Of Course, Montario Is In Manada.

[rionaleonhart]

The full game of Metaphor: ReFantazio is now out, and I continue to have a great time with it! Atlus games tend to be on the hard side, so I'm playing on easy mode, which I'm personally finding to have a satisfying level of challenge.

(NB: I am never looking for a massive level of challenge in turn-based RPGs, so what I find satisfying (pretty much just 'some mild requirement of strategy') may not be what you find satisfying!)

If you're on the lookout for a mediaeval fantasy RPG, I can recommend trying out the demo; you can transfer your save data to the full version, and it definitely showcases enough of the game to help you decide whether it's up your street! In fact, the demo took me eleven hours to finish. A trailer played at the end, and I went, 'Do you... really think you still need to sell this game to me? I've been playing for eleven hours; I think you can safely assume that I'm enjoying it.'

Strohl, on discovering the existence of a washroom on the runner, was cheerfully willing to strip off in front of his companions to make use of it. Hulkenberg was scandalised by this prospect. I'm just making a note because 'Strohl thinks nothing of being nude in front of his friends' is a valuable detail for fanfiction.

I can't say for certain whether I'll end up writing Metaphor: ReFantazio fanfiction. I'd like to! I definitely ship Strohl with the protagonist in theory; as with Yosuke and Ryuji before him, it's clear that Strohl met the protagonist and fell in love with him straight away. But the protagonist isn't giving me any sense of personality yet, and I don't want my fanfiction to come across as 'Strohl is in love with a block of wood'.

Thinking about this was part of the reason I made yesterday's post about which silent protagonists I find interesting. The protagonist of Metaphor: ReFantazio is not technically silent, but he's definitely a silent protagonist in spirit. Hopefully I'll get more of a sense of his personality as the game goes on!

And, if not, maybe I'll get desperate and write Strohl/protagonist fanfiction, but in an AU in which the protagonist of Metaphor: ReFantazio is Joker from Persona 5.

Actually, that's an incredible idea. Someone rewrite the entire game with Joker at the head of the party.

On a final note: it's very funny that the fast travel system in this game involves actual canonical teleportation, and that the characters notice and are weirded out by this.

Comments

[pauraque]

I've played some long demos recently, but 11 hours is a lot! Sometimes when a demo is really long I get antsy and start questioning whether I should just start the full game already. Not that it matters since you can generally just continue from where you were, I guess it's just a mental thing where I feel like if I'm spending this much time it should be on The Real Game.

[rionaleonhart]

Tem and I were increasingly incredulous as we kept playing and the demo just kept going. Surely the demo had to end at some point? Surely they couldn't have put the entire game in this demo? It ended up working out nicely, though; we eventually finished the demo on release day, while the full game was downloading!

[shinsengumi]

I am putting the demo on my wishlist. I am cautious of Persona developers and ATLUS these days, but I love a challenging RPG.

Please know that (Lance) Stroll and (Nico) Hulkenberg are current Formula 1 and therefore your 3rd paragraph initially made me very confused about the sudden subject change. 😂

[rionaleonhart]

I'd be interested to hear how you find it, if you do give it a try!

Your Formula 1 confusion absolutely delighted me. I'm curious now about whether the paragraph felt in character for the drivers!

[shinsengumi]

I will definitely report back! The last demo-leads-into-game I played was Unicorn Overlord and it was an immediate must-buy for me, so we shall see. o9

Well, I'm not really the Formula 1 fan in my household but Stroll is a Canadian, so I actually think he'd be more likely to be sheepish about (semi)-public nudity than Hulk, who's German. A fun thought to entertain nonetheless!

[necrophilia]

I think you might be disappointed if you go into this looking for a challenging RPG. I'm finding the demo's normal difficulty particularly handholding and wish I'd started on hard. (But I am definitely enjoying it overall!)

[shinsengumi]

Ahh well, I am accustomed to starting turn-based games on hard and feeling like it should be labelled normal (but don't ask me to play an action game on anything other than easy). Thanks for the perspective! I'm still excited to try out the demo and see if it draws me in.

[necrophilia]

I've only been about to play a bit of the demo and I'm eager to get through it, although I probably won't buy it until after I emerge from Dragon Age hell. I keep waiting for it to end at a reasonable point and it just... won't? I've bought games shorter than this demo! My flabber is ghasted!

[rionaleonhart]

At one point the demo went 'just as a reminder, this is the demo version' and Tem and I went 'holy shit, is it ending at last?' and the demo went 'so it's going to end! ...in three more in-game days.' There's so much of it! It's absolutely ludicrous. I could have played a full Uncharted in the time it took to get through this demo.

[walgesang]

I was just talking to my kid about this game and we're going to start playing the demo this weekend (if I can get them distracted from Limbus Corporation long enough)! That's a hell of a demo. I've played some demos that felt way too short, so looking forward to this one.

[rionaleonhart]

Nice! I hope you both enjoy this absurdly long demo.

[thenicochan]

I'm also playing Metaphor! Currently in the first dungeon. Loving Strohl, and also really enjoying Hulkenberg. I agree about the difficulty. I was concerned because I feel like Atlus games have sorta schlubbed in that regard in a post P5 world (P3R is by far the least difficult Persona game I've ever played, and I played on hard) but I decided to try Metaphor on normal and I've been really enjoying the challenge.

I like Will/Protagonist so far. I actually feel like he has a ton of personality. He seems soft-spoken and polite, and his options tend to be "willing to be open about how he's feeling with Gallica because she seems genuinely concerned" and "politely demuring because that's the social expectation". I really like seeing a protagonist like this opposed to the usual Big and Bold of Joker/Yu. It's a fun change of pace for me!

[rionaleonhart]

It's really interesting to hear this perspective on the protagonist! I'm going to have to bear your thoughts in mind as I continue playing; maybe that'll help me to get a firmer grip on his character. Thank you!