Politics, racism and fantasy: welcome to the world of Metaphor: ReFantazio

Metaphor: ReFantazio, the vast new video game from Japanese Atlus developed by Studio Zero. If you know the Persona saga, you know what I am talking about. These are Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), very artistically inspired, with a lot of dialogue, a manic turn-based combat system and time marked with a daily calendar to manage your progress. Metaphor is a clever evolution of Persona, it is a fantasy that tackles adult themes such as racism without the usual clichés with an intriguing storyline about politics and equality. Mind you, Atlus games are not for everyone. They are very scripted, the game times are never short. They are not sleeves, there is never good on one side and evil on the other. They are a theatrical representation of genres, music and suggestions from pop culture and video games. Metaphor is an inspired, serenely progressive social simulator that manages to innovate a genre that is also making a comeback in Europe.

It is a boundless role-playing game where it is easy to get lost. You are in a society ruled by a monarchy, in a world segregated into strict hierarchies. The most powerful, terrifying and ruthless monsters of any race in the game are called 'humans'. The form is manga-like with clear influences from the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.The combat system mixes turn-based elements with real time. The advice? Choose your followers carefully, buy information because knowledge is power in this game and change archetypes often.

It took eight years of development and it all shows. This is between Persona 3 Reload and Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance. Behind Methfor is Persona series designer Katsura Hashino. Anyone expecting something truly new from this new IP will be disappointed. That said, it is a very pleasant surprise of this 2025. To date it is among the best games around even if you are not a fan of Japanese JRPGs. The game is available on consoles and PC and is included on Game Pass.