Many considerMetaphor: ReFantazioto be the must-play JRPG of 2024, and we agree. However, not every game is perfect, and there are some things in Metaphor: ReFantazio that just don’t make sense.
Some are things that are pretty minor, or even humorous, but just leave us scratching our heads. Some others are staples of Atlus RPGs and, frankly, should be changed by now. These are the worst offenders.
8Late-Game Party Member
We will not be spoiling it in this article, but there is a party member added to the game very late in the story. Around the 85-90 percent mark of the game, you get the final member of your party.
This is something a lot of RPGs suffer from, and sadly, it is also the case here. Why developers decide to give you party members so late in the game, we can’t say. But it unfortunately hinders the member, to no fault of their own.
7What Is A Eugief, Really?
Ok, but really, what is a Eugief? They are supposed to be bat-like, with their wings and nocturnal senses. However, they clearly also resemble rabbits, with their white fur, long ears, red eyes, and cute little red noses. Just look at that mouth and try to tell us there isn’t some rabbit in there.
In all seriousness, we know that, for the most part, the Eugief are meant to be a fantasy bat-like race. They don’t need to make sense. But, out of all the new and unique races in the Metaphor: ReFantazio world, Eugief are definitely the most bewildering, if not the most cute.
6Gauntlet Runners
Gauntlet Runners are the vehicles people in the Metaphor world use to cover vast distances, with some even being able to fly (and ours being able to cross water). However, as cool as they are conceptually, it is quite hard to discern…what they actually are. Sort of a mix of a boat, plane, spaceship, and monster.
They’re vehicles that run on Magla, with a core and engine in the belly of the chassis. They don’t have wheels but instead have massive, slightly unnerving legs on either side that, well, run the gauntlet. It is said that Gauntlet Runners are also made with monster parts, but this isn’t really touched on again. Their design is definitely unique, and you come to feel attached to your road trip partner throughout the game, but every time you look at one, you can’t help but feel like it was designed from an artist’s fever dream.
5The Auto-Equip System
As part of the gameplay loop, you will find yourself constantly switching out your party’s archetypes depending on what type of enemies you are facing. The game has a sort of “auto-equip” system, in which when you equip an archetype, it will also auto-equip gear for that character. However, this system is very finicky.
For one, it’s hard to tell what will be auto-equipped and what won’t. We can assume the game uses some sort of algorithm to determine the best gear set for the chosen archetype based on what other characters have equipped (and are thus taken), but sometimes, it doesn’t equip new items. There is also a strange issue with the Masked Dancer archetype, where that archetype uses different masks in order to change their properties and abilities. However, when you change archetypes and then go back toMasked Dancer, the mask will be unequipped, and when you are on the fly switching between archetypes, it is all too easy to forget to re-equip a mask and enter combat at a severe disadvantage.
4No Bestiary
One big downside of the game is that there is no type of bestiary. A bestiary is typically a compilation of monsters you encounter in a game, with a description of them and their strengths and weaknesses. However, even though the game has a Memorandum, which collects information about the various peoples, settlements, and history of the world, there is no collection of enemies you may look at.
This is a strange thing to omit from the Memorandum, as the combat encounters in this game require a lot of planning and strategy, more so than in the Persona games. There are even many times whenGallicaor another character will tell you we need to prepare for a fight, but how can we prepare if there is no way to check the enemy’s weaknesses? There is a way to preview some of the strengths and weaknesses of some enemies in a dungeon via the Information Broker found in all taverns, but this does not include all enemies you will encounter.
3Some Activities Take A Whole Day
A staple of Atlus RPGs is the balance between dungeon-crawling and day-to-day activities. Typically, you will have the option of one activity during the day and one activity at night, with some variances in the options (for example, in this game, you can’t dungeon-crawl at night). However, there are some activities that take upwaymore time than they should.
One example is the planting of seeds aboard the Gauntlet Runner. Planting seeds in the Magla-powered pot should take a maximum of 10 to 20 minutes, not an entire day. Another example is the ability to pray for party members and increase their MP. Praying should take even less time than planting! Of course, the main reason for this is balance, as you want to have to make a choice of how to spend your time. But this doesn’t mean it makes any more sense.
2No In-Fight Loading
Even for veterans of the Persona series, the combat in Metaphor, while very fun, is also very challenging. Sometimes, you will find yourself entering a fight you did not properly prepare for and have no chance of winning. Despite this, there is no option to load a save during a fight.
Your only options are basically to try your best and hope you eke out a victory or just waste time until you inevitably party wipe and have to start over. This is an annoying and, frankly, pointless nuisance to the gameplay and makes some encounters take way longer than they need to.
1No Romances
Something that you will undoubtedly have heard criticism about if you have been following the game is the lack of romances in the game. One of the main mechanics of the Persona games is building up the bonds and relationships with your party members, and normally, this includes romances as well.
However, romanceability is completely absent from the game. This is a bizarre decision, as not only are there plenty of appealing options for players (looking at you, Junah and Brigitta), but unlike the other Atlus RPGs, all of the followers in this game, barring Maria, of course, are adults, including your main character. Hopefully, in the inevitable “upgraded” edition of the game, a la Persona 5 Royal, we will have the option to romance our party while forging bonds with them.
