GamesJRPGMetaphor: ReFantazioI’d love more Metaphor: ReFantazio, but I hope Atlus leaves its outdated re-release trend in the pastWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesJRPGMetaphor: ReFantazioI’d love more Metaphor: ReFantazio, but I hope Atlus leaves its outdated re-release trend in the pastWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)
I adoreMetaphor: ReFantazio. Studio Zero’s debut fantasy JRPG took me 87 glorious hours to complete, and even after it absorbed around two weeks of my life with non-stop playing, I immediately wanted to start New Game+ and experience the whole thing again.
And that I did, but there was one, tiny thought in the back of my mind when I dove back into Euchronia. ‘Will I regret playing this whole thing again if I eventually have to come back a third time, too?’ It feels like that could well happen if Atlus decides to follow the same path trodden with Persona 3 through 5, with an expanded re-release akin to Persona 5 Royal, and I just hope it doesn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad that the likes of Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden exist, and I’m sure any Persona fan would tell you the same thing. However, it’s a lot easier for me to say that as a newer fan of the franchise. Istartedwith Persona 5 Royal, so I never experienced ‘vanilla’ 5 prior to its expansion and improvements, which also means that I had the benefit of not having to play through a 100-hour JRPG twice to see all of it.
Take your time
(Image credit: Atlus)
An unforgettable finale(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)I’ve not stopped thinking about Metaphor: ReFantazio’s perfect ending since I rolled credits, and I’m not sure I ever will
An unforgettable finale
(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)I’ve not stopped thinking about Metaphor: ReFantazio’s perfect ending since I rolled credits, and I’m not sure I ever will
(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)
I’ve not stopped thinking about Metaphor: ReFantazio’s perfect ending since I rolled credits, and I’m not sure I ever will
The way that Royal’s new content is integrated means that even those who completed the original can’t just skip to the new stuff, because so many improvements and additions – including new Confidant characters – are integrated throughout the whole thing. Not only that, but the third semester of completely fresh story kicks off right after the base game’s plot would have ended, so even if you skipped all the text to get to that point as fast as possible, it’s not going to be a quick process. At the very least, Royal was released three years after the original, so it’s not like fans were asked to dive back in immediately. But the point remains that 100 hours is along time, and even if you love these games, it’s a big ask for players to do it twice, especially when so much stuff will be as they remember it.
It’s also hard to deny how outdated this approach feels now, especially when DLC expansions feel increasingly common elsewhere. Just look at the Pokemon series – Game Freak has been releasing ‘the better version’ of each mainline generation of its RPGs since the ’90s, with the likes of Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum sometimes arriving just a year after their earlier counterparts. But since the Nintendo Switch games Sword and Shield, it appears that that formula is a thing of the past for the developer, with the last two generations getting extra story and Pokemon added with DLC, instead. Not only is this kinder on players' free time, but on their wallets, too.
Based on Atlus' output this year, it’s hard to tell if the developer is moving in this same direction. On one hand, we saw the release of Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance – yetanotherexpanded re-release, but one that offers a completely separate story route to choose at the start of the JRPG, along with a launch on platforms outside of the Switch. Then, on the other hand, we’ve got Persona 3 Reload, a remake of the original Persona 3, which has now been given a DLC expansion to include the extra epilogue content added in itsownold re-release, Persona 3 FES.
Metaphor: Re-ReFantazio?
(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)
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“I’d much rather Atlus went with a DLC story expansion for Metaphor: ReFantazio, if anything”
“I’d much rather Atlus went with a DLC story expansion for Metaphor: ReFantazio, if anything”
It’s for these reasons that I’d much rather Atlus went with a DLC story expansion for Metaphor: ReFantazio, if anything – be it a prologue to delve further into the backstory of certain characters, an epilogue to see what happens beyond the credits, or even a completely separate story scenario that runs in parallel to some of the main plot. Not only would it be a far more inviting and approachable way to offer extra content, but it would ultimately help the developer leave the old trend in the past altogether so that you don’t get fans hesitant to buy the studio’s JRPGs at launch in case they quickly become outdated. With that said, though, I do not-so-secretly hope that Metaphor gets the same treatment as its Persona predecessors when it comes to spin-offs. I’d be there day one for a Metaphor dancing game, just saying.
Be sure to check out ourMetaphor: ReFantazio reviewto find out why it’s one of this year’sbest JRPGs.
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