Atlus announces Metaphor ReFantazio release date

Sega/Atlus

Atlus announced the Metaphor ReFantazio during a brief livestream highlighting some of the upcoming RPG’s biggest features, and there were plenty of those. Metaphor ReFantazio launches on Oct. 11, 2024, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, and pre-orders are open now.

Atlus gave a short rundown of Metaphor’s story, which is pretty much what we knew already, and explained how they hope it, progression, and travel combine to create a unique sense of adventure, which was new. 

The basic idea is that you, a young man from a beast tribe that everyone hates, are in the running to become the kingdom’s next ruler, assuming you can make enough people like you. The election competition begins in the kingdom’s capital city, before moving to different towns and regions as the game progresses. Whatever location you’re in becomes your new hub of activity, and it sounds like Atlus is adapting Persona’s calendar system.

Let us speak of the old vulture’s last grasp for power… 🥀

The tournament for the throne is set, Metaphor: ReFantazio is coming October 11th, 2024!

Pre-order your physical copy NOW: https://t.co/Iw2ga3B01Y

Digital products and pre-orders to be announced at a later time. pic.twitter.com/PswTqnCRbh

— Official ATLUS West (@Atlus_West) April 22, 2024

Travel and quests take time, and you only have a set number of days in a given region. What you choose to do and when will influence your approval rating and potentially even certain advantages in combat. Speaking of combat, spending some of your precious time with trusted companions you meet along the way is how you unlock new job classes, called Archetypes in Metaphor.

Every party member can equip an Archetype, and, as the name suggests, they correspond with specific battle roles, such as healer, mage, or thief. Combat has a real-time element where you can wipe the floor with weaker enemies using the squad feature and a turn-based component that looks like it plays similarly to Persona 5’s combat.

Atlus also said that they took care to make dungeons less tedious, so players won’t get bored.