@@nickchatzipantelis4109 Pretty much. But mage is also weak - you can hit 10 enemies at once but low dmg - you need to be good with dodging - it's easy to get instakilled.
@@johnnyflannigan136 Agreed im 45 and I was tired of japans obsession with high school and their pathetic perversion when it comes to school girls wearing sky high skirts and buying used panties from certain machines in japan on the street, sick of it since 18 years old.
Fable 3... isn't nearly as good as Metaphor but I will say the concept of one half the game becoming king, then the next facing the cruel reality of making kingly decisions is really cool. That came to mind as I reached the end. There's so much left to do, such much that can be done with the story. Bring on some DLC!
I haven’t played it yet but may some time down the road. I don’t have a big backlog of games, but the ones I have are such massive titles that I’ll be going on them for a while 🔥
I have a feeling Rebirth is still the popular pick for Goty at the game awards, but for me as well Metaphor is so god damn good it’s far and away my personal goty for sure
A million sales in a few days! Shows there is public appetite for new IP that takes risks. I know it’s a “Persona-like”, if that’s a thing, but still a big gamble for Atlus. On my first play through of Persona 5. And 70 hours or so later, will be jumping straight into this. 🎉
@@MikeTheD I remember reading somewhere that they want Persona 6 to be as big of a leap as Persona 5 was from Persona 4. Very excited to see what they do.
as someone who genuinely doesn’t really play jrpgs (mostly because i’m always busy and can’t commit too much time to one game) i’m absolutely hooked to this one. this is such a blend of past atlus games to make such a fantastical world and story man. the gameplay alone hooked me, but gosh im loving it
if you dabbled in there older and retro titles youll also notice references to everything atlus. From weapon names to classes to character references is so fun for a long time atlus fan.
The studios in Asia have been knocking it out of the park lately. FF7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Wukong, and now Metaphor. 2024 is the year of the Asian RPG.
@@Jayy997 BG3, AW2, Phantom Liberty all released last year and were all unbelievable experiences. Judging the entirety of Western games based solely on the cash grab shitty games is like judging the entirety of Eastern games based on all the endless shitty mobile gacha games 😭 It’s tunnel vision at its finest.
@@ZephyrK. BG3 is amazing but it's not a AAA game. AW2 and Phantom Liberty were decent but they aren't western games. I should be more clear and say AAA US games.
@@Jayy997 “They aren’t Western games” WHAT💀💀💀. The West isn’t just North America, it’s also Europe, The UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. All games from these countries are Western games bruh 😭 Plus BG3 is 100% a AAA title. The whole point of the game’s marketing is that they were developing a AAA CRPG. You don’t gotta be a public company or an acquired studio to do that.
If there’s one thing I love about this game is that each unique activity adds a gameplay benefit instead of, for example, a 2% bonus to armored attacks which usually means nothing. I hope more devs start to take notes of these series and why people like them.
What i was thinking today when I bought this game. They have to. they are prolly dropping games like this to tide us over the next 6 years it'll be until p6
@@RichardMiller-q8cYeah right, they've been working on Metaphor for 8 years to "tide you over", to p6. Considering that Persona 6 is being made by new devs, you'll be lucky if it's even close to being as good.
@@RichardMiller-q8c No no, this ain't the side dish lil bro, Metaphor is the main course. This is that steak that Cypher is eating when he turned his back on Morpheus my dude.
@RichardMiller-q8c actually a reliable Atlus leaker has tweeted P6 will be revealed at game awards and released in July 2025. So keep an eye out. P6 and Metaphor are different internal studios. (P-studios and Studio Zero)
It's really refreshing seeing a JRPG depict racism and class divide in such a brutally honest way. Being othered has always been a sort of hallmark for a lot of JRPG narratives especially with silent protagonists but it felt so particularly real in its attempt to get the player to meditate on how people are treated. Atlus games have always drawn from certain social phenomenons and elements from religion and mythology, but I do love that the real world is depicted as a utopia in the land of the fiction that everyone's striving to get towards, and how your nature as a complete outsider actually reflects in how NPCs talk to you or if they task you with anything you need to do to earn at least a slither of recognition, which only strengthens the whole backdrop of the election and trying to fight for a world where everyone gets their share. It's very different from the usual way Persona handles delinquency or "not being from around here"
It's a video game. It's not the real world. Most of us play games to escape the awful reality we live in. How in God's name is it "refreshing" to have a game remind you of the state of this world?
@@fingermi7571 Art can be escapism from the real world and used to answer pressing questions about reality, how we perceive others and what we can be striving to accomplish. It has always been used to talk about pressing subject matter in the context of a heightened, fictional reality with characters that might not even resemble people who look like us. This has always been a thing. It's often the art that detaches itself aesthetically from reality that can have the most to say about themes or messages that can be imparted on the real world. You can enjoy it as escapism, but that doesn't mean art shouldn't have something to say or that we should sanitize the content within art to look away from uncomfortable topics. Artists produce art as their perception of the world first and foremost and you can't argue with that, especially with mediums like film, TV and gaming. This has always been true
@@fingermi7571 just because sth is used as an escapism doesnt mean it cant handle difficult themes that are present in the real world. Hell some of my favourite game tackle difficult themes that effected me personally in my life making it hit so much harder and making it more beautiful because i had a personal understanding and connection to it.
No he’s inspired more by Reinhard from lotgh(who grifith takes some inspiration from ) like their designs and ideals are the same just louis is a bad guy lol
It took me a while to get into it, longer than with Persona 5, but after the first real story dungeon 12 hours in I am hooked. The social aspect is also far more enjoyable as a young adult in a fantasy setting instead of a high school ‘real life’ setting, absolutely love it and the best thing is that I still have some days off so I can spend my days playing it. What a great time!
@@SfinxVid I love the change they made to the social links. It's much less stressful knowing there is no "filler" hangouts between links. Like they're either ready to progress or not. You don't have to build up some hidden "friendship" bar and waste a day
The Shop Keeper keeps calling me a child though. I thought my character was an young adult until I met her. I realize it could just be ageism at play, but this wasn't what I signed up for. I was told my character was an adult in Metaphor, unlike Persona 5.
