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ReFantazio feels like a JRPG free from restraint and sanity

Metaphor: ReFantazio has been a very long time within the making. It was introduced in 2017 as Mission re Fantasy via a bizarre lengthy video that mentioned little or no. Since then, Atlus has swapped the Mission for Metaphor and scoured Google Translate to discover a cool method to say ‘fantasy.’ It’s additionally made an enormous fantasy JRPG — and after rolling via a demo at Summer time Recreation Fest final weekend, I’m dying to play it.

ReFantazio is the primary unique title by Studio Zero, a comparatively new Atlus division headed up by Katsura Hashino. Because the director of the third, fourth and fifth Persona sport, Hashino is liable for the Persona sequence’ pivot in the direction of social simulation parts. After ending up Persona 5, Hashino left P-Studio to work on all-new titles unrelated to Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei and Persona sequence.

Atlus and Hashino are each identified extra for (-) grounded city fantasy than wizards and elves, and ReFantazio in that sense represents a giant departure. That is an epic, sprawling story protecting an entire nation, the UK of Euchronia. The Euchronian king has been assassinated, and the folks of the land should elect (!?) a brand new one.

Euchronia is residence to eight “tribes” (fantasy races) and our hero is attempting to reunite them. There’s additionally a cursed prince who everybody thinks is useless, a royal match for the throne in six months and monsters in every single place. To make issues worse, Euchronia is being invaded by hideous, Hieronymus Bosch-inspired creatures referred to as people, which operate as the sport’s bosses. People, huh? Marvel if it’s a… metaphor?

Given Atlus’ storytelling historical past, the broad strokes of ReFantazio will in all probability make extra sense than the moment-to-moment beats. Finest to only let it wash over you.

The sport takes place over the course of six months, and also you’ll be touring throughout Euchronia in a Gauntlet Runner (a cool ship designed by the Evangelion mech man) attempting to rally assist on your entry into the royal match. Every city within the sport has a tavern the place you may seize a chunk and collect data, a recruitment middle the place you may settle for quests, varied retailers and an inn the place you may relaxation. Finishing quests and making pals alongside the best way will acquire you supporters among the many varied tribes, which is vital to each the overarching story and the fight.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus

Atlus’ Summer time Recreation Fest demo was segmented into three 15-minute chunks. The primary was a coaching sequence of kinds, story-heavy and lightweight on fight. This felt principally like a showcase for ReFantazio’s cinematics, which had been beautiful, regardless of the TVs within the demo space being set to interpolate frames. Atlus has a convention of showcasing top-quality anime in its video games, and the demo clips had been among the many greatest I’ve seen. What I appreciated greater than the standard of the animation was how intently the character designs and vibe of the sport matched the cinematics.

Additionally memorable is the voice performing. For the English-speaking forged, Atlus is taking the “United Kingdom” of Euchronia very significantly, as everybody I bumped into had a completely over-the-top British accent. Because the proprietor of an English accent, I discovered the characters past theatrical however nonetheless pleasurable. At one level within the demo I met a hyper-cockney cat lady that might’ve been auditioning for Oliver.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus

In one other section, I fought alongside an lovable floppy-eared fellow from fantasy Liverpool who appeared like he was . If none of this excites you, the Japanese voice forged appears to be capturing for a typical fantasy vibe. Personally, I can’t think about enjoying this sport in something apart from English at this level.

Not every little thing is voiced — as in a variety of JRPGs, key traces and conversations play out in full, however many interactions will probably be confined to textual content, with the voice actors emoting just a little alongside the best way for taste. As a velocity reader, that is completely high-quality by me.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus

Section two was all about dungeon-crawling fight — time for the Persona comparisons! The setup right here will probably be acquainted to followers of Atlus video games: It’s a turn-based JRPG, with varied kinds of bodily and magical assaults, standing results and illnesses. ReFantazio’s model of the traditional JRPG class system is Archetypes — there are 14 lineages containing over 40 distinctive Archetypes, together with some acquainted roles like Mage, Thief, Knight and Healer.

