Ten unique things you may not know about Metaphor: ReFantazio

I don't think there's anyone who isn't a fan of the JRPG genre who hasn't heard of Metaphor: ReFantazio. Atlus' "third pillar" is coming out in a few months, on October 11, and it's clear from the brief trailers and two digital presentations by its developers that it's a hit in the making based on everything learned over the years from Shin Megami Tensei and its spin-off Persona series. And now we can bring you a little more.

During our in-person coverage at Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles this June, our correspondent David Caballero had the unique opportunity to sit down with the folks at Sega and watch a very exclusive live playthrough of the Metaphor: ReFantazio demo. A limited test that we were able to capture and which you can watch in two parts below, with added commentary and insight.

What's interesting beyond seeing some new details live and the feel of the demo are the comments from Sega's Product Director Irvin Ducornau as brand manager Julie Tran plays through the opening section of the game, as we meet our protagonist, our fairy companion Gallica and get a glimpse of the game's hidden story.

1. The protagonist has voice acting

The first thing that strikes us, of course, is that the main character has voice acting. A departure from the studio's previous works, which have always featured silent protagonists. The original Japanese voice actor, by the way, is Natsuki Hanae, known among other roles in the anime world for voicing Tanjiro Kamado in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and also 9S in NieR: Automata.

2. The interface is much deeper than in other Atlus JPRGs

We also see the new UI design, which has been made a little larger than the one we knew from Persona 5 Royal, to give a recent example. It's noticeable that the days of the week in the United Kingdom of Euchronia are called differently, making it clear just how deep they've gone with the narrative in this game. The day and night cycle is also displayed, and even the current ambient temperature.

3. The significance of Metaphor: ReFantazio as a fundamental piece of the narrative

That the bosses are named Humans after the characters in this world is no coincidence, nor is it a light choice. As Sega's people tell us, it is related to the meaning of the game's title Metaphor: ReFantazio itself. Its design (by Shigenori Soejima and his team) is strongly inspired by Renaissance painting, and more specifically by the work of the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch and his transfigurative work.

4. Soejima's inspiration in the Flemish Renaissance painting of Hieronymus Bosch

Metaphor: Refantazio makes it clear that this is not a copy of Persona in a fantasy world, and that it draws from 35 years of JRPG history, taking things from Shin Megami Tensei, Etrian Odyssey and more. The designers of Etrian Odyssey also teamed up with the Studio Zero team to translate some of their ideas into the complex, layered system of Metaphor: ReFantazio.

5. The importance of side quests

As we progress through the game's first dungeon we are given a side quest to help free some hostages. It seems that these kinds of side quests will be much richer than the typical gathering and messenger quests that are usually in the RPG genre, and that here they also allow us to get closer to our objective (which is to steal the key to the guard room while the guard is asleep) and return to the locked door to free the prisoners.

6. Overcoming your inner demons to awaken Archetypes

When we reach the first boss area (when we finally awaken the power of our first archetype, The Seeker) we are shown a Peril sign, or danger, to emphasise that Homo Gorleo is a unique and powerful enemy. At this point the demo cut away just as the protagonist was awakening his power, but in the second part below we see how the archetypes are used.

7. Is the connection between Metaphor, Shin Megami Tensei and Persona real?

Here we see more similarities to Persona and SMT, because even some abilities (such as Tarukaja) also appeared in the other series' titles. This made us think that, even if it is a completely new and non-derivative IP, there is some kind of connection between Metaphor: Refantazio and the Shin Megami Tensei universe and Persona. Time will tell.

8. New gameplay mechanics inspired by other great JRPG series

As for Archetypes, we know that there will be around 40 different types in the game, and unlike Persona summons, these Archetypes directly transform their user. In fact, multiple party members can be of the same Archetype type, which in turn boosts abilities and creates attack synergies. Again, the inspiration is taken from another well-known series, Xenoblade Chronicles, and more specifically its third instalment.

9. The ace in the hole: Synthesis

While we're on the subject of synergies, here they've created a very curious system for combining two or more character abilities when attacking at the same time called Synthesis. It's similar to the way combo attacks work in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but with the fact that depending on archetype or equipment, even more variables are added. It looks like this will be the real breath of fresh air that sets it apart as a JRPG. Synthesis is a double-edged sword, because it does devastating damage, but leaves characters exposed to a later enemy attack with an advantage. Again, Ducornau summed it up as "big risk, big reward".

Bonus: What's to come...

As you can see from the two gameplays we have brought you, there would be a third part missing, with a boss fight. We have decided to omit it because it could be considered a story spoiler, and Metaphor: Refantazio deserves to surprise and amaze all players as much as we did in Los Angeles.