1:06 giving a review ten hours into an rpg like this could go either way tbh. I like and trust and respect you Matty so it’s not really a big deal however this is kinda in sketchy territory tbh. Leaning more towards advert than review.
10 hours isn't much playtime honestly. I have 30 hours so far and it just keeps getting better and better. I'm enjoying it so much that I really don't want it to end. Honestly though this could easily be Atlus' best game. The story is very thoughtful and mature, I am really interested to see where this story goes and the antagonist Louis is way more that what he seems at the start, there's a lot of depth to this story.
The funniest thing is the first 10 hours are relatively boring with most of it being forced onto you instead of making your own decisions of what to do with your in game time. Game gets a lot better after the first major dungeon.
At 10 hours I myself left a positive steam review because it really is so enjoyable, and I'm 35 hours in currently and firmly stand by my initial review, and in fact the game only got better and continues to do so. It's easily going to be one of those games where I lament the fact that I only play it for the 1st time once
8:07 I personally think the Persona games are way more mature then people give it credit for just because you play as a teen. Remember Persona 5 is rated M while Metaphor is rated T. There’s way more of a darker tone in persona games then this game.
@@echos9396 Its not that persona isn't mature, I don't think people are saying that at all. They all deal with deep themes, its just the characters themselves mostly still act like teens because they are, the characters themselves aren't mature and act very anime in certain situations in persona. Also the way persona 5 goes about handling most of those themes are not that good in execution. I still think outside persona 2, p4 still has the best overall story in execution, even if I do love p3 more. P5 honestly has the weakest overall story. Basically persona doesn't really go deep enough, just has surface level problems like most jrpgs do. Also p5 social links for the majority of characters don't hit the feels like this one does.
@@jamjam445 Again its not the themes that are the issues, its the execution that isn't good. It happening to kids doesn't mean much if the writing doesn't make it mean more.
@HoudiniFontmeister ahh clever using upper and lower case letters. I think it's nuanced, ATLAS has built a ton of good faith with gamers and square has suffered from a crisis identity last decade. I think they learned cuz DQ3 is about to break records
@@VAANET well the dragon quest series never strayed from its core values like final Fantasy did. And Atlas his focused on a quality that later FF's seem to lack. Obviously to the gameplay and plot because those games are absolutely gorgeous. I grew up playing all the final Fantasy games final Fantasy 7 was the game that taught me how to read when I was 8 years old. I remember my dad bought it for me because we rented it and I was obsessed with it. It was the reason I ended up getting a memory card in the first place. I made it to the second disc without a save file. It took a week of restarting it and like 3 days of leaving the PlayStation on. Lol Great memories. How far we have fallen
@jamjam445 Yea, you're right. I think when I refer to persona, I mostly talk about 4 and 5 cause 1 and 2 is niche so not as many people play them and 3 is really dark, but just recently got main stream popularity cause of the remake.
@enternamehere142 it's way better than P5. Watchu smokin? You don't ever have to go to school. That's the most boring part of P5, plus it mixes real time combat with turn based
@@DrierHyperion21 what real time combat… when you press x to start the turnbase? Same thing in P5. This time you press x 3 times instead of 1. Unless there’s something I’m missing. There is no real-time combat..
I didn't realize till I started playing this, how sick I was of the high school scene. Its refreshing to have a time limit but not have to take a test on history or some other subject. This alone is worth the price of admission.
The fact that I can run around with the mage arch type to replenish my MP makes this game easier. I ran out of MP switched to the mage, grinded for a bit and my MP was back full. I didn't even have to take a day's rest to finish the dungeon😂😂😂
Standing in front of a spawning crystal as mage. Just out side of range of the crystal itself. Easiest way to regenerate for free, doing the same for merchant and gunner. Literally it’s just free cash,health and mp lol
@@daemyno was that on purpose? It feels like more of an oversight than on purpose. To me it seems the purpose is to punish anyone not keeping up on levels and be a minor inconvenience to anyone else. I feel like farming the crystals was not the purpose cause they don’t respawn and your teammates will wreck them easy if you stand even a step to close with there support attacks
i always heard about Persona games, problem is it is in highschool and i personally am not fan of this setting so their new fantasy IP is exactly what i needed ... 40 + hours in game and i love it
@@jaroslavmihok740 I'm 60 in and it gets really good soon! Just s heads up that when it tells you to prepare for "the final battle," don't panic. It's not actually the end of the game.
In my opinion Metaphor ReFantazio is the Elden Ring of persona games where it blends all of the good mechanics from its predecessors as well as new and turns it into it's own thing. Definitely my GOTY and one of my best friends is playing JRPGs for the first time and he's enjoying this game so much that he wants to return to the previous games.10/10 game.
This game came out of nowhere. I remember seeing a trailer for it in passing over the summer and thinking "oh, that looks interesting". Then the next I heard of it is because the demo came out and I saw a YT video where the guy mentioned it. On a whim I downloaded the demo, and now I'm completely hooked on the game. 25 hours in so far.
Been waiting to hear you get back to this one and talk about it! But like you said you’re still at the tip of the Atlusberg with this one so I would love to see a full circle review/thoughts from you after rolling credits either here or on retro rebound or with Cog in the realm of the dukes. Such a special game and what a year to be a JRPG fan
Wow!! I can’t wait to play this game! I’ve literally been saving it, because I know it’s gonna be that good!! Love your channel and whole vibe! Your enthusiasm for games is unmatched and so refreshing.
As someone who doesn’t really enjoy the combat in atlus games, well, more so persona, I really enjoyed the combat here. It’s faster paced and the real time action before the fights kicks ass too. I hope persona 6 combat plays like this
Honestly, this is arguably one of the best stories Atlus has ever done. It caught me off guard, it's actually quite dark and very thoughtful. The story is also not black and white and very nuanced and mature. On top of that damn Louis has surprised me so far as an antagonist, he could easily be Atlus' best antagonist, there's so much more than what meets the eye to this game. The quality of the writing alos is very consistent throughout. I've still a long way to go though, having an absolute blast. This could easily be GOTY. Also I dare say it, maybe has to potential Atlus' best game. I have to finish it first.
