Yeah it is kinda nuts, but the game isn't as hard to 100%, there are a lot less barriers to hinder you from doing things right away (at least compared to games like the original Persona 5, which was terribly grindy.
@@artificialstyle998I played on hard and idk what I did wrong but he took 2 fking hours yet Since then and before then most things were fairly easy bosses included
@@goodguybrian9764 mix and match archetypes is pretty important. On hard, you'll usually have a rough time if your team members have 1 or 2 weaknesses to attacks a boss uses a lot, they'll get too many turns. Been trying to brute force a couple of bosses and struggled, changed my party setup and did them first try.
@@ThundraBoy666 problem was taking too much damage I did switch things up but I didn't have more than 1 attack able to target him when I got his corpse dead so he didn't summon a second one, tons of criticals on his side too wish was upsetting, I think I was under leveled I did the dungeon in one go trying to 100% the game and maximize time available
I always say that he has broken the chronal barrier and his days consist of 36 hours. I don't know how one man can do what he does....it really needs a documentary.
“Do thing by deadline, then story happens” is probably the most accurate tagline for every Persona game since P3. I enjoy that loop, but it’s good to make sure new folks to these games get that info up front. Great review, as always. I had to wait on buying this one just to make sure it got the Mortim seal of approval.
Honestly, when I played the demo I was really worried it would be the "villain of the month" all over again like Persona 5 but somehow they managed to make the same thing but different. I got a bit tired of how predictable the strucure of Persona was and was surprised to see how Metaphor's structure is kinda unpredictable. Sure you still know you have X days until something happens but it's not always "the end of the month" like P5, sometimes you get a 10 days deadline, sometimes 3 days, sometimes there are no timelines because the game got into a linear "setpiece" section for an hour and a half. To me this game really is Atlus's masterpiece.
@@Ocean5ix i just finished the game like an hour ago so it's pretty fresh on my mind, but i'm not sure i'd call it their masterpiece- although i've played all of their other persona/smt games and even then i couldn't say for sure if any of them are better than refantazio a lot of the textures look like they were made for an early PS3/late PS2 RPG and not a new game, they shipped it with that audio bug which was just fixed yesterday and it's like each area had its framerate decided by a dice roll they weren't very bold with the main story but knowing atlus it wasn't really surprising, still quite good though the characters were the best part imo, easily the most likeable crew you get in these games, even though some of them look pretty bland and weird
@@noahsylvester1754 It's just that to me every SMT (and spin off) games focus on doing one or two things really well, when they could've done more and in some ways I feel like Metaphor is "more". I like how there's a bit or everything in the game, how the calendar system is more leniant letting players experient a bit more, I like how you're not stuck in a "closed loop" (or routine) like Persona in which you go to sleep and wake up every day in the same place, it gives the game this "grand adventure" vibe that I really enjoy. Then there's the mechanics, I think that between the archetypes, skill inheritance and synergy skills, there's a lot of theorycrafting and min/maxing to be made. The dungeons while less stylized like Persona 5, have that multi-floor structure with multiple paths that leads to an upper or lower floor, while it's no Strange Journey, it reminds me of the older SMT dungeon crawlers. Also a big plus for the "dark souls inspired" (for the lack of a better reference) shortcut design. Overall, I think the only SMT games that I would rate close (or the same score) as Metaphor is SMT 4. I'd say it's the other SMT game that has some kind of free exploration, side questing etc. All of them are great games, it's just that if you really think about it, Nocturne, Strange Journey, Soul Hackers 1 and SMT 5 are pretty much dungeon crawlers. Persona has it's own structure that is fun but also feels "claustrophobic" in a sense. Devil Survivor 1 and 2 are great sRPGs with SMT combat. I would really say their most "unique" games are SMT4 (and 4A), Persona 2 and Metaphor, because of how they feel different compared to other SMT games.
It doesn't work outside of the game as good as any of the persona music. It very alike to Fire Emblem Three Houses music. Good, but mostly very generic. Compared to Persona's - it's bland.
I really can’t thank you enough for including the “steam deck performance” staple in all of your reviews, it’s such a minor detail that seemingly no one else bothers to mention, but it MASSIVELY influences my purchase decisions. It’s a real labor of love, Mort - thank you for your care and attention to your viewers’ needs, it doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated!
Yes, I am really with you on this. I am late to having a Steam Deck, but really enjoy being able to play games without having to sit at a computer ( which many of us do for a living ).
I think he is a rogue AI operating in the game review corner of the internet. Every now and then he’ll say something like “thanks for helping me pay off my house” or this game “ made me feel a feeling” which are just things hes learned make him pass as a human.
