Metaphor: ReFantasio borrows a lot from Person series, including its social simulation elements. Developed by Atlus, a company long responsible for Shin Megami Tensei series and his Person spin-offs, Metaphor wears her inspiration on her sleeve. He carries over the concept of awakening and summoning Personas (here called Archetypes), blending it with the classical concept. SMT Press the Turn system to create strategic battles. It even reuses spell names and other concepts from Person series, including, perhaps most importantly, a social linking system.
Person games (because Persona 3) were more than your average turn-based RPG: part dungeon crawler, part dating sim. Using a calendar system, the player is free to decide how to spend their days and nights: studying, spending time with loved ones (called social connections or confidants), or exploring deadly dungeons. Ideally, they want to find a balance between all three, since increasing the protagonist’s personality level allows him to deepen his relationships, and deepening his relationships makes him stronger in battle. Metaphor relies on all these mechanics, but his approach to romance is completely different.
Not exactly, but there is something similar
Metaphor: ReFantasio has no romantic options in the sense that the typical Person the game does, but it has a system inspired by Social Link. called bonds. Bonds work much the same way as social links. Person: Players can spend time with a specific character, watch a scene, and evaluate their relationship by choosing the right dialogue options. Each Connection is associated with a specific Archetype and is named after it (Metaphorequivalent to Personas), and as the player increases their connection level, they unlock new abilities for that Archetype. Each bond has eight levels.
Connected
New bonds are usually unlocked naturally as the player progresses through the story. Some of them also level up automatically at crucial points in the story, but for the most part players must be willing to spend time with their followers to improve their relationships.. This can make it difficult to max out all bonds in one playthrough, but it is still possible with careful planning.
However, none of the Bonds ever became romanticeven when they are pumped to the maximum. The main character will form close partnerships, even close friendships, with his followers and other NPCs, but will never be able to date them. However, there is a very good reason for this.
Not friends, but allies
Relationships in Metaphor have a different nature than those in Person. Bonds are more like political alliances than personal relationships.; the protagonist recruits supporters who will support his eventual bid for the throne. In this regard, leveling up the Bond is more of an attempt to impress NPCs by demonstrating the virtues of a natural leader and attempting to understand their own viewpoints and ideology. Although this sometimes provokes personal revelations and other intimate moments, they never develop into a full-fledged romance.
To this end, Social characteristics of the main character from Person were converted into royal virtues. These are the qualities that an ideal ruler should exhibit: courage, wisdom, tolerance, eloquence and imagination. Personcan be increased by completing certain game tasks. Sometimes he will need to reach a certain level of a certain Virtue in order to increase the level of the Bond – for example, he may need high eloquence to impress a skilled speaker.
So, bye Metaphorthe approach to bonds is very similar to PersonThe approach to social links, the relationships they generate, are completely different. Metaphor: ReFantasio There may be no romance, but the alliances players form with their supporters are much more thematically appropriate.