History VideoGame / MetaphorReFantazio

* ArtImitatesArt: Most of the '[[HumanoidAbomination Human]]' enemies are heavily based on the various surreal creatures and demons in Creator/HieronymusBosch paintings.
* BaseOnWheels: The "gauntler runners", ground vehicles of the setting, look like wooden ships that have huge mechanical legs, that allow them to run across vast distances. The PlayerHeadquarters is one such ship.

** This is also the first Atlus game that features a hybrid combat system that features action combat as well as the turn-based combat the company is more known for.
** While the Follower system is very similiar to the Social Links of the ''Persona'' series, it has already been confirmed that you will '''not''' be able to use it to romance Followers, unlike Social Links. However, if there is a pre-determined romance, romantic choices that are ''not'' associated with the gameplay system and are part of the story (similiar to ''VideoGame/Persona2'') or if there will just be no romance at all, however, is still up in the air.

* FantasticRacism: Some tribes in the United Kingdom face this from other tribes due to either their overall appearance or because of religious beliefs. The Protagonist for example is a member of the Elda Tribe, who the state religion decries as heretics for supposedly possessing some sort of forbidden power.

** Another much odder version is that to the people of the world of ''Metaphor'', 'Human' seems to be their equivalent of 'Monster' - but not just in a pejorative sense, as in the various monsters of the game are ''called'' humans, hence the 'Homo' prefix in the majority of their names.

* JobSystem: All playable characters can switch Archetypes, which represent classic RPG/JRPG classes like Warrior, Knight, Healer, Thief, Gambler etc. to gain their power, and each Archetype has a skill tree that can gradually be unlocked. On top of that, changing Archetypes also changes the types of armor and weapons a character can equip, which also changes their moveset in the action portion of the game.

* OurElvesAreDifferent: The "elves" of this game are known as the Roussainte and Rhoag Tribes; both have pointed ears, but the Roussaintes have the traditional elongated ears and boast impressive physical capabilities while the Rhoag have shorter ears, are long-lived and are akin to scholars who pass down their knowledge to future generations.

* ShoutOut: The [[OurElvesAreDifferent Roussainte Tribe]] are a clear reference to the Elvaan of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', from the horizontally pointed ears, to the french-sounding name of the tribe itself (the main city of the Elvaan was the faux-French city-state of San D'Oria), a disposition to being knights and warriors and having remarkable physical strength, which are rather unusual traits for elf-like races that both the Roussainte and the Elvaan share.

* BreakingOldTrends: A meta variant. Prior titles of Atlus were either set in a post-apocalyptic setting of some kind or dealing with the immediate aftermath of one, or in the case of the ''Persona'' series, a group of high school students combatting supernatural forces. As the trailer shows, ''Metaphor: [=ReFantazio=]'' is a rare game by Atlus to be set in a HighFantasy setting[[note]]It's technically the first ''pure'' HighFantasy as Atlus' other HighFantasy series ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' [[spoiler:is technically a post-apocalyptic game, given that the Fifth Stratum of the Etrian dungeon is the ruined remains of Shibuya]][[/note]].

* JobSystem: All playable characters can switch Archetypes, which represent classic RPG/JRPG classes like Warrior, Knight, Healer, Thief, Gambler etc. to gain their power, and each Archetype has a skill tree that can gradually be unlocked.

* {{Irony}}: According to promotional materials in the December 2023 Famitsu magazine, our world is described as a "utopia" where there is only a single tribe living in an otherwise peaceful world. This could not be further from the truth about modern Earth between ongoing political crises, commercial failures, racism, and foreign disputes over things like religion and territory;

''Metaphor: [=ReFantazio=]'' is a 2024 fantasy {{JRPG}} and the debut title from Studio Zero, a development team made up of former ''{{Franchise/Persona}}'' team members including director Katsura Hashino. The game will be published by {{Creator/Atlus}} for PC, Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS, Platform/PlayStation5, and Platform/PlayStation4 in Fall 2024.

