Summary
Metaphor: ReFantaziohas proven a massive hit for developersAtlus, having sold over one million copies in less than 24 hours, becoming the studio’sfastest-selling gamein the process. It’s also a critical darling, holding an average score of 92 onOpenCritic, marking it as one of the highest-rated releases of 2024 so far.
This success is in no small part due to Katsura Hashino, director of Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5 and now, Metaphor: ReFantazio. In an interview withIGN, Hashino spoke about his philosophy towards writing characters and creating games.
“I want something - even if it’s not complete, even if it’s really rough, even if it’s something unfinished - to give me a glimpse of the humanity behind it,” Hashino says. “[I want to know] who created it and for it to give me a glimpse of the emotion that inspired it.”
People, Not Corporations, Make Games
In a world where everything tends to be profit-driven, the vision of creative individuals is sometimes discarded in favour of driving the maximum amount of profitability. Of course, most of the IPs that people love were initially born out of the creativity of these individuals. If you don’t let people express themselves, nobody will resonate with your game.
Hashino expresses that he has no interest in games that don’t have any creative vision behind them - experiences crafted by business executives to try and part players with their money.
“I feel like if you have these super highly polished games that look like they were designed by a bunch of people in a CEO boardroom, that doesn’t really excite me - it doesn’t really interest me,” Hashino reveals. “But when I see these sorts of games [which reveal a little about the people that made them], it really fills me with the motivation to keep developing. That these artists, these creatives had something they really wanted to say is where I get all of my inspiration from, and the drive to continue to be creative myself.”
If the success of Metaphor: ReFantazio and Hashino’s career as a whole is any indication, players resonate with his approach to storytelling.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
WHERE TO PLAY
From the creative minds behind Persona 3, 4, and 5 comes Metaphor: ReFantazio, a unique fantasy world, where your protagonist will journey alongside his fairy companion, Gallica, to lift the curse from the kingdom’s lost prince.Control your destiny, face your fears, and awaken magical Archetype powers that lie dormant in your heart. By awakening to an Archetype, you will unlock the power to channel and combine the abilities of unique job classes. Strengthen your bonds and build your party to take down powerful foes and discover the kingdom’s true nature.
