(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)
Metaphor: ReFantazio initially featured a challenging battle system reminiscent of the tough-as-nails 2003 JRPG Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne. However, after considering player feedback, Atlus chose to ease it back.
During this year’s Game Developers Conference, lead battle planner Kenichi Goto, a key architect of Atlus’s combat systems since Shin Megami Tensei 3, revealed that the initial battle plan borrowed from that game’s style of unpredictably deciding battle order, regardless of who initiated combat.
Typically, initiating a fight in a JRPG allows you the first attack. However, Shin Megami Tensei 3 introduced a random factor that occasionally overturned this expectation. Metaphor: ReFantazio mirrored this with a 30% chance for the enemy to strike first, despite not initiating the battle. Similarly, players had the chance to strike first when ambushed.
Despite this innovation, playtesting revealed that players found this randomness to be “irrational,” “punishing,” and “just not fun.” Atlus eventually pivoted to a system more grounded in logic to benefit the gaming experience.
Even though I’m an advocate for more contemporary games from Atlus, starting with 2011’s Catherine, I’ve never tried Shin Megami Tensei 3. Hearing about this battle-system quirk is frustrating, and I applaud Atlus for sparing Metaphor: ReFantazio players this critical approach.
The game aimed to remedy the common JRPG issue of grinding, yet at one point, Atlus inadvertently disrupted the entire combat system. Thankfully, by refining their strategy, Metaphor: ReFantazio is bound to deliver a more logical battle experience.