'''Previews:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4vOxUIsRs&ab_channel=atlustube PROJECT ReFANTASY Trailer #1]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5pMeiGh5PQ&ab_channel=GameSpotTrailers PROJECT ReFANTASY Trailer #2]], [[https://youtu.be/VoZA6YA7YYQ Announcement Teaser]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4bGNzXnKak&ab_channel=OfficialATLUSWest The Royal Tournament]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmMOcmhEX1A&ab_channel=OfficialATLUSWest Creator's Voice]]

* CoolAirship: There are shots in the announcement trailer of the Player Character traveling in a wooden ship--unlike other examples in fantasy, however, these ships, called 'gauntler runners', have giant metallic legs that allow them to run across vast distances instead of any ability to fly.

* HornedHumanoid: A humanoid race in this world is one of otherwise regular-looking people with ivory horns that point curve forward. One of the party members shown in the trailers, Strahl, is part of such race.

* OurMonstersAreWeird: A good chunk of monsters shown in the announcement trailer look like surreal nightmaresc straight out of a Creator/HieronymusBosch painting, like walking teeth with holes that form faces, but the grand prize goes to a monster shown in both the trailer and screenshots on the official website: Greatworm Homo Butera, which looks like a giant, FlowerMouth worm with human teeth, with a grotesque, gigantic, four-eyed human face with an extremely long tongue that ends in a flower...with an eye in the middle of the flower for good measure. The oddest part? Said creatures are called ''humans'' by the inhabitants of this world.

Time is finite before my soul departs this benighted world… There shall come a reckoning—a Day of the Hero. Upon that October day, whosoever hath truly earned the greatest faith of the citizenry… shall ascend to throne and crown by right of kings. The voice of the king, who all know to be dead, suddenly echoes in the sky. Upon the event of his death, he had arranged for a grand magic to allow all citizens to compete for the throne through his final, royal tournament. The people are cast into turmoil over this unprecedented event, unable to fathom a world where the people decide the next king. Amidst this chaos, the protagonist decides that in order to fulfill his mission, he must participate in the race.

Royal Magic that ignites a tournament for the throne…

More than ten years have passed since the assassination of the prince, heir to the throne of the United Kingdom of Euchronia.

And now with the king having succumbed to a fatal attack, the kingdom is in turmoil with no heir to set its course. Who will be the next king? Will it be the head of the state religion, the Sanctist Church? A lord of a neighboring principality, or perhaps the leader of the military?

As expectations rise among influential figures with their eyes on the throne, a “spell” is cast during the king’s funeral that no one could have predicted.

Time is finite before my soul departs this benighted world…

There shall come a reckoning—a Day of the Hero. Upon that October day, whosoever hath truly earned the greatest faith of the citizenry… shall ascend to throne and crown by right of kings.

The voice of the king, who all know to be dead, suddenly echoes in the sky. Upon the event of his death, he had arranged for a grand magic to allow all citizens to compete for the throne through his final, royal tournament.

The people are cast into turmoil over this unprecedented event, unable to fathom a world where the people decide the next king. Amidst this chaos, the protagonist decides that in order to fulfill his mission, he must participate in the race.

* KingmakerScenario: In the announcement teaser, it's mentioned that the king and his son are both dead, the former having died in his sleep and the populace talking about "his highness"' death. The start of the teaser is implied to take place after the fact, and has an unknown man tell the public that whoever earns the favor and faith of the citizenry will "ascend the throne". The Royal Tournament trailer expands on this by revealing that all would-be rulers are participating in a tournament to prove themselves worthy of the throne.

''Metaphor: [=ReFantazio=]'' is a 2024 fantasy {{JRPG}} and the debut title from Studio Zero, a development team made up of former ''{{Franchise/Persona}}'' team members including director Katsura Hashino. The game will be published by {{Creator/Atlus}} for PC, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 in Fall 2024.