Metaphor: ReFantazio is a role-playing game developed by Studio Zero and published by Atlus. It was their first wholly original game since the studio's establishment in 2016, and was led creatively by director Katsura Hashino, character artist Shigenori Soejima and music composer Shoji Meguro, all of who have previously contributed to various titles in the Megami Tensei franchise.
The game takes place in a medieval European-inspired fantasy setting that is considered the "mirror" to the contemporary backdrop of the real world, and follows a non-silent protagonist who must embark on a journey to protect their kingdom, while overcoming numerous obstacles and forging alliances with many companions he meets along the way.
The game was announced under its codename, "Project Re Fantasy" in December 2016 alongside the establishment of Studio Zero, a new development team within Atlus comprised primarily of alumni who were formerly associated with P-Studio, the primary development team responsible for the modern Persona games. The game was officially unveiled in June 2023.
The release date was announced in April 22nd, 2024 for a release date of October 11th, 2024 for Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4/5, and Steam.
A demo for the game including the prologue was made available for download on September 25, 2024.
Gameplay[]
Metaphor: ReFantazio incorporates social mechanics from the Persona series, such as the Followers and Royal Virtues systems, both descendants to the Social Link and Social Stat systems, and a calendar. There are also a variety of activities that function virtually the same way in Persona, with other similar mechanics like the weather that instead differ by location. Additionally, Metaphor: ReFantazio utilizes combat mechanics from the Shin Megami Tensei series, such as the Press Turn system.
The Archetype system, although similar to Personas, is the game's job-change foundation, and the Archetypes in themselves are equippable entities with their own unique skillsets and stat boosts. Any party member can equip any Archetype, including use the same class multiple times, though they first awaken to a specific one; however, Archetypes cannot be switched mid-battle. Archetypes can also evolve 2 times from their original form, and are connected to a lineage. Also, Synthesis allows to combine the powers of 2 or more Archetypes to deal one powerful attack, at the cost of multiple turn icons.
While exploring dungeons, the protagonist can switch between and mix real-time and turn-based combat. It is recommended to attack enemies in real time to initiate player advantage while switching to turn-based battle, but at the risk of letting the enemy attack first via the same method. Otherwise, it is possible to play it safe and jump straight to turn-based combat. In real time, the Archetype the protagonist has equipped determines how they attack.
Unlike similar works, while the protagonist must be in the party, his defeat will not result in an instant Game Over. Instead, a Game Over is only triggered if the entire party is knocked out.
The game also has a party formation system, where combatants can stay in either the front or back row, which determines how much damage the user deals and takes: while going on the back row specifically reduces the user's physical-based attacks, they're protected from the damage dealt to them by all affinities. There are methods to change the party formation for everyone at the same time, and there are Archetypes, like the Gunner, that specialize in attacking from a distance. Some skills can only be cast in the back row.
Metaphor also has various technical differences in comparison to how the flow of battle plays. The available equipment is not only based around the Archetypes in terms of who can equip what, but the power of the weapons themselves influence the user's attacks no matter their affinity. Also, guarding, while having similar functions to other entries, such as reducing damage taken and protecting from having one's weakness exploited, it doesn't negate the weakness multiplier itself.
While traveling over the United Kingdom of Euchronia, the protagonist can establish a travel route and select which way to traverse. Travelling is directly intertwined with the calendar, as travelling takes time and the protagonist can perform Gauntlet Runner activities while waiting, leading to multitasking between the two. In addition to cities and dungeons, the map is decorated with villages, camps and sights. Additionally, there is a fast travel feature between major cities, making travel more comfortable in terms of pacing, as not only can the party travel to nearby spots quickly, but returning does not deplete time.
On the activities the protagonist can perform on the gauntlet runner: he can cook, read, clean, do laundry, spend time with companions, and in certain situations fish and bathe. The effects of these activities vary from giving Royal Virtue coins and direct battle stat boosts to producing items. Towns that the party visits also have a variety of activities: in Martira for example, the protagonist can bungee jump and milk cows.
