Metaphor: ReFantazio will have how many endings? Director reveals details exclusively to Voxel

Japanese RPG enthusiasts have many reasons to celebrate this year, and everything indicates that the biggest attraction is yet to come. This is the impression that Metaphor: ReFantasiafrom Atlus, leaves each new glimpse of information and playable demo. The title is the reason why Studio Zero was founded in 2016: to establish a new intellectual property, set in a fantasy world, with the leadership of some of the most renowned names for consolidating the series Persona e Shin Megami Tensei.

At the invitation of Atlus’ press office, the Voxel was one of the Brazilian vehicles that had the opportunity to talk, exclusively, with Katsura Hashinodirector of the last games numbered Persona and who now reprises his position in Metaphor: ReFantasiato understand more about the launch. It is worth remembering that the game officially arrives in October 11th para PC (Steam), PS4, PS5 e Xbox Series — with localization in Brazilian Portuguese.

A familiar new world

With nearly three decades of experience in the gaming industry, Hashino-san has a resume that speaks for itself. He was behind the direction of cult games such as Persona 3, Persona 4 e Persona 5who, time after time, were responsible for positioning the franchise as a reference in the RPG genre worldwide.

Leaving this comfort zone to bet on something new is something that can bring mixed feelings to fans. However, with Metaphor: ReFantasia, developers want to connect with audiences in a different way: leaving aside the modern setting, focusing on Japanese high school life, and delivering a new kind of world to explore.

“That’s a rough way to sum it up, but fantasy, as a genre, is typically about escaping reality. Here, we wanted to create a way to escape reality and immerse yourself in this fantasy world, but then find something there that you can bring back to real life and have meaning for you,” explains the director.

Source: Disclosure/Atlus

The story takes place in the United Kingdom of Euchronia, which is plunged into chaos and despair following the assassination of the king. With the throne abandoned and no heirs, as the prince was afflicted by a curse, a Royal Magic comes into force and begins an “electoral tournament” in which the protagonist, called only Traveling Boy, decides to participate to free his friend of childhood.

Therefore, strengthening the character’s bonds and relationships is fundamental throughout the journey. This may sound quite familiar to fans of Persona and, based on the flow of the conversation, it is not a mere coincidence.

“The relationships between characters occur in a very similar way to the bond systems we introduce in video games. Persona. Em Metaphorthe difference lies in the fact that your character seeks to be the sovereign of a nation. There’s a kind of electoral magic going on, and to achieve your goal, you need to travel and gather support,” says Hashino-san.

“[As relações] they are much more focused on this idea of ​​visiting many places on your journey, meeting people and deepening your bonds so that, at some point, these people can support you,” he adds.

Metaphor: Will ReFantazio have more than one ending?

This whole premise of traveling through a nation, the importance of the bonds between the characters we meet along the way and even choices, which appear during the dialogues, can lead to a recurring doubt: there is a possibility that Metaphor: ReFantasia have more than one ending?

According to Hashino-san, that is not the intention. “We carefully considered our approach to the ending. We realized that, to tell the story we wanted in this new world, only one ending would be ideal. But I hope everyone plays the entire game to discover what it has to offer,” said the director.

Throughout the conversation, Hashino-san also assured that the game was produced so that players can feel like themselves throughout the journey. “We don’t want this to be an RPG where you play as another individual and then experience the world only from their perspective. We want it to be the kind of game where players can be themselves,” he commented.

“It’s a fantasy game, exploring a new world, and there’s a lot of value in that. We’ve put in a lot of interesting content, so we really hope that players can enjoy it and say, ‘I’ve always wanted to play a title like this.’ This is the feeling we want to evoke from our audience,” he concluded.

Visual and gameplay archetypes and decisions

One of the central themes of Metaphor: ReFantasia It’s about facing your own anxieties, and it seems that this has a lot to do with the powers that the characters have access to during the adventure. This is where Archetypes come in, which act as if they were playable classes. We were able to hear, from Hashino-san, a little about the intentions behind these “entities” that, visually, are very reminiscent of the Personas.

“Em Metaphor: ReFantasiaArchetypes are an inner force. A type of internal aspect of each character, as if they were heroic figures that are present in each of us. Instead of borrowing this power from outside, like the demons we summon in Shin Megami Tenseiit’s more about awakening a strength that already resides within us. So, in that sense, it’s a little different from our last games,” explains the director.

Source: Disclosure/Atlus

Hashino-san even joked and laughed when remembering a personal case. According to him, a friend had dislocated his arm and the group that accompanied him, at the time, hurriedly called an ambulance. But as everyone was anxious and desperate, they ended up finding the courage to put their colleague’s arm back in place right there.

“From this experience, when accidents happen or we are faced with extreme situations, there are parts of us that emerge that we had no idea were with us; things we never imagined we could do,” he compares.

Traditionally, Atlus is also well known for the look of its games — in particular, its neat user interface. The public’s initial impression is that the game leans towards a more medieval aesthetic. It’s true that this was a starting point, but Metaphor seeks to be something more authorial.

Source: Disclosure/Atlus

“For example, the user interface initially had a more medieval look, with more metallic and aged elements, which we see a lot in works of this genre. But in the end, we wanted something more unique, a little more stylish — but not too pop as for games Persona,” he continues. “There’s a lot of trial and error in this process.”

Finally, Hashino-san gave details on how the unusual mix of real-time and turn-based combat works in Metaphor: ReFantasia.

“We wanted to create a nice rhythm to the way the game plays out. So if you see an enemy that you’ve faced previously that wouldn’t be a problem, you can wipe them off the map. The intention was to ensure that you could keep rhythm by facing them quickly, easily and also fun,” he explains.

“But then, if you see something new or mysterious, without being sure how powerful it might be, you can approach it at your own pace and take your time to think about it. In doing so, we seek to preserve both of these elements of [sistema de] combat,” he concludes.

A word to the Brazilian public

To end the conversation, I deviated a little from protocol and rolled out my Japanese to ask Hashino-san for a message to the Brazilian public who are looking forward to the release of Metaphor: ReFantasia. Showing a happy reaction of surprise at the question in his native language, he replied:

“We know how much our fans in Brazil love our games and we are very grateful for that. Metaphor: ReFantasia brings together everything we’ve learned in the last few years of development and all the interesting things we’ve done in our games, but also adding new challenges that were only possible now that we’ve embraced the fantasy genre,” he explains.

“Therefore, we hope that all Brazilians are excited and are sure that Metaphor: ReFantasia is an RPG from Atlus [como vocês conhecem]but with some familiar things and some new ones”, guaranteed the director.

Metaphor: ReFantasia arrives on October 11th, with texts localized in Brazilian Portuguese. Those who want to get a taste of the adventure can now download a very generous demo version, which promises up to six hours of gameplay and includes the prologue of the experience.