Excellent video. You are on point with much of what you discuss. And really the high Metacritic scores are more a cause for celebration. I am rooting for the success of this brilliant game as I am sure you are too!
not better than P5R or DQXIS.., but good ... the woke sites ofc pushing the scores high (they love games pushing agendas, here its wierd.. too many dudes look like girls.., just too many lol., while feminine women & masculine dudes are rare..)
@onixtalks the pandering press paid off this time (DEI consultants are like "see Atlus, cause you pandered, we pushed thr scores, you sold well".., to legitimise the existence of DEI consultants.. ... if they hadn't tainted it with full pandering characters (hard facepalm on some) and writing, it might have been something special, but the agenda pushing breakss immersion. ... besides it has other issues and ist better than DQXIS or P5R.. ... but it still does some great stuff, like traversal and interesting story / world.. ... its overhyped, with issues, but stil good
I had the same toughts when i played the demo, this game really feels like Hashino's love letter to his career on atlus and games that are important to him, i think it's not a coincidence the main cast resembling Persona 3 characters since it's such a important game to Hashino, Meguro and Soejima inside Atlus, it feels like a big tribute to his favorite works.
not better than P5R or DQXIS.., but good ... the woke sites ofc pushing the scores high (they love games pushing agendas, here its wierd.. too many dudes look like girls.., just too many lol., while feminine women & masculine dudes are rare..)
I think a lot of people do misunderstand what metaphor is, and I want to point out the timing a lot.This is the 35th anniversary of Atlus, and the game is that. It's a little bit of them cutting free, but also a game abotu tradtition. Metaphor is a tree, and each ring inside that trees body is a game Atlus has created and worked on. The day system and S-link ideas come from Persona. Combat is more SMT mainline, with the class system coming directly from Etrian, as well as the"Front/back" row system. There are a lot more little things too. Small nods, and thumbs up to what was and used to be. There is a very VERY important reason why Team Zero's logo is 2 things - The Seeker and The Fool. They always have loved the idea of The Fool, limitless, and full of all kinds of potential, but the logo is designed to look like "The Seeker" in this games framing, a being searching for it's place, and to redefine itself in the face of change. I think that's maybe the biggest thing to take away from things currently. That this stuff shows a lot of the internal workings now the industry is changing, and they don't NEED tot be "Persona" . They can do more, try more, and experiment with a lot of freedom -but it's important they dont' forget, and in fact honour a lot of what they did. :) Metaphor is a 35th anniversay victory lap, and them basically saying "And look what we can do when we just go with ideas"
@@incrediblehak2833 You can't afford to buy more than one game in any given month? Lmao sucks to suck enjoy the *one* game that you can afford. RIP Toriyama
@ShrimplessScampi nothing to do with affording it goofy. It's about what game you gotta put your time in. You're either a kid with no job or a bum with no job or life
@@incrediblehak2833 LOL calm down ma'am I apologize for triggering you. Again...enjoy the *ONE* game that you were able to scrounge up enough change to afford.
I had high hopes for the demo and it blew me away. Their UI has always been next level but they've outdone themselves this time. It's a constant stream of sensory pleasures.
You can feel how much they loved this project. I so excited for the future and I really hope they take some of the stuff they've learned with Metaphor into Persona. It feels like some of the original structure of the Persona series started to hold 5 back, but this is a complete breath of fresh air.
I genuinely believe it's one of the finest RPG's ever made. It's my personal GOTY, even if the industry won't recognise it as such simply because it's a JRPG. I can recognise it's not for everyone, and I also recognise my recency bias and the fact that I'm already a big fan of the genre and Atlas in general. But all of that aside, genuinely, Metaphor: ReFantazio is really fuckin' excellent.
Having a big demo was a really good decision for them. I bet a lot of people were thinking "I liked Persona, but do I want to gamble 70$ on a 'side game' by them?" The demo was plenty to tell if you want to buy it.
Oh yeah, ill never forget beating P5 and seeing their Re: Fantasy concept video after. Didnt realize the releaee date was so soon! So happy for Atlus, they deserve it. One of few gaming companies thats always stayed true to itself while also experimenting with new concepts to see what hits best with the fan base and new fans 🎇
The first time I encountered Atlus was during the PS2 era when I stumbled upon a lesser-known title called Steambot Chronicles, which they published. This game radiated a sense of "uniqueness" that set it apart from everything else I had played at the time, and I was immediately captivated. From that point on, I delved deeper into Atlus's games, exploring gems like Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, and Catherine, among others. Each game consistently offers that unmistakable and singular experience that makes you realize only Atlus could create such unique gameplay. I had the chance to try the demo of this new game, Methapor, and it gives me that same feeling, which makes me instantly love it so i pre-order it without hesitation. I’m truly grateful for Atlus for leaving so many wonderful memories in my brain, and I wish more developers would follow in their footsteps.
watching this the day after I finished the game (and cried at the ending) and all i can say it deserves the massive sales. its refreshing, unique, the message of it hit me hard and definitely wasnt afraid to address subjects in a way that didn't feel off or misinterpreted. sure hope this metaphor lives on in atlus' iconic history lol
@@EthanIsCool117 In my opinion, it definitely doesn't beat persona 3's (cuz im biased), but it is certainly good and i was honestly satisfied with how it concluded 👌
Right now the best part about metaphor is that the press turn system is just way more balanced and fun to play around with than the "one more" system of persona You're very much encouraged to use enemy weaknesses, but now you have to consider when and if you can use synthesis attacks, if it's worth while using a status increase and sacrifice one of those turns, if you can still squeaze on more action if you play your turns right Also, the row system is genius, I just beat a boss I shouldn't even be close to ready to fight yet due to the row system, by sacrificing your damage per turn you can take around half the damage you would normally take and that can buy you time, if you have enough resources you can just stall it out, but if you have don't you have to find a way to put you damage dealer in the front row, make them attack and make them get another turn so they can go back to the back row and take less damage for enemy phase, it's super interesting how the combat evolved for this game Yes the archetype system is cool but I think the core combat mechanics are what make this game better than smt or persona in terms of combat
I hope this will propel them forward towards making more experimental games. They can't sit on their laurels and just milk the Persona franchise forever, especially since it takes them so long to make new mainline entries. P5 is likely the peak of the franchise in terms of popularity and there's no guarantee that the less devoted Persona players won't have forgotten about the franchise or moved on to other things by the time P6 inevitably comes out. We're seeing this happen with Final Fantasy at the moment, the once juggernaut of the video game industry is suddenly struggling to break even as their releases slow down with every entry. It's important to invest in different series, not just to introduce different types of players to your entire library but also to give your staff new creative ideas to explore.
