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The Latest Breaking News from Katsura Hashino

Metaphor: ReFantazio is yet another 80+ hour JRPG from Atlus, but its director says the studio "didn't want to bore our players by keeping it the same the entire time"

The game is admittedly "pretty voluminous"

GamesRadar · Oct 14, 2024

Lord of the Rings initially inspired Metaphor: ReFantazio, before Atlus "threw out" all its fantasy research to preserve "the originality that defines us"

Katsura Hashino decided that Atlus' own ideas are what makes its games special

GamesRadar · Oct 13, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio's original fantasy world gave the Persona 3, 4, and 5 director "freedom" to work on ideas "that we couldn't put into other games"

Persona's high-schooling setting put a "limit" on what was possible for Atlus

GamesRadar · Oct 13, 2024

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Metaphor: ReFantazio combines real-time and turn-based battles because its director wanted to integrate "the idea of manga and movie-style combat"

"That balance of the tempo of fast and slow is something that we brushed up in terms of the combat system in our previous games"

GamesRadar · Oct 12, 2024

Persona series director says Atlus's flashy menus are 'actually really annoying' to design

Sometimes we suffer for our craft.

PC Gamer · Oct 10, 2024

Hungry for Metaphor: ReFantazio, I spent 97 minutes fighting a single godforsaken boss that the JRPG's director made 21 years ago

Now Playing | This is a cry for help

GamesRadar · Oct 9, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio borrows Persona's iconic calendar system, but devs say players don't need to "worry about missing out on activities due to time constraints"

The team "didn't want players to feel limited by time"

GamesRadar · Oct 8, 2024

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For fantasy JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio, Persona director gave himself a crash course featuring classics like The Lord of the Rings, but "if we tried to copy that it would just be a copy"

Director Katsura Hashino wasn't as familiar making fantasy worlds, so he studied the best

GamesRadar · Oct 7, 2024

Persona director and JRPG veteran says the amazing menus in Metaphor: ReFantazio were "really annoying" to make, just as Persona 5's were "impossible to read at first"

Never underestimate the power of a good menu

GamesRadar · Oct 7, 2024

Persona director explains why Metaphor: ReFantazio's cast awakens their powers in the most brutal way: "The big theme of this game is anxiety"

The JRPG continues Atlus' trend of brutal battle animations

GamesRadar · Oct 5, 2024

Persona's modern high school setting is "sort of limited," but going medieval fantasy with Metaphor: ReFantazio gave the JRPG's devs "a lot of freedom to explore"

Atlus has created "a whole new world" for its upcoming JRPG

GamesRadar · Oct 4, 2024

As Persona devs dove into fantasy with Metaphor: ReFantazio, the JRPG's director got advice from Neon Genesis Evangelion's designer: "Don't let yourself be hemmed in"

"I ended up meeting up with a bunch of different Japanese fantasy creators"

GamesRadar · Oct 2, 2024

PC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 3 report: Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Sega booth deep dives

Here's what Bandai Namco, Sega, and Square Enix are showing off at TGS 2024

PC Gamer · Sep 28, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio leads thought it would be shorter than Persona 5 but just kept adding content, so now we're matching the fan-favorite JRPG's 100-hour runtime

A (welcome) war on my free time it is, then

GamesRadar · Sep 23, 2024

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TechRadar · Aug 28, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio preview: an interesting setup but a slow-paced opening act

I went hands-on with the first hour Metaphor: ReFantazio at Gamescom 2024. While the opening of the game isn’t exactly action-packed, it sets up an intriguing mystery.

GamesRadar · Jul 30, 2024

Atlus' new JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio won't include romance, but its bonding system will "give you a new experience unlike any you have had" in the Persona series

Some Archetypes only unlock via the bond system

GamesRadar · Jul 2, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio is one of the few JRPGs I want more than Persona 6, and it might have one of the coolest job systems in years

Hands-on | Shin Megami Tensei and Persona creators take on a JRPG staple with unsurprising style

GamesRadar · Jun 27, 2024

Persona and Shin Megami Tensei lead reveals you won't be able to see every dungeon in Metaphor: ReFantazio in just one playthrough as the new JRPG offers "a lot more freedom"

You simply "can't do it all"

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GamesRadar · Jun 21, 2024

"It's not like we wanted to distance ourselves from Persona": How Metaphor ReFantazio turned years of work on JRPG icons into what's now my most-wanted game of 2024

Interview | Director Katsura Hashino and character designer Shigenori Soejima, both Persona 5 veterans, dive deep on Metaphor: ReFantazio

GamesRadar · Jun 21, 2024

You can't date your friends in the new JRPG from the Persona 5 devs because it isn't a game about flirty teenagers: "It's part of the realism of the setting"

Metaphor: ReFantazio brings a different tone to your party

GamesRadar · Jun 20, 2024

"It's definitely harder than Persona": Shin Megami Tensei lead explains that his new JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio needed more challenge or else "it won't feel right"

Buckle up, gamers

GamesRadar · Jun 19, 2024

How did Persona 5, Persona 3, and now Metaphor: ReFantazio achieve some of the best UI in JRPG history? Its veteran Atlus director stresses "unity" and support for dev teams

"We, the entire team, have been really focused on making really good UI since Persona 3"

GamesRadar · Jun 18, 2024

I finally spoke to the director of the 21-year-old JRPG that kicked my teeth in, and I didn't expect an apology: "Shin Megami Tensei 3 is the hardest game I think I've ever made"

Katsura Hashino explains Nocturne's reputation

GamesRadar · Jun 17, 2024

Is JRPG a good word? Persona 5 director and character designer weigh in ahead of their new game Metaphor ReFantazio: "You can call this a JRPG if you want"

"For me, as a creator, it's a positive"

PC Gamer · Jun 11, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio feels like a fantasy Persona where no one was allowed to say no to the art team

Atlus finally asks itself the most powerful question in gaming: What if we made it British?

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