Eight years in the past, Japanese director Katsura Hashino introduced that he was forming a brand new group inside Atlus after greater than a decade spent engaged on the Persona sequence (and Catherine), saying he needed to strive one thing new. Final summer time, his sport was lastly revealed – Metaphor: ReFantazio, an RPG that options loads of similarities to the Persona video games, however has a character all its personal.
In broad strokes, Metaphor retains many acquainted parts from Hashino’s earlier video games. Like its religious predecessors, Metaphor makes use of a turn-based command system constructed round exploiting the weaknesses of enemies. The principle character, an outcast who makes use of forbidden magic, seems to be an important deal just like the hero of Persona 3 Reload thanks in no small half to the artwork of Shigenori Soejima. Even a few of the terminology is similar, a notable instance being Tarukaja – a spell that enhances assaults in Persona and now Metaphor (although Hashino denies any hyperlink between the 2).
Its pedigree and glorious manufacturing values has been sufficient to generate pleasure in some RPG circles, with some going as far as to name it their most anticipated sport of the yr. However others within the broader gaming neighborhood are a bit extra perplexed, both due to the similarities to Persona, due to the unconventional identify, or each.
So what’s Metaphor: ReFantazio actually all about? And does it have an opportunity to step out of Persona’s shadow and set up a fanbase all of its personal? These are nonetheless open questions, however I did get a bit of nearer to creating my very own understanding of Metaphor once I performed it at Summer season Sport Fest earlier this month.
About Metaphor’s identify, and why it would not have romance
First, that identify, which is unquestionably a mouthful. The Metaphor half is straightforward sufficient to grasp – Hashino says that he needs gamers to have the ability to relate the story to their very own lives. Briefly, he needs it to be a metaphor. “We had all these totally different concepts. We could not consider many good ones so we have been like, ‘Okay, simply Metaphor. It is simple.’”
As for the second half, Hashino says, the group needed to rethink the thought of a fantasy world. Therefore, ReFantazio. Okay, so it doesn’t fairly roll off the tongue, however you’ll be able to’t say it’s not memorable.
As for the sport itself, the demo I noticed consisted of three totally different sections – a narrative sequence, a dungeon crawling sequence, and a boss battle. The demo begins by establishing a few of the world by Gallica, a fairy companion who brings a little bit of an 80s D&D vibe to Metaphor.
Within the sequence, Gallica relates the legend of a spot that appears suspiciously like New York Metropolis, with Gallica amazed by a world with no magic, no tribal battle, and “towers of glass that attain the heavens.” It’s a narrative that appears to recommend that discrimination is a recurring theme by Metaphor, with lots of the important forged members battling prejudice of some type.
Talking with IGN in a follow-up e-mail, Hashino confirmed that Metaphor’s story is “intently associated to the theme of adjusting the world for the higher.”
“As we approached this venture, we needed to problem ourselves to do one thing totally different from our previous works whereas nonetheless leveraging the excellent power and expertise of Atlus as an RPG maker. As we developed the idea of the sport, we realized our curiosity in exploring the thought of interior power and the way individuals overcome limitations. Basically we needed to discover how we will turn out to be the absolute best variations of ourselves,” he mentioned.
“To realize this, we centered on how individuals understand one another primarily based on character or private interactions. This led us to the concept biases or prejudices can kind round judgements of those traits. We created a backdrop to this world round the concept numerous characters on this world are uncovered to some type of bias or prejudice on this regard.”
Whereas the fantasy world of Metaphor is totally different from ours in some ways, if we’re capable of convey it properly, we consider followers will have the ability to discover numerous similarities between it and our personal.”
Finally, Hashino says, his important objective for Metaphor was to maneuver away from Persona’s trendy setting whereas sticking to the format he is aware of greatest. That implies that Metaphor performs an important deal like Persona on a second to second foundation, which is very evident within the dungeon crawling and boss battle sequences. It even has summons that look lots just like the demons from Personas. Admittedly, there’s loads of nuance to be present in these comparisons – amongst different issues, a giant a part of the technique is positioning your characters within the entrance or the again row, and the battles total are a lot quicker – however on the floor the resemblance is evident.
Essentially the most significant change may be discovered within the third part of the demo, which along with the boss battle showcases a little bit of how the story progresses. The place the latter day Persona video games are constructed round a linear every day college calendar, Metaphor is structured extra like a street journey the place you have got the liberty to go the place you please (Hashino compares it to a vacation the place you will not have the ability to see the whole lot in a single playthrough).
Setting a vacation spot on the Gauntlet Runner, the crew’s landship, will take a sure period of time to achieve, throughout which you’ll be able to construct up your stats by studying books with titles like “Delight and Persuasion” or doing laundry.
Notably, Metaphor doesn’t have any romantic connections to construct, in contrast to Persona, which Hashino attributes to the will to keep away from making a “romance sport.”
“We made [Persona] as a RPG story about youngsters. And youngsters, they date, they’ve romance. That is a part of the enjoyment of being an adolescent exploring your boundaries. In order that was why we included it within the sport…as a result of if we did not have this in, it would not actually really feel genuine. For our new gam…we did not need to embody it as a result of it did not really feel as pure, if that is sensible,” Hashino explains.
“The second level I want to make is the primary plot focus is that there is this character, the protagonist, who’s attempting to turn out to be the subsequent king. And fairly than specializing in his love life, we needed to verify we’ve this entire follower system. So we needed individuals to deal with that.”
Metaphor attracts closely from 80s and 90s fantasy
This method sits on the core of what separates Metaphor from Hashino’s earlier work. I’ve usually in contrast the latter day Persona video games to one thing like an anime Buffy the Vampires Slayer, that includes Japanese youngsters who cope with highschool drama by day and battle demons by evening. Once I performed Metaphor, although, the primary present that popped into my head was Aura Battle Dunbine – an early instance of the isekai sub-genre that includes a younger bike fanatic who’s transported to a fantasy world populated by large robots resembling bugs.
Hashino acknowledges that he’s a fan of Dunbine, however chalks up any affect it may need to its vital reputation within the Nineteen Eighties. Extra vital could also be what Soejima calls “the fantasy increase” of the Nineteen Eighties and 90s, which gave rise to File of Lodoss Warfare, Dragon Quest, and a number of different well-known properties.
“So I lived by the late ’80s and early ’90s when there was a fantasy increase over right here, and all of the fantasy stuff that existed in that period and that beforehand got here from abroad was a part of my inventive DNA,” Soejima says. “After that, I learn a whole lot of actually severe fantasy stuff, which got here into me and combined into this different base layer and helped kind my DNA as properly. The primary fantasy I interacted with was [Dungeons & Dragons] means, means again within the day. In all probability greater than books, Wizardry could be what actually influenced me from the fantasy style.”
A method or one other, Metaphor figures to be an fascinating experiment for Hashino and firm. Given a brand new canvas, the group appears eager to place their very own stamp on the fantasy style, drawing from well-known influences and giving them a brand new spin with their distinct verve and elegance. It feels without delay acquainted and invigorating – a recent method that also leans into their particular person strengths, with a heightened artwork fashion and even quicker battle system. Atlus, for its half, is treating it just like the launch of a brand new franchise, giving it a worldwide launch with a major launch slot in October.
“After we have been creating this sport, we thought, okay, we all know that individuals do just like the method that we take,” Hashino says, “so we’ve extra confidence to appreciate our imaginative and prescient with out worry of how individuals will react, as a result of we predict individuals will like our sport.”
We’ll have the ability to see for ourselves when Metaphor: ReFantazio releases October 11 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s Information Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Ship her a DM at @the_katbot.