Time marches on, and the age of a new king draws nearer in Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Trying to introduce Metaphor: ReFantazio feels like an undertaking because the game itself is just that: an undertaking. Within the first hour, players are cannonballed into the world of Euchronia that is filled to the brim with lore, history, dialogue, and sad parallels to our world. Metaphor manages to keep its momentum going from start to finish in its 80+ hours; there is never a dull moment. I say all of this as someone who never meshed with modern Persona titles. Indeed, a lot of Metaphor’s features and style choices are reflective of Persona. But Metaphor is different and somehow manages to carve out its own identity. The accolades this game has earned are valid. I recommend it to all RPG fans.

The game is set in the United Kingdom of Euchronia, which is home to a caste system and a variety of beings of different tribes and beliefs. The opening shows a high ranking officer named Louis murdering the king of Euchronia. Louis’ cunning allows him to evade authority and convince the higher ups of the kingdom to consider holding a vote to determine the next king. This has been appropriately dubbed the Royal Tournament. Normally, the next of kin would take the throne. However, many years before the king’s murder, an assassination attempt on the prince of Euchronia resulted in him being cursed and falling into a long slumber. His survival was kept hidden to most of the world. This is where your character, an orphan boy from the ridiculed Elda tribe, steps in. Together with his faerie partner Gallica, the protagonist needs to find a way to heal the prince and take down Louis so the rightful heir can lead. He also has to win favor with everyone from Euchronia. The odds are stacked against him, but a band of trusted allies and some hidden powers will give him a fighting chance.

It’s tough trying to summarize the narrative of Metaphor without getting too wordy because so much happens so quickly. Naturally, it’s riddled with twists and turns and reveals. It also has a huge, memorable cast of heroes and villains. There are also monsters called Humans that are running amok throughout Euchronia that need to be stopped. And then there’s the hero himself. He doesn’t say much, but when he does people listen. The tale was meticulously put together, and while the result is another “save the world from an ultimate evil” one, it doesn’t mean that it’s any less epic.

The faces that join the main character are one of the best aspects. Similar to Persona, you will really get to know them on a deeper level as you form bonds with them. This adds extra character development and adds more insight to their history, but also helps in powering up your Archetypes. If you think of a classic job system in an RPG (knight, cleric, thief, etc.) then you’ll have an idea of Archetypes. There’s a large number of them that your entire team can use, each with their own uses. But, those familiar with Persona have probably guessed that your time to do all of this stuff, as well as partake in tons of other activities, has a time limit. Metaphor follows a calendar where doing certain things will cause time to advance. As the days move forward, you’re given a goal to achieve before a specifically marked date. That’s the bad news. Luckily, there’s a lot more leeway in this game to get everything done and still have spare time for extra activities.

One of these activities is venturing into a dungeon to fulfill a story mission, a side-quest, a bounty, or to just beat the stuffing out of a bunch of monsters and Humans. Before getting into combat, I want to point out a feature that I’m starting to appreciate more and more in RPGs. If you’re more powerful than the enemies in the dungeon, then a quick swing of your weapon will knock it out and you’ll earn the rewards just as if you were in a battle. It’s a satisfying feeling seeing the rewards rack up as you pummel lower leveled fiends into dust. Enemies at your level or higher have their own quirk. By attacking them enough times, they’ll be stunned and you can initiate a preemptive strike with all enemies in a stunned state. If you’re not quick enough, then you enter combat regularly or with a disadvantage. Pressing the dodge button lets you evade a monster attack so you can continue to strike them.

Combat is another area where Metaphor shines since Atlus’ Press-Turn System is back with some new tweaks. When combat begins, you’re able to use an Archetypes unique weapon for a standard attack, defend, use an item, or call their power to access various physical and magical abilities. In the early parts of the game, you’ll also unlock Synthesis abilities where you can perform combination attacks with your comrades at the cost of more turns icons. Different Archetype combinations yield different Synthesis skills, most of which are a sight to behold. At a glance, Metaphor’s combat will look and feel mostly familiar to anyone that’s played a turn-based Atlus game since the days of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. What separates Metaphor’s system apart is an arsenal of new abilities, a feature that lets your Archetypes inherit abilities from one another, an endless variety of items, and more that slowly gets unlocked the further you get. Also, Metaphor is a challenging game even on lower difficulties. Magic restoration items are in limited supply at the shop and can only be found from treasures or enemy drops. It’s not uncommon to run out of resources and have to double-back to town, thereby wasting a day. Careful planning is required.

In or outside of combat, it’s easy to see that Metaphor is one of the most sleek, polished looking gaming products of the year. I’d go so far as to say it’s one of the best looking games of all time. I say this as someone who will always favor 2D over 3D presentation. The character designs by Shigenori Soejima pop. I’ve been a fan of his work ever since I first played Stella Deus in 2005. Seeing him return to a high fantasy world with matching characters and monsters feels correct. There’s also the variety of locales and vistas and dungeons. There’s also the particle effects and activity represented through stylish wording. There’s just so much to see in Metaphor that it can border on distracting at first. But wait. There’s more. A lot of Metaphor’s story is forwarded by beautifully anime cut scenes. Finally, watching the hero skateboard on his sword is a stylish cherry on top. I rarely gush this much about presentation but I feel like I had to.

So, it’s kind of a bummer that the music isn’t as impactful. Shoji Meguro and the Atlus Sound Team can usually do no wrong, but instead of going with their usual metal or Japanese pop style, they went with tunes backed by Gregorian chants. It’s awkward. There have been a number of memes and parody videos with the main battle theme as the central joke. Then there’s the song that plays in the Virga Islands. It’s the first song ever in my nearly 40 years of gaming that made me laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. Yes, I laughed out loud as the music progressed. I’m not sure where the wires got crossed in the sound department. At least the voice acting and sounds are topnotch.

A hefty new game plus allows players to start a new file with most of their data carried over. Sadly, levels are one thing that doesn’t transfer. This is a shame, because it means completionists will have to go through the entire game again to have enough power and resources to fight a super boss only available on a new play. Naturally, I’ll be doing that. As of this writing, I’ve clocked 80 hours into Metaphor. Most of that was in my first file where I did everything. After getting to a good stopping point in my new game plus, I had to put the game away to avoid burnout. Metaphor is massive. There’s tons to do. While it’s fun, it can be an undertaking. A fun undertaking (fundertaking?) but it’s not meant for quick sessions. I look forward to my eventual return to Euchronia. All RPG fans should find something to enjoy in Metaphor: ReFantazio. Just ensure it’s the only game you focus on because it requires a lot of attention.

Overall, 9.5/10: The future of Euchronia rests on your tiny shoulders in one of the most epic and referential RPGs of the decade.