There’s additionally a tactical component to social gathering composition, with a back and front row enjoying an element in fight, and Synthesis strikes that assist you to mix your social gathering’s Archetypes for stronger assaults. All the things has just a little Persona and SMT to it — you handle Archetypes in an Akademeia (just like a Velvet Room), they’ll evolve via expertise, and their proficiency in battle is linked to your bond together with your supporters.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus

A twist on the traditional turn-based components — and one I’m very happy about — is the Quick battle system. Once you come throughout an enemy, you’ll be capable to gauge their power earlier than initiating fight. The Quick system allows you to goal a specific enemy and strike them; this may insta-kill underpowered foes, which lets you keep away from turn-based battling solely when grinding low-level enemies. For stronger foes, you should use Quick to butter them up and begin a squad battle with benefit, however when you mess up this engagement you can begin the turn-based fight in your ass. Different Atlus video games have an identical risk-reward system to permit gamers to achieve a bonus, however that is extra nuanced and satisfying.

The interface for all of this can be a usually beautiful menu system and UI that feels extra refined than ever. Easy actions are assigned a face button on the controller, which suggests much less time spent in menus. It’s all fairly intuitive, and in the direction of the tip of my brief demo I used to be already rushing via the turn-based fight with out questioning what button did what. Taken as an entire, the fight system looks like a pure evolution to the traditional components Atlus is understood for.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus

The ultimate demo part begins contained in the Gauntlet Runner. It’s a claustrophobic area, extra submarine than tremendous yacht, however crammed with issues to do. There are folks to speak to, actions to partake in, and routes to decide on. Much like Persona, the sport occuring over a hard and fast interval means you probably received’t be capable to do every little thing you need to, and as an alternative must determine how greatest to spend your time every day. You may attempt to degree up one of many principal character’s 5 traits — braveness, knowledge, tolerance, eloquence and creativeness — or maybe deal with preventing monsters or incomes money. I performed to kind and skim a e-book, which was sadly not sufficient to boost my braveness from “craven.”

My cozy e-book session led instantly into the primary present: a face-off towards an enormous human. This started with an anime sequence, which gave method to traditional four-on-one fight. The human designs on this sport are buckwild. This one was referred to as, “Sea Horror Homo Sabara” and listed here are the Cliff’s Notes:

  • Lengthy violet beard and eyebrows.

  • One yellow eye, one white eye, each glowing.

  • 12 ears organized in two rows? Edgy piercings.

  • Crown of thorns. Truly, make that two crowns of thorns.

  • Prime half of head has been scalped. There appears to be a human coronary heart protruding.

  • Additionally, eight large bejeweled tentacles as weapons.

It’s not like I haven’t seen loopy bosses in a JRPG earlier than, however this octodad was a variety of enjoyable to struggle. There was no main problem: Take out the tentacles, wail on the physique, tentacles regenerate, repeat. However he hit arduous, and the demo clearly set me up for fulfillment. It’s simple to see this man wiping your workforce when you don’t come correctly ready.

Of all of the issues Atlus squeezed into the brief Summer time Recreation Fest, the human battle was essentially the most memorable. From the lore being drip-fed to followers, it looks like the people are literally from our world, and are being Isekai’d into Euchronia as these messed-up monsters. Right here’s hoping a variety of them made it over.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus

At first blush ReFantazio looks like an actual auteur second for Hashino — as if, after the worldwide success of Persona 5, he’s mainly been given a clean test. Hashino’s Persona titles bend over backwards to indicate you the way cool and edgy they’re, however the one concern for ReFantazio is how loud, assured and distinctive it may be.

Sure, there are parts borrowed from nearly each Atlus RPG you may consider, however it’s all been remixed and refined. I left my temporary time with ReFantazio crammed with this excellent milieu of nostalgia and shock, a heat familiarity from one thing not like something I’d performed earlier than.

Metaphor: ReFantazio involves PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox Collection consoles on October 11.


Make amends for all the information from Summer time Recreation Fest 2024 right here!

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