impossible if you led your characters too far astray from their original builds. (without inane amounts of grinding that is)

this game is amazing but i can't say it got even close to the impact that smt 3 or persona 3, 4, or 5 left me with.

95%PC

Game was Absolutely Amazing. The ending boss fight drags on way too long though.

70%PC

Gameplay is really good.
Story is really bad.

95%PC

Great Game, but I Wish it was a bit longer, I needed more!

95%Xbox Series X/S

The combat system is similar to Persona in a lot of ways but the different classes keep the combat interesting throughout. Your companions throughout are all interesting and so are their side quests. My favorite companion was Barelio and my favorite class to play was Seeker.
The final boss is a bit tough
The side content, bounties, and requests were all fun to do and helped with leveling up your character and trying out different classes.
The music is phenomenal even when going through dungeons and playing for nearly 60 hours I loved every minute of the music

90%PlayStation 5

I'm a fan of the Persona games and JRPGs in general, and I really enjoyed Metaphor. The characters were all memorable and the story had some twists I didn't see coming.

70%PlayStation 5

Really fun game overall that wears its themes on it's sleeve. The combat was expectedly easy considering I was in fact playing on the second easiest difficulty, but still required the understanding of several of the games mechanics during fights. The plot was very enjoyable even if at first it did seem to be another "fantasy racism" plot, however the way the game handles its story and manages to intertwine it's themes with nearly every character brought it to a level far beyond what similar stories have attempted. However near the end the games quality started to break down, several mechanics were mentioned one in non-voiced dialogue if mentioned at all, leaving me having to look things up regularly, including a crucial bit of information regarding the last dungeon. Notably, during the final dungeon your crew is set on a fake planet with nothing but the items in your pockets. It's only mentioned once that you can speak to Neuras to rest in the Runner and fully restore your party's HP and MP for free, and that you can buy magla pills from him. Speaking of, the final dungeon had a very steep difficulty curve that turned me off from wanting to fight any enemies, which combined with the aforementioned lack of explanation, left me very under leveled for the final fight. However for all it's flaws I did greatly enjoy the game and it's characters and will be replaying when I can muster up the courage to fight the final boss again.

70%PC

Metaphor: ReFantazio is an interesting game. A departure from the team's usual work on Persona and SMT, but you can still feel their influence in numerous areas of this games design. Overall the game is good, and there are a number of changes from their previous games that were refreshing: People actually dying and staying dead, people acknowledging monsters as real and as real threats, having a long-term goal from the start that was steadily work towards throughout the game, an extremely likeable cast (No Morgana type characters here. I enjoyed them all except for one, and even then I only mildly disliked them. Sorry to any Junah fans out there).

However, despite these nice changes and almost every part of the game being solid, it's hard to not be slightly disappointed, just because modern Persona is just so damn good and this game doesn't even get close to scratching that same itch; the music is good and fits the tone of the game, but is not nearly as memorable or catchy as music from Persona, the class system feels way too constricting compared to demon fusions (you are hard restricted on what classes you can obtain depending on where you are in the story. No creating an OP persona early on through shenanigans here), and heck, I don't even usually care about the romance part of these types of games, but it's a damn shame you can't actually get with the best girl in this game (Eupha) despite having a very nice handholding scene with them.

Even beyond comparisons, this game has some issues. The ones that stand out the most are a number of not-great """twists""" near the end of the game, this includes: You actually being the Prince the whole time, More actually being your dad (kinda), and the nature of Akademeia. Additionally I was disappointed by how little impact modern day Tokyo had to the story considering how it shows up every time you boot the game up. I was really hoping it would go FULL Meta at the end, considering how the game starts with you entering your name alongside the MC's name and the question about fantasy having the power to change the world..

I do see potential with this as a franchise though. In fact, I could see a sequel going a number of different directions: The one implied at the end is the same cast going off and exploring the rest of the world and other continents, which would be interesting because I don't believe this team usually does direct sequels, I think Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment might be the only ones. I could also hypothetically see a different MC being taught at the newly reopened Magic academy and then being drafted for a war between continents. This would allow some familiar faces to return and still allow for darker themes and more politics, but it also might be considered a bit too close to Persona (which isn't a problem to me, but some people might feel different).

