Sega and Atlus have revealed the latest details on Metaphor: ReFantazio, the upcoming RPG from Studio Zero comprised of talents behind the recent Persona games.
After the big reveal that was the Atlus Special Showcase, we now have specific breakdowns on the main mechanics of Metaphor: ReFantazio.
First off it more details on the combat. We already seen the mix of real-time combat and turn-based combat that you will be doing during dungeon crawling, but here’s how it breaks down.
The real-time combat we see is called Fast Battles. This allows the protagonist to take out lower-level enemies that has been defeated before with ease. Fans of Persona may recognise this as an evolution of a previous system where you can initiate a hit to gain an advantage in battle (or the thing you do in Persona 5 where you ram a Shadow as the Morgana van for an insta-kill).
However, you get access to more than just one melee attack. You can dash and evade as well, and depending on what Archetype you equip, the attack changes. So there’s some layers to the Fast Battles rather than just an insta-kill, battle-skip option.
You can tell an enemy can be defeated with Fast Battles or not using Fae Sight, the game’s detective vision that highlights enemies.
For enemies that can’t be dealt with Fast Battles, that’s where the turn-based combat, Squad Battles come in. You can still gain an advantage by hitting the enemies in Fast Battle with repeated strikes, and then enter a Squad Battle.
Metaphor: ReFantazio’s party size is up to four characters. And you’ll be able to pick from seven characters in total to form your party.
As revealed in the showcase, Metaphor: ReFantazio has a different Jungian concept that’s part of a core mechanic compared to Persona. Instead of Personas, Metaphor has Archetypes which can be switched. Each character, not just the protagonist, can equip different Archetypes, each with different strengths and weaknesses. If Persona’s Personas behave like Pokemon where you collect, grow and select specific skills to learn, Metaphor’s Archetypes are more like a job or class system.
The Archetype names and roles also fit nicely into established class system in most RPGs. Thieves can steal, Mages can target enemy weaknesses with offensive magic, and there’s an all-rounder Archetype called Seeker. Team compositions plays a big part in how you can tackle any of the dungeons and enemies that lie within them.
The party customisation goes further than just what Archetypes you can pick. You can also change turn order (which is interesting, as in most RPGs this is based on a character stat and not something you can explicitly determine), or move them from the front or back row. Party members can also be swapped out mid-battle, which is very Persona-like.