its like persona but they say metaphor instead and summon their re:fantazios

Metaphor: ReFantazio is genuinely a good game. The combat system in particular did a great job of keeping me engaged but unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the story. [h3] Gameplay, Dungeons and Calendar System [/h3] First off, I want to mention that I’ve never played a game from the SMT series before. This game uses the Press Turn system from SMT, and although I struggled a bit at first because it was new to me, I eventually enjoyed it a lot. I actually preferred the Archetype system over the Persona system. I even did something I normally never do and played on hard mode during my first playthrough. Speaking of difficulty: Persona games are often criticized for being too easy, but Metaphor felt even easier to me. And that’s not the only problem. The difficulty feels unbalanced. I one-shot some bosses, while others took me hours to beat. The dungeons were disappointing. After the Palaces in Persona 5 Royal, I expected something similar from ATLUS. But here, they’re way...

I feel like i need to start this with a reference point: Shin Megami Tensei is my favorite media franchise, and Persona 3 is my favorite video game of all time. Despite being made by many of the same team members as P3-5, I could not force myself to finish Metaphor Re:Fantazio. I made it to the third major city. Pros: - Press Turn System is as good as ever, even though I have issues with the build variety. - Bosses have AMAZING visual design, including an early one that was inspired by a Bosch painting. - The game cuts down on grinding by giving you EXP items, as well as letting you mow down weak encounters Dynasty Warriors-style. - The Social Link equivalents feel a lot more fleshed out than P5, with none of the ranks I experienced feeling like filler. - Aisde from the first one, dungeons (main and side) felt like they were the perfect length. - The dialogue is incredibly well-written. - The world is interesting visually and culturally, even though some of the world-building can be...

Metaphor: ReFantazio is an utterly amazing work of fiction, full of well constructed messaging, gripping narrative & characterization, beautiful artwork, and perfectly picked gameplay elements from previous Atlus titles come together to stitch what I would consider the developer's best game thus far. The game plays in a way that somehow feels reminiscent of not only both Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, for different reasons, but also of grand scale fantasy JRPGs like Final Fantasy. This combination with the use of the persona-style calendar system, and the SMT press turn system, with the rich feeling of adventure as you journey across the country, created an environment for a story to be told in a truly uniquely captivating way. The story of this game repeatedly blew my mind at every turn. There's a lot of really elegant foreshadowing that makes the reveals feel very earned and exciting when they happen. I don't want to get too much into talking about the story beyond that though, as...

Probably the first RPG where I approached the final stretch/ending chapter and couldn't bring myself to finish it out of lack of engagement/boredom. Gameplay - Extremely similar to every other Atlus game, doesn't really do anything that makes me go 'wow!' or encourage me to find something exciting to mess around with. Basic weakness/resistance/ATK-DEF-EVA triangle you've seen many times before. Progression system is a glorified class select without a big variety of interesting abilities to pick from. Side content is copy and pasted tileset dungeons, which is sad because breaking out of the high school Japan setting Atlus is addicted to could have given them so much more to go for. I will say, it's probably FINE if you've never played an Atlus game before, but then, if you haven't, go play Persona 5 instead. Story - I kept waiting for something, again, really interesting to happen. The few twists dropped towards the end aren't super mindblowing, and the background that the world is s...

Overall not a bad game. Can get grindy in the mid to late game (especially if achievement hunting) - but this is to be expected with Atlus games. If you enjoy the Persona series and are after a similar experience, then grab this game. I would however wait for a sale. Solid 7.5/10.

Metaphor: ReFantazio stands out as a bold RPG that weaves real political themes into its fantasy setting. Centered around a royal election, the story explores leadership, ideology, and public trust in meaningful ways. Each candidate represents a different worldview, and your choices shape not just battles, but the future of the kingdom. It’s a rare RPG that treats politics with nuance, asking not just how to win—but why you should lead. Smart, stylish, and surprisingly relevant, it’s a must-play for fans of narrative depth.

I was going to write an in-depth review but screw it. It's like a mix of SMT and Persona. If you don't know what it is, it's super hard at first but after retry or two fights are clear as day. Exploit weakness and slap some ass. It's a good system and doesn't need much change. Press turns with Persona-lite (yes I meant to write lite) social relations feels good and plays good. It's a decent story with seriously good characters. Some drive was lost towards the end but overall story carried through well enough and even if this isn't getting ultimate edition deal it's carried so hard by the cast that it doesn't matter. You got good combat, gorgeous modern Atlus menu style. and the one thing that just stands above all. Soundtrack. Goddamn it's good. Like seriously good. Atlus tracks have been on my re-listen list for a while but not to the extent this is. It's perhaps not for everyone with the priest chants, but in the end I gotta put this stuff up there with the best. Aria of the soul s...

Metaphor was my first ATLUS game, and what an experience it was. In my view, JRPGs should dive deeper into history and storytelling than usual, and this game does just that. Its world is rich and layered, slightly overly optimistic at times, but endlessly rewarding for anyone willing to fully immerse themselves. The game is challenging, harder than all Persona games, from what I later learned and wholeheartedly agree with. If you don’t carefully manage your time and strategy, you can hit a wall that forces you to restart or revisit a much earlier part of the game, which makes every decision feel weighty and meaningful. I am obsessed with the visual design of the Archetypes, their presence is stunning, each one alive with personality and artistry. The music moved me more than I expected; it’s powerful, haunting, and perfectly woven into the world, making every moment feel epic. And the animations, every spell, every action are mesmerizing, bringing the game’s universe vibrantly t...

The timers just ruined it for me. That and the amount of mana management...yes I know later in the game it gets less of a thing, but it just hasn't grabbed me at all and has annoyed me like crazy with it. Tie that together with a host of other small issues and the timer system and it's just not for me. Some small stuff....why the heck is the text so small on the Steam deck? It's ridiculous for some of the dialgoue parts...like a huge text box and 15% is taken up by the text. The same is true for a lot of the menus but I can at least see how that works. In the end though it was really the idea that you have to pick and choose what you do rather than taking your time and doing everything. For an RPG, for me, that is just a death knell. If I had known it before buying I would have skipped the game for sure.