One Month Later: Is Metaphor: ReFantazio As Good As We Thought?

One month isn't ling enough some people are still playing it like me.

To me one of the flaws of the class system was as you said it didn't encourage you to experiment. The game has magic classes, but since they don't come from a party member the only really dedicated mage is Eupha. I realized about half way through the game that the characters are best kept as the class they come into the game with and just use level up items to give them extra passive abilities. Once they get their final special class it basically encourages you to build a team with those classes anyway. It's just weird that for a class lines like Mage and Healer you probably won't be using them in your party except maybe to steal an ability or two from them.

Also the game send all kinds of interesting accessories your way, but the moment you get the one that lets you do combo attacks and only spend one turn icon, there really is no going back. I also didn't understand the use of the Persona Master job. Why do you need versatility when versatility is build into the very design of the class system? Why do I want Juna to be able to use physical skills when I can just bring a physical character?

In the end it does mean the game can be easily planned for and broken once you realize it's limitations. If I ever do a second playthrough I will be much stronger since I'll never have any kind of wonky class mix.

how do you all beat the game in 50 hours I'm at 75 and still got a month left, possibly more

Combat lacking its own originality and using the standard SMT press turn system with a job system is honestly not a bad thing. I love job systems and press turn was already my favourite combat system. They really didn't need to do anything else with that format, it's already exactly what I wanted there, even if it does have its own flaws.

Wish this game had better graphics. The graphics are horrendous even for an atlus game.

I like the characters in P5 more and I was more invested in that grounded story (well, up until the ending at least), they really took time to build up your scooby gang in P5 and it paid off. I like the art style/soundtrack/dungeon design better in p5 too (for the most part). Still solid but not a masterclass.

The 'is it as good as we thought' media cycle is getting wearing. You can count on them after anything universally praised simmers a while.

I liked it, but I didnt love it. I'd give it a solid 8/10. While they do some tweaking and make slight improvements on the Persona formula, ultimately I feel the game is bogged down by its play-it-safe approach to the game design and story. The game doesn't take any risks or tries anything new or interesting. Its basically if Final Fantasy was a Persona game.

Gotta disagree. I think we’re still in the honeymoon phase and I fully believe this will be looked back on with either lukewarm reception or some negativity.

I got tapped to review it for the outlet I write at and what started off as me being excited quickly turned. By hour 5, I was asking myself “oh, we’re really just doing Persona again, huh?”

By the Dragon Temple, I found myself saying “oh, we’re doing EVERY Atlus trope again” and checked out. Game really falls flat on its face in several ways.

The only place it doesn’t is in the battle system. It’s closest we will likely ever get to a Digital Devil sequel.

But the most disappointing aspect is looking at the initial teasers and concept art, only to realize effectively none of that survived to the final release. They traded traditional fantasy for sci-fi fantasy and a gameplay structure that’s Persona 6 in all but name. It also does next to nothing with the framing device it made such a big deal out of.

I wasn’t wanting a crossover, meta deconstruction of Atlus games. But if they’re gonnna go out of their way to outright copy Etrian Odyssey 1:1 in both a story twist and a full dungeon, they should have done something more interesting with it.

I’m legit still playing it about to beat NG+ and probably start another new playthrough 😅

There’s a surprising amount to do if you want to 100% the game. Getting every follower all the archetypes takes quite a bit of time. I really really hope we get some DLC or additional content eventually. The world and characters they built are way too charming and unique to just be a one off

I expected going in that this would be a tone deaf review that basically was a "Yes", but I highly agree with every criticism going through the game I feel pretty disconnected with the combat and job system and it almost makes me want to lower the difficulty because I just do not enjoy the combat at all that once you do enough side quests to over-level the mobs and can just walk by and kill trash mobs during the main story gives you a reprieve from the annoying FAR too long dungeons killing the same mobs and recolors or bigger versions of the same mobs. The weird thing for me is the story is the best part and I thought the story in persona 5 was the worst part and barely made it through

From what I've seen, the 'hype' seems to be coming from people who were already excited for an Atlus title, and the 'negativity' is coming from folks riding the counter-culture bandwagon. Personally I'm in the middle on Atlus games. I like Persona, I don't like SMT, and I think Etrian Odyssey is fine. I personally loved Metaphor and also agree with nearly everything you've said here. At the end of the day... it's a JRPG. If the story makes you feel something you'll probably come away with a positive impression. The combat is going to either feel amazing or simply competent depending on how people feel about the press turn system, so the characters and messaging are what the game needs to pull off to stand out. It worked for me. It won't work for everybody.

