For many months, many JRPG games have been released for the major consoles, such as Persona 3 Reload, Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, and more. These games have in common that SEGA developed them, and now, a new game developed by the same company has been released titled “Metaphor ReFantazio.”
Out of the many things I can say about Metaphor ReFantazio, it is one of the best 2024 JRPG games to play on one’s console. With a great story, gameplay, plot, and more, this game deserves a very high score and to be nominated in any upcoming game awards. I firmly believe this as I have spent countless hours enjoying the game and can say that SEGA has delivered a masterpiece to many JRPG gamers.
The game’s main theme is all about differences in status and race. In the world of Euchronia, your race defines your class. As a result, racism has become so active that it is tearing apart the kingdom. As the main protagonist, you are an Elda known as the lowest of the race among the citizens, and tasked with a mission to save his best friend, the crown prince, and stop the power-hungry tyrants from taking over. Using a mysterious power known as Archetypes, you and your allies will discover that this mission is hiding many dark secrets and will reveal the truth about the world they are living in.
When playing through the 1st chapter of the game, I realized that this game has a lot in common with Persona and other SEGA Atlus games where each game has various themes. In Metaphor ReFantazio, it was truly different as this is a kingmaker-type of game and the objective of it is to prove one’s worth as the true king. With that said, I love how lengthy it is but what gave me an eye-opener was that with every mission, a new mystery, and a darker plot were revealed. I am grateful to the developers they have given tons of devotion and hard work to make this storyline more unique than their previous titles.
The gameplay is not only nostalgic but very deep. The way I see it, Metaphor ReFantazio is a combination of Persona 5 and Fire Emblem Three Houses. As we all know, the setting is a magical Medieval land filled with unknown wonders, and a hierarchy of power is set based on one’s race and status.
This part would be considered the Fire Emblem part and what I considered the Persona 5 part is the RPG mechanics and gameplay where there are social stats which are known as Royal Virtues that can be improved through daily activities and quests, meeting many confidants known as followers and stressful planning to complete one’s deadline. All these elements are incredibly fun and I enjoyed that the developers have given their all to make me feel challenged.
In terms of combat, it was really both challenging and fun to play as it uses a turn-based system. Inspired by how complex the combat system Persona 5 had, Metaphor ReFantazio shows newly improved combat features that have greatly evolved. From initiating battles, taking on side quests, and exploring the darkest dungeons to hunt treasures and increase one’s EXP, the amount of freedom players can have in this game goes above the typical JRPG.
In the Persona series, you have beings that will help transcend your abilities as skilled fighters known as personas. In Metaphor ReFantazio, there is a similar version known as Archetypes. The difference between them and the personas is that players don’t have to fuse them, instead, there is a feature known as Archetype Tree where players can change the class of their Archetype by paying MAG cost. Every time they level them up, they are closer to either getting new skills or a chance to get new classes which they can evolve from.
With 4 active party members, a new feature has been added to this game called turn icons. It will determine the number of actions you can perform during battle. If a party member or an enemy manages to hit one’s weak point, an additional turn can be added which is either good for players but also deadly if an enemy gets that chance.
Another thing that makes this combat system better is Team Synthesis. This combat feature uses two turn icons and combines a party member skill with another creating an unparalleled ability to either deal a ton of damage or buff all allies. The consistency of what combat features and other miraculous content it has makes Metaphor ReFantazio a worthy game to get into.
Exploration is also a must in this game. As I said, there will be a ton of side quests to do and what I am amazed by is how big the world is in Metaphor ReFantazio. You can do anything from fighting monsters and enemy soldiers, looting lost treasures, and even discovering new allies that can help you in your quest for the throne. Plus, reputation will play an important role in one’s goals as it will give them an advantage in gaining the trust of the people in earning steep rewards and more.
Running the game on the PlayStation 5 is great, as update patches have fixed the issues of framerate dropping and constant crashes. Though the background rendering feels like it has not improved since Persona 5 Royal, I think the developers should try harder to make it more real and adaptable for those who are into 4K quality gaming.
With all that being said, I can not stop recommending players who are both beginners and veterans of JRPG games to play Metaphor ReFantazio. When the head of the team decided to push through with this game, I was skeptical of it but seeing how well-made this game is, makes me want to play again non-stop and complete all the achievement awards found to share with my friends how good I am in completing it.