@@micahltaylor739 It's arguable that the beginning of Square's downfall was thinking they could break into Hollywood just because PSX FFVII was a perennial success. Sakaguchi left and the company merged with Enix pretty quickly after Spirits Within bombed in box office. Every time a new game comes from Square and we find out that the game "didn't meet sales expectation"....it feels like they think every mainline FF is supposed to do the numbers that VII was doing in the late 90s/early 00s
@@micahltaylor739 For sure, Square absolutely should not be throwing money into these games that take 6+ years to develop and release to a lukewarm reception. FFXVI didn't sell too bad, it had over 3 million copies sold in its first week, but it nonetheless flopped as it just had to make a ridiculous and unreasonable amount of money just to break even. It also seems like no one that played the game really cared all that much about it, within its launch week people had already moved on to other things and online buzz was almost non-existent for the title. If they had cut the development time in half and not focused so hard on graphical fidelity over an interesting story and gameplay loop, they would've easily broke even and had a solid hit on their hands, and they could've moved on to releasing FFXVII much faster which, given their release cycle these past few years, is coming out like 2030 earliest. This development cycle is just not sustainable.
a huge part of the main persona titles (since p3) is its set on modern day japan. this fact is supported on how little hype refantazio has atleast compared to persona or smt
I'm glad you're back I love watching your videos I can tell you are a true fan of the franchise I noticed this especially in your video about Apocalypse you really show your true opinion different from other RUclipsrs in the fandom
I’m SUPER excited for Metaphor. When it was first “announced” as ReFantasy I was really curious about how they’d handle a fantasy game, but now that I’ve played the demo, I really hope it sells well. Probably gonna be my GOTY.
I think the biggest uphill battle is that this is the finale of Atlus’s year. Within the last 12 months, we’ve gotten two persona games (well, 2.5 if you count the answer separate), an SMT rerelease, and Unicorn Overload. I know personally the reason I’m skipping at launch is because I want to finish Reload first. I think the burnout may be getting to some people which is why I’m hesitant on picking it up.
P5 turned Atlus from a still somewhat niche dev in the west to a top-tier dev, and Metaphor has taken them from a top-tier dev in the west to legend status. I genuinely view them as being in the same realm as fromsoft, Santa monica, etc with regards to the level of quality and care with which they build games. I couldn’t be more proud of this studio forreal they’ve just continued to excel and I couldn’t be happier.
You are definitely tapped in. I resonate with you saying it feels like a culmination of all the Atlas adventures. That was the first thing I noticed during the demo excited to get my hands on the full game.
I agree it's a massive cross roads for Atlus but I don't have the same pessimistic viewpoint you have. This video came up on my home page and I clicked on btw. you earned a sub from me and I can't wait to see where you go in the future!
As someone who has played very little of the Persona games I can tell you I was blown away by the Metaphor: ReFantazio demo! I downloaded the demo on a whim, not expecting much, to buying the collector's edition instantaneously! The level of ambition and quality on display was jaw dropping in my opinion! The graphics and art style are so good! The writing, voice acting, lore and music top-notch! The rich lore and fantasy within fantasy conceit is a good one and really pulled me in! Taken all together I think this is going to be an all-time great game and really raises the JRPG genre to new heights imo! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with the title dude!! I think the game is going to do quite well at first and even better over time with word of mouth! And I hope they do something similar like they did with Persona 5 Royal and a year or two from now! The 11th can't come fast enough!
I know the developers and what they've done in the past. I heard about this game about a year ago and completely forgot it existed. Until yesterday when i saw a few reviews. Easy pre-order for me. I can't wait to get home from work today to play it.
Thank you for being thorough in talking about Atlus history, mentioning their other games that didnt reach the critical success that the Persona Series did. I liked the video the second you said that their other series were alienated. Right now im getting into arguments in a different comment section for daring to say, paraphrased: "Atlus has other good games that inspired some systems in Metaphor and they deserve a spotlight". Persona was originally an SMT spinoff, so I feel like people trying to remove it from the conversation is really strange. Either way, thank you for your research, and bringing attention to their other games.
ATLUS big dicked metaphor refantazio. How could a studio put out a demo of a FULL Game in 2024? That demo had hours of content in it. I still can't get my head over it regardless this game is success and its freaking beautiful to look at.
My friend who got me into persona games recommended this game to me - and I'm glad he did. This is essentially persona 6 in my opinion. I am about 15 hours in and it's shaping up to be a fucking masterpiece.