I do wish more of the internet discourse was honest about these big ol games. I like videos like this one. Typical internet discussion seems to go, "I'm naming my children after this incredible game of the century" followed up by somebody saying "I tried to like this game but it's so flat and generic and -awful-!" I mean, c'mon. There's obviously a lotta love put into the game. The people who made it care. The mechanics work, even if it isn't always nailing the mark. At worst the game is competent. If it strikes an emotional connection with a person they'll probably come away remembering it for a long time.

It's my second favorite Atlus SMT/Persona + Spin offs title only behind SMT IV... and maaaaaybe Devil Survivor Overclocked.

But it still has that weak writing characteristic to mainstream JRPGs that relies heavily on the suspension of disbelief (more than every other genre in gaming IMO) with characters and villains making dumb decisions and assumptions and being fooled by low effort plans, deus ex machina moments, in-universe rules being broken by the sudden addition of a new "magical" device (very akin to Harry Potter for example) and a few others.

Still, the calendar system is great in Metaphor, the Archetype system somehow felt as deep and customizable as the mainline SMT games and the villain IMO is one of the best I've seen in JRPGs in quite some time, not for how he's written (he's okay) but how they manage to make you hate him because he's always one step ahead of you, he keeps coming back and he's always in control of his emotions and the situation. He's the kind of villain that, in a more well written and "serious" work, would've managed to kill like 4 of the Followers and destroyed a city. He almost makes you feel like the stakes are high but then when you beat the game you realize that "yea.. this isn't that kind of game".

Last but not least, Alonzo's quest is one of the best things about the game, it is THAT good.

All in all, I'd say for a modern mainstream JRPG, it's a 9.5/10.

50 hours, my ass!...I played for 85 hours and was still grossly underleveled for the final boss

I believe i’m almost towards the end of the game myself and i do love the game. My major negative though is the long dialogue moments. Sometimes it feels like a full hour will go by of me just sitting there just WAITING to want to get into a dungeon and battle but instead i’m spending so much time talking for LONG period of times. Overall, love this brand new IP but definitely looking forward to major improvements for future games within this franchise but game of the year for me is 100% FF7 Rebirth. But wow, so many amazing games that came out within the last few years! 👏🏼⭐️

For me it was a 7.5/10..music and art was nice... however story was super linear...the bad guy at the start still bad guy at the end..I felt the beginning of the game was a 10..but after that I felt it slipped...

I got 80 hours in and decided to just watch a let's play for the rest of it. I enjoyed the game overall, but I stopped having fun "playing" the game at that point. I just want to see the story through. The let's play video I chose which excluded side stuff still had 7 hours to go. I'm sure that would've taken me 20 - 30 more hours.

This coming from someone who doesn't typically enjoy turn based, but I still wanted to give it a shot. It's sad that I didn't actually finish it, yet it's probably my game of the year.

I feel like im the only one who fell out with this game, there are so many just dump parts. The whole joanna questline any your teamates support her i hated, you have to fight hiesmay even tho its abudentlly clear he was innocent. There was a part were you can "select" a scout, but you are forced to do it. The other two dialogue options give you excuses of why they cant do it, so why is it an option?! Your forced into so many dumb positions its really frustating.

So... another game glorifying rulership. There's no such thing as a moral ruler. Slavery is slavery however you want to euphemize it: kingship or government.

Crazy how in some instances people will call literally anything "bad writing" yet in others, you'll have people bending over backwards to excuse legitimately bad writing. 😂

No, it is not

You guys are already revisiting it?? I haven't even finished the game yet and I got it day one!!

Would absolutely love more videos like this. Always interesting seeing how public reception changes after the buzz of a game subsides.

Wait for definitive not upgradable edition. I already burned myself with dq11, persona v and smtv.

Video starts 10 mins in if you've played the game

There’s clearly cut content in the back half, specifically The Mage Academy. And I’d argue the first 2-3 dungeons are of higher quality than the rest of the game. The Sand Worm in particular. The Eupha dungeon goes on and on, and all of the dungeons after don’t quite hit the highs of the earlier ones.

