Metaphor: ReFantazio Just 5 months away, there was surprisingly little information to gather about Atlus' medieval fantasy RPG. Thankfully, the developers have released detailed information about some mechanisms and dungeons that we can expect in the game, and are really looking for it to be a modern persona with a truly aesthetically archaic vibe.

We were involved in some of this information during the Xbox showcase a few weeks ago, but a recent press release, along with a brand new screenshot, more

Of course, it's not entirely like a persona, but it certainly is a bread and butter Atlas game. Instead of fighting with demons and personas in which I can't be happy, metaphor: Refantasio transforms the protagonist into various archetypes. Atlas describes them as "heroic images that exist in your mind," with different archetypes serving different purposes. 

You have your Jack-of-all-trades in the form of a seeker archetype that includes magic, healing and attack buff. Classic roles like Mage, Knight and Thief are also available to take the form of protag. These archetypes can extend to parties as well, and Atlus promises that there are plenty of strategies in understanding what you need to equip yourself and your team before they roll out into the dungeon. 

While some, such as Warrior, appear to be better at single-target combat, others perform astoundingly in large groups of weak enemies. The screenshot of the Warrior Archetype shows that it is "skilled in physical slash attacks with swords" and boasts "powerful single-target damage.""The weakness system still exists here, and various archetypes exploit the weaknesses of enemy elements and have the ability to be weak on their own elements. 

Incorporating these archetypes into combat can be done in 2 different ways: Fast or squad. The former is a quick real—time combat system designed to easily defeat weak enemies, while the latter is a traditional Atlas combat Fae Sight ability that I know and love allows you to see how strong your enemies are in relation to your level - if they are highlighted in green, you can use fast combat to mop up quickly. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. If they are yellow or red, jumping into squad combat will be the best way to tackle the enemy.

One of my favorite turn-based RPG elements is now ReFantazio: Frontline and backline rows as well.1 There's no word on how it works yet — perhaps it's just a damage-in/damage-out change or it could affect the abilities available to party members. I kind of think it's a bit of both, and since Atlus promises that "the difficulty of the fight is deliberately made to be high," I feel like it's going to be a perfect extra layer of strategy.

Outside of the more mechanical deets, there are also some glimpses of the bustling city Royal Capital Grand Trad along with some new Su old castle town small towns like Martila that Atlus gives us a peek at what appears to be the interior of a grand castle for some of the dungeons. Since ReFantazio holds a classic persona calendar, figuring out how to properly squeeze time out of every place on a daily basis is definitely a game machine

and I'm tremendously excited to see more medieval fantasy spins in the modern persona formula. I'm a huge lover of the series, but I'm also a lover of big shiny swords and cool castles, it makes a metaphor: ReFantazio almost guaranteed that I adore, especially as I get older, the high school taste of the persona becomes less relevant and throwing myself into full fantasy seems like the perfect option. It's a good idea.