Metaphor: ReFantazio

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Developer(s)	Studio Zero
Publisher(s)	Sega JP: Atlus
Director(s)	Katsura Hashino
Producer(s)	Junichi Yoshizawa
Designer(s)	Azusa Kido Kenichi Goto
Programmer(s)	Yujiro Kosaka
Artist(s)	Shigenori Soejima Yasuhiro Akimoto
Writer(s)	Yuichiro Tanaka Katsura Hashino
Composer(s)	Shoji Meguro
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S
Release	October 11, 2024
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a 2024 role-playing game developed by Studio Zero and published by Atlus in Japan and Sega worldwide. Metaphor: ReFantazio was first announced under the codename Project Re:Fantasy in December 2016, with no further information revealed until 2023, and was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 11, 2024.

The game is set in the United Kingdom of Euchronia, a medieval fantasy realm mirroring the contemporary real world, after the assassination of its former King. Years earlier, an assassination attempt on the Prince resulted in him being cursed and falling into a long slumber. The protagonist, Will, an orphaned boy of the magic-wielding Elda tribe and the Prince's childhood friend, participates in the Royal Tournament, held to decide the throne's successor, journeying across Euchronia to rally support from its people while searching for a way to lift the curse.

Metaphor: ReFantazio sold one million copies on release day across all platforms and received widespread acclaim.

Gameplay

It incorporates multiple gameplay systems previously used in other Atlus role-playing games, featuring a hybrid system that combines traditional Press Turn–based battle mechanics during initiated encounters and boss fights with real-time action combat in the field. The game also features several social simulation elements prominently used in the Persona series, including time-sensitive activities structured after a day-to-day calendar and the "Follower" system, in which the player forges bonds with the locals of Euchronia's regions in order to increase public favor towards Will ahead of the election to decide the next King.

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Main article: Characters of Metaphor: ReFantazio

Metaphor: ReFantazio takes place in the United Kingdom of Euchronia, a medieval fantasy realm that consists of various races called Tribes, including: the horned clemar, the long-eared roussainte, the grey-skinned and white-haired rhoag, the winged ishkia, the bright-eyed and luminescent-haired nidia, the bestial paripus, the bat-like eugief, the three-eyed mustari, and the human-resembling elda. Despite efforts to unite the Tribes as equals, discrimination is rampant, with some Tribes, such as the paripus and elda, suffering the most. The protagonist, named Will by default, is a boy of the elda tribe who has been ostracized by society and endures discrimination and prejudice for being "tainted" with the inheritance of forbidden magic. Along with his fairy companion Gallica, who assists him with her knowledge and ability to sense a form of magic called Magla, he embarks on a quest to lift the curse placed on his childhood friend, the prince of Euchronia; the prince was attacked and cursed in his youth, and since then has remained comatose and is believed by all but a small Resistance to have been assassinated. The country is also terrorized by mysterious, powerful and bizarre monstrosities called "humans". While not a theocracy, Euchronia's state church is that of Sanctism, which is led by Sanctifex Forden.

Plot

Hythlodaeus V, King of Euchronia, is assassinated by general Louis Guiabern. Will and Gallica are sent by the Resistance to find rhoag mercenary Arvid Grius. Will meets Leon Strohl da Haliaetus, a clemar and former noble, and the two battle a human. Will awakens to the power of Archetypes, heroes of old, and defeats the human alongside Strohl. The pair meet Grius before making camp; as they sleep, Will is sent to the isolated realm of Akademeia where he meets More, a mysterious author who wrote a utopian novel that inspires Will. More helps Will and his friends improve their Archetypes and access new ones.

