Metaphor: ReFantazio gets mega-trailer and October release date - good news, brawler-only parties are viable
Atlus' latest showcase reveals a whole lot more
As one of the Treehouse's resident Atlus sickos, I was incredibly happy to wake up to 25-minutes of Metaphor: ReFantazio's director Katsura Hashino talking us through some new footage. We get a look at a new rural town and the activities you can get up to, like bounty hunting. Travel on your magic mech is compared to "camping", which I wasn't expecting. And there's lots of combat on show, with transitions from real-time to turn-based battles outlined in a bit more detail. Oh and it's coming out in October, which gives me plenty of time to clear my JRPG backlog before this inevitably takes over my entire existence for the foreseeable.
Atlus already briefed us a little on what to expect from Metaphor's fantasy JRPG-ing, especially in how it compares to Persona. But in its latest stream, they delved into those aspects in a touch more detail, kicking off with some travelling around the world map.
The player ends up in "Martira", an "old castle town", where they scroll through some bounties. From the looks of things, you'd pick one of these up, then head out on foot into the "Wasteland" to track these beasties down. The "Wasteland" encompasses the dangerous zones between major towns, cities, and the like, and is something you'd typically travel through on your super-mech called the "Gauntlet Runner".
Much like Persona, where time is a limited resource to be spent wisely, Metaphor grants you a set time frame to complete the main story quest. There's a look at the overworld map from about 13:44 in the video, where the player sees that it'll take one day to reach some woods where the bounty lies, which eats into their predetermined travel schedule.
When you travel between zones in the Gauntlet Runner, you're actually able to explore inside and use its facilities (you can see this in the video at around the 15 minute mark). "Cooking, conversing, camping, and more", apparently. What's quite amusing is Hashino pointing out the washing machine and cleaning supplies. In Persona 5 you could get rusty armour cleaned at a laundromat to reveal their true, powerful forms. I wonder if it's the same case, here?
Jobs or "Archetypes" are outlined briefly, too (around 16:50). It looks like they're interchangeable and comparable to Persona's personas, which are powerful beings manifested when characters confront their anxieties. At 17:44 in the video, we get a glimpse at what looks like a job tree/bee hive, showing various jobs leading to many other various jobs.
When in dungeons, you can run about and scan enemies to judge their level. Fights against lower level enemies can be sped through in real time, which is an excellent time-saver I approve of! Turn-based combat is reserved for a battle with a demonic lion, where the player partakes of the usual spells and basic attacks and things. Apparently there's loads of main and side dungeons, and Atlus have done their best to reduce "anything that might bore you". I really hope that's the case, as Persona 5's dungeons - even Royal's updated versions - could get very, very tedious.
Inevitably, we get a glimpse at the "Follower" system, where the protagonist meets a bunny lady called Catherina (around 21:24). They develop a bond, shake hands, and the "Brawler" archetype unlocks. What's really neat, though, is that the player creates a party of only Brawlers and apparently that's entirely viable. Wonderful news, speaking as someone who gets a bit miffed when JRPG character slots almost certainly require a spellcaster, a healer, and all that. If Metaphor lets us run with wackier party builds, I'm here for it.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is launching on the 11th October, and you can keep up with it over on its Steam and Xbox pages.