Metaphor: ReFantazio
Review
Familiar but new
by JackCarter
reviewed on PC
Undead
I was knee-deep in a crypt, chasing a necromancer, fighting hordes of undead, when I came across a battle that gave me some difficulty. "The first difficulty spike" I thought to myself, as I readied myself for the fight ahead. Before this, I foolishly fought a dragon as it awoke from its slumber deep within its cavernous abode. I barely made it out of that scrap, but this was different. Unlike the dragon, this fight was mandatory for progression. It was some sort of flying mass of ululating tentacles, and an eyeball, three of them to be exact, barring my way through towards my end goal. The first time I fought them, I was running low on health, potions, and magic, and should have bowed out before then to restock. But I was doing just fine before this and felt confident in my abilities. I was wrong. Although not a boss fight, this battle proved to be more fierce than the ones before, their attacks were stronger and their defense was better. I got cocky, and proceeded to get my comeuppance. I restarted the battle now knowing what I would be walking into, and with my limited supplies and waning health, I strategized instead of bullishly using brute force. I bided my time, defending when they were about to use their big attacks, exploiting their weaknesses, and chipped away at their health. Eventually, I felled the enemy. This is where I decided to return back to the warmth of the bed I have been staying at and rest and restock. The next day I would return bettered from my failure and stronger than before. At this point, I knew I was hooked. I felt those ever so familiar claws digging into me, a reminder of why turn based battles should never be forgotten - a need for strategy.
Pure Atlus styling
If you've played Persona 5, you'd be comfortable here. The gameplay, character design, and theming all have that trademark Atlus style, but unlike other games by the developer, i.e. the various Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, and Catherine games, this one take place in a strikingly different setting - fantasy. It's the trident, true setting of RPG's of all sorts, but Metaphor is a first for Atlus. Sure, they've ventured with the idea at the beginning of Shin Megami Tensei IV, but this is brand new territory for them. Presentation wise they've nailed it. Its sprawling landscapes and dangerous dungeons are rendered beautifully in its painterly style, serving well enough to blend with its characters anime aesthetic.
The story is overall very compelling, taking some twist and turns that I really found interesting. And sure, there are some obvious moments - like a character death that wasn't exactly unexpected - but for the most part I remained thoroughly entertained.
I especially was interested in how your character, and Elda, is ostracized from the common folk because of prejudice, and how the game allows you to react to it. Too often in games, are you immediately the coolest, most bad ass character. At least from a story standpoint, it was interesting to be a character that is essentially hated by the very people that you're trying to save. All of the characters were very fun and interesting and played off each other really well, lending to a great dynamic. Hulkenberg was easily my favourite, but that may be because I have an affinity for strong warrior elves.
Combat is as great as ever and if you're familiar with Persona, then you'll know what to expect. But there are some new additions. One I very much enjoyed was the ability to run up and slash an enemy, and if they were significantly weaker than you, you would just beat them, and get the experience. That's it. No transition into the turn based battles, they're just defeated. It really helps the flow of gameplay, essentially turning the game into a hack n' slash. As someone with a small child, it is not lost on me how the developer really wanted to respect your time while playing. Sure, it's a long game like most RPG's are, but the minute to minute gameplay is focused and streamlined to give you as best an experience as possible without holding you down.
I mentioned earlier about still needing turn based combat, because at its core it's a captivating experience. Don't get me wrong, I greatly enjoy action combat, heck Final Fantasy Rebirth is one of the best games I played all year. But Metaphor, like most of Atlus' catalogue, prove that strategy is not a lost art in games media. Turn based combat started dying not because of what it was, but because of what it was doing. Retreading older games, the combat was too slow and boring, watching your enemies life bar slowly whittle away felt like being stuck in purgatory at times, but Metaphor is here to show you how it's done right. It's fast, fluid, and dynamic. It blends new and old. It's what we need for the genre to evolve.
Not disappointed
Metaphor: ReFantazio was the game I was looking most forward to this year and it didn't disappoint. I'm glad that we have you wealth of options to choose how we want to play our RPGs, and I am especially glad that there is still a place for games like Metaphor: Re Fantazio, one that feels familiar and new at the same time. It has never been a better time to be a gamer.
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10
fun score
Pros
The world, the combat, the characters
Cons
A particularly awful crash right after beating a hard boss. It didn't save my progress either.