I got a big smile on my face when I saw this in my subscriptions. You don't 100% JRPGs often, especially Atlus RPGs, so seeing you crush this one so quickly means it's gotta be damn good.
As someone who liked Mot's battle, there was one mandatory story boss who's usage of the this system was really, really annoying. Less because of difficulty and more because they use like ten attacks that don't have animations you can cancel out of so you're sitting there for like two to three minutes waiting for your turn.
@@MattR8605 I saw somewhere where you should place your entire party in the back row. It helps to mitigate the enemy stunning you. It doesn't cost an action to move characters between ranks.
Im 75hrs in, very little left to do, and i loved this game thoroughly. IMHO, it's the pinnacle of this type of turn based RPG, taking everything that worked in the genre in the last 30 years. Taking nostalgia out of the equation, its probably my PERSONAL favourite game of the genre.
Completed the game yesterday, and enjoyed the journey. I think the biggest reason why this game is shorter than the persona games is the action combat system that cuts down a lot of time that is usually spent watching the combat intro animations from fighting trash mobs. For the late game bosses I trivialised it with evasion tank shenanigans and charging strong critical attacks allowing me to 1tk or 2tk without taking damage. I can certainly see how much of a slog it would be if the game system isn't being abused to the fullest with how much hp and buffs those enemies can stack on.
Late game strohl running synthesis buffed peerless stonecleave is probably the strongest damage dealer I've used, nasty 15-20k hits sometimes even hitting 25-30k on crits.
@@haseddouremohamed7106damn what abilities you running to get that high? I am running slash boost,charge,triple attack buff. Is there a slash amp somewhere?
@@brettwilliams522 Key components are : - Beloved greatsword - Utilitarian's manual to reduce cost of synthesis OR Overlord's Sash to increase damage - Royal Warrior for Slash Surge - Slash Boost - Arcane Unity (from elemental master) - If the synthesis cost is too much for you, you can reduce it by half by using Magic Link Charge comes from Junah (Playing on hard but i'm not sure how modifiers vary compared to other difficulties)
I'm a fan of the press-turn system as given in this game, and the Archetype mixing and matching is very satisfying to figure out. The second I lost a whole round of turns to getting my abilities reflected set off a lightbulb in my head that sent me on an adventure scouring the archetypes for Reflect Magic and Reflect Physical skills (Faker has access to reflect magic) and having a dangerous enemy use Soul cry to get tons of turns, only to lose it all the second they hit one of my reflects is VERY satisfying
What Mort said is correct and it's the main reason why I got Dodge Talisman. Changing the loss of 2 turns icons to ALL enemy turn icons lost on dodge is a life saver.
I have never played a persona game and from what I'm seeing that seems to be ideal. A lot of comparisons to their previous work out there. So what this is telling me, is if I like metaphor, then I'm really gonna like their other stuff
So far it’s a very good game probably gonna be one of my must plays list. But not something that will stick in my mind forever or be obsessed with like Library of Ruina or the Souls series. But if it’s still as good towards the end then it’s definitely something I will return to and I will play Metaphor Refantazio 2 if it ever comes out. Persona games are good story wise but their gameplay is piss easy. SMT (the series that persona is a spin off of) has better gameplay but the story quality varies per game. And the story when there is very different and the setting is much darker generally. Not that persona couldn’t be dark especially Persona 3 due to well the subjects the story talks about p. But they all take place in our world/ high school with a magic side to it. On top of that persona focuses on social aspects and relationships too.
imo persona 3 and 4 have procedurally generated dungeons that absolutely destroy the experience for me. metaphor and persona 5 have very well designed dungeons that makes P3 and 4 close to unplayable
@@Solid--Snake I loved P4's style, music, and overall story, but you're totally right about the dungeons. They're all still cool looking tho. P5 is just insane tho, I've never played Royal, but such a solid experience.
I used to marvel at the workload and speed of The Completionist (yeah, that guy...) but Mort just takes it to a new level. 100% with a video out this fast is insane! I simply would NEVER be able to do this
Beautiful to see you liked the game. I am 15 hours in and love it so far. Setting and the deep narrative are what is most important to me, and the game delivers on both fronts
I think they could have used more 'random' dungeon tilesets, as those start to repeat in the third area, and there's only one new one past that chapter, which, while 'new' is still just a recolor of an old one. Beyond that, that story is fantastic. I think I still prefer SMTV's gameplay, even though it doesn't have the instant win mechanics, which is a big shame, it DOES have the enemy run away feature, and wide open maps that mean you never really have to deal with a battle unless you chose to, save one or two moments in the 'dungeons' of that one. Still, the popularity mechanics are just awesome, and the fact that they actually save some content for New Game +, one of the first times they've done that, along with the tweaked battle system, bringing it closer to what Digital Devil Saga used versus what SMT mainline does, as well as the unique parties thanks to the archetype system, which makes it fun.