Grius, having been present the night the prince was attacked, infers that Louis had cast the curse, and that they must kill Louis to break it. Once the three return to the capital of Grand Trad, they scheme to assassinate Louis at the king's funeral. Louis appears before Forden, the presumed successor to the throne, and makes a claim to the throne while admitting to his murder of Hythlodaeus. Louis brings with him the massive corpse of a human to prove their existence to the doubtful crowd and claim that only he can protect them. The palace suddenly uproots itself and floats into the sky. Hythlodaeus's spirit, possessing the palace using the "Royal Magic", announces that his successor will be chosen in a few months' time based on whoever receives the country's popular support, with the two top candidates immediately being Forden and Louis. Grius moves to kill Louis, but the Royal Magic stuns him, with Hythlodaeus announcing that any candidate with sufficient support will be protected from harm. Louis kills Grius and sends his servant, the necromancer Zorba, to retrieve the Royal Sceptre from beneath the palace. Will and Strohl meet Eiselin Burchelli Meijal Hulkenberg, a roussainte and former Kingsguard who served under Grius when the prince was attacked; once she learns of the pair's mission to save the prince, she joins their cause. Zorba, unable to stop the Royal Sceptre from ascending to the palace, is defeated by Will's group. Before he seemingly dies, he reanimates the human corpse, but Will's group defeats it as well.

Forden and the Sanctist Church plan the Royal Tournament, a series of trials around the country that will allow anyone the chance to win favor, with many participants acting as proxies for Forden or Louis. With no means of killing Louis thanks to the Royal Magic, the party plans to infiltrate Louis's inner circle so they can find and destroy the curse's composition. They determine to gain Louis's attention by gaining favor in the Tournament, so they journey across the country on a gauntlet runner, a massive vehicle piloted by Neueirus "Neuras" Corax, the royal family's former engineer.

The tournament's first task calls for the head of a monster, but upon arriving at desert town Martira, the group finds all the major bounties have already been claimed. They instead decide to take the head of a rogue knight accused of kidnapping children. They confront the knight, eugief Heismay Noctule, but discover that he was framed by Sanctist saint Joanna. Distraught from the murder of her mixed-race child, Joanna was feeding the town's children to a baby-like human. The party slays the human, and Heismay, whose own child was murdered years ago, convinces Joanna to confess her crimes and act as their "head" for the tournament. The party travels to the coastal city of Brilehaven, where Joanna confesses to the abductions. Forden immediately has Joanna executed to save face, and Will gains recognition from both the public and Louis, who accepts Will's request to serve under him. During a soiree held by Louis, Will steals the curse's composition and recruits famous nidia performer Juani "Junah" Cygnus, an undercover Resistance agent spying on Louis, into the party.

The second task is to retrieve holy relics from "pagan" lands. Louis instructs the party to retrieve the spear Drakodios from Virga Island, home of the mustari tribe, and sends with them his lieutenants, paripus brothers Fidelio and Basilio Magnus. They travel to an ancient temple to protect mustari priestess Eupha Etoreika, and once beneath the ground, they discover the ruins of Shinjuku which are said to be from the "World Before" which predates Euchronia's history. The party, now with Eupha in tow, kill the human guarding Drakodios and obtain it, discovering that it bypasses the Royal Magic. They travel to Altabury Heights and produce a counterfeit to hand off to Louis, then later attack him with the genuine spear, seemingly killing him. The party hands the spear to Forden to save their reputation, but when the prince remains comatose, they realize that Forden had orchestrated the prince's curse. Forden publicly admits he had the prince cursed and framed Louis, but is approached by Louis himself, who had faked his death with the help of the still-alive Zorba. Forden attacks Louis with Drakodios, but it is the counterfeit; the genuine spear is in the hands of Louis, who uses it to kill Forden. Fidelio dies protecting innocent Sanctist bystanders from Louis, convincing Basilio to join the party to avenge his brother.

With Forden dead, the Senate nominates Junah's stepsister Rella as his successor. Now able to kill any candidate with Drakodios, Louis convinces Hythlodaeus to lift the Royal Magic's protection to ensure a fair fight, then discards Drakodios as he no longer needs it. Rella reveals that as a child, she herself had cursed the prince after Forden had threatened Junah. She forces the party to battle her, and upon her defeat, she announces to Euchronia that the prince is alive and reveals the Sanctist Church's involvement in his disappearance. She then succumbs to her wounds, finally lifting the curse. Louis issues a challenge to the prince to duel him for the throne at Grand Trad. Will, posing as the prince himself, battles Louis, but Louis forcibly transforms Will into a human, announcing to the assembled crowd that the elda race and humans are one and the same. Will is able to return to his elda form, but the party is forced to flee from the furious crowd.