That's actually why I think Reload happened too we're gonna see a new atlus era coming so celebrating an important game for them as a love letter which makes sense from dev interviews the og persona devs did help a lot in reload
I enjoyed the demo quite a bit. Atlus is great at making characters, themes and setting interesting so I'm not let down there at all. While I think there are plenty of differences, I do see why people would compare this to Persona so closely . I think that is a good thing though. With how many new fans Persona 5 brought in (and hopefully SMT VV too), having something similar like social links and whatnot is good. People are comfortable with what is familiar, so they won't hesitate as much with jumping onto a new IP like this. If it was completely unrecognizable, then it might not sell as well as we hope it would. If it does make the sales it needs to keep Atlus making new IPs then great! If that happens maybe they would feel safer diverging further from the Persona formula in future titles. For now I will be enjoying Metaphor and putting more than 100 hours into it as I do with all their titles. Thank you for the video and keep up the good work !
I think that's part of Atlus' problem. Their marketing is not great. They have always put out lots of games, most of them very high quality, but niche, and requires you to be kind of in the know. Persona does so well because it really stands out and has established itself beyond the Atlus fan base. You don't need to be a JRPG fan to be aware of Persona, but anything else Atlus has put out might get lost in the endless stream of JRPG...
I played the demo and I'm so hooked by the way they combined all the best aspects of their series' titles that I'm practically frothing at the mouth waiting for the release and am borderline unable to comprehend how anyone can _not_ be unreasonably hyped for the game. Got my days off work booked and everything. That said, I do think the game borrows a few too many elements from Persona to truly stand on its own as a 'third pillar' (Archetype awakenings, Akademeia and More vs. Velvet Room and Igor, calendar system, Royal Virtues vs social stats, followers/social links, etc). Though for me personally it doesn't bother me at all, I love the aesthetic, Press Turn combat, MC stats à la SMT, changing weapons in overworld like SMT4, Archetypes are like a job system which I have always loved etc). The story seems unusual enough to capture my interest and I love that we will travel around rather than having a single hub city like Tokyo or Inaba. I just don't know how much mainstream interest it will capture. I don't get the feeling it will have the same mass appeal as P5 did. But I would love to be proven wrong. I agree too that I would love to see Atlus not be pigeonholed to Persona + spinoffs + the occasional SMT.
My first experience with this series was Persona 5, and as jrpg, I fell in love with it, and now I am a fan. The sound tracks are amazing, and I've definitely getting metaphor
The game has an incredible 6 hour demo and the review emargo lifted a full week ahead of release to glowing reviews. If this game fails, gamers dont deserve good games. Just more football games.
Great Demo. And the game seems to be massive with some saying it's like P5 in lenght. I think if the full game turns out to be as good as the demo then people will support it. I do think it will sell well.
I stumbled upon the game out of the blue on the steam page, liked what I was being shown, thought "fuck it let's play the demo". Started playing it and loved it, and then realised later on it was from Atlus. I hope we get more metaphor games down the line honestly. Bought the game after the demo and have been having a blast.
This is great insight on Hashino, Atlus' past, the industry, and the importance of this game doing well! While it wasn't my cup of tea, I do hope everyone enjoys the game and it does well. Excluding the medieval high fantasy setting, this game feels like Hashino's greatest hits without much innovation. In my opinion, this game will live and die by it's story after the visuals disappear the more you play. This game will probably change someone's life who hasn't played an Atlus game though. Great video!
This year has had metaphor, SMTVV and P3R, this year has been nothing but greatness from atlus. They have released a game in both of their existing pillars to big financial and popular success, and now their hopefully third pillar has incredibly reviews, higher than any other atlus game I think.
Great video, and experimenting is great, but something you don't see publishers and developers do anymore, because it costs a crazy amount of money to create a game today. It's not like the PS2 days where you can put out three/four games a year. This seems to be the same kind of thinking that people have regarding Rockstar Games. Some people also think that they could churn out a new GTA every other year, like they did in the PS2 days. Having said that, great video and I appreciate your efforts!
Normally I'd prefer a more non-all-in-fantasy setting like Persona/Yakuza, but the question at the start of the game and following dialogues in the storyline, where OUR world is a fantasy to them, really hooks me into wanting to find out more in how the story will play out in the story. Not to mention the battle system which is a mixture of all atlus's games to date and that's so fking fun to play.
I’m a new Atlas fan. I’d say that Unicorn Overlord was received well. I don’t know how well it sold but when looking at buying it all the reviews I saw were singing its praises. I don’t know if it will be a pillar for Atlas.
Atlus is both a developer and a publisher. Unicorn Overlord was published by Atlus, but it was developed by a different company, Vanillaware (one of my favorite studios). This video is about the games Atlus themselves develop.
I'm a relatively new atlus games enjoyer, I started with SMT3 remake and played SMT5 Vengeance but somehow never played any persona, I gave metaphor a try and so far I really like it
The first 5 mins of the demo told me all I needed to know with how mature this story would be. I mean, dude, right off the bat that first cutscene. I thought this would be chill and happy like P5, but nope, it's better. In my opinion, it's better.
In the Atlus 35th Anniversary artbook, at the last page it explains that they hope Metaphor will show players they want to change course and start doing something different. It's supposed to be a culmination of what the company has done throughout the years.
@@Foogi9000 maybe. Just like SMT 1 being there big hit in the 90s and persona 3 in the 2000s. This might turn out to be another spinoff franchise moving forward
Marketing wise it’s concerning. Most of YT vids about this game are only around thousands, I remember persona 5 have around hundred of thousands views easily before release because atlus+ sony went all out with the marketing strategy, collaborating with many huge channels to discuss P5
Idk I played the demo and I don't think it's as much like persona as people say. But at the same time as a long time atlus fan I can see differences better then someone who has just played persona and that's it
i've played a few jrpg"s and have wanted to check out the persona series and just haven't made the jump into it. i've been playing the demo and love it. the style is amazing i've never seen anything like it. i'm gonna buy it when it comes out for sure
3 weeks later... 20k in game in Steam in the middle of the night and 7.2k reviews leaving the game in high regard. Your worries should be over at this point
I honestly hope that this is only the beginning of a new franchise for Atlus. I can't remember my hype for a game being this big. Maybe FF7Remake in 2020, but i'm more impatient for its release day. 17 hours in the demo now and can't wait to continue with my best save file from that. Everybody have fun in the Kingdom of Euchronia this friday!!