Difficulty[]
There are five difficulty settings to choose from, from easiest to hardest: Storyteller, Easy, Normal, Hard and Regicide. Storyteller is the equivalent of the Casual difficulty and Regicide is the equivalent of Risky/Merciless in some other games, and if the difficulty is set to those two, it cannot be altered later on. Regicide is also not available until obtaining the true ending of the game.
Plot[]
The story begins with Louis assassinating King Hythlodaeus V. With the King dead and the Prince's condition worsening, the Resistance orders Will and Gallica to assassinate Louis at the capital of Grand Trad to lift the curse. They recruit Strohl and Grius and plan to assassinate Louis at Hythlodaeus' funeral, during which Louis attempts to make a claim to the throne by presenting a human corpse to the crowd and claiming that only he can protect them. Hythlodaeus' spirit appears and reveals that before he died, he used the Royal Magic to organize the Royal Tournament, which will allow anyone to succeed him as king if they can earn the people's support. Grius attempts to assassinate Louis, but is stopped by the Royal Magic, which protects the candidates. Louis kills Grius and reanimates the human corpse, intending to release it in a false flag attack to scare the people into supporting him. However, Will and Strohl, along with Hulkenberg, destroy the human, after which the candidates begin their plots to win the throne. Forden organizes the Tournament for the Throne, in which candidates must perform tasks to win the favor of the people, but has rigged it in his favor.
The party enters the Tournament to gain Louis' attention and infiltrate his inner circle. For the first task, they must present the head of a monster, but with the monster bounties taken, they decide to take the head of a rogue knight accused of kidnapping and selling children. The party confronts the knight, Heismay, but discovers that the saint Joanna, who was feeding the children to a human resembling her child, framed him. Heismay joins the party and they kill the human before presenting Joanna to Forden, who is forced to execute her to save face. This causes Will to gain recognition from the public and Louis, who invites the party to a soiree where they convince him to recruit them while Will steals the curse's composition. Junah joins the party, revealing that she is an undercover Resistance agent spying on Louis.
For the second task, the candidates must collect holy relics. The party, under Louis' orders and accompanied by his lieutenants, brothers Basilio and Fidelio, find the spear Drakodios in an ancient temple containing ruins of modern buildings said to be from the "World Before", which predates Euchronia's history. After rescuing Eupha, they kill the human guarding Drakodios and obtain it, discovering that it bypasses the Royal Magic. They seemingly kill Louis using Drakodios, but he barely survives the attack and was healed by Zorba. Louis then steals Drakodios and use it to kill Forden, who cursed the Prince and framed him. Fidelio dies protecting bystanders from Louis' attack, convincing Basilio to join the party.
With Forden dead, the Senate nominates Junah's stepsister Rella as his successor, but during the ceremony to announce Rella's entrance into the Tournament, Louis beseeches Hythlodaeus into lifting the Royal Magic's protection while Rella reveals that she cursed the Prince. The party confronts Rella, and in response she summons a dragon to fight in her place. After the party defeats the dragon, she reveals that Forden coerced her into carring out the assassination of the Prince and cursing him by threatening Junah. Rella announces to Euchronia that the Prince is alive and exposes Forden's crimes before committing suicide, lifting the curse. In response, Louis issues a challenge to the Prince to duel him for the throne. However, after being defeated, Louis uses his spell to transform the protagonist into a human. While the protagonist was able to supress and spell and revert back to normal, Louis lies to the crowd that the humans are actually eldans, which would cause the protagonist's reputation to take a nosedive and force him and his supporters out of the city.
The party heads to the sanctum to meet the Prince, but discovers that he died after the curse was lifted. The spirit of the Prince's mother contacts Will and reveals that she had been guiding him along his journey and that he is the Prince's Archetype, housing his soul and born from his hopes and dream to change the world. From that point on, Will would have an identity crisis and he might choose not to accept his true destiny and merge with the Prince. If Will responds to the prince's mother with pessimistic answers or refuses to merge with the Prince's body, Louis takes the throne unopposed and destroys Euchronia, erasing it from history.
