Persona creators reveal new gameplay and release window for fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio
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Persona developer Atlus revealed additional gameplay for its forthcoming fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio, and thankfully narrowed its release window, at TheGame Awards live show.
This summer, director Katsura Hashino said that “high fantasy will be a fresh new challenge for Atlus,” which makes sense since it’s not the high school slice-of-life the Persona series has embodied for 27 years, nor the twisted modernity of Shin Megami Tensei. But, Hashino continued, Atlus plans to “[craft] a fantasy experience unlike any other.”
Based on the trailer showcased at The Game Awards, it looks like Metaphor: ReFantazio will align itself more with the stylized magical realism of the Persona series than the serious, brassy worlds you might associate with other recent high fantasy RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 or Elden Ring. The development team includes veterans of Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Nier: Automata, and Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, and in a weird way that does fit the themes here.
The Game Awards trailer shows turn-based combat marked by crackling lightning flourishes (it helps, I’m sure, that the game’s mechanical designer is Neon Genesis Evangelion mangaka Ikuto Yamashita) and Studio Ghibli-worthy houseboats you can control. There’s a cooking system, too, to craft health-replenishing meals like stews and meatballs, and a watercolor-styled fast-travel map that apparently leads to some amazing sight-seeing.
A PR statement explains that the story hinges on “the United Kingdom of Euchronia, where the assassination of the king brings chaos and unrest to the land.”
“In the midst of this,” it continues, “the protagonist, together with his partner, the fairy Galica, must find a way to break the curse that has been placed on the prince that the kingdom believes to be dead.”
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And Persona 3 Reload is now available for pre-order. Remind yourself of the bestPersona games, ranked worst to bestbefore Metaphor: ReFantazio shakes things up.
Ashley Bardhan is a critic from New York who covers gaming, culture, and other things people like. She previously wrote Inverse’s award-winning Inverse Daily newsletter. Then, as a Kotaku staff writer and Destructoid columnist, she covered horror and women in video games. Her arts writing has appeared in a myriad of other publications, including Pitchfork, Gawker, and Vulture.
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