Overall, I enjoyed my time with it, but I don't see me ever replaying it. 7.2/10

90%PC

This game's story was phenomenally written. It was original, had great plot twists and beautiful character development. Especially for the side characters. I am new to the Persona type games so the game mechanics were original to me. The archetype upgrade mechanics were some the best I've ever seen in a video game. Its like the developers were reading my mind in what gamers want. The game is even dual monitor friendly. Most games wont allow you to go from one monitor to the other smoothly. And you can pause the game by selecting your second monitor. The game is quite long, but that is good because the story was so good. Even grinding your levels and archetypes was fun. I am definitely going to check out the latest Persona game after this.

95%PlayStation 5

A fantastic game from the Persona Team, amazing story, amazing characters, excelent combat systems, gets a little bit grindy towards the end, but I would definitely recommend it without a doubt.

100%PlayStation 5

10/10 peak fantasy

80%PC

Really wish I didn't rush into this right after P5R. It might have been too much too soon because I just didn't enjoy this as much as I would've thought and now I don't know if I"ll ever replay again, maybe someday with an extended version or something. Very good game but wish it wasn't 70 hours rushing

100%Xbox Series X/S

most important game I have ever played, the message meant a lot to me

80%PC

A very good game whose core loop goes on a tad too long for each major dungeon and can be quite tedious and afraid to wrap things up in the final act.

100%PC

Melhor JRPG em muito tempo

95%PC

- DIFICULDADE
🔲 Uma senhora de 90 anos joga de boa
🔲 Fácil
🔲 Normal
✅ Difícil

- GRÁFICO
🔲 Ruim
🔲 Decente
🔲 Bom
✅ Lindo
🔲 Obra de arte

- PREÇO
🔲 De graça
🔲 Muito abaixo
🔲 Perfeito
🔲 Poderia ser mais barato
🔲Caro
✅Caro mas vale.

- REQUISITOS
🔲 Qualquer coisa ligada na energia roda
✅ PC decente
🔲 PC Gamer
🔲 Computador da NASA

- DURAÇÃO
🔲 Você toma um refri e acabou
🔲 Curto
🔲 Normal (entre 10h~30h)
🔲 Longo (31h - 60h)
🔲 Não há uma duração predeterminada
✅ Quando você tiver 80 anos termina

- HISTÓRIA
🔲 Nenhuma
🔲 Colocaram só pra dizer que tem
🔲 História decente
🔲 Historia boa de acordo com o estilo de jogo
✅ Merecia virar um livro (um anime no caso)

- DIVERSÃO
🔲 Chato pra caralho
🔲 Chato
🔲 Ok
🔲 Divertido
✅ Divertido pra caralho.
🔲 MELHOR QUE S3XO

-BUGS
🔲 Nunca vi nenhum
✅ Pequenos bugs
🔲 Pode ficar irritante
🔲 O jogo em si é um bug
🔲 Cyberpunk 2077

- COMPENSA COMPRAR?
🔲 Não
🔲 Espere uma sale
✅ Sim

100%PC

Story: The game has an incredible story that keeps you hooked from beginning to end. The plot basically is an adventure to save a cursed prince and restore him to power. Metaphor sticks to developing this plot, while adding new questions for world building. The plot evolves several times with various twists. Each twist shifts the goal of the party while furthering the plot. The most impactful twists were: Louis isn't the killer, and the Prince is actually half of the prince and they fuse together. Overall the story is amazing and the best Atlus has made to date.

Followers: The follower system is very similar to the Persona series. Each follower takes a timeslot and usually require a certain social stat (royal virtues) to progress. The only difference is that each follower has a quest that needs to be completed before they can be progressed. The followers each have a secondary character that usually is an evil variant of the follower. The followers act as a way to unlock archetypes which creates a rewarding gameplay loop.

Characters: The whole main cast are all varied and unique making them instantly recognizable. The best character hands down was easily Louis. I love that the game decided to stick to a central antagonist that is the focus the entire game. This was the one thing I hated about Persona 5 the most and I am happy to see that they didn't repeat what they did there. The game also has a few minor villains that are developed well like Lady Joanna, Lady Rella, and Santifex Forden.

