Update:
A correction was made for the description of this game.
It’s always fun when you see a developer who is known for a certain kind of video game striking out to make something fresh and new. In the case of Atlus, they have been focusing on a certain other series for so long that it’s hard not to see it as their…Persona… Anyway, with the company hitting its 35th anniversary soon, they’re prepping to launch a brand new game that takes what they’ve made in the past and sets it out in a bold new direction. At the Tokyo Game Show, a new trailer for Metaphor ReFantazio highlights what the game will look and play like.
The game takes place in the land of Euchronia, where the king has been assassinated, and there are “no heirs” to succeed him on the throne. Typically, that would lead to a kind of civil war, but Metaphor ReFantazio takes things to a different end, and the king’s death is followed by an election where the people themselves will decide who the next leader of the land is. That’s where you come in. You play a protagonist who goes on a journey with a fairy companion to lift a curse from the Kingdom’s lost prince.
Travel the land and do good deeds for the people so that you can earn their praise. Along the way, you’ll meet numerous characters who can join your party and help you in battle.
In the trailer from the Tokyo Game Show, we get a look at some new cutscenes while also getting a better glimpse at the battle system the game has. It looks and plays like the other franchises Atlus is known for, but there are some key stylistic and functional differences, including the monsters that the party members summon and how they can be used. We also get teases of new features, like how a “new bond” can be formed, and just the overall ways that the monsters are presented.
Atlus has made it clear that it’s trying something fresh with this title, and it even let some of the younger developers in its team take point to try and make it feel like a new game. There are also certain tropes of Atlus titles that you won’t find here, including being able to romance a partner.
Even still, the game looks fun, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays on October 11th.
