This is one of the easier reviews to write: My opinion on Metaphor: ReFantazio has only really grown with time. The new Switch 2 release is the third time I’ve played it now, and while it might never unseat my beloved Persona 4 as the finest thing I think Atlus has done, I do consider this game to be a valuable piece of art. All I really needed to test with this release is how it runs on the Switch 2, and then link to my original review, which really does say everything that I wanted to with regard to the game.
Metaphor builds on the established formula of the Persona series, while taking place in a setting that can only be described as “unique”. The game has a lot to say, and works on many levels of both political and philosophical thought. Chances are you won’t love or necessarily agree with all of it, but overall I’d say the game’s messages are in the right place, and more than anything else this game seems to want to inspire players to think (and perhaps even engage in conversations) about what they experience. Like the best good art does.
In the end, across the 80-odd-hour runtime (yes, that’s if you’re moving fairly quickly, too), you’ll deal with power structures, prejudices, class warfare and all the rest of it. And then on top of that you’ve got some of the best dungeon-crawling and turn-based action combat that the extended “Shin Megami Tensei” brand has produced, with the best and most significant enemy designs modelled after the art of Hieronymus Bosch, which in itself opens up another can of worms and themes to think your way through, given Bosch’s relationship with religion, heaven, hell, and humanity.
But anyway, the Switch 2 port of the game doesn’t add anything to the base game (and doesn’t need to), but also doesn’t really compromise any of it. There’s a small drop in fidelity, particularly with regard to some of the backgrounds, some of the texturing, and some pop-in; you’ve got to be really looking for issues there to spot them, much less complain about them.
A somewhat bigger issue is that the Switch 2’s screen is a lot smaller than the screens the game was developed for, and while there are far worse examples, the interface does look a little busy when playing in handheld.
On the other hand, this is a full-scope JRPG that comes dangerously close to being 100 hours without feeling like it could be consolidated down in any way, and it’s playable on the go. I do think that we sometimes forget to consider that it wasn’t that long ago that the compromises that it took to get games onto handheld consoles meant that such devices didn’t really work as the primary gaming device for most people. Yeah, the Switch 2 might not have the power of the PlayStation 5, but it’s to look at something like this running on it and think to yourself, “you know what? Close enough.”
I do have a theory that, while Metaphor: ReFantazio was already a critical and commercial success, its star is only going to continue to rise. The game is just too intelligent, too entertaining, too beautiful and too poignant to not continue to generate conversations, analysis and inspiration in the years ahead. It is, put simply, really good art. And now it’s on the Switch 2.