If Will does decide to merge with the Prince however, he returns his soul to the body to become the fully restored Prince. After then, which the party learns that the Elda Tribe are descended from the original humans from the World Before, which was destroyed after humanity discovered magic and fought over it. Over time, the survivors evolved into the current Tribes, with the "humans" being humans mutated by exposure to magic. The party concludes that Louis is an Elda, which has given him an understanding of magic and the past, and seeks to use the Royal Sceptre to transform Euchronia's inhabitants into humans and end the cycle of injustice. At the meantime, Louis enters the Skybound Avatar and has one last conversation with the soul of Hythlodaeus V before he discards his fake Clemar horns and occupies the castle for his own use.
The party returns to the capital, and finds that the townsfolk in Grand Trad had went insane with hatred and anxiety. Due to the sheer amount of Magla produced by the townsfolk's insanity, the sky was painted with red. Then, they approach the Skybound Avatar to confront Louis, and discover that the former royal palace is now overran with magla and monsters.
The party reaches the throne room and confront Louis, where he makes a rant about how that world is flawed and the only way to change it is to destroy it so he can rebuild it in his ideal image. He then asks Will to join his cause; if Will agrees, they rule over the newly created nation of humans. If Will disagrees, Louis will escape back to the Tyrant's Star, where he will await the party to challenge him. Will is given a final chance to prepare in the Grand Trad before confronting Louis at the Tyrant's Star.
Once the party reaches Louis at the end of the star, Louis challenges the party to a battle. Once he's defeated, the protagonist and Neuras give chase to him while his teammates seemingly perish from fighting against the countless monsters. Louis comes close to agonizingly transforming Will into a human again only for him to be mortally wounded by ripping off his Resonant Vessel. However, instead of dying, he ends up in the Akademeia and meets More. In there, he tries to convince Will that it's pointless to fight any more and shows him an illusion of Shibuya, offering him to transport him to there and leave behind the doomed Euchronia. If Will accepts, they transport themselves to "reality" and leave Euchronia to its fate.
If he refuses to give up, More will challenge him to a battle. Defeat More, and he would encourage him to exit Akademia and stop Louis's madness. All of Will's teammates show up alive and well, and the party, reunited, challenge him to a battle. He uses the human transformation spell on himself, transforming into an angelic human with an outer mask resembling Lucifer from the Divine Comedy. Once the party defeats him, it would seem like everything is over, only for Louis to return back up as a last ditch attempt to kill the party. Will engages him in a one-on-one battle and wins, destroying him and the Royal Sceptre. Hythlodaeus pronounces Will as the new king and disappears along with More, who is revealed to be his Archetype, created to guide and assist Will in his journey. One year after Will's coronation, he and the party depart on another journey to find out how to solve Euchronia's remaining problems.
Deadline endings[]
Much like with Midnight Channel raids in Persona 4 and Palaces in Persona 5, each arc has a time limit. If the party fails to complete the objective on each arc in time, it will automatically result in a game over.
- Failing to stop Zorba from enacting the Day of Calamity: Fail to reach Zorba on the top of the Grand Cathedral within 10 days, and Zorba and Louis will destroy the Grand Trad, killing half of the population within it.
- Failing to stop the kidnappings: Fail to expose the child kidnapping culprit and defeat Homo Jaluzo within in Martira within 12 days, and the party will be disqualified from the royal tournament and the prince will die from the curse.
- Failing to infiltrate Louis's skyrunner: If the party does not enact the operation to infiltrate Louis's skyrunner within 13 days, the Skyrunner Charadrius would be on high guard, preventing the party from infiltrating it once again. Since the road to the curse's cure is no longer present, the prince will die.