Seeking shelter, the party heads to the secret elda sanctum to meet the prince, but discovers that he was killed by Zorba shortly after the curse was lifted. Upon finding the prince's body, Will is contacted by the spirit of the prince's mother, an elda woman who the king had fallen in love with upon visiting the sanctum years prior. She reveals that when the prince was cursed, his hopes and dreams to change the world took on a physical form to adventure across the land while he could not, this form being Will himself. If Will refuses to admit that he is the prince, Louis takes the throne unopposed and destroys Euchronia, erasing it from history. If Will chooses to merge with the prince's body, he takes on the prince's appearance while retaining the personality he had formed with his new friends. The party then learns that humankind, those who lived in the World Before, discovered Magla and wielded it in devastating wars. The monsters known as "humans" are a result of anyone being overexposed to sufficient Magla, which is formed from anxiety. The elda tribe are the descendants of the original humans, while other survivors evolved into the other eight tribes.

The party returns to Grand Trad and find that Louis has already ascended to the palace in the sky to claim the Royal Sceptre for himself. Once in the palace, the party battle and kill Zorba, who had been partially transformed into a human by Louis. The party learns that Louis is an elda who was traumatized when Forden had the elda sanctum burned to the ground years ago to kill the prince. The Royal Sceptre is revealed to be the source of the Royal Magic; the nation's people point their anxieties towards the king, and those anxieties take on the form of Magla, which the Royal Sceptre draws in as tremendous magical power. Louis plans to unleash the stored Magla in reverse, using it to transform everyone in the world into humans; he reasons that the strong, like Will, shall regain their original forms, resulting in a world where only the strong can survive and where prejudice will no longer exist. He asks Will to join his cause; if Will agrees, they rule over the newly created nation of humans. Should Will decline, Louis battles the party; when Louis attempts to transform Will into a human once more, Will rips his own heart out to stop the process, seemingly killing himself.

Will is brought to More in Akademeia, who claims that everything until now was a fantasy while the utopia from his novel is in fact reality. If Will accepts More's plea, they leave Euchronia to its fate. If Will refuses to give up, More realizes that he is in fact Hythlodaeus's younger self, having separated from his body just as Will had from the prince. Hythlodaeus, having given up hope after his son's supposed death, created More to guide Will alongside the spirit of his wife. Will, fully healed, is awoken by his friends to battle Louis once more. In an effort to overpower the party, Louis transforms himself into a human, but Will and his friends destroy Louis and the Royal Sceptre. The spirit of Hythlodaeus pronounces Will as the new king before he and More disappear. One year after Will's coronation, he and the party depart on another journey to solve Euchronia's remaining problems.

Development

"Humans", the monsters in the game, were influenced by medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch (detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights).

Following the Japanese release of Persona 5 in September 2016, the game's director Katsura Hashino, who had been involved in Atlus' tentpole franchise Megami Tensei as the prior game director for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (2003), Digital Devil Saga (2004), Persona 3 (2006), and Persona 4 (2008), as well as the creative producer of the publisher's 2nd Creative Production Department, later known as P-Studio, announced his intent to leave the development team and his duties with the Persona series, citing a personal desire to explore other projects due to what he considered a shift in creative direction with Persona 5. On December 19, 2016, Atlus Japan revealed that Hashino was establishing a new internal development studio within the publisher named Studio Zero. Their first game was announced two days later as Project Re:Fantasy, later renamed Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Metaphor: ReFantazio features Persona character artist Shigenori Soejima and music composer Shoji Meguro. Other key staff include producer Junichi Yoshizawa, writer Yuichiro Tanaka, and gameplay designers Azusa Kido and Kenichi Goto. Alongside the game's reveal, Japanese publication Weekly Famitsu released an exclusive interview conducted between them, Hashino and Atlus company director Naota Hiraoka. The latter outlined the importance of Project Re:Fantasy as a new IP for Atlus, affirming that the goal behind creating Studio Zero was to "aim even higher" with original projects that could stand separately from either the Megami Tensei or Persona franchises, though the development team's formation was previously stifled due to the people of interest to the company being committed to other projects at that time, which partly led to Hashino's selection to serve as creative producer and game director for the project after finishing Persona 5.

