Atlus has announced that its latest RPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio, will launch on October 11 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
In a recent livestream, director Katsura Hashino states that he worked on previous Atlus titles such as Shin Megami Tensei III, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. Persona composer Shoji Meguro is returning to do ReFantazio’s soundtrack and Nier: Automata concept artist Koda Kazuma is contributing as a guest artist.
ReFantazio’s story follows the protagonist as he fights for the throne after the kingdom’s ruler gets assassinated. Anyone of any social class is able to become the next king as long as they get the people’s support. The kingdom is filled with machinery and vehicles designed by Ikuto Yamashita, who also worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion.
ReFantazio also introduces Archetypes, which act similarly to Personas as they provide characters with various classes. Some examples include the all-arounder called seeker, the mage, and thief. Characters can also transform into different heroic figures and fight.
In terms of mixing real-time action and turn-based gameplay, it looks like you can damage enemies using sword strikes, especially weaker ones. However, if you call your teammates you can band together to initiate a turn-based battle to tackle more challenging foes.
Like Persona’s Social Link system, ReFantazio implements something similar called the Follower system. The protagonist can meet different people throughout the game, and fighting alongside them unlocks new Archetypes.
A Collector’s Edition is available for purchase, which costs $150. Metaphor: ReFantazio is also Atlus’s 35th anniversary title since its first release, 1989’s Puzzle Boy for the Game Boy.
