Metaphor: ReFantazio Second Showcase Highlights Archetypes

Atlus held its second dedicated showcase presentation for upcoming fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio. The latest presentation, viewable below alongside a new trailer for the game, focuses on the game’s Archetype systems briefly introduced in the previous showcase.

As previously detailed, the game features turn-based combat, while exploration incorporates real-time attacking, dodging, and analysing elements. When facing tougher enemies, players can initiate turn-based battle to get an advantage. During combat, players have a variety of skills and strategic options determined by their party loadout, with Archetypes acting as a job system.

Players can equip different Archetypes to their characters. Early in the game players gain access to a place called Akademeia, which houses an individual knowledgeable in Archetypes and who lends his support to the protagonist to help awaken new Archetypes. Archetypes come in different lineages, which can branch out into new Archetypes. Different Archetypes have their own strengths; for example, the Commander offers skills focusing on party formation and support, while the Healer specialises in recovery. As players progress, they can unlock more advanced Archetypes, such as the Masked Dancer, which changes skills and resistances based on their equipment.

Metaphor: ReFantazio will feature fourteen basic Archetype lineages, with over forty Archetypes available in total. Archetypes gain their own experience in battle, learning different skills as they gain in rank. By strengthening existing Archetypes and making bonds with certain characters in the game, players will be able to meet the conditions to unlock advanced Archetypes. For example, the base all-rounder Seeker Archetype can be evolved into first the Magic Seeker, which gains powerful wind magic and support abilities, and then the Soul Hacker, which gets MP recovery effects and penetration resistance. Each Archetype has its own designs, with each character changing appearance based on their equipped Archetype.

The game’s combat is the latest evolution of Atlus’s command-based system, which grants extra turns to units that strike opposing side’s weaknesses. Metaphor: ReFantazio includes a formation system, where characters are set on the front or back rows, with different Archetypes working better depending on which row they are in. For example, the Mage can cast magic from the back row, which it is more protected from its low defences, while the Knight can attract enemy attention in the back row while withholding attacks, suffering less damage in the process.

Metaphor: ReFantazio introduces a technique called Synthesis, which allows party members Archetypes’ to combine with other characters to perform a special skill. However, this consumes the actions of both party members involved. For example, while a Mage might only be able to cast a spell on a single enemy, then can use Synthesis with a Healer to make it attack all enemies. In addition, three Warriors can link up to provide a single attack of massive damage.

To encourage use of more Archetypes, players who change Archetypes are able to inherit mastered skills from their current Archetype into the new Archetype. There will be up to seven members recruited who can be selected for the active party, with all members able to equip all of the Archetypes in the game, though Archetypes cannot be changed during turn-based combat. Archetypes will also impact the action exploration combat with their weapon types and special abilities. In addition, players are able to use a network feature to see, and potentially change to, the party configurations of other players for the dungeons they are in.

Metaphor: ReFantazio will release on October 11, 2024, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game is created by the team behind Persona series and is set in the United Kingdom of Euchronia, which is made up of three constituent countries populated by eight different tribes. Its story begins with its king assassinated and, in order to fill the power vacuum, a special spell is cast that announces a tournament for the throne, where the person who has earned the most faith of the citizens as of the October Day of the Hero will be granted the throne. The protagonist, joined by the fairy Gallica, takes part in this contest while on his own journey to lift the curse that befell the crown prince ten years prior.