I feel this is a HD version of mechanics similar to SMT4... (not Apocalypse but the 4th one, with the forest and kingdom and all that). We need new IPs... enough with the Personas and Final Fantasy types with numbers increasing with each year. They need to start taking more risks. But I agree... the naming 'Metaphor Refantazio' is a mouthful. They should have kept it small. Even Soul Hackers has one too many words.
I played the Demo, I really enjoyed it. I see some people on steam saying to wait to buy it since they will likely release an updated version sooner or later, I highly disagree with this. Like you said in the video this is a risk atlas is taking. If everyone waits for a better version then that version won’t ever come.
I’m gonna be honest here - longtime gamer 30+ years in and out - the persona series never appealed to me. It always looked teenage to me. But Atlus has always been on my radar. I played the demo for Metaphor and I haven’t been obsessed with an art style/gameplay/music in an rpg like this in a very long time. It is truly a masterpiece and can’t wait to play the whole thing! 😅
I was introduced to ATLUS when Persona 4 Golden got ported to PC and mainly stuck with the Persona series. Metaphor ReFantazio has honestly been the only game I’ve been interested in outside of Persona.
I truly thought this game wasn't going to sell well either for the same reasons you did. I just didn't see that much hype for it among the greater gaming community over the last couple months. It only ramped up in the last week or so with the reviews and the demo. That giant demo was a brilliant marketing move. I'm sure we're both ecstatic to be proven wrong!
I didn't expect Metaphor to be much of a hit, I barely saw any discourse about it until the metacritic reviews dropped and I was expected it to be something that sells bad but never did I expect it to sell 1 million copies in a day when it took P3R a week to do that
I am an utterly braindead normie, so if it ended up on my radar then marketing or word of mouth must be doing something because it got me to play the demo, enjoy it, buy Persona 5, and buy Metaphor: RF
Bhought this on release. 62 hours into the game and i only wish it didn't end in 30 or so hours. What an amazing game it is. Congrats to Atlus doing something new with already developed formulas
Metaphors gonna be fine. But they need to work on the color palette that’s what’s holding it back. Persona 3 is wildly colorful in the best way. This has a LOT of browns and im not feeling that despite being hype for the game from jump
1 million copies in 24 hours LOL. Opening at 93 metacritic helped this game prove me wrong about the sales (ofc that happens the day after upload).
I got so excited seeing that! I want nothing more than for this to be a massive success.
Excellent video. You are on point with much of what you discuss. And really the high Metacritic scores are more a cause for celebration. I am rooting for the success of this brilliant game as I am sure you are too!
not better than P5R or DQXIS.., but good
...
the woke sites ofc pushing the scores high (they love games pushing agendas, here its wierd.. too many dudes look like girls.., just too many lol., while feminine women & masculine dudes are rare..)
Impressive sales!
@onixtalks
the pandering press paid off this time (DEI consultants are like "see Atlus, cause you pandered, we pushed thr scores, you sold well".., to legitimise the existence of DEI consultants..
...
if they hadn't tainted it with full pandering characters (hard facepalm on some) and writing, it might have been something special, but the agenda pushing breakss immersion.
...
besides it has other issues and ist better than DQXIS or P5R..
...
but it still does some great stuff, like traversal and interesting story / world..
...
its overhyped, with issues, but stil good
i truly believe this is the beginning of a new era for Atlus
Nah!
wrong....when something like that will happen is WHEN Persona 6 comes out.....not this generic JRPG called Metaphor ....
@@Jpcraquecongrats on the dumbest opinion of the day.
@@Jpcraque oh Persona fanboy 😅
@@Jpcraque Dude, the very same people who made what you love so much about Persona are THE creators of this game.
@@Jpcraquenothing is more generic than persona same plot for 3 games using same old SMT enemies with such a casual turn based game
I had the same toughts when i played the demo, this game really feels like Hashino's love letter to his career on atlus and games that are important to him, i think it's not a coincidence the main cast resembling Persona 3 characters since it's such a important game to Hashino, Meguro and Soejima inside Atlus, it feels like a big tribute to his favorite works.
not better than P5R or DQXIS.., but good
...
the woke sites ofc pushing the scores high (they love games pushing agendas, here its wierd.. too many dudes look like girls.., just too many lol., while feminine women & masculine dudes are rare..)
I think a lot of people do misunderstand what metaphor is, and I want to point out the timing a lot.This is the 35th anniversary of Atlus, and the game is that. It's a little bit of them cutting free, but also a game abotu tradtition. Metaphor is a tree, and each ring inside that trees body is a game Atlus has created and worked on. The day system and S-link ideas come from Persona. Combat is more SMT mainline, with the class system coming directly from Etrian, as well as the"Front/back" row system. There are a lot more little things too. Small nods, and thumbs up to what was and used to be. There is a very VERY important reason why Team Zero's logo is 2 things - The Seeker and The Fool. They always have loved the idea of The Fool, limitless, and full of all kinds of potential, but the logo is designed to look like "The Seeker" in this games framing, a being searching for it's place, and to redefine itself in the face of change. I think that's maybe the biggest thing to take away from things currently. That this stuff shows a lot of the internal workings now the industry is changing, and they don't NEED tot be "Persona" . They can do more, try more, and experiment with a lot of freedom -but it's important they dont' forget, and in fact honour a lot of what they did. :) Metaphor is a 35th anniversay victory lap, and them basically saying "And look what we can do when we just go with ideas"
mucho texto
@@FredMaverik Gen Z's when something requires more than 2 seconds of attention span.
