Topic: Metaphor: ReFantazio Thread

No thread for this? Really? A big new Atlus JRPG IP?

Well, whatevs. I'm playing the demo now and enjoying it so far. It's nice to see something properly new from the Persona team after so long. Also, there had better be dating in this game, because I want Strohl's babies.

Anyone else planning to keep on with this from day one?

I actually think they removed romance which is so wild to me. Atlus are cool with romance when you are playing school children, but romance in a fantasy setting with adult characters? They said "no thank you"

Doesn't surprise me one bit that the game with underage females is the one with a romance option.

Oh well. They can't stop me from shipping my protagonist with other characters!

This really does just feel like an SMT spinoff, doesn't it? LOL This is way more like what I imagined a "SMT x Fire Emblem" would be like. Specifically, Three Houses, which also felt like "okay, Fire Emblem, but what if Persona also?" Has the same mix of aliased visuals alongside gorgeous portrait art and anime cutscenes as that game. And, tbh, main guy looks like a bottom version of Byleth.

@Malaise Ohh, about SMT x Fire Emblem? Yeah, Atlus pitched a crossover between Shin Megami Tensei and Nintendo's series. Both have a reputation for dark themes, serious fantasy storylines, and hardcore difficulty, so people were imagining something pretty rad.

What they got was...whatever this is.

@Malaise lol I was originally gonna say he was the uke version of Byleth, but I didn't want people having to google yaoi terminology. Guess that didn't work out like I planned.

That's the dumb thing. That first one was a professional teaser from Nintendo and (presumably) Atlus. It really helped establish expectations. Then, yeah, turns out you're playing music idols in modern Japan, and everything is bright and colorful and fairly cringe, lol. The fan backlash was pretty severe.

I actually liked Tokyo Mirage Sessions, enough that I own it on both Wii U and Switch. It had a unique battle system and some really cool songs done in collaboration, as I recall, a company that produces J-pop stars. Absolutely a unique experience. But as someone who watched the whole saga unfold first-hand, I also understand why people were disappointed.

@Malaise So, boy's love comics were an outgrowth genre of shōjo (comics aimed at a teen-to-young adult female audience) manga back in the 70s. They allowed female Japanese mangaka at the time to explore themes and dynamics at the time within the context of homosexual male romance, and thus free of the patriarchal social confines that limited such expression within the realm of heterosexual depictions. While ostensibly exploring gay relationships, the dynamics and portrayals are often distinctly heterosexual in nature, with a feminized uke (basically the bottom in the relationship) being romanced by a more overtly masculine and sexually aggressive seme.

So, yeah, first thought when I saw the tender lips and overall effeminate design of this game's protagonist.

Not disappointed at all. Judging by how bad the marketing apparently is, it seems like they're gonna need every sale they can get for this. And I'd love for it to sell well and incentivize Atlus to develop more original IP.

I preordered a month or two ago when I was able to secure a digital PC pre-purchase for around $30 off MSRP from a key re-seller!

@Ralizah ok, so I’m not 100% qualified (merely because I need to read/watch more yaois/yuris in general) to discuss some of these topics but whenever Shojos and BLs are in discussion, I must flex my writing muscles for a bit.
From what I could gather, omegaverse narratives (stories with alpha/beta or top/bottom dynamics) aren’t fully heterosexual in nature, while the perspective of the authors provided is most definitely hetero, the concepts itself aren’t per se and that are instances of them being explored from a homosexual angle, based on stories I’ve experienced. Just a little anecdote though. There’s definitely more of a spectrum to it rather than being strictly black and white. I’ve seen GLs/BLs with no tops, two tops, switchers, etc.

I actually have no idea why this was brought up in a thread about an Atlus game of all things, but you could say my spider sense was tingling.

@Yousef- That's very possible. I'm speaking more about the dynamics of the genre as it related to and evolved from classic shōjo.

