METAPHOR REFANTAZIO GLAZING (review!!)

this is a review for metaphor refantazio by atlus release oct 2024 :3 my fav game ever and i wrote up this review right after finishing it the first time !! im now on my third playthrough and 100% all achievements <3

prepare for word vomit cause this is LONG

characters: 10/10 -- MY FAVOURITE MAIN CAST IN A GAME EVER???? im not even kidding this isnt even recency bias but the entire cast has been written so well. unlike in persona games, the main cast of metaphor were never watered down or undone in their writing for the sake of gags or jokes, as well as generally having extfremely good writing. despite how large the cast is, you do quickly learn to love and adore each of them in due time even in the odd chance you dont decide to do their follower ranks. for example, the last party member unlocked in the game is introoduced before the player even reaches the second dungeon, unlike--for example-- haru in persona 5 who is constantly accused as poorly written due to the lack of attachment the player has for her due to her arc's writing and pacing. as someone who played in the english dub, the voice acting REALLY tied it all together. all the dialogue feels so natural from the cast all around (especially strohl, i fucking love his awakening scene for the voice acting alone). as an added bonus, this is the first smt game with a proper voiced protagonist! though the execution is still kinda rough around the edges, the protag has SO much personality from his delivery and caleb yen absolutely pulled it off. we all already kinda know that the persona protags are kinda awkward losers but the voice acting REALLY adds to that i actually cannot stress it enough youll get it when you play i promise.

dont even get me STARTED on the villain. LOUIS GUIABERN. ngl he is the BEST written villain/antagonist ive ever seen in media and AGAIN THIS ISNT EVEN BIAS HES JUST THAT GOOD i think well he is at least to me. you would assume for him to be another one of those two-faced deciever characters who is a fake ass bitch and everyone loves him BUT NO. he is so genuinely cruel but in the manner in which he can justify his actions and you can find it difficult to argue against him. not once does he lie in truth, hes a villain that puts up n o masks. he is not arrogant and self-centered either, he is simply confident in his actions and ideals and embodies the central message of the game so well. theres just,,,, so much to say about him, truly??? like i actually could go on forever about how well written he is and what a perfect narrative foil he is to the ideals embodied by more, the mc, and the party. he preaches a world of equality that succeeds on paper yet is such a primal, carnal sort of equality based off of weakness and power that it is difficult to emphathise with; yet at the same time, he's not wrong either. hes literally so fucking badass what do you MEAN he will willingly accept death if it were to happen to him because he sees it as a sign that he is not fit to rule on his ideals???? wha rth efuck!?!?>!?!>

the social links too..... theyre SOOO good. theres way less in metaphor compared to persona games and only 8 ranks instead of 10 which tbh is a godsend because then you have more time to do other things like i literally finished ng+ with over a month of free time. alonzo and maria's social links are by FAR my favourite, alonzo's follower link is literally like the akinari of metaphor if that makes sense. unfortunately, they are not voice acted which is a shame but its still really really good. plus your dialouge options dont matter so you dont need to stress over saying something that you dont want to.

plot: 10/10 -- ITS SO FUCKIGN GOOD KILL ME N OWLIEK LIEK oh my god ogh myg os i was losing my mind thorughot the entire game I HAD SO SOS OSO SO MUCH FUN okok p3r and p5r took some time to ramp up in story but metaphor is CONSISTENTLY interesting. ALWAYS. the plot itself wasnt anything TOO special but the worldbuilding, characters, and execution really made me fall in love with it like OH MY GOD the plot twists are crazy good and the first time i havent been spoiled on an atlus game before playing and im SO happy about it like??? a race for the throne isnt anything new, but again the way the game executes the idea is just so??? perfect??? every story arc in the game is pure perfection to me like even the weakest one to me was still so gripping and intersting... the twists were actually bonkers btw like how did they manage to make a FANTASY game, an overused genre, into something new whilst very obviously leaning into the tropes whilst not feeling stereotypical??? like WHAATTTT??? 

themes: 10/10 - trying to handle racism and corruption and general 'society' kind of things are pretty difficult to do in fantasy. we've seen several fumbles of the racism-fantasy-commentary trope handled poorly or in bad taste, but metaphor actually does it well. it doesnt feel like some sort of superfical representation but really, really real. obviously cranked up for the sake of narrative and world building purposes, but its so present throughout the entire game you can really feel how oppression is a major problem in the world. thats not the only theme in the game either--- metaphor tackles with the topics of anxiety, fear, nihilism and power in the manner of how it shapes people, humanity and society as a whole. again, the characters such as louis really encapsulate these themes and it honestly makes you think a lot. 

visuals 9/10 - its an atlus game, what do you expect. graphics wise the game is not nearly as pretty as reload unfortunately (as reload was made in unreal engine) but the ui, art and general art direction is up to the standard you expect from atlus games. I MEAN COME ON the game literally won best art direction at the game awards THAT LITERALLY SAYS ENOUGH. they had the guy from evangelion helping design the mechanical parts of the game + they were given more freedom in character design ofc theyre gonna cook 

gameplay: 10/10 - i cannot glaze the combat enough. personally i am so weak for strategic games and turn based games are the crux of that. metaphor's gameplay is a mix of persona with smt's press turn system-- aka just really difficult. the difficulty spike is really present but once you get the hang of it its literally so much fun to build your party and team for fights. unlike being able to switch personas, all followers have a designated 'archetype' where you can equip one on each party member, with each archetype having a different role such as physical attacks, debuffing, tanking, magic, etc etc. again, this opens up a lot you can do with your party in combat. meaning you can pretty much use any character you want if you truly wished. BUT EVEN THEN!!! there are certain builds and archetypes thats reccomended for each character but theres so much flexability with it you just cant even like,,, IDK ITS JUST REALLY REALLY FUN its so fun to the point i did every single optional side boss, even the new game+ superboss that only like 5%??? of people have completed.  

music: 7/10 - DONT GET ME WRONG. the music is REALLY GOOD. theres just not enough tracks, like why do we only have like 5 tracks for combat in the game with 2 being dedicated to one boss HELLO??? the ost is really good though im just bummed there arent more of it

ending: 9/10!!!!!!!! - it wrapped up everything super super duper well like in persona youre kinda left wanting more and with a b ittersweet feeling but in metaphor the ending just feels so rewarding and good

overall rating: 10/10!!! - CALL ME METAPHOR'S BIGGEST GLAZER IDGAF I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH i had so much fun and finished the game SO quick PLEASE i am begging everyone to pick this game up im actually foaming at the mouth PLEASEE its so good actually changed my life rfav game ever best villain best cast best everything i couldnt stop smiling slash getting sad over the game like how?? was i so captivated the entire time??? peak media