I beat Metaphor Refantazio in less than a week. Not for work, not for some arbitrary deadline, but because gaming has some impact. story? Amazing. Presentation? absurd. But most importantly, this is a game that treats you as an adult. Sure, it gives you plenty of freedom to play the game the way you want, but that doesn’t stop you from diving headfirst into sticky situations. This is a beautiful thing.
I first learned this the hard way at the beginning of the game, when Zorba was wandering the cathedral and I was challenged to clear Belegar’s corridors. The game outright tells you via follower dialogue that this dungeon is harder than Zorba’s crap, but who cares? If I don’t beat this game 100% efficiently the first time I play it, then I’m a fool and shouldn’t even try.
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It’s safe to say the hallway screwed me! I wasn’t really listening or paying attention. I didn’t buy the informant information that tells you that the Mage and Priest classes induce a state of madness that results in a game over. Then, when I timed it, I reached the boss of Guptauros and was beaten again. Frustrated and ashamed, I wasted the day back in town. Straight up loser behavior.
However, the metaphorical Refantazio may have been a stern teacher, but he was not an indifferent one. The game offers the rest of your time to complete quests, hone royal virtues (like Wisdom, which I’ve been farming until the last few days), maximize follower relations, and buy gear in the shade of town. I came away wounded by the Cuptaurus, but stronger for it. I purchased all the information on the dungeon, I made sure I had a ton of archetypes in my party, and I made sure I was well stocked with convenience items and equipment. I never have to worry about clearing out Metaphor again.
It’s a great idea that reframes the rest of the game in a magical way. The main bosses gradually increase in difficulty along an enjoyable curve that demands more from you. You need to target specific points on the boss to minimize damage, and then about 50% of the way through you need to have at least a basic understanding of elemental weaknesses. Then, when you fight a big story boss near the final town, you need to figure out how to create weaknesses and exploit them. You need to know which inherent skills are critical. By the time I reached the end of the game, I had a solid understanding of how everything works. The game is aided by plenty of autosaves, hints, and a smooth leveling system.
Everything was fine until the last twenty days or so of the game. I only have three companions left full, my wisdom is only 4/5, I can’t find the last two amulets for the Demon Summoner class, and I’m missing Four Persona Master’s Mask. This, coupled with the three optional Dragon Tower bosses that pop up here, really push you to your limits. You don’t have to complete everything, but who doesn’t want to get the best ending possible in a 60+ hour Atlus RPG? Judging by the sentiment online, this part of the game is a brick wall for many. To me, it was a playground. Motivating me to solve problems, actually encouraging me to reload saves and grind out enemies for Prototype XP so I could try new approaches. I’ve got my Pocket Gunner, Elemental Master, Dancer, and more ready for the next big challenge.
It all culminates in the game’s pinnacle – a completely optional side boss that can kill you with one shot. Straighten up. No explanation, no help. You have to erase a big question mark. Figuring out the gimmick here is an electric, espresso-like feeling of accomplishment that rewards you with amazing prizes and a feeling that you can take anything. Going forward, you probably can. I couldn’t separate the overall experience of Metaphor without this feeling. It’s like trying to remove Sichuan burn from a delicious meal, it’s all going to fail. If you see MP grinding on the mage class or XP for unlocking the royal archetype being a roadblock, then you’re missing the forest for the trees.
Like, shush, I’m fighting an optional boss in Metaphorical Refantazio and I don’t even have to beat it, and I don’t rotate my saves, so now I can’t go back and buy the anti-charm items that will despise it. Sure, I could make the difficulty easy, or build my team around clearing status ailments, but I don’t want to! Listen to yourself. You are an adult. If you think the consequences of not preparing metaphors are serious, try getting a job. Or simply wear it!
There’s only one group of people I feel sorry for in this conversation, and that’s the players who don’t know how to save in turns. Yes, it’s rough. We all have to bang our heads against a brick wall from time to time. The Lost Odyssey drilled this into me a million years ago, and I have no doubt that Metaphor will have the same effect on many people. But this is ultimately a good thing. Just like learning to tie your shoes, you just sit down and do it.
Once you lock that in, Metaphor Refantazio is a well-crafted RPG with a hand-crafted difficulty curve that makes overcoming it addictive. Removing it from the game diminishes it, because defeating it is the glue that holds the whole thing together. That’s why I might play the game again on a higher difficulty one day. If there are no obstacles to getting everything done and getting a perfect save file, you can also remove the hard optional content entirely. However, doing so would be a tragedy.