Progression: Metaphor has 2 main ways to progress: the story and the archetypes. The story is naturally progressed using the calendar system. The archetypes are progressed through dungeon crawling.

Combat: The turn-based combat is amazing with many of the skills returning from Persona. The turn icon system has a lot more complexity with them turning into half icons if a weakness or critical is hit or losing 2 if an attack misses. This gives a risk reward system where multi hit attacks become more dangerous but are faster in battle. You also lose all icons if an attack is repelled. All of these mechanics apply to enemies as well which make for a fair battle each time. Synthesis skills are also interesting as they are more powerful versions or in the early game the only way to use multi hit attacks. The ability to use any archetype for any party member was a welcome change allowing you to build the perfect team. The real time combat while fairly simplistic is an amazing addition that adds a whole new risk reward system. Before every turn-based battle (bosses excluded) the party is able to attack the enemy and if they do enough damage the enemy loses a lot of health, and is stunned for a few turns. During real time combat you can only attack and dodge but each archetype has a unique weapon which is used in real time combat. Additionally real time combat will kill low level enemies when you get them to zero health.

QOL: Metaphor adds several QOL features that make it the best Atlus game to play. The ability to restart a battle from inside a battle and the autosaving feature has saved me hours of progress. In Persona 5/3R I have lost hours of gameplay due to not saving and then dying in a battle. Real time combat was a life saver.

Difficulty: Metaphor is way more difficult than the Persona series. I have to remember a lot more and create appropriate builds compared to the "random bullshit go" way I initially played Persona 5. The difficulty options annoy me severely. The game doesn't change the AI much or change enemies placements but instead makes the party take a lot of damage and the enemies take less damage.

Graphics: Metaphor is graphically similar to PS3 game. The detail quality in majority of the cutscenes reminded me of Persona 5 on the PS3. That said the art style is what makes this a very beautiful game. The hand painted look of the world is beautifully reflected in the 2D and 3D art. The game also looks very good when dungeon crawling its just during the visual novel sections. The game also runs very well. I was able to get 100+ FPS in most places at 1440p max settings.

Menus: Similar to other JRPGs Metaphor makes you spend a lot of time in the menus and blows 99% of JRPG menus out the water. The design of every menu is visually pleasing and functions beautifully. No ugly submenus and the information is presented properly.

Length: The game while being a good length could've been shorter. By the time I finished the Royal Palace dungeon I had 9 days left and nothing to do. Make the game more punishing for not managing time properly.

TLDR: Metaphor is basically fantasy Persona 5 with new improvements that make it the best Atlus game to play. The combat being a mix of turn based and real time gives a lot of variety and reduces the frustration. The story is fantastic start to finish. The game looks beautiful. The game while it could be shorter doesn't over stay its welcome and doesn't make you beg for more.

100%PC

This is another spectacular story from the creators of modern Persona games. I love the story and gameplay, which speaks volumes since this game is the culmination of Atlus Studios' 35 years of work. I loved the game so much that I finished it barely over half a month. Story was captivating, music was great as usual, the design of the monsters you face was interesting too. Highly recommend playing this to any new players!

100%PC

incredible start to finish

the music isn't up to par with other atlus titles, but that's an extremely high bar to clear given the more solemn tone of the game (more than any persona game) and the medieval theme (it's still good music, just not music i would listen to outside of the game)

that's my only non nitpicky complaint, i don't have much to say about the other aspects of the game aside from it being really good. combat felt rewarding, controls very well, lots of good QoL, gorgeous art style, captivating story

difficulty: 6/10 (challenging) in hard mode | 4 is average
i have experience with other atlus titles, and despite that this game still felt decently difficult. i approach these games expecting to die and then adjusting my strategy after. unlike the modern persona titles, you get punished with a game over for taking the wrong approach. getting jumped on also often lead to my death (until midgame). oftentimes a single mistake in fights could lead you to death. the game however hardly punishes game overs and has forgiving features such as retry, while at the cost of some thrill i think it ultimately makes the game more casually fun
(i also didn't use synthesis skills)

difficulty is maintained until around 70% through the game, after you beat the snow dragon. the pinnacle archetypes are very broken with the right passive skills. there's still very difficult optional challenges in endgame which are fun though