Hashino explained Studio Zero's intentions of creating a role-playing game rooted in traditional fantasy aesthetics, reflecting on his awareness of the publisher's reputation for creating RPGs with contemporary backdrops to counter developers who were more comfortable with the fantasy genre as it went mainstream. Hiraoka additionally spoke to Soejima and Meguro's involvement in the project, calling them both "indispensable" members of the Persona team who would continue to hold their respective roles at P-Studio, but were brought onto Studio Zero and Project Re:Fantasy due to a shared desire between Hashino and Hiraoka to have their talents serve another project away from their typical contributions. On December 23, Atlus opened the official website for Studio Zero, with a foreword from Hashino and an unveiling for further staff involved in the studio and Project Re:Fantasy beyond Hashino, Meguro and Soejima. At this time, Atlus was recruiting locally for more staff to join the game's development, including programmers, planners and designers.

A second concept video for the game was released in December 2017 alongside the announcement that Studio Zero was developing the enhanced re-release Catherine: Full Body for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. Alongside the teaser, a new developer message from Hashino was released online, where he clarified the team was "very much in the middle of development", but not to the point where they could divulge specifics regarding the title's gameplay, though the teaser was meant to infer elements of the game itself. In later interviews, Hashino stated that he would have more to share on the game following the Japanese release of Full Body in February 2018. In the November 2019 issue of Game Informer, Shigenori Soejima affirmed his enthusiasm for being involved in the game's development, describing the challenge presented regarding defining "what exactly is fantasy and how can we bring a meaningful fantasy game into this world?". He also asserted that the game was in a state where a concrete direction had been decided upon and the team were moving forward with it. A second interview between Weekly Famitsu and Naota Hiraoka in July 2021 included further anecdotes regarding the game's progress, whereby Hiroaka stated, "Project Re:Fantasy is progressing little by little, and we hope to deliver it when the timing is right."

Story and themes

Katsura Hashino stated that the primary keyword he thought of when devising the narrative and setting for Metaphor: ReFantazio was "utopia", and exploring themes regarding the dissonance between an ideal fantasy setting and the real world, where goals such as achieving equality are unattainable. Hashino and the writing team took into consideration the variance in perspective on topics such as justice and reason, and wished to create a world with characters who did not adhere to strict values of what was morally right or wrong. This allowed them to deviate from the "clear-cut dynamics" previously presented with the narratives in the Persona series, which often involved morally incorruptible teenagers confronting evil adult figures. Despite wishing to largely deviate from conflicts and finer themes previously explored in the Persona games, Hashino wished to retain the player-driven sensation of living through and experiencing another world much like the school life component of the aforementioned series, but wanted the experience to evoke a trip with set intervals for activities, rather than a long journey. Another main theme explored in the game's story revolves around personal anxieties, with the characters having arcs built around "realizing their inner strength, as well as fighting their anxieties and fears by finding personal ground with others." The game's lead scenario planner Yuichiro Tanaka, who reprises his duties from the Persona games directed by Hashino, took inspiration from political clashes in the real world, which he believed to be sourced from the different ways people confront anxiety, leading him and the writing staff to devise the concept behind the tribe system in Euchronia, with disparate communities interacting with their fears in different ways. Unlike the social mechanics of the Persona games, which enabled the ability for the protagonist to become romantically involved with their party, Metaphor: ReFantazio eschews such relationships in order to retain the realism of the scenario. Hashino explained that the game pivoting towards an adult-centered narrative and the royal election as a backdrop meant focusing the strengthening of bonds on garnering support from the different regions around Euchronia, meaning it was important to prioritize the support of communities unto the protagonist over the "back-and-forth of romance."

In an interview with The Washington Post, Hashino described a question about how the game's story was about "hope [and] fighting for a future we can only imagine" as "really hit[ting] the core." Hashino then described hope as "progressing toward something undefined and undetermined by you or anyone else" and said that he wanted players' gameplay experiences to encourage people to analyze their own lives.

Music

The music was composed by Shoji Meguro, who also did the music for the Persona series. The lyrics accompanying the game music were written in Esperanto and chanted by a Buddhist monk.

