We have a new update on The Future of the Penny Arcade Forums.

[Metaphor ReFantazio] Becoming King through social justice

AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered User regular
So I've been playing a lot of Metaphor ReFantazio and it's so good, I feel this game deserves its own thread instead of disparate discussion literally everywhere. Firstly, if you're unsure what this game is it's basically Persona 5 in a magitech steampunk setting, rife with social inequality and the King has very recently been murdered. You end up with a plucky band of anime protagonists whose goal it is to fix the wrongs of the world in order to become popular enough to become elected. There is a lot of thought and storytelling in this premise, with your classic Persona style gameplay systems, such as needing to manage your time between raising stats, going to dungeons to accomplish your objectives, helping people and building social bonds with your various companions throughout the game.

Here is a launch trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPk4cVrU_w

And it's also reviewed extremely strongly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2d4nyTpwpw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2afXi-ZsIQI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1PXTXhUvfY

With Metaphors solid 93 on Metacritic and 91% positive rating on steam it's looking like this is one of of main contenders for being GotY and so far, I strongly agree with those takes. The wonderfully weird and extremely creative character designs, especially of the monsters and bosses is one of the highlights of the game for me - as well as the refreshing and interesting cast of characters you acquire over the game too.

So far I'm around 20 hours in and I'm having a fantastic time. For me one of the biggest improvements to the JRPG formulae in general is that when you are over leveled compared to enemies, you can simply kill them on the field by just hitting them with your weapon. This ends up being really satisfying, as instead of having to engage in the classic turn based combat of persona - which is still excellent and truly refined to a remarkable degree here - you can just mow through an entire pack of enemies very fast. One early side quest even encourages this in order to draw out a boss you're trying to find and fight. This mechanic is so good, I'm unsure if I can play another JPRG that does not do this.

I really encourage anyone, especially those who may have been put off by the high school setting of Persona, to give this a go. It's very similar in style, but without some of the problematic parts that those games sometimes ended up having. Game is just fantastic and everyone should play it.

«13456711

Posts

  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Game is just fantazio and everyone should play it.

    Fixed.

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    edited October 13
    I was wondering how a certain part of travel was going to work with time and everything.

    End of June
    teleportation! So you still have to plan out routes to new places and side stuff but can freely return to cities to buy things/visit people.

    They just really did a good job making the time feel like something to consider without it being too overwhelming.

    DemonStacey on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    While playing the game I made a comment to my WOIFE that some of the bosses reminded me of stuff Heironymus Bosch painted and sure enough, spoiling for an early game boss in Metaphor, it was a lot closer to reality comment than I realized:
    4e1ycihdhezo.jpg

    Anyone who has played through the early part of the game should immediately recognize this.

    Makes me love the game even more.

  • SCREECH OF THE FARGSCREECH OF THE FARG #1 PARROTHEAD margaritavilleRegistered User regular
    oppa metaphor style! love da game :)

    gcum67ktu9e4.pngog2rk1dxxtg0.png
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited October 14
    Of all the things I had on my list of stuff that would happen in this game
    being shit out by a giant worm
    wasn't one of them.

    Aegeri on
  • BurnageBurnage Registered User regular
    So I'm in
    Brilehaven
    currently and I'm starting to get a feel for something that a few reviewers picked up on; this game has a really, really strong optimistic tone to it, and it almost feels like a counterpart to Persona 3.

    While that game said "Look, enjoy life while you can, because you're going to fucking die", this game is saying "Things are more than a bit shit, aren't they? Let's make them better." And, man. That just feels like the exact message I needed a game to smash in my face this year.

  • SpawnbrokerSpawnbroker Registered User regular
    The overall theme so far does seem to be "yeah, you're gonna mess up, and things might not get better soon, but trying is better than not trying, and you might help some people"

    Which is a pretty cool message.

    Steam: Spawnbroker
  • SpawnbrokerSpawnbroker Registered User regular
    You can turn off screen shake in the settings. The shaking while traveling was making me nauseous, glad they put that in as an option.

    Steam: Spawnbroker
  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    You can turn off screen shake in the settings. The shaking while traveling was making me nauseous, glad they put that in as an option.

    I def need to look through settings and tweak some stuff. That screen-shake aboard the runner has got to go.

    Completed the second major deadline last night; Faker/Gunner Synth was a boon for getting through quickly, as I guess Alligators hate Jugglers.

    Random QoL changes I would have liked:

    1. Just let me quit out of losing battles or reset the battle outside of my turn. Please.
    2. They really should have implemented more types of screen transitions. The “rhythmic tile wipe” is overdone and often jarring
    3. It’s very weird that the Accessory shop is night-time only

  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    You can turn off screen shake in the settings. The shaking while traveling was making me nauseous, glad they put that in as an option.

