Julius Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 (edited) Okay so this one didn't leak: the long talked about Project Re:Fantasy from Studio Zero! Atlus loves Xbox now? Or their money, at least Edited April 22 by Julius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Looks neat. Nice to see them work on something that isn't SMT/Persona related for once (though it still looks like Persona... guess they are a bit of a one-trick-pony ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted June 15, 2023 Author Share Posted June 15, 2023 So apparently SEGA Korea actually revealed that, unsurprisingly, this is also coming to PS4, PS5, and Steam...3 days ago! No surprises there, but still, no Switch again. Oh man they're 100% setting people up for the double dip a year after launch, huh? Or maybe they're waiting for the Switch successor to be announced to pop it on there exclusively... On 6/12/2023 at 5:18 PM, Dcubed said: Looks neat. Nice to see them work on something that isn't SMT/Persona related for once (though it still looks like Persona... guess they are a bit of a one-trick-pony ). Honestly, when the trailer started I was like "uh, is this an SMT continuation?" because it looked way more SMT than it did Project Re:Fantasy or Persona for me Which, honestly, is a bit of a shame! I thought the concept art looked great from when Re:Fantasy was announced waaaaaaaaaay back when, would've loved a more pure medieval RPG rather than, well, the modern twist that we seem to get everything with Atlus these days, but Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted June 20, 2023 Author Share Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) Developer interview with Hashino, Meguro and Soejima: Going to shamelessly steal the key points from elsewhere: Quote • Coming to PS5/PS4 and Steam in addition to Series X/S and Windows Store. • Simultaneous worldwide launch in 2024. • Currently in the polishing stage according to Meguro. • Language of the game's world is in Esperanto, ReFantazio part of the title and song lyrics are also derived from it. • "Their fantasy, their utopia, was our reality" is the slogan on the key art and website. • Calling ReFantazio fantasy won't be doing it justice. • Game is centered around travelling the world in an armored tank to gather supporters for an election to become king as the previous king and his son have died. • As you go through the game, you make bonds with the citizenry and perform favors to get them on your side. • Multiple races. • Archetypes derived from Jung theory just like Personas, but they aren't just simply Personas this time around. Way more than that. Deeper meaning of changing yourself (alluding to the transformations in the trailer). • Aspects of the game will reflect the real world, that's the main idea behind the title Metaphor. This main theme informs everything, from the characters, the stories, to even the final climax. • Game originally had a more western medieval look but they wanted to give it a unique twist. They looked at the modern world and wondered what they could bring to make it more unique (i.e maybe some fashion trends in the 60s that could blend well with a more fantastical world). • Key concept explored in Metaphor is "facing your fears" (anxiety of interacting with other people for example) whereas Persona is about "facing your inner self". • Game's art style is meant to look like a painting with a little bit of darkness. Core reason is because they wanted to capture the fantastical nature of this world. • Being positioned as the third pillar of Atlus alongside Persona and SMT. • Atlus focused on modern stories in their games because they felt fantasy RPGs were too common. • Soejima feels Atlus' creative identity has been cemented with the Persona series, that it was a core part of why people enjoyed those games and that they want to live up to those expectations with Metaphor. • Meguro says Metaphor was a chance to make music he's never made before. • Core concept of the scoring is music used in religion according to Meguro. How that'll work in an RPG, and how they can give it a unique twist. A spiritual music style that also evokes a classical fantasy feel. They hired a Buddhist to rap in Esperanto for the trailer BGM for example. • Fairy's name in the key art is Gallica, Soejima gave her a more modern design. Working on her informed him on how to design the rest of the characters. Didn't want to be beholden to existing design conventions in the fantasy genre. Okay, travelling the world in a tank to gain supporters to become King sounds fairly insane. I'm so in. Just please don't come out in a busy period! Also, this being a simultaneous worldwide release - something SEGA and Atlus have been building towards and then doing pretty consistently over the last few years - gives me hope that Persona 6, when it does eventually drop in 2035 after they're done with Persona 5 spin-offs (I read the other day that Persona 5 as a series accounts for more than 50% of the Persona franchise's sales!), will drop everywhere all at once, rather than needing to wait over six months, as was the case with Personal 5. Edited June 20, 2023 by Julius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 Fall 2024 it is, folks: I've only played Persona 5, but I've listened to quite a few of his other soundtracks – is this the first time we're hearing Meguro take on an entire game with epic orchestral music? Because it sounds awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 This is pretty huge for the channel involved and super interesting for Atlus to provide such access I feel, but Archipel have just announced that they'll be putting out a documentary on the game: For those who haven't heard of them, Archipel is an awesome channel focusing on Japanese artists