Metaphor: ReFantazio [Review]

Metaphor ReFantazio is the pinnacle of almost everything ATLUS has done in the past, and that can be both super exciting and sometimes somewhat predictable, considering all the other works they've made in the past.

It is an RPG through and through with its gear, stores, questing and what else. It doesn't shy away from being a role playing game, and a fantastical one in that matter. They're getting staples of the fantasy genre like fairies, goblins, and elfs; and making nice spins on it, with a deeply political and many times revolutionary storytelling.

For me, the world building, writing and main scenario were one of the best in videogame and RPG history. It is a diverse and varied group of people that made me cry and reflect many times between the 100+ hour experience that was Metaphor. While the cast and the protagonist are super well done, the villain of the story is not that much behind: it is one of the most iconic and complex RPG villains that I've ever seen.

The battle system is pretty challenging, even if not being that different from other ATLUS games. And that's fine too. It is a harder game than Persona 5 or 3 Reload – and for that I commend Metaphor again. It is a game that doesn't shy away from its themes and systems, so I had to navigate through different classes, formations, and gear to be able to progress safely in the dungeons and boss encounters.

The missteps of the game are reserved to some stories from your companions not being that well flashed out, some aspects of the exploration being a bit repetitive in the higher difficulty content and a grindy experience if you want to unlock and level up a lot of classes and do all the super bosses on the first run. Although the story is great, there are too many similarities and common events with Persona 5 main scenario and even in some of its game systems.

On the technical side, the game ran great at stable and fixed frame rates on the PS5, but the texture filtering is not that well implemented, and it makes some locales of the game less good-looking. The game is not in a bad technical shape on PS5, but it needed a bit more of time in the oven to even out these visual missteps.

Metaphor is a lot of stuff but definitely isn't derivative, though: it carves its identity in its vision, world building, battle system, characters, and writing. The dungeons are some of the best ATLUS ever done (I didn't even think they were capable of doing these kinds of dungeons in their moderns games).

All in all, a super memorable game, stellar RPG that sometimes have too many similarities with the studio's previous work, with undeniable charm and strong art that can deliver, even with these said similarities, a unique and satisfying game to play and finish. It is like reading a long fantasy novel. Of the good ones.

9.5/10