    I def need to look through settings and tweak some stuff. That screen-shake aboard the runner has got to go.

    Completed the second major deadline last night; Faker/Gunner Synth was a boon for getting through quickly, as I guess Alligators hate Jugglers.

    Random QoL changes I would have liked:

    1. Just let me quit out of losing battles or reset the battle outside of my turn. Please.
    2. They really should have implemented more types of screen transitions. The “rhythmic tile wipe” is overdone and often jarring
    3. It’s very weird that the Accessory shop is night-time only

    There is an escape option.

  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    edited October 14
    1. Escape still requires it be your active turn
    2. Escape almost never works (on Hard Mode?)

    metaghost on
  • PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    Escape chances are keyed to... either luck or agility, can't recall which. Also, one of the follower bonuses improves escape odds, by the description it becomes 100% unless it's a battle you can't run from.

    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
  • DragkoniasDragkonias That Guy Who Does Stuff You Know, There. Registered User regular
    edited October 14
    You know I really appreciate that all you get for giving people the "correct" answers during S-Links is a resource you can get easily enough of your own.

    Kind of always felt like you losing entire days because you didn't pick the best response in Persona really took away from the roleplaying experience.

    Dragkonias on
  • SpawnbrokerSpawnbroker Registered User regular
    I'm glad they realized that people enjoy the light time pressure and hanging out with your best buds. They don't enjoy feeling like they need a guide up at all times so you don't miss the CORRECT response to your friend and also whoops you missed the one night of the week this particular sushi bar is open, you can't access this social link for another month.

    Steam: Spawnbroker
  • BurnageBurnage Registered User regular
    I'm glad they realized that people enjoy the light time pressure and hanging out with your best buds. They don't enjoy feeling like they need a guide up at all times so you don't miss the CORRECT response to your friend and also whoops you missed the one night of the week this particular sushi bar is open, you can't access this social link for another month.

    I feel like I'm waiting for a penny to drop on this one. I'm sure I read an interview with the director saying you wouldn't be able to fit everything into your in-game calendar, but so far I don't feel like I've had any issues keeping my virtues up while still raising my follower levels.

  • JavenJaven Registered User regular
    I think I'm going to stop so directly comparing this game to Persona, because the more that I play the more I recognize that it's extremely not Persona, anymore than regular SMT games, or stuff like Digital Devil Saga is. It's a distinct offshoot of the same formula Atlus uses for everything, but isn't really anymore like Persona than it is like any of the other Atlus IPs

  • PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    The out of combat stuff is absolutely iterating on Persona mechanics.

    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
  • Andy JoeAndy Joe We claim the land for the highlord! The AdirondacksRegistered User regular
    Polaritie wrote: »
    The out of combat stuff is absolutely iterating on Persona mechanics.

    Whereas the combat is largely mainline SMT.

    XBL: Stealth Crane PSN: ajpet12 3DS: 1160-9999-5810 NNID: StealthCrane Pokemon Scarlet Name: Carmen
  • JavenJaven Registered User regular
    Polaritie wrote: »
    The out of combat stuff is absolutely iterating on Persona mechanics.

    Right; it's got DNA from a bunch of different Atlus IPs. For the out of combat stuff; some things it ports over from Persona, some stuff it adds, some stuff it takes away. It's its own thing.

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    edited October 14
    Burnage wrote: »
    I'm glad they realized that people enjoy the light time pressure and hanging out with your best buds. They don't enjoy feeling like they need a guide up at all times so you don't miss the CORRECT response to your friend and also whoops you missed the one night of the week this particular sushi bar is open, you can't access this social link for another month.

    I feel like I'm waiting for a penny to drop on this one. I'm sure I read an interview with the director saying you wouldn't be able to fit everything into your in-game calendar, but so far I don't feel like I've had any issues keeping my virtues up while still raising my follower levels.

    In all fairness they were surprised people managed in the Persona games too.

    But it has been confirmed from multiple sources that beat the game that you can make plenty of mistakes but as long as you try you will still get there with plenty of days to spare.

    Also there is a special NG+ fight... so maybe they just meant that. Technically that is one thing you can't do on one playthrough haha.

    DemonStacey on
  • PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    Burnage wrote: »
    I'm glad they realized that people enjoy the light time pressure and hanging out with your best buds. They don't enjoy feeling like they need a guide up at all times so you don't miss the CORRECT response to your friend and also whoops you missed the one night of the week this particular sushi bar is open, you can't access this social link for another month.

    I feel like I'm waiting for a penny to drop on this one. I'm sure I read an interview with the director saying you wouldn't be able to fit everything into your in-game calendar, but so far I don't feel like I've had any issues keeping my virtues up while still raising my follower levels.

