Metaphor: ReFantazio is the rare fantasy game that goes beyond racism 101

I nary longer expect video games that tackle the subjects of racism and favoritism done phantasy — arsenic Metaphor: ReFantazio does — to astonishment me. Those stories ne'er spell beyond well-trodden depictions of “racism is bad,” and I tune them retired similar truthful overmuch achromatic noise. But Metaphor: ReFantazio has done the work, and its willingness to spell beyond surface-level treatments of bushed phantasy tropes to excavation astatine the bosom of the existent issues with racism and favoritism is precisely what makes it a phenomenal game. Metaphor is simply a clever improvement of the Persona series, but it wouldn’t beryllium arsenic absorbing oregon outstanding arsenic it is without its refreshingly progressive message.

Metaphor takes spot successful a satellite wherever our world of “equality” betwixt antithetic taste groups is presented arsenic an unattainable-but-nice-to-think-about idyllic fantasy, portion discrimination, classism, and the conflict against monstrous creatures called “humans” regularisation the day. 

The satellite of Metaphor is stratified according to a hierarchy of antithetic tribes classified by their carnal characteristics, similar wings, horns, oregon elfin-like agelong ears. Then there’s the protagonist, who comes from the astir hated tribe, which, to our eyes, lucifer real-world humans with nary chiseled carnal features. Atlus calling this crippled “Metaphor” is astir arsenic unsubtle arsenic a ceramic thrown astatine a protest.

The satellite is thrown into chaos erstwhile the dogmatic king is murdered, leaving down nary heir, arsenic his idealistic lad mysteriously vanished years before. His decease triggers a nationwide contention whereby anyone, nary substance their commencement oregon circumstance, tin vie to triumph the throne, provided they person the emotion and enactment of the people. Your occupation is to gain that emotion done a assortment of contests successful the anticipation of putting that idealistic prince connected the throne truthful that helium whitethorn alteration this hateful racist satellite for the better.

In Metaphor, the characters utilize a occupation people strategy called archetypes. Each enactment subordinate starts with a circumstantial archetype — warrior, healer, mage, etc. — and by processing relationships with different NPCs, unlock more. Like Persona, combat is centered connected exploiting an enemy’s weakness portion mitigating your own. There’s besides an perfectly fabulous overworld combat diagnostic wherever if you onslaught a weaker enemy, they simply die, forgoing a modulation into a conflict scene. However, if an force is your level oregon stronger, you tin usage overworld combat to astonishment onslaught and weaken them, giving you a superior vantage successful the combat to come. 

I adore these improvements implicit Persona’s combat due to the fact that it importantly cuts down connected the clip needed to grind experience. It besides makes combat harrowing arsenic hell due to the fact that portion you’re capable to ambush monsters, they tin bash the aforesaid to you. Metaphor’s combat excels, exceeding its RPG cohort, due to the fact that it demands that I deliberation much strategically. Arrogantly moving astir a dungeon oregon into brag fights with your biggest, highest-level guns blazing is not ever the winning strategy, and it’s besides a bully mode to get you killed.

My higher-level enactment was often wiped retired by an force I’d different mop the level with simply due to the fact that they got the driblet connected me. Conversely, I’ve been capable to soundly decision enemies 8 and 9 levels higher than maine with freshly unlocked level-one archetypes due to the fact that their peculiar abilities were uniquely suited to exploit a weakness. Metaphor is the lone single-player crippled that made maine consciousness similar a raid person successful an MMO similar Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft.

Metaphor besides feels bully from a tactile perspective. The animations that play arsenic you fluidly zip betwixt antithetic options successful combat adhd a kinetic vigor that made maine consciousness similar I was playing an enactment crippled alternatively of a turn-based RPG. This acquisition is enhanced by the slick-as-hell, highly stylized menus and the killer soundtrack — particularly the main conflict music. I don’t cognize what that antheral is saying, but the mode helium says it gets maine hype arsenic hell.

But Metaphor is much than conscionable a stylish, dynamic RPG — it’s besides the uncommon phantasy communicative that tackles favoritism with nuance.

In a batch of fantasy, I’m annoyed by the storytelling conceit of utilizing favoritism against phantasy races arsenic an allegory for real-world racism. Stories featuring this trope usually halt astatine the “racism is bad” aboveground level, demonstrating that with disfigured over-the-top displays of unit (hey there, Dragon Age) portion ignoring the subtleties that marque racism truthful heinous and pervasive. Metaphor manages to incorporated and tackle some aspects of this reality. 

There’s a infinitesimal erstwhile you’re speechmaking a phantasy publication with a companion, and they notation that realizing their extremity of a satellite wherever everyone is treated arsenic won’t beryllium enough. “Equal contention doesn’t mean adjacent footing,” Heismay says. It’s the archetypal clip I’ve seen a video crippled admit that simply stopping the large atrocious evil racist won’t magically marque up for the countless generations of oppression. The crippled does the aforesaid with people and wealth. There’s a quality vying for the throne who wishes to fundamentally “eat the rich” and redistribute their wealthiness astatine the constituent of a guillotine. But by virtuousness of her highly debased status, she sees everybody with much than a fewer coins to hitch unneurotic arsenic her ideological enemy. It’s conscionable similar erstwhile radical successful poorness lash retired astatine different radical a small spot little successful poorness erstwhile their existent enemies are the affluent powerholders who exploit that animosity. It’s awesome that the crippled calls that out.

There’s an astir reflexive instinct to telephone Metaphor: ReFantazio “Persona with swords.” The crippled has the hallmarks of a Persona, which lend it an aerial of familiarity, not to notation much of the aforesaid originative talent. But this characterization doesn’t consciousness correct. Those acquainted systems person been remixed to consciousness caller portion the game’s connection is vibrating connected levels the Persona games brushwood up against but ne'er rather reach. 

The upsetting happening astir racism, classism, homophobia, and the similar is that there’s a reluctance successful the existent satellite to admit that it’s not lone the unit of idiosyncratic actors that perpetuates this oppression but institutions and systems arsenic well. We situation those idiosyncratic actors and telephone them retired due to the fact that that’s overmuch easier and quicker to bash than the hard generational enactment it takes to dismantle racist systems and physique equitable ones. Games with that benignant of connection bash the aforesaid — ending with the climactic decision of the atrocious guys. Metaphor is 1 of the archetypal times a high-profile crippled acknowledges the real, overmuch harder, and little glamorous enactment of dismantling systems.

And astatine a clip erstwhile you can’t adjacent telephone retired the idiosyncratic actors anymore without getting gaslit to hellhole and backmost — it’s moving, arsenic a idiosyncratic of color, to spot Metaphor spell the other mile to say, “These systems request to go, too.” That’s what makes Metaphor: ReFantazio truthful powerful, resonant, and successful each consciousness of a connection that’s unluckily been bastardized into meaninglessness, woke arsenic fuck.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is retired present connected Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.