- Failing to retrieve Drakodios: If the party does not reach and defeat Homo Margo and complete the Drakodios quest after 20 days have passed at Eht Ria, Louis will declare the entire party traitors and kill them one by one. Will was the last to be killed; he and Gallica run into Zorba, masquerading as a hooded Sanctist when walking in an allyway, who promptly assassinates them.
- Failing to stop Louis's madness: If the party cannot reach the final boss within 30 days, Louis will become King and execute Will and all of his supporters, and he would presumably destroy all of humanity.
Playable Characters[]
- Protagonist - he takes on a journey to lift a deadly curse placed on the prince of the United Kingdom of Euchronia, his childhood friend. He is of the elda tribe, branded as "tainted" by the state religion who believe they have inherited dangerous and heretical magic. Due to their rarity, they are detested and discriminated against throughout the kingdom.
- Gallica - the protagonist's guide and partner. Too weak to participate in combat, she specializes in various magic and knowledge. She's outspoken, but reassuring.
- Strohl - a smart young man of the Clemar tribe with a strong sense of justice, but has complicated circumstances, as he's a noble that has enlisted in the army alongside commoners.
- Grius - a master of both martial arts and magic, of the Rhoag tribe. The protagonist has been assigned to send a confidential message to Grius in the beginning of the story whose contents only Gallica is aware of.
- Hulkenberg - a Roussainte tribe knight who excels in the use of weaponry, she was driven to wander in shame after failing to protect the prince she was assigned to.
- Heismay - former knight of the Eugief tribe with acute perception, due to his tribe being sensitive to sound. He and his tribe are discriminated against, and has a painful past he carries like a burden.
- Junah - a songstress of the Nidia tribe known for having the most beautiful voice in Euchronia, making her more famous than even the royal family. She joins the protagonist on his travels after he saves her from a hostile rival candidate.
- Eupha - a priestess of the Mustari tribe. She has heightened senses that succeed the already excellent ability of the rest of the tribe.
- Basilio- A member of the Paripus tribe and an executive in Louis's private army. The younger brother of Fidelio, he has absolute faith in his brother's judgment.
Development[]
PROJECT Re FANTASY コンセプトビデオ
Following the release of Persona 5 in Japan, Atlus' new production company "Studio Zero" was established to develop the game. The game was first announced under the moniker "PROJECT Re FANTASY" in December 2016.[1][2][3]
According to director Katsura Hashino, the theme of the game surrounding fantasy wasn't immediately decided upon; only after many discussions among staff would Hashino notice that the word "fantasy" was brought up many times. In spite of Megami Tensei and Persona being set in the modern world, Studio Zero decided on unraveling the fantasy genre in their own way, in addition to its overall long-lasting popularity.[4]
One of Metaphor: ReFantazio's themes is "utopia," and the fantasy world loved by many is filled with ideals that can never come true in reality. With that perspective in mind, one can interpret what the main characters are trying to do and what they dream of by partaking in the alternate world, in spite of the fact they're supposed to be in a completely different world at first glance. Additionally, Hashino wondered about the idea of bringing back a certain experience from the fantasy world back to the real world.[4]
Upon creating a fantasy world, Hashino wondered about developing a fantasy world that has nothing to do with reality, and whether it'd be a waste to completely have it cut ties with the real world. Hashino believes that fantasy has attracted many followers in both the past and present because its roots lie in something that does not end with mere fantasies. One point of note is that Metaphor: ReFantazio was designed differently from classical fantasy RPGs: Hashino asked staff members of another development team to try out their game, and they responded with initial worry about it being an orthodox fantasy game, but were relieved when it turned out to be different.[4]
It would later be announced over six years later, with a confirmed release set for 2024.
Elements from Megami Tensei[]
- Multiple skills from the Megami Tensei series like Hama, Tarukaja and Tetra Break appear in the game, including ones from Megami Tensei, such as Bot, Blizz, Kande and Cyc.[5]
- Recurring item from the Megami Tensei series, Balm of Life, reappears in Metaphor.
- A calendar system similar to the one in the Persona games.
- A Followers system similar to Social Links/Confidants in the Persona games and the Fate System in Devil Survivor 2. It has no romance options, however.
- Royal Virtues are similar to Social Stats of the Persona series.
- There are multiple references to the modern world. This in combination with the previously listed connections to Megami Tensei, has led some fans to theorize that this modern world is connected to the world of the Megami Tensei games. While this has been neither confirmed nor denied, it was acknowledged as a possibility on an official live stream about the game.[6][7]
- Jack Frost makes an appearance in the trailer shown after beating the Metaphor ReFantazio Prologue Demo, being summoned by the Devil Summoner.
- Multiple demons are summoned by the Devil Summoner, with the lineup being Jack Frost, Cerberus, Black Frost, Mothman, Decarabia, Cu Chulainn, Lakshmi, Thor, Vishnu, Shiva, and Beelzebub. Ishtar is also a summonable demon, but only to Eupha's Royal Summoner.
- Mara is in the game files but is left unfinished and thus not playable in the final version of the game.
- The mask ingredients for the Masked Dancer are a direct reference to the Arcana of the Persona series, and the talisman ingredients for vessels for the Summoner are towards the races of Megami Tensei.
- Archetypes are also shown off in the trailer with the names of "Persona Master," "Devil Summoner," and "Soul Hacker," referencing Persona, Devil Summoner, and the Soul Hackers respectively.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- While Metaphor: ReFantazio is officially not part of the Megami Tensei series, it is still the first Atlus game:
- To be localized in Latin American Spanish. Though planned since the beginning of the promotional process of the game, it would be temporarily removed as an option and planned to be added in a later patch. [8]
- Where a route lock can occur in-between phases of the final boss encounter.
- With an autosave function. In case if one receives a game over, the game will automatically reload from the last autosave checkpoint.
- The full names of most characters are only known in the credits or if the Euchronian text on their campaign posters is translated in English.
- This is one of the very few Atlus games where the main antagonist and final boss does not attempt to hide their own involvement in any way or form and remains in the role for the entirety of the game.
- If one takes too much time remaining on the main menu of the game, an alternate intro of the game will play.
In Other Languages[]
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
 Japanese
|
メタファー：リファンタジオ |
 Korean
|
메타포: 리판타지오 |
  Traditional Chinese
|
暗喻幻想：ReFantazio |
| Simplified Chinese
|
暗喻幻想：ReFantazio |
 French
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
 Italian
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
 German
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
 Spanish (Spain)
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
 Spanish (Latin America)
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
 Portuguese (Brazil)
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
 Russian
|
Metaphor: ReFantazio |
External Links[]
- Official Japanese Website
- Official Japanese Website (English)
- Official Western Website
- Official Traditional Chinese Website
- Official Simplified Chinese Website
- Official Korean Website
- Steam page
References[]
- ↑ 緊急発表：【先出し週刊ファミ通】アトラスが新たなプロダクションを立ち上げ、王道かつアトラスらしい“ファンタジーRPG”を作る！ コンセプトアートを最速公開！（2016年12月22日発売号） Famitsu. (川島KG; December 20, 2016)
- ↑ アトラスの新規王道ファンタジーRPG“PROJECT Re FANTASY”の公式サイトがオープン コンセプトビデオも公開 Famitsu. (December 23, 2016)
- ↑ アトラスが「PROJECT Re FANTASY」で目指す“真なるファンタジーへの回帰”とは。プロデューサー 橋野 桂氏が新たなRPGへの挑戦について語る 4Gamer.net. (February 3, 2017)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://www.famitsu.com/news/202306/20306736.html
- ↑ Metaphor: ReFantazio Megami Tensei skills
- ↑ https://www.youtubetrimmer.com/view/?v=iztWrST0R1M&start=1700&end=1730&loop=0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iztWrST0R1M&ab_channel=atlustube
- ↑ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2679460/Metaphor_ReFantazio/