Regarding difficulty, I recommend just playing on Normal to start. You can bump it up if you think you're having an easy time, but later in the game you get introduced to Negative Weather effects that remove your Bonus Turn Icon for striking a weakness, and suddenly the game is WAY harder.
I was playing on hard and the only challenege i had was on the trial dragons, royal sword + charge = 1-2 rounding all bosses. Basically those bad weather days were perfect for gridning where youd go up to a tower and 1 shot enemies on the open world with bonus xp
At the moment of the demonstration of strengths (in Brilehaven), I was able to hear my heartbeat (probably anyone would have heard it if they were in the room at that moment)
I wonder what the end game difficulty is going to look like. Persona 5 was the first JRPG I ever beat and I found the final couple hours of the game really challenging for me.
Wait… a edit: TURN BASED COMBAT game that intelligently considers and explores real world themes that doesn’t beat you over the head with THE MESSAGE?!? I am in!
I been playing non stop for 4 days now gonna do a ng+ run right after finishing tomorrow Edit - A tip for you guys, If you got the archetypal ring have it equipped on the main character. That ring boosts the exp earned from the turn based combat only not over world I think. I'm already almost done fully leveling all the royal archetypes.
I’ve never played a atlas game or Persona, but heard nothing but great things. I grew up obsessed with final fantasy 7, 8, 9, and personal favorite 10. Would this be difficult for me to get in to?
It doesnt look like something I would really play, but some aspects of the game do seem pretty cool and a really creative. Its nice to see a variety of different games out there. Also glad to see Matty in a good mood :)
Atlus UI only works with that specific art style most western rpg’s tend to have a much grounded UI even some Japanese rpg doesn’t have the same style as Atlus UI design.Only Atlus making an effort to design their UI that looks like very stylish
@@nnnneeeeuuuu A lot of turn based games need this sort of flashy UI to make looking at the game interesting. RPGs that allow you to grind while staring at a static UI are sleep inducing. This UI kind of hides the fact that the game is a turn-based RPG and that there's nothing else happening on-screen between turns.
So in other words, This is an instant classic. The passion you have describing it is proof. I'm so excited to play. I have heard nothing but stellar reviews of this game.
Truthfully this game has blown me away. The gameplay, the OST, and the story elements. The themes of class divide and racism are portrayed wonderfully. And I'm not even halfway through the game yet. I'm beyond stoked to see the future of this game. Definitely a fantastic new series from Atlus
Thanks for the insight. Have never played a Persona game. Should I jump straight into Metaphor or would it be worthwhile to try one of the Persona games first?
This game is wonderful and a breath of fresh air coming from their usual teenage/highschool setting where I kind of have a hard time relating to the characters and situations. This game does not have that problem for me. It's so, so good.
1:47 Makes me glad that I'm not too particular with genres. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, platformers, cyberpunk, whatever, I'm so into it all. Love so many genres.
I've been loving it so far, if anything my only critique is that, even on hard, it's very easy to get overleveled, I'm level 20 and just got into the second major dungeon and things could change with any boss encounter and I hope it does, because one of the best moments of the game for me was killing the boss that unlocks the merchant archetype, minor spoilers for the boss fight in the next paragraph So that minotaur looking boss was one of the highlights so far, since I was like 3/4 levels below what you're supposed to be when fighting it and I still managed to beat it with using the skip turn mechanic and the row mechanic, the boss practically one shoted me and it had an aoe move, so I had to be on the back row if I wanted to survive. Leveling up cleric archetype to 10 gave me an aoe healing skill which made it possible to survive pretty reliably if I was on the back row, just had to pass it to an archetype with no staff to not enrage the boss. The synthesis piercing skill for the knight archetype was also pretty good since it lowered the boss' defense, which helped due to damage being lower on the back row and after that it was just a battle of attrition, would I be able to defeat the boss before running out of MP and I did it, gained like one whole level and a half from that fight alone and the strategy made the first few trial and error attempts worth it all. Finally the first major dungeon was also pretty good because in the early game it was a struggle to balance mp and item consumption. I tried to do the dungeon in one single day, that's also how I did it with p5's palaces and it was challenging due to its lenght, by the end I was genuinely afraid each time I saw a human and I tried to avoid combat to preserve resources for the next boss fight. With finally reaching the second major dungeon I hope that struggle will come back, but due to the extended period I had of hoarding hp and mp recovery items I doubt it will be half as difficult, but if I'm wrong it will be a pleasant surprise because I really enjoy when the press turn system of this game makes me think if it's worth using a synthesis, passing a turn, going to the back row, etc.
I’ve never played persona and struggled to get into the difficulty of smt. So far I have enjoyed the demo and will probably purchase this game. The only thing I disagree with you on a little is the seamlessness of the world. I find the cutting between different animation styles ,quick loads after walking 10ft through a courtyard, opening a door, “traveling” on the map, etc a little jarring and do pull me out of the story. Being a newer player to atlus there is alot of systems and stuff to get used to. I’m only 3-4 hours into the demo so I’m hoping some of it will start making more sense as I go.
Playing the demo. I love that the game actually says what you chose. I feel like I'm actually role playing the character and my choices were my own. Idk if the choices actually matter because demo.
It’s SO good. Because I already had the expectations of the Persona loop, which was already good, each new wrinkle I think wow this is crazy. I’m stoked about the story, stoked about the new gameplay, stoked about the character builds, etc etc the list is pretty long. It’s so awesome when you get hooked bigtime and know you got such a huge game ahead.
I'm almost 50 hours deep into this game, and it's SO MUCH FUN. And yeah, it's a very dark game with hard-hitting themes while not being preachy. Plus, I enjoy the gameplay so much. I tried playing Persona 5 multiple times, but it was so complex, I stopped playing due to overthinking the whole game and persona combinations. I got very far in SMT5 but then ended up overthinking the fusions again once I got into the level 60s. Though, I do have over 100 hours on [base] SMT5 but haven't finished it yet. But yeah, once you get the mechanics down here, everything feels so good no matter what you do.
