Metaphor: ReFantazio

If I had to describe Metaphor to someone who's only played Persona: Metaphor is like if they took everything you dislike about the Persona series, got rid of it, and improved the gameplay. That's not to say that Metaphor doesn't have its fair share of issues, (it really does) but it was a great experience nonetheless. First things first, Metaphor looks amazing. There's not much I can say since the UI, the character designs, Archetypes, enemies, etc. speak for themselves. Personally, I think that although Metaphor does suffer from a lower graphical fidelity and being made with an older engine, its incredible art direction largely makes up it. Not to mention, Metaphor also sounds amazing. The OST is so, so good. In terms of gameplay, it's a mixed bag but still a lot of fun. Dungeons aren't a mindless corridor simulator and instead, there's parrying, dodging, combat, puzzles, and the occasional jumpscare. It's engaging and sometimes difficult, and quite far removed from Persona in that regard. When it comes to turn-based combat, Metaphor can be very unforgiving with its RNG, and that's why there's a "retry" button, the auto-save feature, as well as multiple opportunities to save when inside a dungeon. That also means you can take breaks when dungeons are long. Unfortunately, this does make the game much, much easier, so while Metaphor technically suffers from the same issue that modern Persona games do, it's still harder. Regarding the Archetype system, there's an illusion of freedom. I love the freedom that the game gives you to experiment with different Archetypes and party members to find out what works, and that's why it's such a shame that they almost entirely strip you of it at the end. Without spoiling anything: there are Archetypes that you're heavily incentivized to play endgame that require other specific Archetypes to be leveled, largely limiting your autonomy. Any previous Archetype lineages you were playing that aren't needed for endgame are rendered useless or very subpar. Other than that, the Archetype system works well for most of the game and every party member gets some use. Among all of the ATLUS games I've played, Metaphor has the strongest cast by far. I adored every follower link and finished them all (which can very easily be done on your first playthrough). As Metaphor doesn't have a romance system, it allows you choose both male and female characters for special events, which was a welcome surprise, as you can't in Persona 3 Reload/FES. I also didn't feel that any party members were sidelined after their main arc like in Persona 5 (Royal). Aside from good writing, a part of what made the characters so great was the voice acting. I cannot stress this enough: Metaphor's English dub is phenomenal. Stewart Clarke absolutely killed it as Strohl, and the variety of accents is so fun. The villains are loveable, the side characters are loveable, and of course, so is the main party. My main issues with Metaphor boil down mostly to quality of life. The inventory system is cumbersome and unintuitive. While navigation isn't the worse, it feels awkward that travel between big areas like cities and dungeons is conveyed with a map, whereas travel within an area is a list of names. These are minor issues, of course, but there is quite a lot of them. The list extends to time-gating, lack of guidance, the imbalance of Royal Virtues, and so on. Regarding the story, Metaphor is extremely ambitious, so it deserves credit where it's due. Trying to provide commentary on class inequality, systemic oppression, populism, and racial prejudice in an 80-hour game is not easy, and it certainly does it a lot better than some other ATLUS titles, but it is far from perfect. It wants to be provocative while still being palatable, so the message falls a little flat. And in terms of pacing, it can feel chaotic and all over the place at times. However, despite its flaws, it manages to be moving and inspiring, and I can't stop thinking about it even months after playing. It has humor, emotional moments, plot twists, and a lot more to offer. On the whole, I honestly haven't enjoyed a game this much since Persona 4 Golden. Every minute I was playing Metaphor, I was practically begging for it to never end. I had post-game depression before I'd even finished it. Although it leaves much to be desired, overall, it's an excellent game, and I would highly recommend it.

