Metaphor: ReFantazio Shows Persona Formula Can Still Work Without School

It’s hard to deny the similarities between thePersonaseries andMetaphor: ReFantaziogiven they are both cut from the same Atlus cloth, with Director Katsura Hashino leading the development of the modernPersonagames and this latest title. However, it’s clear wherePersonaandMetaphor: ReFantaziodiverge to become their own separate games with unique identities. Part of what helps setMetaphorapart fromPersonais its setting, taking place in a fantasy world rather than modern-day Japan.

Although fans ofPersona’s modern setting might miss it inMetaphor, the game shows it’s surprisingly adept at restructuring classic features likePersona’s calendar systemto work within this new world. One longtimePersonafeature that gets discarded inMetaphor: ReFantaziois the school life side of the series, which has become an expected part of anyPersonagame. Even without these segments,Metaphor: ReFantaziosucceeds at translating the other elements it pulls fromPersonato its unique world, showing thatPersona’s school life isn’t a necessary part of the franchise’s winning formula.

Metaphor ReFantazio Tag Page Cover Art

Metaphor: ReFantazio Shows the Persona Formula Doesn’t Need School Life to Be Successful

Persona’s School Life Segments Are Iconic But Repetitive

A core part of themodernPersonaseriesis the balance players must maintain between their character’s school life and the dungeon-crawling after-school activities they take part in. These two sides to the series, along with the limited time afforded by the calendar system, help give it the identity many fans have come to love. Being one part social simulator and one part dungeon-crawling JRPG helps distinguishPersonafrom other series in the genre, and it would seem like the series would suffer from having one-half of this formula removed.

However, the way in which thePersonaseries presents its social simulationaspect can get repetitive, as the life of a student means daily classes with only one day off a week, which limits the activities of players for a huge part of the game.Personagames tend to lock players into the typical routine of participating in a daily class, whether that be answering a question correctly to earn points towards Social Stats or just listening to a lecture. It’s not until after the school day ends that players get the choice of an activity to participate in during their free time.

Despite having to attend school for most of the day,Personastill offers players two free time slots afterward: one “after school” and one “evening” time slot.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Supplements School Life With More Variety

AlthoughMetaphormaintains the daily free time structure ofPersona, granting players two free time slots a day, it does a better job of breaking up these activities with the school life side of things removed. Themain problem withPersonausing schoolas the framing tool for its calendar progression is that attending school can be tedious for players, and no amount of interesting trivia delivered via class lectures can help with that tedium. InMetaphor, rather than having to sit through mandatory classes to reach free time, players are given that time from the start of each day, albeit with the occasional twist.

Metaphor: ReFantazioallows players to embark on excursions to dungeons outside the hub city they are currently in using the Gauntlet Runner, and whileactivities on the Gauntlet Runnerare limited, they still allow players to raise their Social Stat-like Royal Virtues in the interim between destinations. These Gauntlet Runner segments act similar to school life inPersonagames, wherein players' activity is limited during the days they are traveling. However, the fact that players can choose when to travel, and the lack of lecture dialogue during these periods of travel, makeMetaphor’s answer toPersona’s school life feel much less restrictive and repetitive.