and storytellers across all mediums. Particular highlights for me from a gaming POV are their interview with Yoshi-P on XIV, Yoshitaka Amano, talking to Akira Yasuda about Chun-Li and there are a slew of others well worth checking out too (Soejima and Hashino for Persona 5, Yoko Taro, Mikami, Nagoshi!). Super excited to see how this turns out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 So, this game had turned up in the Top 40 Most Played list for Xbox in Japan... ...leading some to believe that testing for the game is underway (and not hidden, for whatever reason?). If that is the case (and I can't think of any other reason it'd be turning up on a list like this), I can't help but chuckle at it turning up in the Top 40 - certainly speaks to how Xbox is doing over there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Stream with the latest updates dropping next Monday (22nd April) at 23:00 BST. Quote The United Kingdom ... beckons you forth once more. UK inclusion confirmed?!?!?!?!?! Is this game the ultimate British Empire power fantasy?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Will there be tea and colonies?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Will the Queen somehow return?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! (okay but seriously a joke in this game about the difference between the United Kingdom vs Great Britain would be great) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 October 11th! Confirmed during the livestream: As someone who has fallen behind on the slate of newly released RPGs already this year... (please be a relatively quiet summer pleaseeeeee) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 Trailer from tonight's event: Demo dropping in June, probably an Xbox Games Showcase shadow drop? Still so funny to me how they've got their name all over this game to the extent that they have, such as having them as the only console in the title for the above trailer: Quote Metaphor: ReFantazio The King's Trial | Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC Box art is a bit busy, very art school-y with how it utilises the title I feel, but idk, I kind of like it? The top part especially. Think I'm going to need to spend this summer making sure I'm caught up on JRPGs ahead of this launching in October 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 On 6/7/2024 at 10:51 PM, Hero-of-Time said: Totally forgot to comment on this, but I freaking LOVED this trailer. Thought it was the best one we've had for the game so far. Finding it really hard to commit to this on Day 1, though, just because of Atlus's recent history of DLC/enhanced editions. Heck, I'm still waiting for that Episode Aigis stuff to drop for Persona 3 Reload so I can pick that up!! What are you doing Atlus?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happenstance Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Still not sure what I think about this game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted August 23 Author Share Posted August 23 Another month, another Metaphor trailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted September 20 Author Share Posted September 20 Was literally just thinking about this game and Geoff Keighley drops promo for Brian Shea's write-up on the game, aka the Game Informer cover story that never was: For sure going to be giving that a read later. Super torn right now on if I'm picking this up at launch or not, I'm sort of stuck on this or going back to a release from earlier this year and playing Persona 3 Reload because I've had that Persona vibe and music on my mind lately, hence why I was thinking about Atlus, and thus, Metaphor, when this story dropped. I feel in my bones that I'm going to be missing something awesome and potentially get something spoiled if I don't, so maybe I'll just see where I'm at when we're a little closer to that release date. There's something about drawing inspiration from Bosch paintings which is super unnerving but is also making me expect...*something*. Someone also pointed out that it's probably taking from a certain book, which has my head spinning with possibilities of what they're going for here. I feel like there'll be some really cool lore to dig into. Decisions, decisions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted Saturday at 08:55 AM Author Share Posted Saturday at 08:55 AM (edited) Speaking to Spanish site Vandal, director Katsura Hashino has shared that the game will be similar in length to Persona 5. Quote "Persona 5 was a very bulky game, a very robust game, and this Metaphor: ReFantazio will be able to catch up to that and reach [its length] as well," Hashino responded when asked if we can expect such a lengthy title. The HowLongtoBeat database reflects that it takes players on average more than 97 hours to finish the main story of Joker's adventure, more than 110 to do the extra content, a figure that rises to 173 to complete it all. In addition, the director promises that there will be reasons to return to the world of Eucronia after watching the credits: "There's a lot of fun stuff we've added to the game after you play through it that will hopefully make you come back and continue to enjoy it after completing it. We've also done our best to create a very well-paced game, we've done things like adding action elements to the turn-based gameplay." "We thought the game was going to be maybe a little bit shorter," Hashino confesses, "but we've added so much content and there's so much stuff in here that it definitely has a length like Persona 5." He also promises that there will be as many anime videos as in P-Studio's game: "We've included a lot of animated cinematic sequences. We had a large volume of them in Persona 5 and we've tried to keep that same approximate