"Which brings me to my positives and negatives before we wrap this thing up" Me consummating my one night stand with a girl I brought home from the bar
People are saying the game took 40-60 hours? How have I managed to put in 100 and still not finish the game? >_> I don't think I did that much grinding. If anything, I feel strapped for mag in the last quarter of the game.
@@shutup1037 im 47 hours in the last month of the game and i just need to finish up 5 more follower bonds to max, king stats and have done all the side quest in the game so far, its way shorter than a persona games. it has less months
Just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for still engaging with your audience! You have a large enough viewer base that even attempting to keep up with all of it must be a pain, but still give ❤s and I think that's incredibly respectable.
I feel like games are getting more expensive without any other justification than " we want more money :) ". And once a big game gets away with it, every other company gladly follows. I remember when new released game were 50 bucks.
I also remember a time when some groceries were almost half the price they are right now, and it wasn't so long ago. To be honest, game prices have not really kept pace with inflation for a few years. It's true Metaphor is expensive, but I don't mind paying for it personally. Especially since I've spent more on subscription fees and gachas than those titles probably deserved. If it means more games of this calibre I would happily pay.
Flashy is par for the course with Atlus. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it innovative as it isn't really breaking any conventions or redefining the genre, but it's more of a culmination of the company's previous works. Persona, SMT, DDS, Etrian Odyssey, they are all in here in some shape or form, and imo it's very well executed.
as a Steam Deck owner who hates tiny text on handhelds I didn't find it bad in that respect. it also runs great if you cap the framerate at 30. the only caveat is there's some super ugly aliasing.
Almost done with my first playthrough, been really enjoying it. I think I've got an extra 12 hours or so logged into the game from falling asleep while staying up with my baby lol
I haven't even started the second main dungeon and I'm at 35 hours. This always happens though. I'll make a 50 hour game a 200 hour game and I'm not even sure how.
@@mrmattyjwest I know right! It took me about 100 hours to finish Wukong. My second playthrough was much faster but that’s because I was so overpowered and knew where everything was.
@@macsis6338he doesn't just finish the game as in reaching the ending, he 100% completes it, as in all achievements and optional stuff, that normally can't be done in a speedrun
Great review Mort! I've just started the game (around the 10H mark) and I get a few references to different JRPGs, especially the SMT and Persona series, it's really fun finding them and I'm looking forward to the dungeons and story beats, t's like getting back to the old games with the familiar and lovable structure but with a pinch of fresh and new content, really liking that. Looking forward to your next review :)
25:25 it’s the press turn system! you’re supposed to adapt to a boss fight. if the boss is spamming aoe fire attacks, use fire resistant archetypes etc…
Great review! Im just in the 1st main dungeon now, great game so far, I dont really like the Grind for Mp atm but it is passable I guess. Recommended title
2024 is a pretty meh year for games, it's not like there's that many contenders for GOTY. You know things are dire when Astro bot and Black Myth Wukong are talked as GOTY contenders. Between Metaphor and FF7 Rebirth I would argue that Metaphor is more deserving of GOTY.
Very informative, no bullshit review. Even Steamdeck performance where I will probably play mostly. Exactly what I was looking for. You've earned my subscribe, good sir. Thanks for the work you do.
I havent played any JRPGs for at least 10 years now, this was in my opinion the perfect game to enter back into the world of turnbased jrpg games and boy did it not disappoint 🔥
What exactly do you mean by "the game runs out of new things to present to the player"? I'm asking because in RPGs with job systems, usually the new job unlocks and mix/matching, min/maxing build crafting is one of the biggest driving forces of the progression system. At least to me. Unless you're talking about the overall structure of the game regarding the calendar and deadline system?
I am glad you played Metaphor, because in its core it combines two of my favorite things: Shin Megami Tensei's Press Turn System and high fantasy. A part of me kind of wishes that the game didn't have Personas calendar system, to have more of an open game, but the game is fine as is. I think its pretty good, not my favorite Atlus game (I thought it would be, since I love fantasy) but it still got a high place in my ranking!
I am assuming the "long dungeon" at the 3/4 of the story is Dragongrace Shinjuku as you have shown. I myself find that Dungeon to be the point where the story starts to pick up again, I myself was waiting for such a dungeon in scale, because outside of Cathedral nothing came close that far in.