@@FredMaverik worth reading. I caught a lot of the general ideas as a casual atlas fan but its nice to see someone lay it all out like this.
Just came back on release day, the game sold 1 million copies day1, rivaling the persona series. I think the risks were well worth it
i'm honored to be mentioned by name ^_^
metaphor is looking promising. i hope it does well.
YOOOO WHAZZUP GOAT
agreed! thank you for watching :)
My most hyped game this year (minus reload but that’s a remake) genuinely excited for what’s basically the beginning of a new era for Atlus
*laughs in dbz sparking zero
@@incrediblehak2833 You can't afford to buy more than one game in any given month? Lmao sucks to suck enjoy the *one* game that you can afford. RIP Toriyama
@ShrimplessScampi nothing to do with affording it goofy. It's about what game you gotta put your time in. You're either a kid with no job or a bum with no job or life
@@incrediblehak2833 LOL calm down ma'am I apologize for triggering you. Again...enjoy the *ONE* game that you were able to scrounge up enough change to afford.
@@ShrimplessScampiweird ass behaviour. Get back in school cause your acting like a child
I had high hopes for the demo and it blew me away. Their UI has always been next level but they've outdone themselves this time. It's a constant stream of sensory pleasures.
Bro u did a research that we never thought that we needed. History 101 for every JRPG fans. Thank you
Demo was fucking awesome
Fuck yeah!
@@mjanime786 Boring af!
@Jp?????craque
@@SaShA6572 go be a pricc* (blame YT) somewhere else please
@@Jpcraque You'll get your Persona 6 soon enough calm down ma'am
You can feel how much they loved this project. I so excited for the future and I really hope they take some of the stuff they've learned with Metaphor into Persona. It feels like some of the original structure of the Persona series started to hold 5 back, but this is a complete breath of fresh air.
You should check out " metaphor".
Or Metaphor RF in the chat
Or just Re Fantazio
fr sounds real good compared to xyz #10
I genuinely believe it's one of the finest RPG's ever made. It's my personal GOTY, even if the industry won't recognise it as such simply because it's a JRPG.
I can recognise it's not for everyone, and I also recognise my recency bias and the fact that I'm already a big fan of the genre and Atlas in general.
But all of that aside, genuinely, Metaphor: ReFantazio is really fuckin' excellent.
Who cares?
8:08 well that didnt age well lol
Having a big demo was a really good decision for them. I bet a lot of people were thinking "I liked Persona, but do I want to gamble 70$ on a 'side game' by them?" The demo was plenty to tell if you want to buy it.
Oh yeah, ill never forget beating P5 and seeing their Re: Fantasy concept video after. Didnt realize the releaee date was so soon! So happy for Atlus, they deserve it. One of few gaming companies thats always stayed true to itself while also experimenting with new concepts to see what hits best with the fan base and new fans 🎇
The first time I encountered Atlus was during the PS2 era when I stumbled upon a lesser-known title called Steambot Chronicles, which they published. This game radiated a sense of "uniqueness" that set it apart from everything else I had played at the time, and I was immediately captivated.
From that point on, I delved deeper into Atlus's games, exploring gems like Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, and Catherine, among others. Each game consistently offers that unmistakable and singular experience that makes you realize only Atlus could create such unique gameplay.
I had the chance to try the demo of this new game, Methapor, and it gives me that same feeling, which makes me instantly love it so i pre-order it without hesitation.
I’m truly grateful for Atlus for leaving so many wonderful memories in my brain, and I wish more developers would follow in their footsteps.
watching this the day after I finished the game (and cried at the ending) and all i can say it deserves the massive sales. its refreshing, unique, the message of it hit me hard and definitely wasnt afraid to address subjects in a way that didn't feel off or misinterpreted. sure hope this metaphor lives on in atlus' iconic history lol
Im still playing im in the mask island people arc but im just wondering don’t tell me the ending but is it as good as like the persona endings
@@EthanIsCool117 In my opinion, it definitely doesn't beat persona 3's (cuz im biased), but it is certainly good and i was honestly satisfied with how it concluded 👌
@ alright that’s good but I don’t think anything could beat p3 beautiful ass ending
@@EthanIsCool117 so true, i will always sob at p3's ending
Right now the best part about metaphor is that the press turn system is just way more balanced and fun to play around with than the "one more" system of persona
You're very much encouraged to use enemy weaknesses, but now you have to consider when and if you can use synthesis attacks, if it's worth while using a status increase and sacrifice one of those turns, if you can still squeaze on more action if you play your turns right
Also, the row system is genius, I just beat a boss I shouldn't even be close to ready to fight yet due to the row system, by sacrificing your damage per turn you can take around half the damage you would normally take and that can buy you time, if you have enough resources you can just stall it out, but if you have don't you have to find a way to put you damage dealer in the front row, make them attack and make them get another turn so they can go back to the back row and take less damage for enemy phase, it's super interesting how the combat evolved for this game
Yes the archetype system is cool but I think the core combat mechanics are what make this game better than smt or persona in terms of combat
I hope this will propel them forward towards making more experimental games. They can't sit on their laurels and just milk the Persona franchise forever, especially since it takes them so long to make new mainline entries. P5 is likely the peak of the franchise in terms of popularity and there's no guarantee that the less devoted Persona players won't have forgotten about the franchise or moved on to other things by the time P6 inevitably comes out. We're seeing this happen with Final Fantasy at the moment, the once juggernaut of the video game industry is suddenly struggling to break even as their releases slow down with every entry. It's important to invest in different series, not just to introduce different types of players to your entire library but also to give your staff new creative ideas to explore.
Blame square for that they put millions into a game that sell big but not the revenue that the company put into the development of the game.
