From the director of Persona 5 comes a medieval grand tale in the same vein. Check out the details in our Metaphor: ReFantazio review!

As someone who has preferred real-time combat for as long as I’ve played games, I had some apprehension going into an ATLUS game headfirst for the first time. That undeniable ATLUS charm is quite the hook, though, and I always told myself I’d dig into a Persona once I could allocate dozens of hours of free time. Thankfully, with Metaphor: ReFantazio on my plate, it’s time for this newcomer to fully immerse into a premier JRPG.

Metaphor: ReFantazio isn’t just a Persona-like; it’s a fully-fledged, perilous escapade to get lost in.

Within its first few hours, Metaphor: ReFantazio is going to draw comparisons to the Persona titles, as it should: series director Katsura Hashino is at the reigns here, and that’s a massive positive for fans of those games. Less of a “more of the same” feel and more “don’t fix what isn’t broken”, Metaphor: ReFantazio is going to delight Persona fans without a second thought. But for a newcomer like me, how does it fare?

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – Gameplay

In a game where a dungeon crawl is going to be the focal point, Metaphor: ReFantazio has dedicated a lot of effort towards its combat system. In a stroke of competent game design, entire encounters can be avoided if you manage to catch an enemy in the arena off-guard and happen to be at a higher level than them. This not only justifies the minor grind but cuts out tons of unnecessary filler hours so you can stay focused on the story.

Crawling through the dungeons is simplified as you can solider straight on to your objective without fussing about in a grind for XP.

When you do get thrust into a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio, you’ll have a handy mechanic at your side: Archetypes. Similar but not nearly identical to Personas, these beefed-up moves channel your goodwill and bonds with your party members into powerful strikes, life-saving heals, or status-effect exploits to put a dent into bosses.

This system is easy to grasp, but is still quite deep, for as the game progresses, you can take the Archetype of a warrior, a mage, a healer, and much more, which you can switch out at will to accommodate specific battle situations.

Your Archetype is a nifty tool, but using it too frequently drains your MP and when that’s gone, you lose your edge.

Outside of battles and running around, there is no shortage of dialogue. There’s tons of lore and backstory to dig into in our story section for Metaphor: ReFantazio, but expect to be interacting with party members and NPCs just as often as you are taking down baddies. Thankfully, there’s a solid balance between the two, and you’re not stuck doing one of these so often that you yearn for the other.

Get cozy with your party members, as you’ll be learning all about them when you’re not on the battlefield.

Traversing towns in Metaphor: ReFantazio is a breeze thanks to your player character learning early on that you can… use your sword as a hoverboard? Yes, crazier things have happened in fantasy games, but this wacky convenience is a welcome one that makes you move so quickly that you’ll overshoot your destination more than a few times while you come to grips with it.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater: ReFantazio.

Another engagement worth exploring in Metaphor: ReFantazio is spending time in the chamber of More. Here, you’ll develop your Follower Bonds, which open up new abilities and bonuses, as well as learn more about Archetype synergies and battle tutorials should you ever hit a brick wall. Spending just a few minutes with More could make the difference in a particularly tough boss battle.

More More is good. Less More is bad.

Once you get a hang of the gameplay loop, Metaphor: ReFantazio gels really well and doesn’t tend to have any obvious low points in its several-dozen-hour runtime. Fights can be retried, dialogue can be fast-forwarded, and the main questline is engaging from start to finish, which makes this a very accessible RPG. If anything, it’s actually an ideal gateway game for those who don’t have a background in turn-based titles, as I now look forward to taking on the Personas when I can.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – Story

For a game this expansive, I’d have to write a novel to cover all the story beats from the opening cutscene to the end credits. What I can say is Metaphor: ReFantazio is engaging, heartstring-tugging, worthwhile, and as expansive as you want to make it should you choose to pursue every side activity presented. Thanks to thought-out lore and prime worldbuilding, players are putting this at the level of Persona – and some even say it’s better.

Anime cutscenes are a swell addition, but uncompressed video files bloat the game’s file size to a whopping 93GB.

