Atlus recently held a stream to share some details on the Metaphor: ReFantazio project that is being developed by the game director behind Persona 5 Royal.
During the stream, they revealed a lot of interesting information on the project. If you want to check it out, see below for an English subtitled version since it was originally in Japanese.
ReFantazio is currently in the polishing stage, according to Meguro, and is being positioned as the third pillar of Atlus alongside Persona and Shin Megami Tensei. The game’s language is Esperanto, and part of the title and song lyrics are also derived from it.
The game is centered around traveling the world in an armored tank to gather supporters for an election to become king, as the previous king and his son have died. As players progress through the game, they make bonds with the citizenry and perform favors to get them on their side.
ReFantazio features multiple races and archetypes derived from Jung’s theory, similar to Personas. However, the game goes beyond simply being Personas, exploring deeper meanings of changing oneself.
The game’s art style is designed to look like a painting with a touch of darkness, aiming to capture the fantastical nature of the world. The game originally had a more Western medieval look, but the developers wanted to give it a unique twist by incorporating elements from the modern world.
The key concept explored in ReFantazio is “facing your fears,” a departure from Persona’s theme of “facing your inner self.” The game aims to encourage and empower players, rather than serving as a simple escape from daily life.
The game’s music, scored by Meguro, is inspired by the music used in religion, aiming to give a unique twist to a spiritual music style that also evokes a classic fantasy feel.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is currently slated to launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
