Metaphor: ReFantazio’s High Fantasy Hopefully Won’t Dull Persona’s Edge

A strong year for Sega RPGs continues, as Metaphor: ReFantazio has been dated for October 2024. This is the latest title from Studio Zero, the Atlus and Sega-owned development team behind the Persona franchise. In many ways, Metaphor: ReFantazio resembles a Persona spin-off, building off of the gameplay loop and art style that was last iterated on in Persona 5 Royal. With Persona 3: Reload and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth paving the way for Metaphor at the start of the year, excitement for this new yet familiar venture will only grow as its release approaches.

Metaphor: ReFantazio takes place in the high fantasy United Kingdom of Euchronia that, as the title suggests, parallels reality in subtle ways. As both the prince and the ruling king have been struck down, a tournament to choose a new ruler has been invoked. The protagonist is an underdog hero from a persecuted tribe, who, in order to fulfill his mission of helping the comatose prince, is participating in this contest of strength and popularity alongside a growing group of allies. It’s refreshing to see Metaphor: ReFantazio leave Persona’s high school stomping grounds while retaining its strengths, but the space it has entered is far from empty.

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Urban fantasy is a rare and complicated genre to tackle, especially in video games, but Persona made it its staple. Japan has been producing other games featuring school life simulations and relationship building for a long time, but Persona made the jump of combining high school with a dungeon-crawling fantasy RPG. Despite being a spin-off of the somewhat more traditional Shin Megami Tensei franchise, Persona struck a chord with many players, and its setting has gone on to inspire not only several indie RPGs, but Shin Megami Tensei 5 itself.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Is Betting On Its Brand of Fantasy

​​​​​​Stepping out of this comfort zone might seem reasonable for Metaphor: ReFantazio, but it comes with risks. The game retains many of modern Persona’s elements, and it’s easy to link both of them through appearance alone, so Metaphor: ReFantazio uses its genre to distinguish itself. Sizable audience overlap could still occur, but there’s no telling exactly how much there will be. Metaphor’s genre shift should at least distinguish itself from the aforementioned 2024 Sega RPGs, which is good, but it’s also doing so by treading on grounds fraught with constant competition.

High fantasy is the go-to setting for many RPGs, with examples being made around the world all the time. Japanese high fantasy RPGs alone include the Ni no Kuni and Fire Emblem series’, both of which have narratives, aesthetics, or mechanics comparable to what Metaphor: ReFantazio has inherited from Persona. On top of that, high fantasy is also the realm of industry giants, like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Disconnected from the IP its creator is known for, Metaphor: ReFantazio is taking a dangerous gamble, albeit one that it’s equipped to handle and has everything to gain if it works.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Could Thrive In The Face Of Adversity

It would be reductive to ignore all the strengths inherited from Persona, as well as unique traits like the addition of Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s real-time field combat. Metaphor is also not just a cookie-cutter fantasy setting, with modern architecture and instances of futuristic technology present, like several Final Fantasy entries. There’s also the matter of its story, which synergizes with its setting to replace Persona‘s high school students with free-range protagonists concerned with long-distance travel and public relations. If all goes well, Metaphor: ReFantazio could be a breath of fresh air for the Persona fandom and a perfect jumping on point for newcomers, not to mention a successful franchise in its own right.