Metaphor: ReFantazio was one of the best games of 2024, even being a runner up on the 2024 Game Awards ceremony when it lost to Astro Bot — a major slight to a lot of gamers, myself included, mind you — so such a success would certainly warrant a sequel.
Well, yes. But also…no?
Speaking to Game Informer, game director Katsura Hashino stated that an eventual sequel to Atlus’ 2023, turn-based RPG masterpiece would have to make sense for the fans, not wanting to base an entirely new project solely on the previous iterations success.
“When we initially set out to create this game, we had the ambitions of hoping to cultivate this game into one of our brands within Atlus, like a pillar,” Hashino — who’s also a frequent flyer on the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona brands within the SEGA-owned studio in Setagaya, Tokyo, stated. “With that being said, just because we had a certain level of success, we don’t want to just jump on that and quickly put out something as a sequel”.
We want to really give it some thought and make sure that if we are able to continue on in this series, we’re putting together something that is building on the values that we were able to infuse into this game, and something that would be worthwhile for the fans that would be waiting for it.”
Katsura Hashino
Giving a new IP its proper rest might be the key difference between letting fans desire for it some more instead of wearing it out completely by yearly releases and weird-ass updates — like some shooters out there are wont to do — so Hashino’s take on the continuity of Metaphor: ReFantazio might be right on the money.
One of the things that made the game so popular in the first place was the application of Persona-based mechanics, like social links and high-colored visual motifs in an old-age turn-based battle system, inside a completely new setting, brand and story. Sure, it looks similar to Persona and, to a more extended outlook, Shin Megami Tensei, but these similarities stop there, as ReFantazio is capable of standing on its own two legs and, in several aspects, manages to be even better than the previous works it’s based on.
If you’re and old school JRPG fan, give Metaphor: ReFantazio a shot
Metaphor: ReFantazio, as we stated earlier, is a Japanese-style RPg that follows an old-school recipe: hundreds of hours in content, turn-based combat and an overarching narrative that involves racism, political intrigue and hopes for the betterment of the world.
Although the premise is nothing new, the game itself does go through great lengths to sow all of these premises together in a magical setting that will take you to several places, from major urban settings to desert cities and hidden villages.
Gameplay mechanics include old, Persona style novelties such as the social links (where not only you “meet” new characters, but also have to work on your relationship with them) and a day-by-day time limit, one of which we can’t tell you much due to spoilers, but do know the game has to be solved over a set deadline.
It’s far more strategic that our simplistic outline makes it to be, as Metaphor: ReFantazio forces you to choose between doing tons of optional stuff (and killing your alloted time in the process) or blaze through the story and miss a lot of lore and contextual details that expand on the overall world of the game.
On two occasions in 2024, I had the pleasure to meet and have dinner with Hiroshi Kadowaki, SEGA’s CTO and Senior Vice-President of Product Development, and one thing we talked about was Metaphor: ReFantazio — since both cases were informal dinner situations, we were just spitballing, but he did ask me what I thought about the game: I stated that it looked like a laboratory project from Atlus, one where the studio took everything that worked in Persona and tried applying to a new IP.
He nodded in agreement, profusely.
And the rest is history, as they say: Metaphor: ReFantazio stands at a 100% user rating and 93% critics rating on sites like OpenCritic, but Amazon has a whole bunch of products related to the brand — not only the game itself, but Funko Pop vinyl figures, high-detail action figures and even smaller things like collectible magnets.
The point is, the game is still at a high rate of interest: it has hundreds of hours in content and the gameplay to keep you busy without becoming boring — even the level grinding can be fun.
So, yeah, Atlus, do take your time on this one, would ya?