@@micahltaylor739 It's arguable that the beginning of Square's downfall was thinking they could break into Hollywood just because PSX FFVII was a perennial success. Sakaguchi left and the company merged with Enix pretty quickly after Spirits Within bombed in box office. Every time a new game comes from Square and we find out that the game "didn't meet sales expectation"....it feels like they think every mainline FF is supposed to do the numbers that VII was doing in the late 90s/early 00s
@@micahltaylor739 For sure, Square absolutely should not be throwing money into these games that take 6+ years to develop and release to a lukewarm reception. FFXVI didn't sell too bad, it had over 3 million copies sold in its first week, but it nonetheless flopped as it just had to make a ridiculous and unreasonable amount of money just to break even. It also seems like no one that played the game really cared all that much about it, within its launch week people had already moved on to other things and online buzz was almost non-existent for the title. If they had cut the development time in half and not focused so hard on graphical fidelity over an interesting story and gameplay loop, they would've easily broke even and had a solid hit on their hands, and they could've moved on to releasing FFXVII much faster which, given their release cycle these past few years, is coming out like 2030 earliest. This development cycle is just not sustainable.
nice video, got yourself a sub ^^ cant wait to play metaphor!
a huge part of the main persona titles (since p3) is its set on modern day japan. this fact is supported on how little hype refantazio has atleast compared to persona or smt
I'm glad you're back
I love watching your videos
I can tell you are a true fan of the franchise
I noticed this especially in your video about Apocalypse
you really show your true opinion different from other RUclipsrs in the fandom
Thank you I really appreciate that !
I’m SUPER excited for Metaphor. When it was first “announced” as ReFantasy I was really curious about how they’d handle a fantasy game, but now that I’ve played the demo, I really hope it sells well. Probably gonna be my GOTY.
I think the biggest uphill battle is that this is the finale of Atlus’s year. Within the last 12 months, we’ve gotten two persona games (well, 2.5 if you count the answer separate), an SMT rerelease, and Unicorn Overload. I know personally the reason I’m skipping at launch is because I want to finish Reload first. I think the burnout may be getting to some people which is why I’m hesitant on picking it up.
True. Atlus' games being notoriously humongous in terms of playtime for a non-open world game doesn't help either
Reload should have never happened god i am sick of remakes.
Speak for ur self my guy persona 3 been out a year the fact u ain’t done is a you problem
@@CrimsonBladezzbad take no one forced you to play it y bum
@@Hotshot8960 p3r 87 on meta while metaphor has a 94 hold the L bum
P5 turned Atlus from a still somewhat niche dev in the west to a top-tier dev, and Metaphor has taken them from a top-tier dev in the west to legend status. I genuinely view them as being in the same realm as fromsoft, Santa monica, etc with regards to the level of quality and care with which they build games. I couldn’t be more proud of this studio forreal they’ve just continued to excel and I couldn’t be happier.
You are definitely tapped in. I resonate with you saying it feels like a culmination of all the Atlas adventures. That was the first thing I noticed during the demo excited to get my hands on the full game.
came back here after Metaphor recieved 6 nominations at the game awards including game of the year!
I agree it's a massive cross roads for Atlus but I don't have the same pessimistic viewpoint you have. This video came up on my home page and I clicked on btw. you earned a sub from me and I can't wait to see where you go in the future!
This is going to be a very fun Friday
As someone who has played very little of the Persona games I can tell you I was blown away by the Metaphor: ReFantazio demo! I downloaded the demo on a whim, not expecting much, to buying the collector's edition instantaneously! The level of ambition and quality on display was jaw dropping in my opinion! The graphics and art style are so good! The writing, voice acting, lore and music top-notch! The rich lore and fantasy within fantasy conceit is a good one and really pulled me in! Taken all together I think this is going to be an all-time great game and really raises the JRPG genre to new heights imo! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with the title dude!! I think the game is going to do quite well at first and even better over time with word of mouth! And I hope they do something similar like they did with Persona 5 Royal and a year or two from now! The 11th can't come fast enough!
I know the developers and what they've done in the past. I heard about this game about a year ago and completely forgot it existed. Until yesterday when i saw a few reviews. Easy pre-order for me. I can't wait to get home from work today to play it.
I remember watching Metaphor’s reveal trailer I said to myself “The game wasn’t cancelled?!”
I literally just heard of this game yesterday and apparently it's a masterpiece? Where was I when this was going down
Breaking news: metaphor has 1 million sales on day one!
Actually interestingly enough, Metaphor isn’t a new IP it’s a prequel to Etrian Odyssey. Which is trippy as hell.
Never forget the wacky teasers years ago they made, like the french knight eating a pigeon from a paper bag, depressively.
Thank you for being thorough in talking about Atlus history, mentioning their other games that didnt reach the critical success that the Persona Series did. I liked the video the second you said that their other series were alienated. Right now im getting into arguments in a different comment section for daring to say, paraphrased: "Atlus has other good games that inspired some systems in Metaphor and they deserve a spotlight".
Persona was originally an SMT spinoff, so I feel like people trying to remove it from the conversation is really strange.
Either way, thank you for your research, and bringing attention to their other games.
The gameplay towards the end of the video has got me hyped
I'm so excited that I managed to hold out and get the collector's edition preordered. I haven't been this excited for a game in a long time!
ATLUS big dicked metaphor refantazio. How could a studio put out a demo of a FULL Game in 2024? That demo had hours of content in it. I still can't get my head over it regardless this game is success and its freaking beautiful to look at.
As a lover of stories, and writing, the narrative spoke to me~
Wilhelm: father are you proud of me
Minato: yes son I just dont look it cause I'm depressed
My friend who got me into persona games recommended this game to me - and I'm glad he did. This is essentially persona 6 in my opinion. I am about 15 hours in and it's shaping up to be a fucking masterpiece.
