The king’s untimely passing have left a power vacuum, but a magic spell has created a veritable popularity contest for the next ruler. Whoever can win the public’s favor in time becomes king, and you’re the only one that can stop a despotic authoritarian from seizing control of everything. Metaphor: ReFantazio is the most relevant game of the year, with incredibly prescient themes that talk about the the public’s distrust of elected officials, equality and equity, and the affect our “fantasy” worlds can have on reality.
It’s a staggeringly ambitious game that manages to succeed in nearly everything it does, and if you’re a fan of RPGs in any way, it’s one of the few games that you’ll need to play. Whether you need a new game to fill up the cold winter months, or have some cash burning a hole in your pocket waiting for a sale — Metaphor should be your next pick.
Metaphor takes place in the Kingdom of Euchronia, made up of various regions that are populated by eight wildly different Tribes (races) of people. Racial tension and discrimination is a central theme in Metaphor, and something the game never shies away from. That’s largely because of the protagonist themselves, who’s part of a ninth tribe called the Elda — an obscure people who face discrimination throughout the country. The protagonist’s Eldan race is constantly brought up, both in the story and when talking to random NPCs. People largely distrust you for nothing other than the tribe you come from, something you had no control over.
The story of Metaphor begins when the king is assassinated, kicking a spell into action to choose the next ruler — and launching a massive rock with the king’s face into the sky. The protagonist is a part of a resistance group protecting the rightful prince, who himself was presumed assassinated years ago. A tyrannical military leader named Louis Guiabern is behind most of these events, hoping to put the entire kingdom under his thumb and forcefully cause society to evolve.
If you couldn’t already tell, Metaphor is a deeply complex story that spans nearly 100 hours, with lots of twists and turns along the way. There’s so much that’s compelling about this story, and those aforementioned themes are utilized the entire time, from the opening minutes to the credits.
Metaphor asks some seriously tough questions about our relationship with elected officials, making a case for how that relationship should be a two-way road — how we should constantly question those in power. Louis is a fantastic villain that ties directly into that theme, using force and cruelty where the protagonist would use kindness.
But it’s not just the main story that makes Metaphor so gripping, as the game has phenomenal party members that are some of the best ever seen in RPGs. Each party member ties directly into the story, but have their own dedicated arc as well — from disgraced knight Heismay coming to grips with his son’s passing, to three-eyed Eupha grappling with the racism her people so often see. These character stories are packed with emotional storytelling that helps prop ups the overarching themes.
However, even from a gameplay standpoint, Metaphor is incredibly ambitious. If you’ve played any Persona game you’ll immediately be familiar with the structure of Metaphor and recognize its turn-based combat and time management systems. As you progress through the game, you run through night-and-day cycles on a calendar. You’re given deadlines for when you have to beat major dungeons, and in between, you can spend free time on activities — bonding with your followers, boosting qualities like Courage and Imagination, taking on optional quests and dungeons, and more.
There’s an almost overwhelming amount of things to see and do in Metaphor, but the fun doesn’t stop there. Metaphor has some of the finest turn-based combat seen in video game history, focusing on strategy and utilizing each and every party member in the right way. Despite being turn-based, battles manage to feel fast and snappy, especially if you learn how to take advantage of the elements and enemy weaknesses.
But an additional nuance is Archetypes, a robust job system that lets you mix and match different jobs and skills. There’s so much variety packed into the Archetype system, it really lets you customize combat however you want. Maybe you want the protagonist to be a spell-slinging warrior, so you invest in the Warlock and Warrior Archetypes — or you can put him in the back row as a Sniper to pinpoint weaknesses.
Metaphor’s combat system starts out strong but grows in complexity the further you get, and the more Archetypes you unlock. Its’ a genuinely fantastic system that constantly throws brilliantly designed and challenging bosses your way.
It’s hard to not talk on about what Metaphor does right for thousands of words — there’s really enough to keep going. I haven’t even touched on the stunning visual presentation and soundtrack, plus stellar voice performances from nearly everyone.
Metaphor feels like a visionary game, one of those experience we’ll look back on as a decade-defining moment — not just because of how good it is, but because of the way it makes you think about its themes and ruminate on the larger implications for the real world. If there’s a single game you’re going to play this winter, it should be Metaphor: ReFantazio.
