Metaphor: ReFantazio is far more than just Persona in fantasy clothing, it could be a new high bar for the genre

The battle music in Metaphor: ReFantazio is incredible. Urgent, insistent chanting builds tension over dramatic string stabs before a glorious brass fanfare emerges with choral harmonies. It's as grand and operatic as the game as a whole. It's also diegetic - not just a background score but summoned into the game world by the player character's fairy companion to inspire. Music is - quite literally - magic.

A soundtrack of bangers won't come as a surprise to fans of Atlus' previous RPGs - the Persona games in particular are known for their jazzy funk tunes. Here, the switch to rich classical orchestration presents a new style but a familiar reliance on catchy earworms.

And that's emblematic of Metaphor as a whole. Structurally and gameplay-wise it's somewhat familiar, yet smart changes and a shift to high fantasy ensure this is a fresh experience and the next step in Atlus RPGs. It's far more than just Persona in fantasy clothing.

Metaphor: ReFantazio — Travel Beyond Fantasy | Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC

Despite the first Megami Tensei game launching in 1987, it wasn't really until 2006's Persona 3 that Atlus hit the mainstream in the west. That grew further with Persona 4 (2008) and then exploded with Persona 5 (2016). Since the latter's release, outside of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Atlus has been mostly preoccupied with looking backwards with spin-offs and re-releases of its existing catalogue. Metaphor, then, marks the future - a brand new standalone world and story built on recognisable mechanics, what it's calling a "culmination of our RPGs". It's an exciting prospect.

Perhaps the biggest shift for Atlus is the high fantasy setting, instead of the modern day Japan of its most popular games. I got to experience this myself in an extensive hands-on preview. It began at the start of the game, outlining events in the United Kingdom of Euchronia: the king has been assassinated and leaves no heir, meaning the royal sceptre and its world-shattering magical power is up for grabs. Cue an adventure to become the next leader through a fantasy election.

The story is told through some spectacular anime cutscenes that, more than ever, give the impression of a playable film. This is no longer an intimate high-school drama, but a grand, epic adventure and the start of a new saga that represents Atlus' take on a traditional RPG setting.

Despite its election premise, though, Atlus appears keen to distance itself from strong political connotations. In a video message during the preview, director Katsura Hashino said the team "really didn't realise this title might overlap with any specific real world elections", adding they "continue to be surprised by the strange similarities between our real world and the world of Metaphor".

While an election can bring out rivalries, it also sees "people putting in a lot of effort and power into making a better future, and we wanted to really focus on the power that we can potentially bring to make the world something better," as lead scenario planner Yuichirō Tanaka put it during a Q&A. "We have no political agenda or message that we want to push, [the election] is more so a tool, if you will, that we decided to use to convey the story."

Still, Hashino stated anxiety and finding common ground with others is core to the narrative. Indeed, prejudice in a multicultural society is clearly a key theme. The world is filled with various races - elves, cat people, and those with horns - but the player protagonist is an elda, or what appears to be human (confusingly, monsters in this world are known as 'humans'). Immediately it's clear he's an outcast, but any inner anxiety he experiences can bring strength through acceptance.

Tanaka explained the game explores the different ways people face anxiety when they're confronted with it. "With that idea in mind, we decided to separate these tribes from the actual races we see in real life," he said. "We've taken away all these existing ideas of race and created these new tribes with this game with that as a foundation. We believe that this is a very original concept for this game and something that we are proud of."

Where the Persona games blur the real world with fantastical nightmares and political parallels, Metaphor does the same but in reverse (hence its symbolic title). The protagonist carries a fantasy novel around with him, which appears to be a fantasised, utopian version of our world - one in which all people live in equality - that contrasts with the clear divides of the game world. Can this fantasy truly become a reality for the inhabitants of Euchronia - or for us?

What's more, where some representation from the Persona games appears dated and stereotyped by western standards (elements which were changed in re-releases), it appears that Atlus is more conscious of its global audience with Metaphor. In particular, the high fantasy setting affords a thematically more universal - and relatable - experience, where previous games eschewed classic concepts by twisting modern day Japan.

