The long-awaited Metaphor:ReFantazio is finally out! Developed by Studio Zero, known for the acclaimed Persona 5, fans have been eagerly anticipating this release.
While I don’t play every JRPG that comes out, I’ve played most of the Persona series and thoroughly enjoyed Persona 5. Now, after about four hours into Metaphor, my thoughts so far are a bit mixed.
Let’s start with the positives: the dialogue and writing are top-notch. Whether you’re playing with the English voiceover or the original Japanese, both are of exceptional quality. This level of attention isn’t always given to voiceovers in multiple languages in many JRPGs, so it’s a welcome touch here. The gameplay also has that signature Studio Zero style—it’s slick, fast-paced, visually stunning, and makes you feel immersed in the experience. Although Metaphor leans into a medieval fantasy setting, the art style avoids becoming cliché, keeping it fresh and unique.
One interesting narrative choice is how the game lets you name yourself as an observer of the story, separate from naming the protagonist. I’m curious to see how this will tie into the plot later on, as it seems like an intentional decision to unfold the narrative in this way. On that note, your companion, a fairy named Gallica, serves as both a guide to the story and a helpful explainer of game mechanics—an addition I appreciate.
Now for the negatives. There’s hardly any real gameplay in the first few hours. Yes, the anime-style cutscenes are beautiful, but you bought this game to play. To break up the cinematic sequences, the game inserts “fake” gameplay segments. For example, you might watch a seven-minute cutscene, and just when it seems like the game will finally let you play, you’re met with a string of text-heavy tutorial screens. You walk about 10 feet, and then—bam—another 10-minute cutscene. The most frustrating part was having to click through almost 10 tutorial screens before I could return to the action.
Now, I can already hear people saying, “But that’s how Persona 5 was!” And I agree, to a point. Persona 5 did start with a cinematic, but within five minutes, you were into meaningful gameplay without interruption. Metaphor, on the other hand, leans a little too heavily on cutscenes early on, which is unfortunate. I’m confident the game will improve later, but for now, it feels sluggish—and I hate having to say that.
That being said, even at its slowest, Metaphor is still one of the best JRPGs we’ve seen from such a talented studio and publisher.
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