    In all fairness they were surprised people managed in the Persona games too.

    But it has been confirmed from multiple sources that beat the game that you can make plenty of mistakes but as long as you try you will still get there with plenty of days to spare.

    Also there is a special NG+ fight... so maybe they just meant that. Technically that is one thing you can't do on one playthrough haha.

    Persona 5 is the only one I think you could reasonably manage a perfect run in without a guide honestly. Mainly because Fortune is so ridiculously powerful.

    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
  • ED!ED! Registered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    1. Just let me quit out of losing battles or reset the battle outside of my turn. Please.

    I legit can't believe this isn't an option, especially on the highest difficulty. Like there are clear fights where you just do not have the right setup and having to alt-tab and close the game from within STEAM is not the way to go. A simple "Quit to Main Title" or "Load Recent Save" is just to obvious.
    4. It’s very weird that the Accessory shop is night-time only

    This I think is there to prevent you from loading up on elemental Items and doing a dungeon in one day. Definitely silly as the items still cost resources (money) but I can at least see this design decision.

    . . .overall agree that there are some serious QoL-failures that just don't make sense in this year; like really, I'm going to have to sit through these awakenings for every character and Archetype. . .really? What's crazy is the stuff they DID catch like Fast Forwarding through protag responses (which is odd because it clearly calls out these player feedback beats as pointless - as they've always been).
    Javen wrote: »
    Right; it's got DNA from a bunch of different Atlus IPs. For the out of combat stuff; some things it ports over from Persona, some stuff it adds, some stuff it takes away. It's its own thing.

    I think their point is that this is clearly an evolution of the "Persona formula. . ." that ATLUS have been refining through P5 as opposed to the game being "extremely not Persona." I skipped through all the tutorials about "deadlines" and "time limits" and etc. because it is clearly pulling the same management systems that Persona has (just a bit more polished with more to do in the offtime given you aren't in school).

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    edited October 14
    I gotta say i really like the "restart battle" option though.

    Especially since it remembers weaknesses!

    DemonStacey on
  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Finally got the fifth party member. Not entirely who I was expecting, but I think I see what the game's going for now.

    I've been buying up every bath salt I find on the vendors and I'm pretty sure all nights on the runner are just going to be bath nights. It's a real hard sell doing anything on the runner at night but grinding permanent stat ups.

  • MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    I gotta say i really like the "restart battle" option though.

    Especially since it remembers weaknesses!

    "I didn't succeed on the Steal first turn? That's fine, we're gonna do this dance until you give me whatever you're hiding."

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    Game is also a great reminder that when people talk about playtimes they are so frequently talking about very different things. Which always makes all those conversations so much more difficult.

    At like 30 hours. Still no 4th party member(although I'm just about to get them i think!) There is no world this is an 80~ hour game for someone that listens to the dialogue.

    There's so much dialogue!

  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    What’s the maximum number of Combat Participants? I thought it was 3, but “quickly” learned I was wrong.

    Gonna feel bad once I have to start benching people.

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    What’s the maximum number of Combat Participants? I thought it was 3, but “quickly” learned I was wrong.

    Gonna feel bad once I have to start benching people.

    Active party size is 4.

  • metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    What’s the maximum number of Combat Participants? I thought it was 3, but “quickly” learned I was wrong.

    Gonna feel bad once I have to start benching people.

    Active party size is 4.

    And so it was that Strohl was out of a job.

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    Currently i still have 3 people and only my MC is gonna be in my final party! Haha.

    It's nice spending time with you Strihl and Hulkenberg. But know this isn't a permanent thing.

  • PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    edited October 14
    Talk to a specific NPC and spend time with them, on a specific day, and get an accessory that gives +5 to all stats? Yes please.

    (Spoilers for late August)
    It's after fighting the Kraken human, you can talk to them in the lounge. The same day seemed to have an option to talk to Gallica (but... not for follower rank up?) and I'm unsure if that would have given something else, or was perhaps just pointing me to it.

    Also, for people planning out characters - the rank 3 Swordsman class requires level 10 in General (second rank of Commander). Not even complaining, that class line has good stuff. (Buff the whole party's attack two stages for one action is very good!)

    Finally, for when you have to bench party members - spending enough time with party members will give them a passive that lets them get full XP without participating in combat. I think it's rank 4 improves the xp, rank 6 gives full xp.

    Polaritie on
    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    Do benched characters get a-exp? Or just regular?

    Don't care about regular because they aren't coming off that bench haha. But I wouldn't mind some a-exp batteries on the bench..