There's plenty of BL manga more broadly that isn't purely female gaze driven, as well, and I didn't mean to imply there wasn't. But, traditionally, what we think of as shounen-ai and yaoi is driven by heterosexual gender dynamics and intended for a heterosexual female audience. But BL fandom has grown over the years, and gay male participation in and consumption of BL has also increased over the years, so there's also absolutely content that caters to them as well (in addition to bara, of course, which has been a thing for a long time, even if not as widely).

@Malaise Considering how long Atlus has sold niche series to niche fanbases that never evolved tremendously, I do think it must be a bit flabbergasting for them to see how Persona has exploded in popularity within the last decade, going from a popular smaller series to the second-biggest JRPG property after Pokemon.

@Ralizah very well said. 👍

The music in this is interesting. I'm reminded of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. Especially when it comes to battle music.

Personally the battle theme in Metaphor with the chanting drove me nuts even by the time I was done with the demo, I think I'm probably going to end up turning the music off on a full playthrough. Maybe my hot take, but I know people loved the music in Persona 5, but I think when a game is that long, hearing the same tracks over and over and over again just makes me feel like I am going mad and so I end up turning the music off and either playing without any music or putting my own music on instead. I actually think out of all of them I played, I liked Persona 3 Reload's soundtrack the most, even after seventy hours I never got irritated by that one.

... When I saw this thread I wasn't expecting the discussion to go on about the Yaoi movement lol

My disappointment about being unable to romance Hulkenburg aside I've enjoyed it so far.

I need to get back to it really as I've only done the first human encounter and got the Seeker Archetype... Just about to start the mine.

I've heard there's a ridiculous amount of content in this demo... Like 10 hour's worth?

I'm still on the fence though about getting it anytime soon... Honestly I may wait for a good few months before I hop on, I still haven't even started SMTV Vengeance properly after all!

@HallowMoonshadow demo took me just under 6 hours, others have beaten it in around 4. Hard to imagine pushing it to 10, but I think there is some exclusive content if you play on the hardest difficulty, as I've seen some clips on YouTube of people fighting bosses that just weren't present in the demo I played, but I played on the regular difficulty.

... When I saw this thread I wasn't expecting the discussion to go on about the Yaoi movement lol

A particular Star Wars prequel quote would be perfect here.

Oh really @Pizzamorg? I'd heard there were multiple extra dungeons you could explore. Either way 4~6 hours is still a meaty amount of content for a demo and a good appetiser none the less.

On a side note since we don't have a dedicated Atlus/SMT thread...

I really wish the rumour mill about the next remaster of Atlus's back catalogue was about the Digital Devil Saga games instead of Raidou.

Granted it would be nice to have Raidou 2 in the UK/Europe properly for the first time... But still I can't imagine the gameplay is that much better then 1's which is serviceable at best

I mean @HallowMoonshadow I feel like part of the Atlus MO this point is hiding huge chunks of content behind innocuous player actions no person could reasonably find without having a 100 percent completion guide open, so if there is secretly a whole extra hidden dungeon or something in this demo I would not be shocked.

@Pizzamorg I didn't like the style in Strange Journey at all, since I'm used to hype thrashy music in SMT, but I thought it felt much less out of place here.

@HallowMoonshadow Discussions devolving into randomness is a talent of mine. But since it's my thread, I don't feel bad for derailing it.

lol I haven't started P3R yet, and I'm still in the middle of SMT V: Vengeance. I'm positively wallowing in Atlus goodness right now!

Oh in that case please allow me.

Looking like the review embargo should lift in roughly two hours.

Yooo demo is already looking way better on Deck. Gonna reinstall it now. I actually only need a solid 30fps for this. It's a handheld, lol.

EDIT:

Finally installed and played a bit. Still need to see how it performs in larger areas, but the difference is massive, holy crud. Turned off a visual effect, normal textures, and I'm getting a nearly locked 45fps in this dungeon I'm in!