Metaphor has plenty of obvious equivalents to previous Atlus games. The turn-based battle system builds on that from SMT3 with its weakness exploitation. The Akademeia is the new Velvet Room where Archetypes are managed and evolved; Archetypes themselves are the new Personas, bringing elemental abilities. Social stats are now kingly attributes to ensure the protagonist is vote-worthy. And it all oozes cool, with stylish UI and extravagant scenes.

So far, so Persona, right? But Metaphor then develops these elements for an experience that feels modern, expansive and layered. Take relationships: the protagonist will gain new followers and by strengthening bonds can unlock new abilities and Archetypes, tying back to the core narrative to bolster his claim to become the next king. Or take the Archetypes themselves, which evolve individually and can be assigned to any character, allowing for deep customisation of party makeup.

That will impact Synthesis, a new key part of combat where character abilities combine into new powers. This turns single attacks into multi-hit versions, or other powerful moves with elaborate animations. It reminded me of Chrono Trigger's techniques, rewarding experimentation with party members and Archetypes - there are over 40 Archetypes, which act like a job or class system and reflect the inner hero of each character. Yes, that means a typically gruesome scene as characters awaken to their power.

Elsewhere, turn-based combat is much akin to Persona or SMT: you'll switch between characters and attack, defend, or use Archetype powers; enemies have key weaknesses to exploit allowing players an extra turn; and there are options to automatically target weaknesses or auto-cure after battle. It's testament to how intricately designed combat in these games has become that little has changed.

There's one major shake up, though, and that's the inclusion of real-time combat. Ostensibly an extension of pre-battle attacks, the player character can not only hit enemies in advance for a pre-emptive strike but outright kill them, with attacks dependent on the assigned Archetype. It turns Metaphor into something of a hack and slash and alleviates the need for grinding as low level enemies can be blasted through with ease (higher level enemies and bosses, of course, still require tactical turn-based combat to beat). Together with the speed of regular combat, Metaphor feels streamlined and snappy - though that does mean hearing less of that incredible music.

Dungeons are also no longer randomly generated, Atlus confirmed during the preview. That means no Tartarus or Mementos, just hand-crafted dungeons to explore with their own puzzles. The first part of the preview included a typical mediaeval castle, complete with terrifying boss 'human' at its pinnacle: a truly grotesque nightmare of limbs, wings, fruit on vines, and a giant tongue. Later I played through an underground waterway complete with water-level puzzle and a shadowy giant baby stalking the halls. Metaphor is frequently, incredibly twisted.

The calendar system of Persona also makes a return, though appears a little less rigid in Metaphor. Players are once again free to choose how to spend their days, but rather than simply choosing between various city activities and friendships, you choose which quests and side stories to focus on - each of which can take multiple days. The second half of the preview, for instance, began in a castle town with various characters offering multiple directions - one led to the waterway, while another led to a quest for treasure in a hidden tomb. As a result, the world feels sweeping as players are tasked with determining where to prioritise time - and not everything is achievable. Where Persona games have become formulaic, Metaphor looks to be a sprawling journey where players are encouraged to be proactive, rather than simply filling time.

What Atlus appears to have accomplished with Metaphor, then, is not just a twist on its own oeuvre, but a twist on high fantasy RPGs as a whole. That's especially true of the visuals: the main city is an intriguing amalgam of Parisian elegance and futuristic skyscrapers, while elsewhere swords and magic mix with steampunk technologies - the walking Gauntlet Runner vehicles the party journeys in, for instance. There's a certain graininess to the visuals and it's sometimes a little busy, but there's a rustic charm too.

Fans of SMT and Persona will easily slip into Metaphor. But importantly, this is a fresh start for Atlus and new fans alike. This expansive, detailed, and complex RPG (both structurally and thematically) is incredibly ambitious. Yet even from this preview, it's clear this will set a new high bar for Atlus, and - if the final game all comes together - perhaps even the RPG genre itself.