Metaphor: Refantazio Players Really Hate The Homo Fios

Summary

Metaphor: Refantaziohas some of the most interesting enemy designs in recent game history. Straying away from the usual creatures found in thePersonaandShin Megami Tenseigames, Metaphor leans heavily on surrealism for its monsters.

Many of the human enemies are inspired by are inspired by 15th-century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, who, if you look at his work, had some very interesting ideas.

One enemy in particular, the Homo Fios, is pluckedstraight from Bosch’s worksand is causing Metaphor players no end of pain.

“Fishy Fandango Made Me Angry”

The Homo Fios, affectionately known as “fish man”, is found in the Giant Sandworm’s Belly. It’s a creature that, on paper, doesn’t look too threatening. It’s a fish with a pair of human legs, donning a single boot. ButAtlusloves to subvert expectations.

On its first turn, Homo Fios casts Fishy Fandango, which maxes out its Agility, meaning that its accuracy and evasion are very, very high. It will then cast Masukunda, lowering the party’s Agility, often meaning you’ll take a lot of hits without landing too many of your own. This song and dance has frustrated players no end.

Since the game’s launch last week, multiple threads on Reddit have popped up lamenting the fish, with players sharing that “Fishy Fandango made me angry” and “Funny fish man isn’t messing around.”

Funny fish man isn’t messing around.

The encounter is seen as so frustrating that it was called “The absolute worst fight to run into blind,” suggesting that a little bit of preparation is needed before. Ourofficial guidefor the segment concurred with players' feelings, saying, “This can get pretty frustrating, pretty fast, if you don’t counter it accordingly.” The frustrations were only compounded further, given that there is no save point near the mini-boss.

Homo Fios aside, we loved Metaphor: Refantazio. We scored the game 5/5 inour official review, saying “Metaphor: ReFantazio is a new peak for Atlus. It takes so much of what was great about Persona and refines it.”