5/5 ★ – Itsgrimsby's review of Metaphor: ReFantazio.

I’ve been putting off writing this review for Metaphor: ReFantazio because of the sheer amount I have to say about the game. I think the best place to start is that I really love this game. The gameplay loop is so much fun to me in both aspects of the game. I think the Archetype system takes combat to another level from the Persona series and gave me enough enjoyment to replay this game three times in a row. The customisation it allows and the sense of progression as you unlock more archetypes and forms is really satisfying. And then there’s the other side of the game which is the sort of life sim and relationship building part of the game, which has also seen a lot of streamlining. I think hardcore Persona fans will hate that they don’t need to try quite so hard to min max everything. The game gives you plenty of time, and it’s a lot clearer about how the actions you do are benefiting you. Social links for example don’t need you to earn hidden points between levels by spending additional time with your party members; the next stage unlocks after certain events or when you’ve levelled an attribute to a high enough level. The story is also something that really drew me in. I think the fantasy setting is something that appealed to me, and I enjoyed learning all about this new world they had created. The twists and turns that the story takes are really engaging too and some moments literally had me on the edge of my seat with my jaw agape. I think the characters were really well crafted, in particular the antagonist Louis who was a step above the palace rules in P5. I do think as a small criticism is that things do go a bit off the rails in the typical JRPG fashion and the final dungeons are a little bit crazy, similar to Persona 5. To then move on to dungeons and compare them to those of Persona 5, I would say they are weaker in terms of their design. They don’t feel all that unique in terms of puzzles or themes, with a couple of exceptions. But they don’t really compare to how unique the palaces felt in P5. I was trying to think about what my favourite dungeon was and I couldn’t really do it, because none of them actually stood out above the rest. Though on the flip side, they don’t quite feel as much of a slog as a couple of the p5 ones did. With the exception of the very first one I found every major dungeon was comfortable to do in one day of in game time. Which then gives you more time for skill building and socialising which is the loop I love most in these games. I played Metaphor: ReFantazio three times back to back. First was a normal playthrough, and the second was a new game plus run to get the platinum. The third was because I stupidly missed a quest required for the platinum and was not smart with my save files. And usually that would have really bothered me, but playing through metaphor again, albeit skipping cutscenes, was fun and gave me more time with characters I’ve come to really enjoy. I truly hope we get a sequel to this game that takes the archetype system even further because I think it’s my favourite combat system in any game I’ve ever played. Metaphor is an instant classic for me and one of my favourite games of all time.