Metaphor: ReFantazio Preview – The year’s most beautiful RPG
thesixthaxis.comA mouthful in all senses, Metaphor: ReFantazio, an original IP from Studio Zero – a team made up of Persona veterans – continues to stretch the word soup of game names to its limit. But what does it mean? Well, just like part of its namesake, it’s an idea, a comparison, and an image that is designed to take your mind to unexpected places. This becomes even more clear when you actually play it, with Metaphor: ReFantazio drawing on the grotesque and off-kilter ideas of the Persona franchise and spinning them out into an all-new RPG experience.
My word, does it looks good! From the fully animated cutscenes, via the imaginative character and creature designs, the anime-esque gameplay envelops you in a fantasy world that’s totally its own.
Our playthrough starts with a murder. The king, already seemingly on his deathbed, has a blade plunged into his body, potentially sending the kingdom spinning off into chaos, as his only heir had recently died himself. There’s foul play afoot and Louis, a behorned knight, is at the centre of it.
You take on the role of a young Elda boy, whose origin in the story starts by being kicked off a cliff. Accompanied by the fairy Gallica, a slightly more combative Tinkerbell, you’re on a vital mission to infiltrate the royal guard, though that’s as far as your knowledge goes at this point. Perhaps it was the fall off a cliff.
As well as being our companion, the opening of our demo sees Gallica cast our character’s favourite spell, which suddenly brings the world to life with music. I love the idea that the soundtrack has been cast on our character rather than just accepting that every event is just accompanied by music. The vocal-led, high tempo track certainly makes things more dramatic, and throughout our hour with the game it’s often stunning.
Eight tribes and three nations make up the United Kingdom of Euchronia. As you’d expect, the city is more diverse than our characters have encountered out in the sticks, though it’s mainly two tribes – the
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