Marketing and release

Metaphor: ReFantazio was officially unveiled in June 2023 during Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase video presentation, where it was slated to release for Windows and Xbox Series X/S. Later that month, a "Special Celebration Livestream" featuring the Persona Stalker Club was streamed on YouTube where the game was separately confirmed to be in development for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. A second trailer unveiling additional gameplay, character and story details premiered during The Game Awards 2023 pre-show in December 2023. That same month, an end-of-year livestream was broadcast by the publisher featuring guest appearances from the game's Japanese voice cast, and unveiling additional details on the story, characters and gameplay. Starting in April 2024, Atlus held a series of "ATLUS Exclusive" livestreams dedicated to introducing various aspects of the game ranging from systems to narrative content. A second trailer focused on the game's various Archetypes, titled "Awaken" was released alongside the second ATLUS Exclusive stream in June 2024, followed by a full story trailer the next month. A third trailer centered on the election system, titled "Travel Beyond Fantasy" was published online in late August 2024. A fourth trailer titled "United Kingdom of Euchronia" was also released that month.

The game's first playable demo was made available to the public during ATLUS Fes 2024 in June, allowing players to sample three isolated scenarios from the game's story focused on the protagonist's awakening to his first Archetype, an early dungeon, and a boss fight from towards the mid-point of the game. This demo was also brought to Summer Game Fest the same month. A second demo featuring the game's first hour of narrative and gameplay was playable to the press during the week of Gamescom in August 2024. SEGA and Atlus released a full downloadable "Prologue Demo" on September 25, 2024, for all platforms, allowing players to experience the full opening chapter of the game comprising 5 hours of gameplay, including the first four dungeons, seven out of the game's 40 unlockable Archetypes and six Followers, with save data from the demo able to be transferred to the full release.

Metaphor: ReFantazio released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 11, 2024. In addition to the standard release, a special Collector's Edition will be distributed, which alongside a physical copy of the game will include a special steelbook case, a two-disc soundtrack an art book, a set of metallic pins, a sticker sheet, and a cloth map of the United Kingdom of Euchronia. The Collector's Edition is also bundled with a digital history book and soundtrack commemorating the 35th anniversary of Atlus, themed around their prior releases. The digital Collector's Edition contents are also available as part of the Atlus 35th Digital Anniversary Edition. All pre-orders will grant the player access to the downloadable content (DLC) Archetype EXP Chest Set and Adventurer's Journey Pack containing various early-game items for the starting playthrough, while the Collector's Edition and Digital Anniversary Edition will come with vouchers for the game's additional standalone DLC content.

Downloadable content

Eight pieces of day one downloadable content (DLC) are set to be distributed alongside the launch of the game. They will be bundled as part of a "Costume & Battle BGM Set DLC" pack which comprise costumes and custom music inspired by prior Atlus titles. These include sets inspired by the six main Persona games, as well as packs inspired by Shin Megami Tensei IV (2013), Shin Megami Tensei V (2021) and the Etrian Odyssey series.

Tie-in media and merchandise

On September 19, 2024, the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team announced a collaboration with Atlus in promoting the game by featuring the design of the protagonist and their driver Nico Hülkenberg for their F1 vehicles during the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

A manga adaption was announced on the game's Twitter account. It will release chapters in Shueisha's V Jump magazine, and will be drawn by Yoichi Amano.

Reception

Critical reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	(PC) 92/100 (PS5) 94/100 (XSXS) 92/100
OpenCritic	99%

Review scores

Publication	Score
Digital Trends	4/5
Eurogamer	5/5
Famitsu	37/40
GameSpot	10/10
GamesRadar+	4.5/5
IGN	9/10
Jeuxvideo.com	18/20
PCGamesN	9/10
Push Square	9/10
Shacknews	10/10
Video Games Chronicle	5/5
VG247	5/5

Metaphor: ReFantazio received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, while 99% of critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic. The Verge praised the game's handling of the themes of racism and discrimination, finding it tackled such subjects with "refreshing nuance". The Washington Post called it the "year’s smartest, most exciting video game", praised its political relevance, and gave it 4/4 stars.

Sales

Metaphor ReFantazio sold one million units on the same day it launched, becoming the fastest-selling game developed by Atlus.

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result	Ref.
2024	Golden Joystick Awards	Ultimate Game of the Year	Nominated
		Best Visual Design	Nominated
	The Game Awards 2024	Game of the Year	Pending
		Best Game Direction	Pending
		Best Narrative	Pending
		Best Art Direction	Pending
		Best Score and Music	Pending
		Best Role-Playing Game	Pending

External links

• Official website