Glad you're really enjoying it so far, altho it was kinda a given haha I wish I had time for it right now, but have just other games I was gonna play prior first. Curiously, left the same feedback on the Alien isolation video on Retro channel I think, would have liked to see you play a bit more and time spent on the game first before a video just for the sake of a video. This game is 60-100hrs, spending 10 seems a little small considering the demo gave us 6-8 depending on what you did, so you really haven't experiences that much more than everyone else yet. No hate, glad to see some thoughts! I know how utterly busy October in general is for you specifically game release wise, but would have loved to see some more mid game thoughts on further archetypes, dungeons, other main cast members obtained, where the story is going etc Will you do a final review or follow up video wise or just chat about it on defining duke etc? Thanks Matty!
Do we still have deep character customization like we did with the demons/persona with smt/persona or is this more of a tokyo mirage sessions with limited character customization, having to use pre-defined party members and even tho good story/etc maybe not so good gameplay?
Yes I picked up the game and playing it! Damn the hard mode sure is difficult especially when you run out of magla pill for MP replenishment! It is such a rare drop during the start! Need to conserve MP for the main boss fights. Music is astounding without a question. The gameplay doesn't make me bored at all! Challenging with a nice storyline that will keep you engaged! Agree to your review 100%!
I do not like feeling pressed by time in games. This is why I love SMT V more than a Persona game for example. If not for the Calendar, this game would have been a 10 out of 10.
Atlus just crushes everything they do. It really is great to see a team at the top of their craft, seemingly sacrificing nothing to execute their vision. This is what game development should be, and I don't mean this exact type of game, but this level of polish and care.
Metaphor is truly something special, Atlus has become KING of turn based. Menu’s so sleek, music is absolute perfection, Visuals are gorgeous! Top tier in every way! 10/10 masterpiece. GOTY
Metaphor: ReFantazio is out NOW! Grab the game: gsght.com/c/f4ev0h & Play the demo: gsght.com/c/3cq0me #ad
If you are a mage, you can hit stuff while walking and regenerate mana - so can do any dungeon in single day - changes the game so much.
Mage is easy mode seems like.
@@nickchatzipantelis4109 Pretty much. But mage is also weak - you can hit 10 enemies at once but low dmg - you need to be good with dodging - it's easy to get instakilled.
You don’t have to go to academia to mess with your personas just hit “Y” in the menu screen
For gruff fanatasy JRPG fans like me, Atlus making a game set far away from Highschool and in a fantasy setting is a dream come true
I'm 40.. Don't want to play a game about kids in highschool
Exactly!! I was always put off by the setting of Persona in general. This setting is right up my alley.
@johnnyflannigan136 I'm 41. Love P4Golden. I don't mind the school setting as long as the games are good.
@@johnnyflannigan136 Agreed im 45 and I was tired of japans obsession with high school and their pathetic perversion when it comes to school girls wearing sky high skirts and buying used panties from certain machines in japan on the street, sick of it since 18 years old.
@@johnnyflannigan13635, i like them but i also enjoy a shakeup/ variety!
This is one of those rare games that I legit don't want to end.
If it didn't end how would you play Persona 6 when it comes out??!!
Same, I am nursing the final area
Fable 3... isn't nearly as good as Metaphor but I will say the concept of one half the game becoming king, then the next facing the cruel reality of making kingly decisions is really cool. That came to mind as I reached the end. There's so much left to do, such much that can be done with the story. Bring on some DLC!
Ugh I'm reading this comment as the credit rolls....... lol I stalled for so long, everything ends sadly
Matty is at his best when he’s happy and he’s happy being able to talk positive about games.
Means a lot hearing that. Thank you!
@@MrMattyPlays Matty's always at his best :)
It's literally an ad
This is the kind of content im here for. I love to see people happy talking about things they love, rather than hating on things they don't like.
@@ChrisJohannsen Isn't any review an ad for a game, whether good or bad?
As someone with a major FF VII bias for Rebirth, this is still probably going to be my personal GOTY. Its incredible.
I haven’t played it yet but may some time down the road. I don’t have a big backlog of games, but the ones I have are such massive titles that I’ll be going on them for a while 🔥
Not being cheap but games a 93 dollor single player game I'll wait for a sale i love an played the demo can't wait for a sale❤
I have a feeling Rebirth is still the popular pick for Goty at the game awards, but for me as well Metaphor is so god damn good it’s far and away my personal goty for sure
@@wowfoelifewarcrack3297 where do you live where it 93 dollars?
Thank you for this comment. It resonated with me.will make a purchase now
A million sales in a few days! Shows there is public appetite for new IP that takes risks. I know it’s a “Persona-like”, if that’s a thing, but still a big gamble for Atlus.
On my first play through of Persona 5. And 70 hours or so later, will be jumping straight into this. 🎉
Makes you wonder what the next Persona will be like. This is way deeper than Persona and doubt they turn back
@@MikeTheD I remember reading somewhere that they want Persona 6 to be as big of a leap as Persona 5 was from Persona 4. Very excited to see what they do.
Correction. It was less than a day. Reload took 3 days to hit that.
I hope it continues to sell well.
It's not persona like it is literally persona reskinned with missing features
@@HoudiniFontmeisteris persona 3 reload good ?
as someone who genuinely doesn’t really play jrpgs (mostly because i’m always busy and can’t commit too much time to one game) i’m absolutely hooked to this one. this is such a blend of past atlus games to make such a fantastical world and story man. the gameplay alone hooked me, but gosh im loving it
if you dabbled in there older and retro titles youll also notice references to everything atlus. From weapon names to classes to character references is so fun for a long time atlus fan.
The studios in Asia have been knocking it out of the park lately. FF7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Wukong, and now Metaphor. 2024 is the year of the Asian RPG.
Not just RPGs, but games in general. The western AAA market is so incredibly creatively bankrupt and dysfunctional it's embarrassing.
@@Jayy997 BG3, AW2, Phantom Liberty all released last year and were all unbelievable experiences.
Judging the entirety of Western games based solely on the cash grab shitty games is like judging the entirety of Eastern games based on all the endless shitty mobile gacha games 😭
It’s tunnel vision at its finest.
@@ZephyrK. BG3 is amazing but it's not a AAA game. AW2 and Phantom Liberty were decent but they aren't western games. I should be more clear and say AAA US games.
