Best RPG 2024: Metaphor: ReFantazio

GamesRPGMetaphor Re FantazioBest RPG 2024: Metaphor: ReFantazioWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Sega)

Best RPG 2024: Metaphor ReFantazio

Settle in for a tale of hardship, hope and a big airship with legs. Atlus trades high school for high fantasy, and the result is the best RPG of the year. For more awards, check out ourGame of the Year 2024hub.

Mollie Taylor, Features Producer:As I’ve grown older and found myself with less free time, I’ve largely fallen off the JPRG train. But Metaphor: ReFantazio has pulled me right back in and reminded me why I adore this genre so much.

The game feels like an adult Persona—swapping out high school for high fantasy—crafting a gripping story and beloved characters that I came to deeply care for. I’ve fallen in love with Scouse dogs Fidelio and Basilio, while Hulkenberg’s relatable love for food provides much-needed respite between the more intense battles for the throne.

The Archetype system is also genuinely fantastic, reminiscent of the old-school Final Fantasy job systems. It creates far more freedom than I ever felt I had with my Persona teammates, and I had a ball creating different team synergies and cross-classing skills before big battles.

Metaphor: ReFantazio may not have had the biggest budget or scope, but it has so much heart and style. I still can’t stop thinking about it 150 hours and two playthroughs later.

(Image credit: Sega)

Xanth on the Gauntlet Runner - Metaphor: ReFantazio

Joshua Wolens, News Writer:For years, Atlus has had one dream: To tell a story with political themes that doesn’t fall flat on its face. Persona 4 whiffed it hard. Persona 5 came closer, but still wobbled. But here, with Metaphor, and with its story of a small heterochromatic boy and his fairy pal on a quest to end apartheid and wake up his boyfriend (or something, I haven’t finished it yet), the studio might actually have pulled it off. Hats off, Hashino-san.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Harvey Randall, Staff Writer:Metaphor: ReFantazio is my first ever Atlus game, and I picked a hell of a time to jump on, because it might be one of its best. As Joshua outlines above, the game’s story is downright excellent, consistently endearing, well-written, and bursting with a manic kind of creativity that’s typical for the studio, just with swords and sorcery instead of high school and mind heists.

Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief:Yes, yes, the story is good, and a nice change of pace from Persona’s high-school bread and butter. But what strikes me most about Metaphor is what Atlas has done with dungeons this time around.

(Image credit: Atlus)

Metaphor: ReFantazio

As with Persona, I’m pushing myself to finish every dungeon in a single in-game day—it’s the most efficient way to play when you also have to build relationships, improve virtues and, err, go fishing. But here you have to travel between those dungeons—some of which are multiple days away from the hub city you’re currently visiting. I love hoovering up all the extra side-quests and bounties at the start of a main mission cycle, seeing all the locations I’ll need to visit and planning out a route—a lengthy excursion that will hit all of the big objectives before eventually tackling the next big story quest. And the game rewards you for spending time with its optional objectives. Once you’ve outleveled an opponent, you can just directly kill it without having to go into turn-based battle mode.

It also means the fights you do have to take—those of similar or higher level enemies—can be a bit more threatening than your standard Persona mob encounter. There are some fun tricks to certain enemy types—the standard elemental weaknesses, sure, but also more interesting considerations like enemies that enrage when you’ve a magic staff user in your ranks, or ones that gain extra turns and more powerful attacks if you leave any of your party on the frontline. As Mollie says, the Archetype system offers plenty of freedom, and throughout the campaign, Atlus seeds fun strategic wrinkles that encourage you to make full use of its versatility.

TOPICSSega

TOPICS

More about rpg

A Path of Exile 2 sorceress casting flaming skulls in a hellish landscape

Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot

Double headed wizard man holding arms up looking sad

LatestMy Summer Car, the absurdly detailed Finnish life sim about vehicle maintenance and drinking in your underpants, smashes into 1.0 after nearly a decade in Steam early accessSee more latest►

Latest

My Summer Car, the absurdly detailed Finnish life sim about vehicle maintenance and drinking in your underpants, smashes into 1.0 after nearly a decade in Steam early access

The protagonist of My Summer Car smoking a cigarette outside while a truck in the background pumps out a septic tank.

My Summer Car, the absurdly detailed Finnish life sim about vehicle maintenance and drinking in your underpants, smashes into 1.0 after nearly a decade in Steam early access

See more latest►

Most Popular

The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4

2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me

Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)

I’ve seen enough: No more forcing singleplayer studios to make mediocre live service games

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals