Metaphor: ReFantazio (Game)

Metaphor: ReFantazio

GAME » on October 11, 2024

PC (Platform)PlayStation 4 (Platform)PlayStation 5 (Platform)Xbox Series X (Platform)Nintendo Switch 2 (Platform)

A medieval fantasy RPG developed by Studio Zero and directed by Katsura Hashino.

Game Images Reviews Metaphor: ReFantazio ReleasesRelated Pages

Overview

Originally teased as "Project Re:Fantasy" in December 2016, with little news about the title until 2023, when the name was changed to Metaphor: ReFantazio. The game is a medieval fantasy RPG developed and produced by several SMT/Persona series veterans under Studio Zero, an internal team at Atlus split off from P-Studio following the release of Persona 5 (Game), directed by Katsura Hashino (Person). Joining him were character artist Shigenori Soejima (Person) and music composer Shoji Meguro (Person), who played similar roles working on the Persona series as well.

The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S by Atlus in Japan, and by Sega internationally, on October 11, 2024. A Nintendo Switch 2 version was later announced for release on November 12, 2026. The game sold around 1 million copies on its initial release, and was nominated for multiple awards in 2024 across different outlets, winning The Game Awards 2024 for Best Art Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Role-Playing Game, plus Grand Prize at the 2025 Japan Game Awards.

Plot

The United Kingdom of Euchronia is home to 9 different Tribes of sentient beings, plus a large number of monsters. Despite supposedly being a land where all are equal, corruption and racism run rampant throughout the kingdom. Hythlodaeus V, the old king with access to unique Royal Magic, is murdered in his bed by Louis Guiabern, a General who has grown tired of the rule of both King and the Sanctis Church, and wishes to rule the kingdom in a Darwinist fashion. With the King murdered and the Prince missing, presumed dead, it is unknown who will rule Euchronia.

It is about this time that a blue-haired Elda boy (Will by default, named by the player) infiltrates the ranks of the Grand Trad guardsmen for the small but strong Resistance who has been watching over the Prince, who is not dead, but has been cursed as his life is slowly slipping away for a long time. Will's job is to link up with the resistance contact, an old soldier named Grius, and help him assassinate Louis to free the Prince from his curse. When Will is sent as part of a doomed mission to kill a Human monster, he is granted the powers of fantasy Archetypes by an odd man known as More, and share these powers with his allies, to fight back.

However, on the day when Grius finds an opening to strike, the spirit of the dead King appears in the sky to declare that whoever wins the hearts of the people will be the new King, and he forbids assassinating any of the candidates, so Grius is restrained by magic and cut down before he can kill Louis. Will and his allies try to find a way to kill Louis and undo the curse on the Prince's body before he dies for real, but to do so, they may have to participate in this strange Kingly election themselves. And Louis isn't the only enemy threatening the health and stability of the Kingdom.

Gameplay

Similar to modern Persona titles, Metaphor has the players split time between exploring the capital of Grand Trad, building up social links and partnerships with various people, and dungeon maps where players fight their way through monsters to acquire treasure, experience, or complete a job. Also similar to recent Persona titles, there are in-game time limits, with the world doomed if the player doesn't beat the current boss after a certain number of days have passed.

Battle System

The game employs a mix of real-time action and turn-based battling. While traversing a dungeon map, the player can attack monsters they see with whatever weapon they currently have equipped. If the enemy is weaker in levels than them, they can quickly kill the monster without engaging in a full on battle and gain the small amount of rewards they would have gotten. For stronger enemies, the player can stun them by attacking them from behind and then engaging in battle, giving them the first turn and possibly more. However, if an enemy successfully attacks them before they can wipe out their stagger bar in the map, the party is Ambushed and the enemy gets to attack first.

Similar Games

No games found