It's strange because I love turn based / cRPGS but I just can never get into turned based JRPGs I tried P4Golden and got bored because I felt like I was playing a menu simulator it wasnt bad just not for me. Glad to see this game is doing well though
I'm not sure why you guys are getting so defensive. Obviously Mort is a hard worker. I wasn't trying to undermine him. And I'm not a RU-vidr at all so obviously he's way better at stuff like video editing then i could ever be. I was just pointing out the reality of how it's a lot easier to play a lot if you don't have a 9-5 to worry about. Hell, when i was a teen and WoW was new i probably played it for like 16 hours a day 7 days a week. And playing like that it wouldn't take long to 100% this game.
Don't have time for it at the moment so having to hold off. The 3/4 comments (6:40~) reminds me that it's also probably best to just wait to see if this has a "definitive" version like Persona.
How did you manage to get the NG+ secret boss achievement? Is it simple to just speedrun on Easy difficulty for it or what? Powerpyx says +120 hours but you did it in half the time.
I wouldn't say it's super sus especially if you overplayed the demo like I did (reaching lvl2 Wisdom and getting Brigitta's quest to go into goblin cave rather than doing the main dungeon sure was an experience on Hard, ended up with ~10 hours playtime on demo alone but it made pretty much everything else considerably less challenging and I beat the first main dungeon with ease), I'm still surprised cuz the way people are talking about this game thus far the first playthrough time seems to range from 60 hours to +100, even though I HIGHLY doubt it's as long as Persona 5 and that game was bloated as fuck even before Royal. Still I think if you go NG+, set it to Easy and fast forward all text and just rush the main story path it's probably a 10-15 hour venture at most.
@@kokosan09 yea bro I feel you, imagine an outfit made for this actual game where you can wear some cool looking armors or whatever later on in the game, would’ve definitely added to the game for me haha
After seeing this review, I bought a physical copy of the game from Slovakia and waiting now to obtain it. Being a fan of RPGs and having Xbox is such a struggle in Poland sometimes.
Another exceptional review Morti. In-depth but to the main points. If I wasn't a broke boi, I would buy Metaphor: ReFantazio the day it came out but alas. Also, here are some other RPGs that came out this year I think you should try to 100%. Visions of Mana, Legends of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, & Unicorn Overlord. At least half.
Can you save your game anytime/anywhere, like a proper PC RPG? I mean, the really long dungeon mentioned, as one example...Can I save my game and exit and pick it up where I saved later?
Regarding the end game side bosses with absurd action economy, it was frustrating to me but then I found a way through with repel skills. Helkenburg can straight up break the game, and the trials pushing me to exploit game mechanics actually felt incredibly rewarding and fitting. I did probably grind for longer than necessary at like 90~ hours played but taking the time + knowledge from the dragons then destroying the final boss was a victory lap to an incredible game.
I thought o would be overwhelmed by the time mechanic but by the time you get the 4th party member it equals out. Maria is making cry already. By rank 5 lol
Thanks for another great in-depth review! Despite having not completed a Persona title yet*, this game is on my radar. Not only is it stylish (it looks a lot like one of the Persona projects), it looks interesting. That is has a "grand story" and sticks the landing makes it more alluring, as content is king. All the best! * I tend to start games, but often get distracted and don't return to them. This has nothing to do with how fun they are. If and when I do return, I often feel lost and that I need to begin again, which dissuades me.
Regarding the Steam Deck: from Nexusmod you can install the MetaphorFix mod which will allow you to play the game fullscreen in 16:10 and, even more importantly, you’ll be able to edit a .ini file in Desktop mode to fine tune the game performance which will make a ton of difference. For instance reducing shadow quality from 2048 to 1024 and reducing draw distance.
I had some minor problems in Big Picture mode: I usually switch from my monitor to smart tv, but the game wasn't very keen on doing that and eventually Steam crashed. Was working fine afterwards, if you don't count UI stuck on keyboard display despite me using a controller for the whole time.
One other waring about the Steam deck worth mentioning is that the game comes with Denuvo which can really affect you from simply tweaking settings or if you are without internet.
Thank you very much Mortis for your review! For me it's not a day 1 buy as I've got too much on my plate to start anything else but I loved Persona 5 and I think that the negatives you mentioned were part of Persona 5 as well and it didn't annoy me more than that since I was still fully immersed in the game. A must-buy for me!
Thanks for the review, just got my game yesterday. About 6-7 hours into the demo. With that said, what is the best way to maximize everything? Bonds, stats and archetypes? Maybe a video...
I remember once using auto battle with 2 knights, who both wanted to use knights proclamation at the same time, to draw aggro. I had to exit auto battle.
That timed ending sounds like lightning returns, but given that you mentioned it's forgiving, I guess it'll be less annoying than that game. Thanks for the video.
I love persona but im in love with metaphor. I do like the music but i will say Persona does have better music still. Everything else for the most part i like metaphor better but persona is still a godly game. I give metaphor a 10 and the persona series in general like a 9.5