As someone who typically watches anime with subs, I was convinced to play Metaphor: ReFantazio in English language despite it being a Japanese-developed game. Stellar voice performances from the likes of Caleb Yen, Kristin Atherton, and Stewart Clarke, impassioned delivery make each line believable and embolden the impact of story moments like a character backstory or an untimely death.

Each party member brings their own playstyle to fights, and the closer you get to them, the bigger a help they are.

Just to beat Metaphor: ReFantazio and not touch side objectives, howlongtobeat.com is here to inform you that you will have to spend almost three days of your life plugging away. When a game resonates with a player as much as this, though, that time will seemingly fly and that plot will stick in your head for years to come.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – Audio

For a medieval large-scale setting, a fitting orchestral soundtrack makes up the backbone of Metaphor: ReFantazio. Composer Shoji Meguro, who has been at the helm alongside director Katsura Hashino since Persona 3 in 2006, a grandiose score was a given, but it became so striking at points that I specifically noted the music as being the best thing about big moments, particularly each party member receiving their Archetype.

Aside from the aforementioned great voice acting, and while the music is a slam dunk, I can’t say I loved hearing the same few lines within every battle at an alarming frequency. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, but hearing “Very impressive!” for the fiftieth time makes me wish there was an off-switch.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – Performance/Graphics

Metaphor: ReFantazio has some of the least-demanding PC system requirements I’ve seen in quite some time for a game of its caliber. While this is great news for compatibility across many configurations, it also means that those with a GPU that was manufactured in the past decade aren’t going to get any dazzling visuals, as there are certainly some rough edges and noticeable polygons, especially during in-game cutscenes.

Don’t look at the roofs, don’t look at the roofs…

Despite some muddy visuals, there’s some amazing character and monster designs that really open up a well of imagination and creativity. It’s almost a guarantee that this game will run at a smooth 60 frames per second for the majority of computers, and the Steam Deck can also play it if those on the platform make a quick Google search to figure out the optimal graphics settings to tweak.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – What Else?

As a newcomer to JRPGs and turn-based games, Metaphor: ReFantazio revealed to me why there’s such a craze for this manner of game. I’ve had stories keep me peeled to the screen before in other genres, but this is something else – so many moving parts, moral quandaries, and the thought of “just play until the next save” mirrors my roguelite obsession of “just one more run”. This is as addictive as games can get, and it feels great to fall in love with games again thanks to it.

Thank you, Metaphor: ReFantazio, for making me obsessed with video games again.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review – Conclusion

I went into Metaphor: ReFantazio not knowing what to expect, but one thing I didn’t expect was to be so intrigued that I’d let it be all I’d play for weeks on end. For a game to have a gripping story, combat that’s easy to learn and hard to master, characters I care about, and no performance issues truly covers all my bases and makes this a great entry point to anyone so inclined from its trailers.

Hulkenberg is the premier party member and deserves all the adoration she’s getting.

I’m still not a fan of the industry-standard $69.99 USD price, but this is a case where you can get a lot of bang for your buck if you’re a Persona diehard who’s ready for another adventure. Otherwise, expect a sale for this game in the near future, at which point, Metaphor: ReFantazio does come highly recommended for its entertainment value, polish, and addictiveness.

So, why should you play Metaphor: ReFantazio?

• A tense tale with twists and turns aplenty, engaging from the get-go until the end.
• Fulfilling dungeon-crawls and battles that get invigorated with new mechanics and challenges throughout its playtime.
• Must-play territory for Persona/JRPG fans due to its familiarity.

But why shouldn’t you play Metaphor: ReFantazio?

• Long runtime means you’ll have to carve out weeks to see the game through.
• Hard to recommend if you don’t plan on doing side stories as you’ll miss out on too much.

A review code was kindly provided by the publisher for the purpose of our Metaphor: ReFantazio Review. If you’re a JRPG fan, check out our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review and join us on the Qualbert Discord to chat with us about all the latest JRPGs!