#i dunno whether to add this to my megaten tag or not

[agathathevelvetlady]

Late Night Thoughts on Metaphor: ReFantazio

Probably going to periodically post thoughts on Metaphor. I'm currently at 6/16(?), so I'm still in the first real dungeon. Lots of points (and spoilers) below the read more; you have been warned.

-Storywise, this game seems made for me. Immediately differentiating the player from the protagonist is a very interesting move coming from ATLUS of all people, and I love me some metaplot. Seeing my own name on the end of the Royal Magic Scroll sent an actual chill down my spine. -Hell, the fact that the protagonist actually speaks is so jarring. I don't know if we've EVER had a speaking ATLUS protagonist. -The whole idea of fantasy being not just a form of escapism, but a form of idealism is a very interesting response to how Megaten handles Alignments; it feels like a much more hopeful version of that basic idea. -Speaking of which, I absolutely love that the protagonists book is clearly about our world but is absolutely an idealized version of it. The idea that our world is in some way aspirational to these fantasy characters? Cool as hell! -Any worries I had about the game having it's edge removed because of the T rating are also gone. Hell, I would argue there's more edge to it than some of Atlus' M rated titles. Seriously, how'd they get away with all this blood and people getting hanged without an M. -On a personal note, I think it's incredibly funny that ATLUS released a semi-meta JRPG where the main characters powers come from "Archetypes" at the same time I was working on a semi-meta TTRPG wherein characters get their powers from "Archetypes". Utterly hilarious coincidence. -I love the fact that there's a bit of nearly every ATLUS game in here. You got DDS mantras, Etrian Odyssey resource management (we even have ariande threads!), Persona social stats/links/time management, Megaten Press Turn combat, FUSION SPELLS (but actually balanced this time), not to mention nearly all of the classes being from some ATLUS game or another. Hell, we've got the Etrian Odyssey Brawler and Gunner in here. This is awesome. -The time mechanics feel a lot less grindy than something like P5; it seems like we'll be restrained to a much shorter chunk of time but it makes each action matter a lot more. -Coming off of P5 Royal being so piss easy that I could do most dungeons in a single day without even trying even on merciless, I am so glad that Hard mode is actually like, Hard. I've already wiped a few times, and it is SO refreshing to have to actually leave the damn dungeon. Does wonders for the game's pacing. -Being able to engage in a bit of real time combat to wipe out fodder enemies or weaken stronger ones is a wonderful system (I believe it's taken from Trails but don't quote me on that). It lets us skip past most of the "fodder" fights and really cuts down on the combat being too repetitive since the times when you will fight will always be against things which actually challenge you. It's not as brain dead as just running up and hitting the attack button, or Persona 5's stealth ambush system. There's times when I legitimately have decided to just engage a fight then and there because I thought it would be too risky to try and go for a break attack. I love making decisions like that. The fact that you have different move sets based on class weapon similar to SMT IV makes it feel fresh enough to keep doing. Character wise, I'm pretty happy with the core trio. I would die for Strohl and that is not a joke. Plot wise, it keeps pulling out things that really just amaze me. That fucking stone head in the sky man. What a great idea. Overall, I'm really happy with the game so far. Cautiously optimistic and with some minor nitpicks (I think some of the VFX need to be toned down tbh). If it follows through on the ideas it's setting up? I could genuinely see this becoming my favorite ATLUS game. I feel like I'm playing Vanilla P5 for the first time again, and it's a beautiful feeling.