@@Jayy997 “They aren’t Western games” WHAT💀💀💀. The West isn’t just North America, it’s also Europe, The UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
All games from these countries are Western games bruh 😭
Plus BG3 is 100% a AAA title. The whole point of the game’s marketing is that they were developing a AAA CRPG. You don’t gotta be a public company or an acquired studio to do that.
BG3 isn’t AAA?
If there’s one thing I love about this game is that each unique activity adds a gameplay benefit instead of, for example, a 2% bonus to armored attacks which usually means nothing. I hope more devs start to take notes of these series and why people like them.
They're going to knock it out of the park with P6 aren't they. Will probably be their best game
What i was thinking today when I bought this game. They have to. they are prolly dropping games like this to tide us over the next 6 years it'll be until p6
@@RichardMiller-q8cYeah right, they've been working on Metaphor for 8 years to "tide you over", to p6. Considering that Persona 6 is being made by new devs, you'll be lucky if it's even close to being as good.
@@RichardMiller-q8c No no, this ain't the side dish lil bro, Metaphor is the main course. This is that steak that Cypher is eating when he turned his back on Morpheus my dude.
@RichardMiller-q8c actually a reliable Atlus leaker has tweeted P6 will be revealed at game awards and released in July 2025. So keep an eye out. P6 and Metaphor are different internal studios. (P-studios and Studio Zero)
@@RichardMiller-q8cThat's like saying Red Dead Redemption 2 was dropped just to satiate our appetite for GTA 6 lol
It's really refreshing seeing a JRPG depict racism and class divide in such a brutally honest way. Being othered has always been a sort of hallmark for a lot of JRPG narratives especially with silent protagonists but it felt so particularly real in its attempt to get the player to meditate on how people are treated. Atlus games have always drawn from certain social phenomenons and elements from religion and mythology, but I do love that the real world is depicted as a utopia in the land of the fiction that everyone's striving to get towards, and how your nature as a complete outsider actually reflects in how NPCs talk to you or if they task you with anything you need to do to earn at least a slither of recognition, which only strengthens the whole backdrop of the election and trying to fight for a world where everyone gets their share. It's very different from the usual way Persona handles delinquency or "not being from around here"
at least its not woke and pushing LGBTQ agenda down us gamers throats like many western devs are doing.Insominiac,ubisoft etc.
It's a video game. It's not the real world. Most of us play games to escape the awful reality we live in. How in God's name is it "refreshing" to have a game remind you of the state of this world?
@@fingermi7571 Art can be escapism from the real world and used to answer pressing questions about reality, how we perceive others and what we can be striving to accomplish. It has always been used to talk about pressing subject matter in the context of a heightened, fictional reality with characters that might not even resemble people who look like us. This has always been a thing. It's often the art that detaches itself aesthetically from reality that can have the most to say about themes or messages that can be imparted on the real world. You can enjoy it as escapism, but that doesn't mean art shouldn't have something to say or that we should sanitize the content within art to look away from uncomfortable topics. Artists produce art as their perception of the world first and foremost and you can't argue with that, especially with mediums like film, TV and gaming. This has always been true
@@fingermi7571 escapism is for the weak
@@fingermi7571 just because sth is used as an escapism doesnt mean it cant handle difficult themes that are present in the real world. Hell some of my favourite game tackle difficult themes that effected me personally in my life making it hit so much harder and making it more beautiful because i had a personal understanding and connection to it.
Louis? Nah man, that’s Griffith again
Honestly we need more Griffiths.
No he’s inspired more by Reinhard from lotgh(who grifith takes some inspiration from ) like their designs and ideals are the same just louis is a bad guy lol
@@Commandosoap777 i wouldnt say griffith takes "inspiration" from reinhard, he just looks "similar" not "inspired".
@@James-u1y I look around and there’s too many Griffiths 😂
@@JustBenUnofficial I mean I wish, we’ve only had like what 3 games that had something similar?
Metaphor is my personal game of the year. Absolutely love everything about it so far!
It took me a while to get into it, longer than with Persona 5, but after the first real story dungeon 12 hours in I am hooked. The social aspect is also far more enjoyable as a young adult in a fantasy setting instead of a high school ‘real life’ setting, absolutely love it and the best thing is that I still have some days off so I can spend my days playing it. What a great time!
@@SfinxVid I love the change they made to the social links. It's much less stressful knowing there is no "filler" hangouts between links. Like they're either ready to progress or not. You don't have to build up some hidden "friendship" bar and waste a day
@@jamjam445
It’s a small change, but it really makes a huge difference actually playing through it
The Shop Keeper keeps calling me a child though. I thought my character was an young adult until I met her. I realize it could just be ageism at play, but this wasn't what I signed up for. I was told my character was an adult in Metaphor, unlike Persona 5.
@@Dandoskyballer MC is 18. So freshly an adult. But a lot of people call anyone under 30 a kid
1:06 giving a review ten hours into an rpg like this could go either way tbh. I like and trust and respect you Matty so it’s not really a big deal however this is kinda in sketchy territory tbh. Leaning more towards advert than review.
Kinda agree. I need to see his review after completing the game.
10 hours isn't much playtime honestly. I have 30 hours so far and it just keeps getting better and better. I'm enjoying it so much that I really don't want it to end. Honestly though this could easily be Atlus' best game. The story is very thoughtful and mature, I am really interested to see where this story goes and the antagonist Louis is way more that what he seems at the start, there's a lot of depth to this story.
@@Daniele-PierreDuLac 60 hours in and everything he says here actually gets even better as the story progresses.
The funniest thing is the first 10 hours are relatively boring with most of it being forced onto you instead of making your own decisions of what to do with your in game time. Game gets a lot better after the first major dungeon.
At 10 hours I myself left a positive steam review because it really is so enjoyable, and I'm 35 hours in currently and firmly stand by my initial review, and in fact the game only got better and continues to do so. It's easily going to be one of those games where I lament the fact that I only play it for the 1st time once
8:07 I personally think the Persona games are way more mature then people give it credit for just because you play as a teen. Remember Persona 5 is rated M while Metaphor is rated T. There’s way more of a darker tone in persona games then this game.
