Metaphor: ReFantazio is finally out, and it’s been touted by many as the best RPG this year. It might even go so far as winning Game of the Year with impressive review scores.
This is no surprise, as Metaphor: ReFantazio was developed by the same people behind Personas 3, 4, and 5. It is a 100+ hour adventure packed with memorable moments, strong characters, and a story that will spark numerous conversations in the future.
Saving the Kingdom of Euchronia is tough, but here are our early-game tips to make the most of your hero’s journey:
Take Your Time
If there’s one thing we can take away from the Persona titles, it’s the importance of time management. And with a story about racing through time, it’s hard not to feel pressured by the weight of responsibility.
Metaphor is pretty much like Persona. Our daily activities aren't unlimited. Every major thing we do takes up a fraction of our calendar time.
Prioritizing the best activity that works well for you is a good strategy. Planning is essential to make the most out of our adventures. Talking to your followers and building your social stats will advance time, but free-roaming across cities and dungeon exploration does not.
There's No Wrong Way To Talk to Followers
The quest to gather followers and win a Kingdom-wide election is no easy task.
That’s why forging relationships and making friends is what Metaphor is all about. Just like in every Shonen, friendship is power.
Don’t worry about picking the wrong answer when talking to your followers. It doesn’t matter if you choose the snarkier dialogue option; the relationship grows either way. This isn’t like the Persona games, where we have to see how many musical notes appear out of their heads.
Picking a favorable answer grants your stats bonus MAG, though, so being a good person still counts.
Half of the game is pretty much like a visual novel adventure, so there’s a lot of text to read. Persona and Shin Megami Tensei fans are no strangers to this.
Grab All Side-Quests Before Heading into the Gauntlet Runner
Preparation is vital when it comes to Metaphor. Traveling across the Kingdom is a long and arduous task. This is why we have the Gauntlet Runner, our massive moving hulk capable of traversing great distances.
Before heading out to the next major story location, it’s best to grab all the side quests available. The party will pass by other villages and dungeons along the way, so this is two birds with one stone.
Free roaming doesn’t advance time, so we can freely explore cities and villages and talk to NPCs.
Finish Main Dungeons ASAP
Remember in Persona 5, where we have to finish a Palace before something bad happens? That’s the same thing in Metaphor. The return of the Calendar system means that time is against us.
Dealing with main dungeons is a bigger issue, though. These story-heavy locations pose a greater challenge, but they’re not as difficult compared to the secret optional dungeons.
Finishing them as early as possible will open your schedule tenfold. That means your 20-day deadline now turns into 20 days of free time where you can do whatever you want. This gives you more time to explore other dungeons, complete side-quests, develop your Virtues, and talk to followers.
Develop your Virtues
Social Stats make a return in Metaphor. In Persona, you start as the bumbling student slowly developing his social skills. In Metaphor, you cultivate your Royal Virtues. Each of the five Royal Virtues can aid you in your quest. For example, the Wisdom virtue lets you access more information and unlock new dialogue options.
You can’t progress further with a follower’s relationship without advancing specific virtues. This is where your time management skills kick in. If you have extra time, reading books at the Gauntlet Runner helps.
Reading is a hassle-free way to develop your virtues instead of completing quests or spending time with allies. You might miss important character moments if you keep reading, though.
Fae Sight is Your Best Friend
When it comes to combat, Fae Sight is an essential mechanic that you can use infinitely. This lets Gallica scan the overworld and identify which points of interest you should go to.
It also acts as an Enemy Scanner, especially when you’re in trickier dungeons. Using Fae Sight can assess whether the enemy is more powerful than you or not. Red means dangerous, Yellow is average, and Blue is weak (easily beatable).
Conserve MP
Another essential tip for combat is conserving MP. Metaphor’s dungeons are long trials that continue to deplete our resources if we’re not smart enough to conserve. You wouldn’t want to be stuck in a dungeon boss with zero MP, right?
MP is a limited resource, so it’s best not to use it all on a regular enemy. There are various MP restoration items to be found on our travels, but these are also limited, so saving them for boss fights is ideal.
The ‘Magic Recovery’ skill from the Mage class is an important ability. This lets us exploit MP regeneration by killing or stunning enemies in the overworld. Every enemy killed or stunned will restore little MP so we can farm it as much as possible. Assuming there are still enemies left.
If the odds are overwhelming and your MP is fully depleted, leaving the dungeon and ending the day will recover both HP and MP.
Sell Gold Beetles and Sellable Items
Our final tip (for now) is to sell all the junk we have in our inventory. After every successful dungeon run, random items will be found in our journey. Selling them to the nearest NPC will net us a handful of Reeves, Metaphor’s in-game currency.
Gold Beetles are also sought out in Metaphor. If you ever find one in your adventures, keep it for now to sell for powerful rewards later.
There are still many things to cover in Metaphor: ReFantazaio, but these are the basic tips to kickstart your journey. The best Archetypes, fun builds, and secrets can be found in our future guides.
Metaphor: ReFantazio arrives this Friday, and players can’t wait to visit this massive fantasy kingdom.
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