Whenever it is mentioned that a game is ‘political’, the hairs on everyone’s arms stand up. We brace ourselves for the discourse, the overreaction on all sides, and the dread that a video game might not perfectly reflect our own ideology. Look, I’ve even been put off by games that do reflect my general ethos -Spider-Manis inclusive, diverse, and socially conscious, all qualities I support, but everyone in those games is an eternally happy dweeb that it puts me off a bit. However,Metaphor: ReFantazioseems like a game that finally does politics right.
I don’t mean whether it personally agrees with my politics. I’d imagine, as with most works of art, there are parts of the politics I resonate with and parts I disagree with. That’s how politics usually works - no one agrees on everything all of the time, but we find a middle ground. But recently, that has been tough. Political discourse has grown to extreme levels, to the point where it’s a genre of entertainment to have one person who feels one way sitting in a circle and debating 20 people who feel the other way, with the viewer always siding with the person they agreed with at the start anyway.
Metaphor Is All About The Election Cycle
This is why Metaphor seems so intriguing. Don’t get me wrong, the main sell here isits mammoth OpenCritic scoreand favourable comparisons toPersona 5, a game I already have great affection for. Though a quickly-deleted Keighley tweet teased the possibility of it being free on Game Pass (it’s not), I’m still prepared to shell out for something with a critical response that can be boiled down to ‘Persona, but better’.
But the politics is a major hook. The game begins with the death of the King, and thus most of the game is about the battle for succession. It’s a fantasy game, and a war for succession is literally the plot of the entire run of Game of Thrones, so this is not necessarily brand new ground. The devs havealso distanced the game from commenting on any real-world politics. However, it does feel very timely in 2024.
The US has its election later this year, a race that has featured a drop out, two assassination attempts (one an extremely close call), and several campaign trail incidents (but few debates), including the first no-show on 60 Minutes in 50 years. Of course, the US is often accused of seeing itself as the centre of the world. As you may have noticed from my spelling of centre, I’m not American. I’m British, and we also had an election this year, one that saw Labour elected for the first time since 2010 in a messy election where there were judged to have been no real winners outside of the fringe parties.
The UK is only slightly better than the US when it comes to seeing itself as central to all things, however. While the two nations dominate the headlines of Western media, Metaphor is a Japanese game, from a completely different political ecosystem. An ecosystem that, you guessed it, is having an election in 2024. This comes after incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, elected in 2021, resigned after suffering through corruption scandals and low approval ratings following the assassination of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe.
Metaphor’s Fantasy Morales May Mesh With Our Own World
Beyond the demo and a brief hands on atSummer Game Fest, I haven’t played Metaphor nor do I know anything about the plot beyond what I’ve read in TheGamer’s review. So I have no idea if it executes this idea well, or how thoroughly issues are explored. Our reviewer Meg Pelliccionoted that too little time is spent on the plight of the people, and more on the personality of the respective faction leaders - but that sounds exactly like every election cycle I’ve ever witnessed.
Set in a fantasy world, we don’t head into Metaphor with our political team colours already sewn to our chests. We witness this quest for power through fresher eyes, and that makes for a unique dissection of the political race. As a monarchy, I’d wager there’s less about heading to the ballot boxes and more about pacts, coalitions, and treaties to join forces, but it seems more interesting to make a game that is about politics - as in, about the very nature of political contest and its various machinations - than it is to make a game that is political - as in, a game that professes a social viewpoint through its narrative.
Elections can seem boring, because they can get caught up in small scale talking points that don’t appeal to the masses, have needlessly complicated ramifications and district regulations, and can be derailed by bad faith objections or attempts to run around in circles and distract you. I’m sure Metaphor will include these elements, but will also allow us to cut through them with purpose. Metaphor: ReFantazio being about politics is a fascinating idea - no matter what side you’re on.
