Metaphor: ReFantazio Has One Surprising Thing in Common With Persona 5 Tactica

gamerant.com:

Metaphor: ReFantazio has been rated Teen by the ESRB, unlike the vast majority of Atlus's contemporary games. Metaphor: ReFantazio will hence have the same classification as some of the company's most age-accessible titles, such as Persona 5 Tactica.

Metaphor: ReFantazio was officially unveiled at the June 2023 Xbox Games Showcase as the first original project from Atlus Creative Department 3rd Production. Also known as Studio Zero, this company branch consisting of Persona series veterans has so far put out just one title, the 2019 Catherine: Full Body, a definitive edition of the 2011 puzzler Catherine. The ESRB and PEGI have attached a Mature and 18 rating to all editions of Catherine, respectively. In light of that background and the information that Atlus has shared so far, many fans were expecting Metaphor: ReFantazio to be another Mature-rated title.

But it turns out that won't be the case, at least as far as the ESRB classification is concerned. As recently spotted by well-known Sega leaker Midori, the Metaphor: ReFantazio website states that the game had already received a Teen rating. That classification stands in stark contrast with most of Atlus's recent releases; since 2019, the Japanese studio has made just two other Teen-rated games, Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore and the critically acclaimed Persona 5 Tactica. At the same time, the game received a PEGI 16 rating, which is on par with the vast majority of other modern Atlus games.

The ESRB and PEGI have historically mostly been in agreement when it comes to rating Atlus games. The cause of this unusual classification mismatch is currently unclear. Although the European organization normally publishes brief product descriptions that help explain its rating decisions, the upcoming RPG has yet to appear in its game database. Metaphor: ReFantazio's political themes, character designs, and lore tidbits that Atlus has shared to date have all pointed to this being another M-rated game.

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