Metaphor Refantazio Prologue Demo Impressions: AWAKEN THY HEART!

Please note that this is just my impressions after I completed the demo that is available for everyone. This is not a review of the entire game as I haven’t completed, or obtained, the game yet. I will indeed be releasing a full review of the game; however, it will be once I complete the game. Please note the game is estimated to be between 80-100 hours long, so it will be a bit later on. The demo took me 8 hours to finish, and man did a lot happen in it. Without further ado… here are my full impressions based on the demo that is available.

In my opinion, Atlus is one of, if not, the best out there in regards to building JRPGs and JRPG worlds. Ever since I played the original Persona 5, I have loved everything they have touched in some way shape or form. JRPGs usually have a deep story, and Metaphor Refantazio doesn’t disappoint in this regard. I love when games want you to feel connected to characters quickly. You also want a to have a clear, or at least a fairly clear reason to hate a villain. I that is absolutely the case for the villain, named Louis, in the game. The story so far is about a prince of a kingdom who had a curse placed upon him. The father of the prince, aka the king, was killed by Louis. Early on, you learn that it was also Louis who was the one who put the prince under the curse. Both of these actions were done because he wanted to take the throne. With no remaining heir and the king dead, it would be easy for him to do so. Shortly before the funeral of the king takes place is where your story begins.

You are tasked to bring a message to someone who works in the guard. In order to do this, you are tasked to be hired on at the guard. You and the rest of the new recruits are shortly sent to a tower where a Human has been spotted. Humans in this game are monsters that have been known to destroy the world. Thankfully the tower is where your contact is located. Captain Klinger is your boss in the guard; however, he also works with Lord Louis. The captain purposedly sent your group off to their demise. Klinger didn’t count on you and your new friend, Strohl, actually surviving. This becomes a problem, so the captain sets up a trap to catch you off guard on your way back to the city. There is more story involving what happens during and after the funeral… but I don’t want to spoil everything the game offers you. Simply put, you are now in a battle with other people to gather people of the world under your banner in order to see who is deserving of becoming the next ruler.

For the first hour or so of the game, you really aren’t doing a whole lot in terms of actually playing the game. I am not going to lie, it was definitely a tad off putting to sit through cutscene after cutscene. I hope the rest of the game doesn’t have as many cutscenes all at once, as it definitely puts the wrong tone in some eyes. When you finally get the ability to move the character and run around, you still shouldn’t try battling yet. If you try, you definitely will could easily die as you don’t have any equipment. Once you get to the city, the gameplay really hasn’t started still and you should just make it to the quest marker and ignore certain things.

The gameplay really starts once you get to the first dungeon where you can battle enemies. The game is a turn-based RPG with different abilities like standard attacks and special attacks. During the Human boss battle at the tower, you will unlock the first Archetype for the main character. Archetypes have special features that are different between all of them. Some focus on a more magical attack set up, some are more defensive, some are status effects, among other things. I love how the awakening of it happens; however, I will admit it is extremely similar to that of how you unlock your personas. This time, instead of ripping off a mask on your face, you rip out your heart and speak your voice of what you believe to form the Archetype.

Once the Archetype is unlocked, that is when the true game starts! You start to develop more of a relationship with many characters, learn more systems, unlock new abilities, start your traits, and more. You will make your way through the Nord Mines to get back to the city, and Strohl will unlock his power of the Archetype. If you played persona, it is pretty similar to that formula and sometimes it felt like I was basically playing a persona game in all but the name. You have character traits that you work on, explore dungeons, fight enemies, leveling up different things, and more while also focusing on the calendar. You have a certain number of days to complete certain main and side missions, with each day having either one or two activities you can choose to do. On days you go to the dungeons you have to rest at night… just like in Persona. On days you don’t you have a day time activity, and a night time activity you can do. I loved it since I love the persona formula, but can definitely see the formula wearing on some people. There are more things here and there that you will work on, but I am not spoiling everything!

The voice acting in the game is absolutely terrific from the main cast to the side characters. Not every single piece of dialogue is voice acted, but there are loads of it that are. The banter between different characters are terrific, albeit sometimes is a tad much. The music in the game is just heavenly to listen to. Here was the first little section when you get to move around before reaching the city for the first time. I can already tell there are going to be absolute masterpieces throughout the game based on the first 8 hours I have played.

Overall, the performance of the game is very stable. I played the demo on the PS5, and I am glad I did since that is where I will be, most likely, reviewing the full game. I had a few moments where there was a couple of dips in the frame rate, but none of the dips lasted long or caused issues with the gameplay. The issues occurred in different places including the open world in the city. The visuals of the game are absolutely terrific from the stunning character models, the different dungeons designs, the city backdrop, the world map, and everything else you can think of. The UI and the UX in the game are also terrific; however, I will admit that sometimes the colors and artistic style will be a bit much on your vision at once. Speaking for the artistic style, the whole game is just stunning! Again, just like with the gameplay, it reminds me of the persona universe… but honestly there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

When it comes to Atlus titles, very rarely if ever have I played a game from that isn’t at very minimum least good in parts. Metaphor Refantazio from Studio Zero and Atlus is already shaping up to be one of the titles that shines brightly with the likes of Persona 5 Royal in my book. P5 is one of my favorite games of all time, and hopefully this one will go on that list too! The story is engaging right off the get go and I cannot wait to experience more. I already know it is going to take me on twists and turns over the 80+ hours I am going to sink in for my first playthrough. The gameplay is great and felt like Persona… but honestly, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it! The audio, music, and voice acting are all terrific and I am ecstatic to hear more from this world! The art and visuals in the game are terrific and cannot wait until I see more! By the way, if you want to check out the game but are nervous in any way, I would recommend playing the demo as it gives a very good sense of everything. The full game comes out October 11th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The game is priced at $70 USD for the standard edition and $150 for the collectors edition.