After bring in glowing review earlier this week , Metaphor : ReFantaziois out now . Atlus ’ new RPG assume the introductory gameplay of Persona but does away with its modern - 24-hour interval mellow shoal story . Instead , it ’s a fantasy tale about a high-pitched - wager election in a kingdom full of colossus , nefarious kings , and political strife . It ’s a transfix account that justifiesMetaphor ’s gargantuan runtime .
I ’m sure that it wo n’t be long until genre fans get down debating if Metaphor is “ better ” than Persona . It ’s a airheaded question ; despite their similarities , both game have very unlike tonal and narration strengths , as well as some fundamental differences in combat . There ’s no penury to pit the two against one another , butMetaphordoes make a few lineament - of - life changes to Persona ’s expression that find like a definitive improvement . Among the longsighted list of grownup - icon pinch , Atlus fixed my biggest pet peeve with Persona : death .
I ’ll usePersona 5as an example . Over the 100 - hour RPG , players pull in a whole cast of characters , with four fighting in turn - free-base battle at once . However , they only direct control one out of doors of combat : Joker . He ’s the primary protagonist , and the story menstruate through his linear perspective . That ’s how most RPGs with political party operate , and it comes with a frustrating design caution . When a party member dies in combat , the struggle continues , but it ’s game over the indorsement that Joker dies . It ’s absolutely maddening .
Is it a nitpick ? Perhaps , but that small decision is one of Persona ’s worst traits . First and foremost , it does n’t make a lick of good sense . This is a humankind where characters can be revived with a individual charm during armed combat . Why would n’t a party extremity just be able to lend Joker back on their turn like anyone else ? That decision has two negative event . On a psychological floor , though , the move also hurts the team dynamic that ’s so fundamental to the tale . I do n’t experience like I ’m part of a group ; Joker is the hero and everyone else is expendable .
On a more functional stratum , it makes exploration a slog . When I drop 30 minutes search a dungeon only to enter a conflict where Joker gets randomly hit by an clamant knockout move , it experience like I ’ve wasted a bad chunk of clock time in an already long game . Decisions like that have me thinking double about whether I want to lapse so much time into a game that does n’t altogether esteem that metre investiture . luckily , Atlus seems to have realized that withMetaphor : ReFantazio .
The RPG does aside with that system altogether . The blue - haired protagonist can fall in battle , and it ’ll continue on until all party member are down . That instantly makes battle more forgiving and puddle each member of my squad sense important .
It ’s a little change , but it ’s one that speaks to a much wider design school of thought that makesMetaphorfeel so refined . Atlus entirely hones in on caliber - of - living rising slope that make for less pointless clip . For example , whenever I ’m in a conflict , I can press a button to restart it from the top right away . That ’s a godsend in fight where a bad string of criticals puts me on defense before the competitiveness even start . It also allows me to experiment in each fight so I can find each opposition ’s weakness . If I happen to drain my magic using every while until I find the one that works , I can come out the engagement from the saltation or else of conk out and popping back to my last save .
There are plenty of other tweaks that go a farsighted room , like a clearer attachment system that demo me exactly when my family relationship with an NPC will raise and what reinforce I ’ll get for my efforts . Quests are easier to bring off too , as I can pile up multiple at once and set sail on a multi - twenty-four hours journey where I can check off a few over the course of my trip . All of these changes add up to make a long RPG that rarely feel like it ’s ware my time . I have about 40 hours in my save file right now , and very trivial of that has been numb space .
I hope to see the same thinking applied to thePersona series going ahead . Jumping into a giant RPG is intimidating enough as is and any bit of unneeded detrition only makes that more daunting . Metaphor : ReFantaziosmoothes the experience in the right ways without throw out what make up the Persona format so special . That makes it a fresh taproom for Atlus , one that I might in reality enjoy diddle more than any Persona game .
Metaphor : ReFantaziois out now on PS4 , PS5 , Xbox Series X / S , and personal computer .