95%PC

9.5/10
Metaphor Refantazio is an amazing game, and is a combination of all my favorite aspects of atlus games together, from the social links of Persona to the Press turn of SMT. Metaphor's strong combat with the press turn, and writing it into a brand new Atlus IP in a fantasy setting and STILL pulling it off was just a treat to experience. Not only that, but having a strong cast as your allies, a VERY strong main villain, and strong story themes made me wanting more from this game, to the point that the feeling of my 100 hour long experience with this game was a bit too short (even if at times, it def didn't feel that way).

Story
The story def took a bit to get into, as for around 5 hours, the story focuses on purely world buliding. I get it, new IP, new fantasy setting requires introductions to it all, but it does take a bit before the story starts rolling. Once the races, the world, the city, your goal of it all and your motivation to become king gets displayed is when the game REALLY starts to kick off. Even then it took me a bit to truly fall in love till the 3rd companion's Introduction (Heismay), that was when I become hooked into this game. The story is mainly your characters attempting to save the prince after a terrible curse occurred, and how you will do anything to become king just to stop whoever casted the spell. As you go along your journey to become king and recruit new allies, you start to uncover the truth behind the prince and man is it so damn good. The story also likes to tackle themes such as Racism, Religious and Government Corruption, and Overcoming Anxiety. I loved the way this game tackles them all, and while yeah, atlus writing isn't the most complex layers, but more straightforward, I just enjoyed the writing a ton, and the big story beats def hit for me. Watching characters outright tell you they are going to upcharge you due to your race, allies being outcasts from outsiders and even their own tribes. While racism is the most obvious theme to point at, I believe the Corruption and especially Anxiety themes were the strongest and most prominent themes of this game. From the introduction scene showing an assumed to be innocent man hanged to death, children being forced to do acts of murder, how the drive to power can corrupt even the most innocent ideas. Anxiety especially can be the driving force to people doing acts of violence as shown in the game, a ton of the themes can be linked to anxiety and even the director himself said Anxiety is the main theme of this game, to the point where there is even an anxiety status effect when your character begins to doubt during combat. While the story is full on chugging, of course the calender system does cause some noticeable gaps in story content, but it was never really a problem till around the 90-95% portion of the game, which honestly made sense as it was basically a catchup month to allow you to finish all the bonds with time to spare, very nice of them but does make those last free days to be very noticeable. Luckily past that the game ends very beautifully.

Character
If there is one thing atlus knows how to do really well, its great character development, and Metaphor does not disappoint. The cast of characters were all just a joy to bond with. The ally companions, or the main group worked so well together, and while I wouldn't say it reaches the true friendship bonds like P4G did, they did feel like friends who would stick together till the end, even if their duties drift them away. All the companions had different motivations that caused them to join the main group, from feeling like they failed you, to watching their own town burn by humans, to watching their own best friend die, all of their reasons were such a joy to experience and I wish I could had stayed with them just a bit longer. If I had to pick my favorites, it would have to be Heismay and Basilio. Heismay's story arc and backstory was so damn good, and Basilio's redemption scene was just chefs kiss. Even characters who I thought I wouldn't enjoy as much like Eupha, turned out to be such amazing companions as well. There wasn't really a main companion who felt like they were cut short like P5's Haru felt, but I do feel like there were some side characters whose arc I did feel were cut short. For the other bonds, I think they were all so damn good. Neuras, who is also part of the main group was such a joy to have. The favorites of the side bonds were Maria, Alonzo (so damn good), Brigitta and Catherina. I think the bonds this game were all excellent, and at most dropped to a low A tier in terms of ranking, but peaked at the S tiers like Alonzo. However as good as the allies were, the main villain, Louis, hands down one of the best Atlus villains. Louis' motivations, backstory, and his arc throughout was so damn good. His parallels to your main character to the point where you both read the same exact book, but took two different paths was just excellent.

9.5/10