That's actually why I think Reload happened too we're gonna see a new atlus era coming so celebrating an important game for them as a love letter which makes sense from dev interviews the og persona devs did help a lot in reload
I enjoyed the demo quite a bit. Atlus is great at making characters, themes and setting interesting so I'm not let down there at all. While I think there are plenty of differences, I do see why people would compare this to Persona so closely . I think that is a good thing though.
With how many new fans Persona 5 brought in (and hopefully SMT VV too), having something similar like social links and whatnot is good. People are comfortable with what is familiar, so they won't hesitate as much with jumping onto a new IP like this. If it was completely unrecognizable, then it might not sell as well as we hope it would.
If it does make the sales it needs to keep Atlus making new IPs then great! If that happens maybe they would feel safer diverging further from the Persona formula in future titles. For now I will be enjoying Metaphor and putting more than 100 hours into it as I do with all their titles.
Thank you for the video and keep up the good work !
Had honestly not heard about this game until yesterday when I was checking out the steam turn based sale where it popped up.
I think that's part of Atlus' problem. Their marketing is not great. They have always put out lots of games, most of them very high quality, but niche, and requires you to be kind of in the know. Persona does so well because it really stands out and has established itself beyond the Atlus fan base. You don't need to be a JRPG fan to be aware of Persona, but anything else Atlus has put out might get lost in the endless stream of JRPG...
Hopefully this game will sell well and it will be the start of Atlus doing more with their other game lines and trying new ones
I played the demo and I'm so hooked by the way they combined all the best aspects of their series' titles that I'm practically frothing at the mouth waiting for the release and am borderline unable to comprehend how anyone can _not_ be unreasonably hyped for the game. Got my days off work booked and everything.
That said, I do think the game borrows a few too many elements from Persona to truly stand on its own as a 'third pillar' (Archetype awakenings, Akademeia and More vs. Velvet Room and Igor, calendar system, Royal Virtues vs social stats, followers/social links, etc).
Though for me personally it doesn't bother me at all, I love the aesthetic, Press Turn combat, MC stats à la SMT, changing weapons in overworld like SMT4, Archetypes are like a job system which I have always loved etc). The story seems unusual enough to capture my interest and I love that we will travel around rather than having a single hub city like Tokyo or Inaba.
I just don't know how much mainstream interest it will capture. I don't get the feeling it will have the same mass appeal as P5 did. But I would love to be proven wrong. I agree too that I would love to see Atlus not be pigeonholed to Persona + spinoffs + the occasional SMT.
My first experience with this series was Persona 5, and as jrpg, I fell in love with it, and now I am a fan. The sound tracks are amazing, and I've definitely getting metaphor
The game has an incredible 6 hour demo and the review emargo lifted a full week ahead of release to glowing reviews. If this game fails, gamers dont deserve good games. Just more football games.
6 hr demo....ughhh apparently im 10 hrs in and still not done lmaoooo, I like exploring every detail
I am so glad that they dropped the school thing. I was exhausted from it tbh. I can't even bring myself to stop playing MR since it released!
Great Demo. And the game seems to be massive with some saying it's like P5 in lenght. I think if the full game turns out to be as good as the demo then people will support it. I do think it will sell well.
I've been looking forward to this game for ages I hope it does well !!
I stumbled upon the game out of the blue on the steam page, liked what I was being shown, thought "fuck it let's play the demo". Started playing it and loved it, and then realised later on it was from Atlus. I hope we get more metaphor games down the line honestly. Bought the game after the demo and have been having a blast.
To anyone who doesn't know, the demos save data will transfer to the full release. So if you were thinking "I'll wait" for that reason, wait no more.
Man I hope this game gets a nomination for a GOTY
This is great insight on Hashino, Atlus' past, the industry, and the importance of this game doing well! While it wasn't my cup of tea, I do hope everyone enjoys the game and it does well. Excluding the medieval high fantasy setting, this game feels like Hashino's greatest hits without much innovation. In my opinion, this game will live and die by it's story after the visuals disappear the more you play. This game will probably change someone's life who hasn't played an Atlus game though. Great video!
The reviews just dropped… Atlus i’m pouring honey on you
The studio that produces the trails series is in the same boat.
This year has had metaphor, SMTVV and P3R, this year has been nothing but greatness from atlus.
They have released a game in both of their existing pillars to big financial and popular success, and now their hopefully third pillar has incredibly reviews, higher than any other atlus game I think.
Crazy how the spinoff series is what Atlus is most known for now.
I dunno, Super Mario Bros is a Donkey Kong spinoff.
Great video, and experimenting is great, but something you don't see publishers and developers do anymore, because it costs a crazy amount of money to create a game today.
It's not like the PS2 days where you can put out three/four games a year.
This seems to be the same kind of thinking that people have regarding Rockstar Games. Some people also think that they could churn out a new GTA every other year, like they did in the PS2 days.
Having said that, great video and I appreciate your efforts!
Normally I'd prefer a more non-all-in-fantasy setting like Persona/Yakuza, but the question at the start of the game and following dialogues in the storyline, where OUR world is a fantasy to them, really hooks me into wanting to find out more in how the story will play out in the story.
Not to mention the battle system which is a mixture of all atlus's games to date and that's so fking fun to play.
This game could easily be a Game of the year contender
Metaphor and Expedition 33 are a must have to buy. They look fun as hell in my opinion.
I’m a new Atlas fan. I’d say that Unicorn Overlord was received well. I don’t know how well it sold but when looking at buying it all the reviews I saw were singing its praises. I don’t know if it will be a pillar for Atlas.
Atlus is both a developer and a publisher. Unicorn Overlord was published by Atlus, but it was developed by a different company, Vanillaware (one of my favorite studios). This video is about the games Atlus themselves develop.