Aye in persona 5 we have corrupt police, corrupt politicans, societal commentary / crtitic, prostitutions, sexual abuse, trauma, mental health
@@Iluvatar196 Exactly 💯 ppl think it’s a kids game when it’s way darker then they give it credit for just because you play as a teen kid. 🤣
@@echos9396 Its not that persona isn't mature, I don't think people are saying that at all. They all deal with deep themes, its just the characters themselves mostly still act like teens because they are, the characters themselves aren't mature and act very anime in certain situations in persona. Also the way persona 5 goes about handling most of those themes are not that good in execution. I still think outside persona 2, p4 still has the best overall story in execution, even if I do love p3 more. P5 honestly has the weakest overall story. Basically persona doesn't really go deep enough, just has surface level problems like most jrpgs do.
Also p5 social links for the majority of characters don't hit the feels like this one does.
@@echos9396 and to add to this, the fact that these dark themes are happening to kids makes it even more mature imo
@@jamjam445 Again its not the themes that are the issues, its the execution that isn't good. It happening to kids doesn't mean much if the writing doesn't make it mean more.
Current Atlus is like 90s square..
Yeah literally that. I'm about 40% through and this game gives huge FF vibes
@@VAANET bUt gAmeRs wOn'T buY it iF iT's tUrN baSeD!
Said the FF leads when moving past XIII.
@HoudiniFontmeister ahh clever using upper and lower case letters. I think it's nuanced, ATLAS has built a ton of good faith with gamers and square has suffered from a crisis identity last decade. I think they learned cuz DQ3 is about to break records
@@VAANET well the dragon quest series never strayed from its core values like final Fantasy did. And Atlas his focused on a quality that later FF's seem to lack. Obviously to the gameplay and plot because those games are absolutely gorgeous. I grew up playing all the final Fantasy games final Fantasy 7 was the game that taught me how to read when I was 8 years old. I remember my dad bought it for me because we rented it and I was obsessed with it. It was the reason I ended up getting a memory card in the first place. I made it to the second disc without a save file. It took a week of restarting it and like 3 days of leaving the PlayStation on. Lol Great memories. How far we have fallen
Well spoken bro well spoken
Anyone who think Persona doesn't do mature themes is crazy to me, hell just the first big chap of P5 hit hard.
Metaphor feels like the perfect blend of mainstream shin megami tensei dark stories and persona lighter stories put together.
@@colorless_crown3789 tbh I'd argue the themes in persona are darker than the themes here.
@jamjam445 Yea, you're right. I think when I refer to persona, I mostly talk about 4 and 5 cause 1 and 2 is niche so not as many people play them and 3 is really dark, but just recently got main stream popularity cause of the remake.
@@colorless_crown3789persona 3 never felt that dark for me. Character death of Shinji aside.
Metaphor is so damn good. By far the best Atlus game I've ever played. The music is so captivating and fits so well with the story
The Virga island theme was such a bop.
No way this is better then P5. Does it get better? I’m 10hrs in and thinking about dropping it
@enternamehere142 it's way better than P5. Watchu smokin? You don't ever have to go to school. That's the most boring part of P5, plus it mixes real time combat with turn based
@@DrierHyperion21 what real time combat… when you press x to start the turnbase? Same thing in P5. This time you press x 3 times instead of 1. Unless there’s something I’m missing. There is no real-time combat..
@@DrierHyperion21lol real time combat , hahaha
I didn't realize till I started playing this, how sick I was of the high school scene. Its refreshing to have a time limit but not have to take a test on history or some other subject. This alone is worth the price of admission.
The fact that I can run around with the mage arch type to replenish my MP makes this game easier. I ran out of MP switched to the mage, grinded for a bit and my MP was back full. I didn't even have to take a day's rest to finish the dungeon😂😂😂
Standing in front of a spawning crystal as mage. Just out side of range of the crystal itself. Easiest way to regenerate for free, doing the same for merchant and gunner. Literally it’s just free cash,health and mp lol
The moment I farmed my first dungeon for repeat kills, never struggled with mag from that point either lol
It gave me a good reason to go on the hardest difficulty and it’s such a fun experience in that way.
Also they purposely put a crystal that infinitely spawns low level enemies in "almost" all dungeons to make this easier. This is a huge QoL.
@@daemyno was that on purpose? It feels like more of an oversight than on purpose. To me it seems the purpose is to punish anyone not keeping up on levels and be a minor inconvenience to anyone else. I feel like farming the crystals was not the purpose cause they don’t respawn and your teammates will wreck them easy if you stand even a step to close with there support attacks
Atlus has been cooking all year bro
After I saw a 95 on metacritic I opened up a huge smile and said “Matty is going to lose his shit”
i always heard about Persona games, problem is it is in highschool and i personally am not fan of this setting so their new fantasy IP is exactly what i needed ... 40 + hours in game and i love it
@@jaroslavmihok740 I'm 60 in and it gets really good soon! Just s heads up that when it tells you to prepare for "the final battle," don't panic. It's not actually the end of the game.
In my opinion Metaphor ReFantazio is the Elden Ring of persona games where it blends all of the good mechanics from its predecessors as well as new and turns it into it's own thing. Definitely my GOTY and one of my best friends is playing JRPGs for the first time and he's enjoying this game so much that he wants to return to the previous games.10/10 game.
No Matty, everything is a METAPHOR.
I already put 100 hours into this game, its like crack. Honestly one of the best JRPGs I've ever played, and I've played A LOT of JRPGs.
This game came out of nowhere. I remember seeing a trailer for it in passing over the summer and thinking "oh, that looks interesting". Then the next I heard of it is because the demo came out and I saw a YT video where the guy mentioned it. On a whim I downloaded the demo, and now I'm completely hooked on the game. 25 hours in so far.
Your enthusiasm is contagious and perhaps a contributing factor why you’ve come so far Matty, keep rockin 💪
Been waiting to hear you get back to this one and talk about it! But like you said you’re still at the tip of the Atlusberg with this one so I would love to see a full circle review/thoughts from you after rolling credits either here or on retro rebound or with Cog in the realm of the dukes. Such a special game and what a year to be a JRPG fan
Wow!! I can’t wait to play this game! I’ve literally been saving it, because I know it’s gonna be that good!! Love your channel and whole vibe! Your enthusiasm for games is unmatched and so refreshing.