amount for Metaphor." I'm all for a 60+ hour JRPG, but for as much as I enjoyed Persona 5, I think it felt a bit long in the tooth by the end (the last 15-20 hours or so), so I hope that Metaphor is a bit better paced if it really is going to be as long as P5. Looking forward to it either way, mind you. Also, I assume he's talking about base P5? Royal by all accounts can be an even longer experience. Edited Saturday at 08:56 AM by Julius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted Saturday at 09:44 AM Share Posted Saturday at 09:44 AM Having now played through Persona 3, 4 and 5, as much as I enjoyed them, all 3 of them were paced poorly. Hearing that this is as long as Persona 5 doesn't really fill me with excitement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen-i Posted Saturday at 10:02 AM Share Posted Saturday at 10:02 AM 15 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Having now played through Persona 3, 4 and 5, as much as I enjoyed them, all 3 of them were paced poorly. Hearing that this is as long as Persona 5 doesn't really fill me with excitement. Remind me, have you played Tokyo Mirage Sessions yet? I'd say it's about 30 hours long, and I find it way better then Persona (Although that's mostly because it doesn't focus nearly on much on the in-betweeny social bits) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted Saturday at 10:08 AM Share Posted Saturday at 10:08 AM 2 minutes ago, Glen-i said: Remind me, have you played Tokyo Mirage Sessions yet? I'd say it's about 30 hours long, and I find it way better then Persona (Although that's mostly because it doesn't focus nearly on much on the in-betweeny social bits) It's on my 2024 Switch pledge list. I've started it numerous times but always lose interest. Feels like a very cheap version of Persona. Production values ain't very high on it. Every time I start it again I need to play from beginning. Probably why I keep losing interest because I keep playing the same section over and over again. I fired it up last month and made it to the second dungeon. I need to get back to it at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen-i Posted Saturday at 10:16 AM Share Posted Saturday at 10:16 AM (edited) 10 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Feels like a very cheap version of Persona. Production values ain't very high on it. I mean, that's because it kinda is? Similar battle systems, but with some Fire Emblem flavourings. It for sure has a lower budget in comparison. And almost any game's production values will look low compared to the likes of Persona 5. Might as well just post that "Nuclear Bomb VS Baby" meme. EDIT: Although, I bet Persona doesn't hit you with random musical numbers with choreography in the middle of a fight! The animations are a lot more fun there. EDIT EDIT: Wait, second dungeon, the one with the dresses you move through, right? That means you never even got to the point where you get ad-libs, character swapping, or duo arts yet? Oh man, you've only scratched the surface of the battle system! Edited Saturday at 10:20 AM by Glen-i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted Saturday at 10:40 AM Share Posted Saturday at 10:40 AM 5 minutes ago, Glen-i said: I mean, that's because it kinda is? Similar battle systems, but with some Fire Emblem flavourings. It for sure has a lower budget in comparison. And almost any game's production values will look low compared to the likes of Persona 5. Might as well just post that "Nuclear Bomb VS Baby" meme. It's like they weren't even trying with some of this though. I mean, you have a moment where the main female character is trying to break the hold over her sister by using a song. What should have been a quite powerful and emotional moment turned into a hilariously bad one purely because they couldn't be bothered to put in some effort. Would it have killed them to give her proper lyrics? They do so in various cutscenes, so why not here? Her sister's "What the hell?" face says it all. 9 minutes ago, Glen-i said: EDIT EDIT: Wait, second dungeon, the one with the dresses you move through, right? That means you never even got to the point where you get ad-libs, character swapping, or duo arts yet? Oh man, you've only scratched the surface of the battle system! Come on, Glen. You've known me longer enough now to know that I don't faff on with battle systems. I grind my way to victory. I have been overlevelling using that area you can farm in the main base. Then, when it comes to the dungeons, the auto battle takes care of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen-i Posted Saturday at 10:45 AM Share Posted Saturday at 10:45 AM 1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said: Would it have killed them to give her proper lyrics? They do so in various cutscenes, so why not here? Her sister's "What the hell?" face says it all. Pretty much, all the cutscene budget went on to the FMV's, and it's really obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happenstance Posted Saturday at 10:50 AM Share Posted Saturday at 10:50 AM I tried Tokyo Mirage Sessions twice but unfortunately it never grabbed me. For me the Persona games are on another level to the other Atlus games. I'll agree that they probably are a bit too long for the stories they're telling but I've got to give them credit, I still always make it to the end which is more than I can say for a lot of long RPGs, despite how much I'm enjoying them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted yesterday at 07:09 AM Author Share Posted yesterday at 07:09 AM Looks like a demo for the game is going to drop very soon, already seems to be up in some territories: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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