Much of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s structure seems evocative of the modern Persona games. This includes the party’s journey, with each member going through an “awakening,” similar to how Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves do when they acquire supernatural powers. In Metaphor, these awakenings happen when they gain their Archetype ability, a transformation that essentially functions as a malleable job system, giving characters different powers and roles in combat.
These awakenings occur during dramatic, character-defining moments, and the scenes are pretty hardcore. The party members rip their own hearts out and shout into them like a megaphone. We saw two of these during the demo, including Strohl’s, and it was easily one of the best moments of those four hours. Strohl is a warrior from a noble family, and without getting into too many spoilers, he’s a bit downtrodden about the state of things. When he finally awakens, he rips his heart out and then shouts into it as he rallies a crowd. It’s slightly derivative of Persona, sure, but it’s also fucking metal. I was immediately energized by the scene and am stoked to see the game riff on this further as we meet new party members.