  • DragkoniasDragkonias That Guy Who Does Stuff You Know, There. Registered User regular
    Currently i still have 3 people and only my MC is gonna be in my final party! Haha.

    It's nice spending time with you Strihl and Hulkenberg. But know this isn't a permanent thing.

    I build my MC for strength so as soon as I get a suitable mage they are a permalock.

  • PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    edited October 14
    Do benched characters get a-exp? Or just regular?

    Don't care about regular because they aren't coming off that bench haha. But I wouldn't mind some a-exp batteries on the bench..

    Not sure, I'll have to check. Didn't really think about it.
    Dragkonias wrote: »
    Currently i still have 3 people and only my MC is gonna be in my final party! Haha.

    It's nice spending time with you Strihl and Hulkenberg. But know this isn't a permanent thing.

    I build my MC for strength so as soon as I get a suitable mage they are a permalock.

    Mage is the fourth person to join. And their base class is really good for it, too. (I got to have fun with "inflict fire weakness to all enemies" into "deal extreme fire damage to all enemies+debuffs" synergies back to back and that's as silly as it sounds). Hulkenberg is a good choice to put in the Mage class a bit if you're looking to chip at elemental weaknesses though, since two of the Knight classes require levels in the Mage line.

    Polaritie on
    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    As far as I can tell 4th and 5th are both magic folks. And those two are deffo joining along with bat-fella.

  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    edited October 14
    Currently i still have 3 people and only my MC is gonna be in my final party! Haha.

    It's nice spending time with you Strihl and Hulkenberg. But know this isn't a permanent thing.

    You can hot swap characters in and out of the party in battle, at the cost of one turn icon. But unless you have sufficient bond level with them, they will still get less exp by virtue of having been placed in reserve in the menu.

    As far as I can tell 4th and 5th are both magic folks. And those two are deffo joining along with bat-fella.

    4th (party member, not to join) is Agi.

    Donnicton on
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    I'm somewhat annoyed by having to do NG+ to get all the trophies, as is my custom with any RPG that does so, but I honestly don't think it will be too bad in this game once you know what you're doing. Plus it might let me see a bunch of rare events that this game has. For example, the toilet does stuff if you use it on certain days. Same with the coronation stone, which has some rare events around it if you check it at certain times during the night. There is a lot to this game TBH and a quick second run through, given you keep everything on NG+ except for levels, will be something I won't mind too much. The rapid fast forward dialog will do 90% of the work anyway.

    I really need more companions suited for magic though, because my MC is built to be a physical dodge tank with stacked agility and smacking things otherwise. But I'm forced to keep MC in more of a magic user role for now. While I love Strohl, he'll be benched and I'll switch my party appropriately as soon as I can get another magic user to replace him.

  • DemonStaceyDemonStacey TTODewback's Daughter In love with the TaySwayRegistered User regular
    edited October 14
    Donnicton wrote: »
    Currently i still have 3 people and only my MC is gonna be in my final party! Haha.

    It's nice spending time with you Strihl and Hulkenberg. But know this isn't a permanent thing.

    You can hot swap characters in and out of the party in battle, at the cost of one turn icon. But unless you have sufficient bond level with them, they will still get less exp by virtue of having been placed in reserve in the menu.

    As far as I can tell 4th and 5th are both magic folks. And those two are deffo joining along with bat-fella.

    4th (party member, not to join) is Agi.

    Yea was referring time join order as that's what the other person was doing. I'm aware of who all the party members are haha.

    And also I just don't swap battle members in games. I want a set party and that's that.

    But if my background members can grind a-exp on mastered archetypes I certainly will take advantage of that! Although that does seem pretty busted so I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work like that?

    DemonStacey on
  • BurnageBurnage Registered User regular
    So the
    masked dancer
    archetype seems fucking wild?
    It's the Fool's ability from Persona! It's like all the other archetypes in one!

  • SpawnbrokerSpawnbroker Registered User regular
    edited October 15
    Spoilers for Abandoned Tomb
    OK I thought this was a side dungeon, I wasn't prepared for the beating I was about to receive.

    Even knowing the "trick" to the mimics doesn't trivialize them on Hard, it just makes them skip every other turn. When they're almost oneshotting my party, it's quite a challenge!

    I think I'm underleveled for this, I'm only level 20 and these enemies are level 25+

    That being said, I just did the boss mimic and it took a few tries, but he went down. This dungeon is no joke!

    Current setup is Mage, Warrior, Mage Knight. Warrior has the merchant gold attack for mimics, and Mage/Mage Knight both have light attacks. Switching my warrior to brawler trivializes most of the skeleton fights, but the mimics are the really hard part of this whole thing.

    Spawnbroker on
    Steam: Spawnbroker
Sign In or Register to comment.