Having played a few Atlus games by now, I figured that things in Metaphor ReFantazio would more or less play out the same as they did in its predecessors. That is, I was expecting character stories that were interesting enough, but ultimately fairly shallow in terms of character development. That hasn’t really been the case, though. Across each story I’ve played through so far, I’ve either gotten a really deep sense of who these people are, seen their life perspectives change, or both!
This isn’t to say that anybody pulls a complete 180 from who they were in the beginning of their story versus who they were by the end. There are no rebirths, no absolute jerks turning into the nicest people in the world. At the same time, though, the changes the characters go through feel a lot more significant than those of the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5.
Ryuji forgiving himself for the past and Futaba being less of a shut-in are great and all (I don’t really remember what happened with the others), but nothing about their core selves changes all that much, and there isn’t much to them that I’d call real character flaws in the first place. They just confront a single personal issue, and that’s all.
Meanwhile in Metaphor, there’s Strohl, who’s trying to figure out how he stacks up against his parents, how to best help his people, and what kind of noble lord he should ultimately become. There’s Catherina, who’s bent on using her strength to both help her people and get revenge on the evil wealthy, and there’s Bardon, a guard who gets swept into a position of great authority and wields it in an attempt to protect, not realising the ramifications of his actions.
All of these characters are more or less the same people by the end of their arcs, but they’ve still undergone some sort of meaningful change. It could be a newfound sense of self, a greater awareness of how the world works or a greater understanding of one’s place in society. There are other results and changes too; these are just a few examples. Heck these aren’t even my favorites! There are others that had my full attention with each outing, and I don’t want to spoil them here.
Something I’m really liking in Metaphor ReFantazio is just how real the characters feel. Most of the villain characters have at least one valid reason to have the worldview that they do, especially the main antagonist. His goal, at least on the outside, is very close to that of the player’s group, it just differs in method and the actual result. He’s still absolutely reprehensible, but you can understand where he’s coming from.
Further, you can’t be sure that your own party’s goal for the world is even attainable. Further, their mission is ultimately to lift up to authority someone who’s spent most of their life (by this point) in a curse-induced coma. I wonder, how is someone who’s never experienced the world supposed to rule it effectively enough to usher in the new, kinder world his supporters are fighting for? I’m not confident that they could. The game even confronts this, albeit a bit weakly.
This is all to say that most of the characters have a level of complexity that makes them feel like real, flawed people. Is it revolutionary? No. But, it is a big step up from where Atlus characters were before. In particular, I rather like that our MC is more of an actual character than Joker was.
You still choose a lot of his dialog, but between Gallica, the novel he keeps on him at all times, and the actual voice lines that follow your dialog choices, who he actually is is pretty clear. He doesn’t seem to have an arc in the same way that the other characters do, but there is at least *some* development over the course of the story, which is very much appreciated.
I’ve still got several hours to go before I finish Metaphor ReFantazio, but I’m confident that Atlus will be able to bring it all together for a satisfying conclusion. Once that’s reached, I suppose it’ll be time for a final wrap up. See you all then!
What are some games you feel have really meaningful character development? How do you think Persona and Metaphor stack up against them?
Image from the Steam page
VIRTUAL BASTION 