Been checking my RUclips subs daily waiting for Matty's review. Let's go!!!
As someone who doesn’t really enjoy the combat in atlus games, well, more so persona, I really enjoyed the combat here. It’s faster paced and the real time action before the fights kicks ass too. I hope persona 6 combat plays like this
Honestly, this is arguably one of the best stories Atlus has ever done. It caught me off guard, it's actually quite dark and very thoughtful. The story is also not black and white and very nuanced and mature. On top of that damn Louis has surprised me so far as an antagonist, he could easily be Atlus' best antagonist, there's so much more than what meets the eye to this game. The quality of the writing alos is very consistent throughout. I've still a long way to go though, having an absolute blast. This could easily be GOTY. Also I dare say it, maybe has to potential Atlus' best game. I have to finish it first.
Regarding difficulty, I recommend just playing on Normal to start. You can bump it up if you think you're having an easy time, but later in the game you get introduced to Negative Weather effects that remove your Bonus Turn Icon for striking a weakness, and suddenly the game is WAY harder.
When you cant do 8 turns in a row? 😌
I was playing on hard and the only challenege i had was on the trial dragons, royal sword + charge = 1-2 rounding all bosses. Basically those bad weather days were perfect for gridning where youd go up to a tower and 1 shot enemies on the open world with bonus xp
"Strohl" and "Hulkenberg" ? I think there is some huge F1 fans at Atlus aha
I just bought metaphor refantazio thus week. I'm at level 43 and growing. Loving each battle so far. Awesome jrpg!
At the moment of the demonstration of strengths (in Brilehaven), I was able to hear my heartbeat (probably anyone would have heard it if they were in the room at that moment)
This is my first jrpg and Atlus game, I haven't bought the game yet, but I love the demo and it's the best demo I've played this year
BRING BACK DEMOS!! i normally wouldnt have tried this bc ive never played a jrpg but im really enjoying this demo atm
I wonder what the end game difficulty is going to look like. Persona 5 was the first JRPG I ever beat and I found the final couple hours of the game really challenging for me.
Short Answer:Yes
Long Answer:Yes
Wait… a edit: TURN BASED COMBAT game that intelligently considers and explores real world themes that doesn’t beat you over the head with THE MESSAGE?!? I am in!
I’m just here trying to parse through Marty’s baffling combination of sports fandoms. The NY Mets, Atlanta Falcons, and Edmonton Oilers?!
Pretty sure he's a Rangers fan
Who the fuck is Marty
I been playing non stop for 4 days now
gonna do a ng+ run right after finishing tomorrow
Edit - A tip for you guys, If you got the archetypal ring have it equipped on the main character. That ring boosts the exp earned from the turn based combat only not over world I think. I'm already almost done fully leveling all the royal archetypes.
I’ve never played a atlas game or Persona, but heard nothing but great things. I grew up obsessed with final fantasy 7, 8, 9, and personal favorite 10. Would this be difficult for me to get in to?
Falcons and Fantazio fan?! I have found my people. Subscribed🤝
It doesnt look like something I would really play, but some aspects of the game do seem pretty cool and a really creative. Its nice to see a variety of different games out there. Also glad to see Matty in a good mood :)
You can try the demo
Try a jrpg if you haven't
@@deadpoolcorps2 This is true, I may do that
Hey! Did you end up finishing this one? Really really want to hear your post-game thoughts.
The end boss fight is proper hard 😢
Been waiting for you to make this video!
You said you’re no lifing this game and damn so have I. I haven’t been this irresponsible with my sleep schedule in a long time.
GAME OF THE DECADE
Atlas UI just shows us how western entertainment is missing out by not jumping into crazy art direction
Atlus UI only works with that specific art style most western rpg’s tend to have a much grounded UI even some Japanese rpg doesn’t have the same style as Atlus UI design.Only Atlus making an effort to design their UI that looks like very stylish
@@sakuragi1062 I kinda agree, but it would be cool to see more people experimenting with Ui the same way atlus does
@@nnnneeeeuuuu A lot of turn based games need this sort of flashy UI to make looking at the game interesting. RPGs that allow you to grind while staring at a static UI are sleep inducing. This UI kind of hides the fact that the game is a turn-based RPG and that there's nothing else happening on-screen between turns.
@ yeah it’s always a visual novel in the end but I don’t mind it
Beat the game today. the game is 11/10
So in other words, This is an instant classic. The passion you have describing it is proof. I'm so excited to play. I have heard nothing but stellar reviews of this game.
I had the honour to check this game a few hours at my friends home. I am convinced!
Truthfully this game has blown me away. The gameplay, the OST, and the story elements. The themes of class divide and racism are portrayed wonderfully. And I'm not even halfway through the game yet. I'm beyond stoked to see the future of this game. Definitely a fantastic new series from Atlus
Cannot stop playing. 70+ hours so far. Still hooked on this gaming crack.
Thanks for the insight. Have never played a Persona game. Should I jump straight into Metaphor or would it be worthwhile to try one of the Persona games first?
This game is really frickn special, knew you'd love this one Matty
This game is wonderful and a breath of fresh air coming from their usual teenage/highschool setting where I kind of have a hard time relating to the characters and situations. This game does not have that problem for me. It's so, so good.
I am so grateful this came out just before Veilguard, so I can spend two hundred hours on it, before Halloween.
1:47 Makes me glad that I'm not too particular with genres. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, platformers, cyberpunk, whatever, I'm so into it all. Love so many genres.
Fun game, made me want to go back and play Disgaea to remind me where it started
I've been loving it so far, if anything my only critique is that, even on hard, it's very easy to get overleveled, I'm level 20 and just got into the second major dungeon and things could change with any boss encounter and I hope it does, because one of the best moments of the game for me was killing the boss that unlocks the merchant archetype, minor spoilers for the boss fight in the next paragraph
So that minotaur looking boss was one of the highlights so far, since I was like 3/4 levels below what you're supposed to be when fighting it and I still managed to beat it with using the skip turn mechanic and the row mechanic, the boss practically one shoted me and it had an aoe move, so I had to be on the back row if I wanted to survive. Leveling up cleric archetype to 10 gave me an aoe healing skill which made it possible to survive pretty reliably if I was on the back row, just had to pass it to an archetype with no staff to not enrage the boss. The synthesis piercing skill for the knight archetype was also pretty good since it lowered the boss' defense, which helped due to damage being lower on the back row and after that it was just a battle of attrition, would I be able to defeat the boss before running out of MP and I did it, gained like one whole level and a half from that fight alone and the strategy made the first few trial and error attempts worth it all.
