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Metaphor: ReFantaziois a game with its own fantasy vibe, but it shares a good deal of DNA with Atlus' legendary Persona series. One of Persona"s strongest angles is surely its characterization, especially between your party members. Metaphor carries forward in this spirit while lending a more mature narrative to it all.
Six party members will join the protagonist on his quest to save the prince and unite Euchronia under a banner of peace. We have the facts on ‘em all, from when they join the team, to the Archetypes they introduce, to some excellent secondary Archetypes for each of them to rock, and more.
We’re including Gallica, since she helps you in fights despite not being a full-fledged party member!
Gallica
Gallicais unique among “party members” in that, all things considered, she kind of isn’t one.Rather than fighting alongside you, she provides tactical support; Persona fans might draw parallels toFuuka, Rise, and Morgana- and they’d be correct.
Gallica introduces theMage Archetype, which specializes inlearning elemental magic spells, buffing Magic and MP stats,and similar fare.
Early on, you won’t have any party members with anespeciallynatural bend toward magic classes, butthe protagonist makes a great Mage. While he’s designed to be the most diverse ally of them all,you might want to give him the Mage (and Healer) classes.
Your faerie friendjoins you at the very beginning of the game, and you’ll gain the Mage Archetypeabout an hour or so into the story.
Strohl
The steadfast disaffected noble,Strohl, isthe first true party member to join the team. He’s yourJunpei, Yosuke, Ryuji- if we’re still doing silly Persona parallels - but he’s quite the serious soul by comparison. He just slots into thatclose friend, surrogate brother, feel.
Strohl comes with theWarrior Archetype,and, as is unsurprisingly the case for all party members,his own Archetype is excellent for him. He has ahigh Attack, fairly high HP, and solid DEF.
Other great Archetypes for Strohl include the fist-fightingBrawler,the long-range, bow-wielding,Gunner, and the late-game, no-holds-barred, powerhouseBerserker.
You won’t exactly have to wait long for Strohl.From the moment you arrive at the Northern Border Fort, roughly half an hour into Metaphor,he’ll join the team.
Hulkenberg
Hulkenbergis the wielder of theKnight Archetype, which embodies virtuous defense withgreat HP and the highest DEF. The Knight Archetype is fantastic;the Knight’s ability to draw aggro and block attacks can be quite useful during boss fights.
Our valiant, albeit disgraced, friend joins youshortly before the Regalith Grand Cathedral dungeon, rounding out your party of three early on. Regalith Grand Cathedral isMetaphor’s first major dungeon.
We had Hulkenberg tap into the stellarCommander Archetype, which is acquired throughBardonafter theMartira arc. Her tankiness blends well with the Commander, whose abilities center onrallying the party with buffs galore.
Heismay
Speaking of disgraced former knights - though this time, it’s of the far smaller, and craftier, kind -Heismayis the wielder of theThief Archetype. Hissky-high AGI ensures immaculate hit rates and spectacular dodge rates.
The Thief Archetype is surely what you’ll want him to stick with for some time.Stealing itemsis handy, butdebuffing enemy attacks with Tarundacan be a surprisingly game-changing addition. He’ll tap intoDark-elemental abilitiesmore as the Thief advances into stronger classes.
Heismay is the best candidate forFaker, which showcases Metaphor’s cunning trickery with plenty of debuffs that blend well with the Thief.
Heismay joins the crewjust before the game’s second major dungeon, Kriegante Castle.
Junah
The nationally famous songstress with ties to Louis,Junahis the wielder of theMasked DancerArchetype. The Masked Dancer is great forgiving enemies specific weaknesses - fabulous for all those tough foes who otherwise lack one to exploit.
The Masked Dancer also usesyour accessory slot to equip the skills of other classes, so long as youcreate those masks via Special Experiments. In other words,Junah can essentially double her capabilities.
Junah’shigh MAG and MPmeansshe’s probably best-served equipping something like Mage or Healer. Once she joins youjust after the third major dungeon in mid-July, she can take the pressure off the protagonist to carry the magic-centric classes forward.
Eupha
Eupha’s Summonerclass does what’s on the tin - yousummon creatures to attack enemies with elementally-based skills. This involves creating new summons throughSpecial Experiments, something Eupha shares in common with Junah.
Eupha also shares (and, in fact, exceeds) Junah’s propensities towardhigh MAG and MP. Put plainly,Eupha is arguably the best magic-based fighter in the game.
This makes additional Archetypes for Eupha fairly easy to suss out.Mage and Healerare the perfect side gigs for her, and we also liked to give her theWind-based skills from Seeker.
Our mustari friend joins the team a bit late, inAugust, at the end of thefourth major dungeon.
Basilio
You’ll have metBasiliobefore Eupha, but he won’t join untilafter the fifth major dungeon, abouttwo-thirds of the way into Metaphor: ReFantazio. ABerserker, Basilio hasthe highest HP growthin the game. HisATKis similarly stellar.
Basilio is, thus, about as easy to choose other Archetypes for as Eupha, albeit in the opposite direction.Warrior and Brawlerare best for this brutish pal, and you can’t go wrong having himlearn any powerful physical attacks from all other classes.
