Metaphor ReFantazio

A new game from the Persona team, bringing all that's good from the games without the restriction's of the game's universe and high school setting: Metaphor ReFantazio has been awaited eagerly by JRPG fans and newcomers alike.

You never saw that coming: The development team of the Persona main series at Sega subsidiary Atlus has not, in fact, working on a new persona mainline title after Persona 5 Royal, but has gotten the freedom to develop its own next IP. And yet, they took with them what they learned and liked from Persona, from the familiar anime artstyle to the stylish menues up to the fighting gameplay mechanics.

Instead of masks or cards, Metaphor ReFantazio utilises so called Archetypes to explain powers not unlike Personas in its story (but utilised in much more JRPG-common ‘Job’ classes). People are beset by their own anxieties, given form as demons. Fighting them works in a combination of real time and turn based role playing fights. The world is significantly open, more reminiscent of the current Shin Megami Tensei V mainline title than of the more menu-based Persona subline. However, with the usual time management (let’s use the words of the marketing that describe it: “Go on quests, dungeon dive, & hunt for treasures by day. Strengthen relationships, build bonds, & increase virtues by night.”), Metaphor evokes Persona again.

It seems almost exhausting to mention the connection of the team and the game style to the previous series again and again. But Atlus and Sega themselves are very keen on the comparison in their material, for obvious marketing reasons. The team has produced an absolute blockbuster with Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, spawning several spinoffs in differing genres. In March 2024, the whole Persona 5 sub-franchise (including both main title and enhanced rerelease, Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Tactica and the dancing game Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight) reached 10 million sales overall according to Sega’s annual data. There will undoubtedly be a Persona 6 sometime in the future. But as of yet, the Persona series is still connected to the Shin Megami Tensei main series, even if it already far surpasses it in recognisability, at least in the west. With Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance just a few months behind us, and several different sub series like Soul Hackers occasionally getting new titles, it is a thin line for Atlus and Sega to avoid franchise fatigue. And it can be hard for people not yet invested to start with a game numbered 5 or above. Giving the talents of the team form in a new universe that has the same strengths, but can try new things and shed customs that may be unnecessary for different game types gives the team more freedom and a new group of players the potential to become fans – and enter into the extended Shin Megami Tensei fandom in the same process.