Metaphor ReFantazio: hands-on report

blog.playstation.com:

Anyone familiar with Atlus’s deep and involving role-playing games has been eager to see what the strange and magical Metaphor: ReFantazio has in store. And while it’s not directly connected to the popular Persona series, there are some intriguing touchstones across its aesthetics and mechanics to hook fans and newcomers alike. Let’s take a close look at some of these intriguing similarities and differences ahead of the October 11 release date.

Fans of Persona’s fast-paced yet detailed turn-based combat will find themselves at home here, but Studio Zero has given it a little twist, too. You can engage in real-time combat with low level enemies, taking them out with a handful of targeted strikes or even a single blow if your current level totally outclasses them.

There’s a dedicated dodge button to avoid their attacks if they see you before you can act, which is also handy for foes which are too tough to take out in real-time. In which case, you can initiate a turn-based battle after you’ve softened them up with an action strike – especially handy if you can catch an enemy off-guard first, giving you a free hit during the turn-based Squad Battle.

Real-time combat can be used to any monster’s advantage, too. During one instance I thought some vicious beasts were blocked by some barrels, but they smashed right through them, initiated the Squad Battle, and got a free hit on my party in the process. Lesson learned – I used the protagonist’s Fae Sight a lot more often from that point to be more aware of nearby enemies and have Gallica assess their threat levels. But if things are going really badly, you can also press L3 to restart the battle.

As the game’s main plot develops, one of your aims becomes balancing tasks through the day to gain democratic popularity while completing other objectives to become more powerful, creating bonds with other party members or hitting certain story milestones. As in Persona, each of these consume time as you creep towards specific