Review from someone whose played Persona 3/4/5 Metaphor is definitely a mixed for me, but I'd lean more towards a recommendation than not. Unfortunately, this game is cursed with the comparison to Persona, especially Persona 5. It's made by the same people, published by the same company, shares the same engine, calendar system and social link system, it's essentially modern Persona wearing a fantasy skin, and as a result I will and have to compare it to those games. In my opinion, the inevitable comparison to Persona was cause for A LOT of my complaints with this game. It makes almost everything Metaphor has to offer feel subpar, leaving everything to pale in comparison to the 3 other games I've played from the same team. - The graphics are ugly on the eyes a lot with few exceptions. The big staircase near the end of the first main dungeon overlooking the city has genuinely some of the worst PS2 level graphics I've ever seen, especially from a post 2020 game, but then the fifth city you visit looks pretty fantastic at nighttime. Performance is also inexcusable for a game of this graphical quality. Absolutely no reason that this PS3 looking game should run as bad as it does. - The level design is pretty bad overall. Most of the cities and areas you visit lack any sort of verticality aside from the odd staircase. Areas and rooms are usually way too big and unrealistically open and it just looks weird, and exploring the towns kinda sucks because of the sheer amount of loading screens and transitions between every segment of them. - All of this is nothing in comparison to the dungeon design because oh my god is it awful. The main dungeons range from so short you don't even realize they're main dungeons or WAY too long that they take you hours to get through. The side dungeons are a whole other level of bad though with the same three or so generic templates where exploring feels so mindless they might as well have been randomly generated. Those side dungeons waste so much time and not a single one of them was engaging in the slightest. Coming from the people who made Persona 5, they're incredibly disappointing. Yes there were palaces that dragged on in that game but the general design philosophy of handmade dungeons with different gimmicks and puzzles is absolutely taken for granted. The dungeons here are no different from the Persona 4 corridor dungeons from nearly 20 years ago but with far less interesting designs. - THE MUSIC... I don't think it's very good. Not to say that it's bad, not at all, but I didn't think the soundtrack was memorable in the slightest, again hate to do it, especially in comparison to Persona as well as Shin Megami Tensei. - The enemy design is also pretty bad. I think their designs are pretty ugly overall but there's just so little variation. A quarter of the way through the game you've seen every one and they just keep showing up for the rest of the game. Persona and SMT have hundereds of shadow/demon designs meanwhile Metaphor has like 20. - The characters are alright, but out of the now 4 mainline Atlus games I've played this game definitely has the weakest cast. The main crew never really feels like a team because the story is lacking those moments where everybody bonds together like in Persona. All of the follower rank scenes consist of you and your chosen comrade alone, leaving no room for their stories to tie together and make it feel like their bond is with each other and they aren't just linked together by their mutual relationship with the protagonist and his ideals. - To end off the list with one final topic, the story. I actually don't think it's bad, but I do still have complaints. The game drags on way too much. I don't think the calendar system and sheer amount of mindless side dungeons help this. The story here doesn't really fit that style and just frankly doesn't have enough merit to justify the length. It took 2/3s of the game for me to play a segment that I actually loved and was really invested in, and the rest of the game after that unfortunately didn't keep that feeling going for me (with the exception of a few parts). This is also the first time that I haven't at least teared up at the ending of one of these games, that's how little I felt personally connected to the story. This is a 100 hour long game, I should be bawling my eyes out at the credits but instead I just felt kind of relieved that I was finally finished. Not that the ending was bad, I liked it a lot, but that personal connection just wasn't there. At the end of the day, even though this review is pretty negative, I'd like to think my hundred hours on the game, most of which was in the last two weeks can speak for themselves that despite it all, I did enjoy the game quite a bit, otherwise I never would've made it to those credits. I guess I just found myself disappointed overall, especially when comparing it to other games made by the same people. I personally feel like there's not much of an excuse to justify certain faults here when the same team has done these things better before. Persona 5 both looks and plays far better than this, and hell, Persona 3 Reload, a remake of a 20 year old game came out a couple months before this game, yet the newer one feels like it came out two console generations before. If you're interested, I say try the game out for yourself. I really just wanted to jot down my feelings in words.

[h3] Metaphor: ReFantazio - Masked Idealism Simulator [/h3] [b] Pros [/b] - Stylish to the max in so many aspects. - Great soundtrack to accompany you along your journey. - New game plus adds some replayability. - The same voice actor who voiced Rush from The Last Remnant now voices the main character here. Sweet! - All characters are unique, however one in particular really stands out. No spoilers. - Supporters each have their own set of story events which highlight their life journey and personal struggles. - Various difficulty options from the get-go. - Can compare your current stats to other players as they've completed the dungeon. - No major bugs/glitches throughout my playthrough. No crash to desktop. Works flawlessly on Linux Mint. [b] Cons [/b] - Linear storyline with limited exploration options in the beginning. - Simplistic plot at times which favours a heavily idealistic storyline. - Characters' viewpoints lack variety, nuance and realism, which in a seemingly complex world, make it all feel shallow. - Too many toothless proclamations and cheap theatrics from characters that become a tad grating by the end. - Limited dialogue options, few (if any) role-playing opportunities. - Limited time system for side quests and exploration. - Insufficient number of save slots. Very restrictive. - In-game character's facial animation sometimes doesn't match the dialogue facial animation. - Specific shop items, even some cheap ones, you can only buy one at a time for no other reason than artificial scarcity. - Some maps are "recycled"/reused. - Tiny mobile home chores simulator. Yes, really. - Big Smoke from GTA must've had a hand in designing some of the doors and entranceways [eerie smoke comes out of them].