Finally the first major dungeon was also pretty good because in the early game it was a struggle to balance mp and item consumption. I tried to do the dungeon in one single day, that's also how I did it with p5's palaces and it was challenging due to its lenght, by the end I was genuinely afraid each time I saw a human and I tried to avoid combat to preserve resources for the next boss fight. With finally reaching the second major dungeon I hope that struggle will come back, but due to the extended period I had of hoarding hp and mp recovery items I doubt it will be half as difficult, but if I'm wrong it will be a pleasant surprise because I really enjoy when the press turn system of this game makes me think if it's worth using a synthesis, passing a turn, going to the back row, etc.
After hearing this, I hope you do a further review once you get in--I just finished the second dungeon myself and that one was a struggle on its own.
I love it! I got it on Playstation and really loving the characters, story, and world! No spoilers but I'm diving back into the next dungeon tonight!
The reason I like Metaphor so much is because it reminds me of Magi
YOOOO it really does
I’ve never played persona and struggled to get into the difficulty of smt. So far I have enjoyed the demo and will probably purchase this game.
The only thing I disagree with you on a little is the seamlessness of the world. I find the cutting between different animation styles ,quick loads after walking 10ft through a courtyard, opening a door, “traveling” on the map, etc a little jarring and do pull me out of the story. Being a newer player to atlus there is alot of systems and stuff to get used to. I’m only 3-4 hours into the demo so I’m hoping some of it will start making more sense as I go.
Playing the demo. I love that the game actually says what you chose. I feel like I'm actually role playing the character and my choices were my own. Idk if the choices actually matter because demo.
I want to know what that font is in the game... the one with the wide strokes and thin bars connecting them.
I meaaan they created it bro. Clearly everything is custom
It’s SO good. Because I already had the expectations of the Persona loop, which was already good, each new wrinkle I think wow this is crazy. I’m stoked about the story, stoked about the new gameplay, stoked about the character builds, etc etc the list is pretty long. It’s so awesome when you get hooked bigtime and know you got such a huge game ahead.
Atlus is one of those rare developers like From Soft. When you see it, you buy it and you will enjoy it.
A game like this is really what we needed. 💯
I'm almost 50 hours deep into this game, and it's SO MUCH FUN. And yeah, it's a very dark game with hard-hitting themes while not being preachy. Plus, I enjoy the gameplay so much. I tried playing Persona 5 multiple times, but it was so complex, I stopped playing due to overthinking the whole game and persona combinations. I got very far in SMT5 but then ended up overthinking the fusions again once I got into the level 60s. Though, I do have over 100 hours on [base] SMT5 but haven't finished it yet. But yeah, once you get the mechanics down here, everything feels so good no matter what you do.
Matty is a falcons fan, love to see it
I've never played Persona. I downloaded the demo for this one based on your raving. Bought the full game after about 2 hours of playing the demo.
Glad you're really enjoying it so far, altho it was kinda a given haha I wish I had time for it right now, but have just other games I was gonna play prior first.
Curiously, left the same feedback on the Alien isolation video on Retro channel I think, would have liked to see you play a bit more and time spent on the game first before a video just for the sake of a video. This game is 60-100hrs, spending 10 seems a little small considering the demo gave us 6-8 depending on what you did, so you really haven't experiences that much more than everyone else yet.
No hate, glad to see some thoughts! I know how utterly busy October in general is for you specifically game release wise, but would have loved to see some more mid game thoughts on further archetypes, dungeons, other main cast members obtained, where the story is going etc
Will you do a final review or follow up video wise or just chat about it on defining duke etc?
Thanks Matty!
Do we still have deep character customization like we did with the demons/persona with smt/persona or is this more of a tokyo mirage sessions with limited character customization, having to use pre-defined party members and even tho good story/etc maybe not so good gameplay?
Is Matty game developer? Which game did he work on? I wanna check.
Matty was on point about the villian twist 😂
Yes I picked up the game and playing it! Damn the hard mode sure is difficult especially when you run out of magla pill for MP replenishment! It is such a rare drop during the start! Need to conserve MP for the main boss fights. Music is astounding without a question. The gameplay doesn't make me bored at all! Challenging with a nice storyline that will keep you engaged! Agree to your review 100%!
The new anxiety status affect is such a game changer. I absolutely love and hate it lol it makes battles more strategic
Def a must buy for me
Loving the Falcons Shirt Matty! Dirty Birds!
I wanna play this but it's an Atlus game so I know there's just going to be an "ultimate" version in 2 years with extra content. So I might hold off
I do not like feeling pressed by time in games. This is why I love SMT V more than a Persona game for example. If not for the Calendar, this game would have been a 10 out of 10.
finally finished this in 2 weeks, such a journey, never wanted to trade with anything else.
Atlus just crushes everything they do. It really is great to see a team at the top of their craft, seemingly sacrificing nothing to execute their vision. This is what game development should be, and I don't mean this exact type of game, but this level of polish and care.
We can all thank DDS for heavily inspiring Metaphors gameplay
For me, it tells more than showing and the characters are more cartoon cut-outs than P5 chars. But mostly good.
"There's got to be a twist here somewhere"
Oh boy...
I feel the same way about everything in this game. Atlus is one of the few companies that wants their menus and ui to be a work of art on it's own.
metaphor such a banger, GOTY
Matty fan from Atlanta. Awesome falcons shirt!
I haven't played any JRPGs, so does this seem like a good way to dip my feet in the water for the genre?
It’s all your fault that I’m obsessed with these games now! Glad you are taking your time with it tho!
I played some hours of the demo and I’m at a loss as to how it has a 94 metascore.
Metaphor is truly something special, Atlus has become KING of turn based. Menu’s so sleek, music is absolute perfection, Visuals are gorgeous! Top tier in every way! 10/10 masterpiece. GOTY