Metaphor: ReFantazio continues Persona’s great handheld heritage

Atlus’ Persona franchise is mostly a console series, but it has a beardown handheld heritage. There were fantabulous portable versions of Persona 3 and Persona 4, and Persona 5 Royal connected Nintendo Switch was great, too. Metaphor: ReFantazio is simply a caller phantasy JRPG from the squad down those beloved Personas. And portion the crippled takes spot successful a antithetic universe, galore of the halfway elements are contiguous successful Metaphor — which means that it’s conscionable arsenic large of a handheld experience.

I mightiness beryllium understating it to accidental Metaphor is Persona-like. The game’s UI is exceptionally flashy. You’ll walk a batch of clip talking with your allies and improving your bonds with them. Days tick by arsenic you navigate sprawling dungeons and walk clip with your companions earlier a looming deadline. The main characters adjacent spell done epic transformations wherever they brutally rip an organ retired of their assemblage arsenic a mysterious dependable talks successful “thous” and “haths.” Once, portion taking notes astir the game, I called it Persona alternatively of Metaphor. It’s that similar.

But that means truthful overmuch of what makes Persona games great portable titles works for Metaphor, too. Battles thin to beryllium quick, meaning if you person a fewer minutes, you tin blast done respective to wide a dungeon floor. Doing activities successful 1 in-game time is capable to consciousness similar progress. Some parts of the crippled diagnostic agelong bouts of text, but erstwhile I’m playing conscionable earlier I spell to sleep, seeing what happens adjacent tin consciousness similar an breathtaking section successful a large book. 

I’m playing Metaphor connected the Steam Deck. The crippled is listed connected Steam arsenic Playable alternatively of Verified, and portion it is so playable, show is inconsistent, particularly successful municipality areas I’ve visited. (The towns are beauteous engaged places, with tons of characters and things going on.) I really capped the crippled astatine 30fps successful settings, adjacent though it tin tally higher, conscionable due to the fact that I didn’t privation to woody with varying framework rates.

But fortunately, Metaphor isn’t a crippled that demands cleanable performance. In dungeons, you tin onslaught enemies successful existent clip to effort to get the leap connected them, but I recovered that framework complaint dips didn’t hinder my quality to propulsion disconnected a palmy barrage. All battles are turn-based, anyway, and immoderate framework drops didn’t marque overmuch of a quality to maine there. 

I’m much than good dealing with immoderate issues; being capable to instrumentality Metaphor anyplace I privation is amazing. I play the crippled beauteous overmuch each nighttime earlier I autumn asleep, I play it connected the sofa connected the weekends portion my caller babe naps, and I adjacent took my Steam Deck connected 2 caller concern trips conscionable truthful I could sneak successful immoderate sessions erstwhile I had spare time.

There’s 1 much mode Metaphor is similar the Persona series: it’s perfectly massive. But a crippled that’s dozens of hours agelong is simply a batch much manageable erstwhile you tin play whenever and wherever you want.