I no longer expect video games that tackle the themes of racism and discrimination through fantasy – such as: Metaphor: ReFantazio does – to surprise me. These stories never go beyond the familiar narrative of “racism is bad” and I tune them out like white noise. But Metaphor: ReFantazio has done the work, and its willingness to go beyond the superficial treatment of tired fantasy tropes and explore the real issues of racism and discrimination is exactly what makes it a phenomenal game. metaphor is a clever development of the persona series, but without its refreshingly progressive message it wouldn't be as interesting or outstanding as it is.
metaphor is set in a world where our reality of “equality” between different ethnic groups is presented as an unattainable but beautifully thought-provoking idyllic fantasy, while discrimination, classism and the fight against monstrous creatures called “humans” rule the day.
The world of metaphor is stratified according to a hierarchy of different tribes, classified according to their physical characteristics such as wings, horns, or elf-like long ears. Then there is the protagonist, who belongs to the most hated tribe, who in our eyes resembles real people without any distinctive physical characteristics. Atlus calls this game “Metaphor,” and it's about as unsubtle as a brick thrown at a protest.
The world is thrown into chaos when the dogmatic king is murdered, leaving no heir since his idealistic son mysteriously disappeared years ago. His death sets off a nationwide competition in which anyone, regardless of birth or circumstances, can compete for the throne, provided they have the love and support of the people. Your job is to earn that love through various competitions in hopes of putting this idealistic prince on the throne so he can change this hateful, racist world for the better.
In metaphorThe characters use a job class system called archetypes. Each party member starts with a specific archetype – warrior, healer, mage, etc. – and more can be unlocked by building relationships with other NPCs. How personaFighting is about exploiting your opponent's weaknesses while mitigating your own. There's also an absolutely fantastic overworld combat feature, where a weaker enemy simply dies if you hit them, forgoing the transition into a battle scene. However, if an enemy is your level or stronger, you can use overworld combat to make a surprise attack and weaken them, giving you a significant advantage in the upcoming battle.
I love these improvements personais a struggle because it significantly reduces the time it takes to gain experience. It also causes struggle shocking as hell Because while you can ambush monsters, they can do the same to you. metaphorCombat stands out as surpassing its RPG cohort because it requires me to think more strategically. Arrogantly running through a dungeon or into boss fights while firing the biggest, highest-tier weapons isn't always the winning strategy, and it's also a good way to get killed.
My higher level party was frequently wiped out by an enemy I would otherwise wipe the floor with simply because they overwhelmed me. Conversely, with freshly unlocked level 1 archetypes, I was able to significantly defeat opponents eight and nine levels higher than me because their special abilities were uniquely suited to exploiting a weakness. metaphor is the only single player game that made me feel like a raid leader in an MMO Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft.
metaphor also feels good to the touch. The animations that play as you smoothly switch between different options in combat provide a kinetic energy that made me feel like I was playing an action game rather than a turn-based RPG. This experience is further enhanced by the super-slick, highly stylized menus killer Soundtrack – especially the main battle music. I don't know what this man is saying, but the way he says it has me hyped as hell.
But metaphor is more than just a stylish, dynamic RPG – it's also a rare fantasy story that tackles discrimination in a nuanced way.
In many fantasy novels, I am annoyed by the complacency of storytelling in using discrimination against fantasy races as an allegory for racism in the real world. Stories that express this idea tend to stick to the superficial level of “racism is bad” and demonstrate this with ugly, exaggerated depictions of violence (hey, Dragon Age), while ignoring the subtleties that make racism so abhorrent and pervasive. metaphor manages to include and address both aspects of this reality.
There's a moment when you're reading a fantasy book with a companion and they mention that it's not enough to achieve their goal of a world where everyone is treated equally. “Equal competition does not mean equality,” says Heismay. It's the first time I've seen a video game that acknowledges that simply stopping the big bad racist doesn't magically equalize countless generations of oppression. The game of class and wealth does the same thing. There's a character vying for the throne who basically wants to “eat up the rich” and redistribute their wealth at the head of a guillotine. But because of her extremely low status, she sees anyone with more than just a few coins to rub together as her ideological enemy. It's as if people in poverty turn on other people who live in slightly less poverty, while their real enemies are the wealthy people in power who exploit this hostility. It's great that the game expresses that.
There is an almost knee-jerk instinct to call Metaphor: ReFantazio “persona with swords.” The game has the characteristics of a Persona, giving it an air of familiarity, not to mention much of the same creative talent. But that characterization doesn't feel right. These familiar systems have been remixed to feel fresh while the game's message vibrates across the levels persona Games push against each other but never quite reach the goal.
The troubling thing about racism, classism, homophobia and the like is that in the real world there is a reluctance to acknowledge that it is not just the violence of individual actors that perpetuates this oppression, but also institutions and systems. We challenge and challenge these individual actors because it is much easier and faster than the difficult generational work required to dismantle racist systems and build equitable systems. Games with such a message do the same thing – they end with the decisive defeat of the villains. metaphor is one of the first times a high-profile game has acknowledged the real, much harder and less glamorous work of dismantling systems.
And in a time when you can't even call individual actors without going to hell and back, it's moving for a person of color to see that metaphor Take it a step further and say, “These systems must go too.” That’s what matters Metaphor: ReFantazio so powerful, resonant and in the truest sense of the word that has unfortunately been corrupted into meaninglessness, I fucking woke up.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is available now on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.