I rolled credits on Metaphor ReFantazio this week, wrapping up my 65 hour run with this impressive RPG. I’m well-versed in Western RPGs, from the original Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games to Divinity and Dragon’s Dogma, but I have never put a substantial amount of time into a turn-based “JRPG” (is that a meaningful shorthand anymore?) like this - a bit of Persona 3 Reload earlier this year is the extent of my exposure to this developer and genre. Metaphor is a high water mark for Atlus. It’s comparable to Elden Ring, in that they are taking what they have learned from nearly 30 years of Persona and SMT games and distilling that experience into a grand fantasy story with snappy combat, great characters, and a flexible progression system.
All of this combines to make Metaphor the perfect entrypoint to this genre. The combat is easy to understand but has enough depth to stay engaging for most of the game (more on that later). It is also extremely snappy, a necessity in a turn-based game where you will execute more than 1000 battles. The strategy revolves around a simple type weakness system, and the game makes it clear very early on that you need to exploit this system to succeed at combat. Before entering a dungeon you talk to an informant that gives you an idea of what you’ll be facing, and you should go in with the right archetypes (classes) and equipment to give yourself an advantage. If you’re ready and appropriately leveled, this will lead to most basic combats taking less than 5 seconds to complete. Boss battles give more depth, and by late game you have enough tools at your disposal to make many different approaches valid.
Past the normal equipment and items, the primary means for customization is the Archetype system. I think that this is a brilliant approach to character customization and progression. It clicked with me immediately where the Persona system did not. Any character can study any archetype given that they meet the pre-requisites (levels in other archetypes), and once you’ve unlocked a skill you can then pay a price to inherit that skill in any other archetype. This gives you an combinatorial explosion of possibilities: Give your berserker a mage skill that boosts MP? Sure! Want your healer to have an attack that spends money? Go for it! The game is generous enough with progression resources that by the end of the game I was able to configure all of my characters however I wanted without any tedious grinding.
Finally, the story and characters. I won’t say too much about the story here, as people like Gene Park have said it much better than me, but it is one of my favorite videogame stories ever told. It has genuine things to say about society, democracy, and fascism and does so without resorting to simple answers and just-so tidy resolutions. The cast of characters is memorable, particularly as new characters join your group. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there were multiple moments that had me cheering as characters you’ve grown to know finally taking the step to join your party.
My one gripe, and warning: the game is too long and runs into some pacing issues in the last 15-20 hours. I spent 65 hours with it and would be able to recommend it without reservation if it was a 40-50 hour experience. By the time the final act came along I had progressed my party enough to feel like I’d seen everything the combat system had to offer, making the remainder of the game a mix of grind and some annoying bosses that spiked the difficulty (thank goodness for difficulty setting toggles). It also feels like there was some cut content in the last section of the game, the most interesting stories and dungeons are all in the first half.
But even with that caveat I strongly recommend Metaphor if JRPG-curious or already a fan of the genre (who am I kidding, you’re already playing if this is your type of game). It tells an earnest tale and asks some serious questions all while giving the player an engaging turn-based RPG. If you are worried about the length - try the demo, play the game, and if it starts to drag later on just turn it off and watch the rest on Youtube. I can’t wait to see what Atlus does next.