Metaphor: ReFantazio is a brand new IP for Atlus, though that doesn't mean it's not heavily influenced by other major series from the publisher. While the Press Turn combat system is straight out of recent Shin Megami Tensei games, there are also a lot of social elements from the Persona series.
While there is a lot of influence from these other titles, Metaphor ReFantazio still finds ways to change up the combat system and give it a new flavor that all players will be trying to figure out. This list will focus on combat mechanics that are not in previous games or at least aren't in recent major releases.
Metaphor: ReFantazio - All Stats Explained
There are five stats for the protagonist and his companions to level up in Metaphor: ReFantazio; here's what each one does.
7 Replay Your Battles
- Choose to restart a battle from the beginning anytime on your turn.
- Keep trying a difficult battle without restarting from a save file.
Anytime during the player's turn, they can choose to replay the battle from the beginning. This does have the battle start the same way, so you can't undo an ambush, but it does give incredible freedom to keep retrying as many times as you want with no penalty.
The only barriers to replaying is that it must be your turn, and if your party gets wiped out the battle ends. This can be done on boss fights, and on all the base difficulties, giving players a very useful tool against even the most difficult battles.
6 Stack More Buffs & Debuffs
- All Buffs and Debuffs go to rank 3.
In previous games, buffs could only be stacked once or twice, but Metaphor: ReFantazio gives players the ability to stack a buff on any stack up to three times. The bonuses for each stack are substantial, and three stacks on any skill offer a huge difference in battle.
Buffs do only last for three turns before they need to be recast, though recasting a buff before the three turns are up resets the timer. Enemies can also take advantage of this, and it can usually lead to a quick replay if a strong enemy gets three stacks of any buff.
5 Unscathed Victories
- Unscathed Victories are not earned in Overworld combat.
- Easily earned when landing ambushes.
Unscathed Victories happen whenever the party defeats all enemies without taking any damage, and offer a boost to all rewards based on what was already going to be given for the fight. Usually, this is done without the enemy taking a single turn, but a miss from the enemy still counts as you not taking damage.
7 Things That Metaphor ReFantazio Does Like Persona
Persona fans will be delighted to discover these similarities between Atlus' long-standing franchise and their upcoming Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Unscathed Victories are usually easy to achieve against weaker enemies that you still can't kill in overworld combat but you got an ambush on. Unscathed Victories are easiest achieved when engaging in the various combat mechanics available to the player, rewarding those for better understanding the game and learning the best way to play.
4 New & Changed Status Ailments
- Some status ailments carry over between battles.
While a lot of the status ailments have the same name as those in other Atlus games, the ways a lot of them work have been changed. There are also a few new status ailments that can be devastating for any party member affected by them, further increasing the usefulness of ailments or the need to heal them fast.
While only a few status ailments in previous games have had similar effects, this time around any similar ones have been reworked to make each one unique. While burn and poison may seem similar, burn now only takes effect whenever a person burned is attacked.
3 Synthesis Attacks
- Unlocks when Hulkenberg joins the party.
- Turn order or make-up does not affect Synthesis attacks.
Synthesis attacks have two party members work together to perform a powerful attack, which will almost always outclass anything each party member can do alone. Synthesis Attacks require MP for anyone involved, and will also cost additional Press Turn icons to cast since multiple party members are taking an action.
While it may seem like a negative to use multiple Press Turn icons at once, this will result in the same number of icons being returned if you hit a weakness. It is important to keep an eye on MP costs, as multiple Synthesis skills back to back will quickly drain your party without you noticing.
2 The Protagonist Can Be Downed
- You can still command the party with the Protagonist downed.
A common feature and complaint among fans is that the protagonist going down usually results in a game over for many modern Atlus titles. This time around, the Protagonist can be downed, and he is treated like any other party member without there being any negative effect for him going down.
Metaphor: ReFantazio - Which Skill Should You Pick?
When joining the army in Metaphor: ReFantazio you'll be asked if you have any skills to speak of; here's what each choice means.
While he can be downed, he will usually be your strongest character since his stat increases can be chosen each time he levels up. That all being said, it can be a refreshing change of pace to not have to worry about one party member getting their weakness targeting and landing a game over because of it.
1 Any Weapon, Any Character
- Equipped Archetype determines the equipped weapon.
- Each Archetype needs to be summoned for each character.
Metaphor: ReFantazio gives players an incredible amount of freedom when creating their party, as any character can equip any Archetype. The equipped Archetype does determine the weapon that the character uses, meaning any character can use any weapon in the game.
Some characters have stat lines that are better suited for specific Archetypes, but the freedom to do whatever you want is there if you desire. This also means the Protagonist can use any weapon you want while in overworld combat.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Released
- October 11, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Studio Zero
- Publisher(s)
- Atlus
- Engine
- GFD
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
