Metaphor: ReFantazio Showcase Breakdown

Yesterday, Atlus streamed their “Atlus Exclusive” showcase for their upcoming JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio. The stream ran for nearly 23 minutes and revealed a lot about the upcoming title. From a cool and unique combat system to personal traversal and its expansive world. Here is everything we learned from the showcase!

From Fantastical Beginnings

They opened the showcase by talking about how the beginning of the game plays out. They focused on its narrative elements which are rooted in fourth wall knocking methods. Such as the game questioning what the player thinks of its genre before going into some of the gameplay for Metaphor: ReFantazio. Which showed off a more open area focus for its locations. As well as the main character needing to pay attention to enemy levels.

In the beginning of the game, the main character will still be very weak. So, they avoided showing off some more in depth until later in the stream. This little segment was broken up with talking about how the main character hears the same music the player does. Mostly through his fairy companion casting a spell.

It is a nice little attention to details. Just like how the Gauntlet Runner, which will be the players main hub when traveling from one location to the other. Was designed by Ikuto Yamashita, of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame.

The rest of the environments in Metaphor: ReFantazio has a very distinct gritty art style that is more rooted in its anime influences. The closest I can compare it to when watching it in motion is a grittier version of Scarlet Nexus. Which has strongly anime-like designed characters and enemies looking and environments. This art style carries over to the expansive exploration.

Exploration in Metaphor: ReFantazio Explained

Exploration in Metaphor: ReFantazio is going to be a big part of the game. Both on the Gauntlet Runner, and off of it. As when you select a place to travel to, you will have to wait a day in game to travel to it. However, while it is on the move, you can interact with your party or simply go to sleep to skip over to the next day when it arrives.

Fans of the Persona will recognize this as a similar life simulation mechanic to that series. As it seems this mechanic will also be incorporated into the various locales you can venture to.

This means you will have to keep track of your days while doing anything in the game, but to a much bigger scale and scope compared to their hallmark series.

They wrapped up the showcase by talking about the Metaphor: ReFantazio combat and Archetypes.

Fast and Slow Level-Based Combat

This part of the showcase was very juicy and showed off a promising premise for its gameplay, which is definitely different to what they usually make in the Persona series. The combat for Metaphor: ReFantazio some quirks for both how you engage with low and either matching or higher-level foes. For starters, if an enemy is below your level, you can choose to kill them with action gameplay. This is a fun take on the “instant kill” mechanic many other RPGs are using to expedite getting through low level enemies. But if it is your level or higher? You will have to call your squad and engage with that foe in traditional turn-based combat.

They did not go into too much detail about how the turn-based combat works. But it may be similar to the Persona games due to how the Archetypes system works. You can use skills that each of the Archetypes have, similar to Personas. But you will have the option to fuse with your Archetype as well. They did not talk about what this is like during the showcase.

We did, however catch a glimpse of the skill trees, which they did not go into detail for. But they do look interesting and may be unique to the characters they are assigned to.

They also mentioned the Archetypes will be a form of Job system, similar to the Final Fantasy series. This will allow every character to use every Archetype, letting the player experiment with different combinations or go with a combination of four for laughs.

Closing Details, Preorder info for Metaphor: ReFantazio and UI

Finally, we have a very stylish user interface that seems to borrow from Persona 3: Reload but each tab has its own color. But they did not show off all of the menus, just the one for the Archetypes and main menu.

They also confirmed that the release date for the game will be October 11th of this year, which was leaked some time ago, but finally confirmed at this showcase.

Metaphor: ReFantazio will also launch at $69.99 USD with a physical version, and digitally. With a collector’s edition at $149.99 USD. Below is an image of what all it comes with.

You can find the Wishlist pages for the PlayStation 5 version here. As well as the Xbox Series version here.

Update: 4/23/2024

In a Q&A with Atlus, various things were confirmed, including the following:

• DLC Costumes will work in most gameplay scenarios, but not every story segment.
• There is no Canon name for the main protagonist as of right now.
• There are no links to any past works from Atlus. This means, no references to the Persona or Shin Megami Tensei will be made.
• Finally, you cannot romance any companion.

Q: Are there any elements like the Social Link system in Persona?

A: By deepening friendships with those you meet on your journey, some of them will become supporters (i.e. followers). Sensing the heroic feelings within them, those manifest through the Archetypes. pic.twitter.com/RvZPuweIjX

— Persona Central (@Persona_Central) April 23, 2024