Humans? I think not! Run!
For Atlus, the Persona Series has been nothing short of a winning run. With a Metascore of 95, Persona 5 Royal continues the series’ upward trend in sales and critical acclaim. Creating more Personas would have proven no problem for these developers as they, ultimately, are excellent at it. Having said that, Atlus has set out to begin a new franchise—to complement Shin Megami Tensei and Persona; Metaphor: ReFantazio, a high fantasy-themed JRPG title, forming a notch under their belt.
It took quite a time for Metaphor: ReFantazio to come to fruition, with its first announcement in 2017 leaving a trail of uncertainty and being nebulous in nature. As of late, the game establishes the debut of Studio Zero, a newly formed Atlus division led by Katsura Hashino, with their first major project. With their usual focus on semi-realistic urban fantasy rather than fanciful characters, like mages and elves, Metaphor: ReFantazio signals an exciting shift in trajectory for Atlus and Hashino.
The player has plenty of leeway when deciding what to do next, thanks to the Persona games and the use of the calendar system in particular. There is always some degree of player agency when determining if to go to the dungeons, which social connections to pursue, and which attributes to level up. If players are efficient at managing their time and avoiding idleness, they should be able to experience and accomplish everything on their list.
A new interview statement, however, confirms that the same cannot be the case for Metaphor: ReFantazio. Hashino asserts that dungeons will be important in Metaphor ReFantazio, yet you will not see them all in a single playthrough. The ideology behind this is explained by Hashino: ‘Imagine if you go on vacation, you go to a city and you have 10 places listed on your travel log. Some of these might take two days to enjoy, whereas others might take a half day. Some might require a guide or more preparations, others might be a bit safer, but you cannot do it all.’
He continues, ‘In this game, you travel a lot, and when you get to your destinations, you have the choice of multiple dungeons you can do. And all of these dungeons have different difficulty levels as well, so it is up to you on how you choose to spend your time.’
Many gamers prefer the completion of an entire game within a single playthrough, but the implementation of this design entails that the decisions you will be making carry a heavier weight as you will not be able to take them back, leaving the consequences to carry through. This may evoke frustration within the community as it would leave a plethora of players to consult a guide for each option to avoid less-than-ideal circumstances.
Moving on, the fact that our own planet serves as a kind of parallel universe in Metaphor: ReFantazio is maybe its most intriguing feature. To further this concept, ‘humans’ is the term used to refer to the monstrous-looking foes you will encounter throughout the game. It is clear that the game is carrying an underlying message and such conveyances is where JRPGs shine.
‘One of the things I thought in the beginning was that we wanted to define this game with the idea of fear and anxiety. The idea is that when you are growing as a human being, you’re faced with these fears and anxieties and they help you grow. And basically, if you’re negative or positive about the things that happen if your approach changes, it will either take your life in a positive or negative direction. Fear is something that was really helpful for humans,’ Hashino began when he was asked about his intentions.
‘When you leave your territory, something could kill you and you’d be in danger, right? But not so much in the modern age. We don’t really need that kind of fear. We don’t have the threat of being eaten by something. In the past, we were afraid of physical things. Now, in the modern world, we have more fear about how to face our emotions,’ he concluded, wording it rather beautifully.’
While his philosophies so far have been thoroughly explored for the upcoming game, the one that will be mentioned now may be a head-scratcher. It is known that numerous romantic paths are available to you in the Persona titles. On the contrary, such will not be the case for Metaphor: ReFantazio. The idea was that in the Persona titles, the settings are mostly centered around teenagers. A little romance in their life is something every adolescent dreams about.
Except, for Metaphor: ReFantazio, ‘It’s not about teenagers. It’s about a person trying to become the ruler of the land. They are more focused on the relationships between a ruler and the people who support them,’ Hashino claims, implying that romance becomes less and less of a person’s desire as they age and have other things to worry about. Many would argue this, however, just as there were countless people who have enjoyed the Romance feature in the other Atlus games, countless others did not.
Having gone over all that we can expect from the game so far, it is abundantly clear that this game is fairly distinguishable from the Persona Series and, personally speaking, could even contend against Final Fantasy VII Rebirth this year. With Atlus’ rich history in developing games, this JRPG is definitely a promising title worth waiting for.
Metaphor: ReFantazio will be released for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on the 11th of October, 2024.