@@derrickcrowe3888 ah I was thinking Vanillaware was a team within Atlus
I have pre-orderd this on PS5 looking forward to playing it
This demo is awesome. I love the fantasy setting and the world it's in so far. I can't wait for the full game
I'm a relatively new atlus games enjoyer, I started with SMT3 remake and played SMT5 Vengeance but somehow never played any persona, I gave metaphor a try and so far I really like it
The first 5 mins of the demo told me all I needed to know with how mature this story would be. I mean, dude, right off the bat that first cutscene. I thought this would be chill and happy like P5, but nope, it's better. In my opinion, it's better.
In the Atlus 35th Anniversary artbook, at the last page it explains that they hope Metaphor will show players they want to change course and start doing something different. It's supposed to be a culmination of what the company has done throughout the years.
Honestly i hope this sets a new precedent for them as they continue to make games. Each game a separate story linked only by it's focus on fantasy.
@@Foogi9000 maybe. Just like SMT 1 being there big hit in the 90s and persona 3 in the 2000s. This might turn out to be another spinoff franchise moving forward
@@calebharvey4 Hope so, i really like it so far
You’re worried about how this game will sell? Literally the entire internet and gaming commmnity is talking about this game.
It might feel like that when you're surrounded by the atlus jrpg community online
Marketing wise it’s concerning. Most of YT vids about this game are only around thousands, I remember persona 5 have around hundred of thousands views easily before release because atlus+ sony went all out with the marketing strategy, collaborating with many huge channels to discuss P5
It's 8th top selling at steam atm. I think it's doing good.
@@supremeleaderfrancisco9062 I said the entire gaming community. Not the atlus jrpg community.
@@epicgamescene9273 IGN has a video out with 133k views. Stop with the nonsense.
Idk I played the demo and I don't think it's as much like persona as people say. But at the same time as a long time atlus fan I can see differences better then someone who has just played persona and that's it
i've played a few jrpg"s and have wanted to check out the persona series and just haven't made the jump into it. i've been playing the demo and love it. the style is amazing i've never seen anything like it. i'm gonna buy it when it comes out for sure
3 weeks later...
20k in game in Steam in the middle of the night and 7.2k reviews leaving the game in high regard. Your worries should be over at this point
I honestly hope that this is only the beginning of a new franchise for Atlus. I can't remember my hype for a game being this big. Maybe FF7Remake in 2020, but i'm more impatient for its release day. 17 hours in the demo now and can't wait to continue with my best save file from that. Everybody have fun in the Kingdom of Euchronia this friday!!
I feel this is a HD version of mechanics similar to SMT4... (not Apocalypse but the 4th one, with the forest and kingdom and all that). We need new IPs... enough with the Personas and Final Fantasy types with numbers increasing with each year. They need to start taking more risks.
But I agree... the naming 'Metaphor Refantazio' is a mouthful. They should have kept it small. Even Soul Hackers has one too many words.
I played the Demo, I really enjoyed it. I see some people on steam saying to wait to buy it since they will likely release an updated version sooner or later, I highly disagree with this. Like you said in the video this is a risk atlas is taking. If everyone waits for a better version then that version won’t ever come.
I’m more excited for Metaphor than SH2! And I grew up a horror game player. Didn’t even get into turn based RPGs until I was 32 with Bravely Default
game of the year 2024 🏆
This game will be a banger.
I’m gonna be honest here - longtime gamer 30+ years in and out - the persona series never appealed to me. It always looked teenage to me. But Atlus has always been on my radar. I played the demo for Metaphor and I haven’t been obsessed with an art style/gameplay/music in an rpg like this in a very long time. It is truly a masterpiece and can’t wait to play the whole thing! 😅
I was introduced to ATLUS when Persona 4 Golden got ported to PC and mainly stuck with the Persona series. Metaphor ReFantazio has honestly been the only game I’ve been interested in outside of Persona.
I truly thought this game wasn't going to sell well either for the same reasons you did. I just didn't see that much hype for it among the greater gaming community over the last couple months. It only ramped up in the last week or so with the reviews and the demo. That giant demo was a brilliant marketing move. I'm sure we're both ecstatic to be proven wrong!
Just glad I can play one of their games, I can’t do all that high school shit
😭😭😭
Same
Beautifully worded. Definitely can't wait to get my hands on this title. Also what was the music at the end? Sounded very peaceful
I’m excited for metaphor but worried about the sales too
Considering it’s coming out in October alongside everything else
❤ the demo so much I preordered the game . Never got into Persona tho so a completely new genre for me
I wished atlus make a new raidou game. He's such a cool protag. And the artstyle is so awesome.
Hey Square, This is how you make JRPG
3:30 Wait didnt smtv release before soul hacker 2?
I didn't expect Metaphor to be much of a hit, I barely saw any discourse about it until the metacritic reviews dropped and I was expected it to be something that sells bad but never did I expect it to sell 1 million copies in a day when it took P3R a week to do that
They should partner up with Vanilla Ware again and make Dragon's crown 2. Crossplay on handheld devices with other platforms will sell so well
I am an utterly braindead normie, so if it ended up on my radar then marketing or word of mouth must be doing something because it got me to play the demo, enjoy it, buy Persona 5, and buy Metaphor: RF
Bhought this on release. 62 hours into the game and i only wish it didn't end in 30 or so hours. What an amazing game it is. Congrats to Atlus doing something new with already developed formulas
So stoked for this game
I enjoy your analysis
Metaphors gonna be fine. But they need to work on the color palette that’s what’s holding it back. Persona 3 is wildly colorful in the best way. This has a LOT of browns and im not feeling that despite being hype for the game from jump
I hope they make more Methapor games.
The world has so much potential