The core foundation is solid but the game feels as if the devs ran out of time or budget to fully realize their vision. A prime example being the side quests. The rinse and repeat of the Dragon Towers was a bit of a slog. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Forden’s Council gets relegated to mere side characters that don’t really go anywhere. If a character gets a text portrait, I expect bigger prominence in the story.

And I’m of the opinion the game reveals its best songs in the first 3 hours. Save for maybe Eht Ria. The game is a firm 8 that could be relegated to classic status had it spent more time in the oven.

Oh yes Atlus ain't messing around with this one

“Finishing a 50 hour game”

Me sitting here with a 110 hour total after beating every dungeon in 1 day and even skipping the last 10 days by resting before the final battle…..

Am I a slow reader?

My only gripe with metaphor is with the amount of scenes that didn't get voice acting.

I felt like the second half fell off a little...still a fantastic game

It wasnt for me. I played until the port town.
JRPGs just arent able to interact with political narratives in any meaningful or deep way.
These settings are always 2-3 question away from falling apart. Unfortunately my standards are quite high bcs of "Legend of the Galactic Heroes".

I ve played it 60 hours, then I broke my ps5 accidentally. My saves are gone. Not thinking of restarting tbh. Its good but its not a masterpiece.

i fell in love with it after the first dungeon (my first atlus game) but as the game drags on it starts running out of new mechanics to show you, starts literally repeating entire side quest zones ad nauseum and the need for resource management goes out the window. Skill expression becomes less about strategy and more about how much IRL time you're willing to spend menuing before every encounter to maximise income/efficiency. It simultaneously feels way too long and rushed at the same time.

The parts of this game that actually make you think about things like tempo, action economy etc. are easily as good as people are saying it is, 93 on Metacritic etc. That is maybe 2% of the total playtime, and thats being generous. There is so much about the game that could have been executed so much better, and its kind of surreal how i barely see anyone talk about its shortcomings.

This is not to mention the story, which wasn't necessarily bad per se but is definitely not even half as good as ppl are making it out to be. I have a rly strong feeling that the almost toxic levels of positivity ppl have about the story is because it makes them feel smart for liking a story ostensibly about politics

It took me 120 and loved it.

What blew my mind is what series this game is actually a part of.

Biggest issue by the end became lack of enemy variety (throw reused bosses in with this), and lack of unique music for many bosses and dungeons. I loved the game and had a blast with the combat system and time management aspect, but it felt a little underproduced compared to P5 in those aspects. I remember playing P5 for the first time and encountering entirely new enemy types and unique bosses in the final two palaces that helped to keep it fresh and push the game to the end, and this just didn’t have that.

Storywise it was still great, and even though it was predictable at times, a lot of the predictable stuff were cases I thought “I wonder if (insert thing) will happen. I bet it will. That would be cool.” and then it did happen and it was cool.

Overall it doesn’t quite hit the same level of quality as P5 did for me, but it felt well worth my time.

gg

No

Peak🔥 but
It also feels like the game is short, for me atleast.
Will play smt v vengeance next.

The video was quite enjoyable, I'd live to see more like it.

For me, Metaphor was an okay time filler between better RPGs. The writing was very on the nose and the story/ending were as generic as you can get. I'm not sure Metaphor is a world I'll revisit as I do with Persona, but the game was a solid 8/10.

If you like the atlus formula especially the mid legacy formula (p3,nocturne, and p4 not p5r or smt 5) then you'll have a blast but if you hate the grindy nature of the mid legacy formula then you're going to hate metaphor. I love it but i know there are p5 and smt5 fans who will probably hate this game.

Whole lite reductionism directed at both the press turn system and job systems in general. They aint broke. Dont fix them.

I was so dissapointed by the dungeons not only the few that there are but they're really unispired compared to P5. Its a great game but I think people are too caught on the hype to really see its flaws

You guys are like the goth teenagers who have to drop edgy shit to feel relevant. unsubbed.

little tip for leveling other archetypes, play as one youve already mastered and start using the fruits. you get instead of archetype levels. I did that and i could max out an archetype for each character in maybe an hour, probably less time than that if you have your whole party set to a mastered archetype. you end up getting 5-10 fruits every battle and you only need about 50 or so to max out any other given archetype. i maxed out every archetype for every character just about in my 2nd playthrough.

Absolutely great idea for a video. Very smart. So easy to get yourself caught up in the hype of a game while you’re playing.

Great video! I finished the game last night, totally my GoTY. Totally realized I’ve missed a lot of finer details after watch your video. Great to know for new game plus!