10 Things You Need to Know Before Playing Metaphor: ReFantazio

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a difficult and complex game, with gameplay systems layered on top of each other all interweaving. Mastering these systems can take time, even with experience from the demo, but learning how to break boss fights in half is part of the fun. That said, there are certain features and bonuses players may want to know about ahead of time in order to take full advantage of them during their playthrough.

Some of these tips may pertain to learning certain skills on certain characters or prioritizing one follower over another to get valuable abilities. Getting these advantages early on in the game can make the rest of the journey easier to manage, though players should rest easy in that completing every quest, leveling up every Royal Virtue, and maxing out every follower is very doable in the game’s allotted time— if a player does anything “wrong” it’s not hard to fix it.

10 Prioritize More’s Requests

Some Great Quality-of-Life Features are Hidden in His Ranks

More is the narrator of the story and the protagonist’s first follower. While many of the abilities that come from completing his quests, which rank him up, will boost the Seeker Archetype, a few abilities are more broadly useful. For example, More’s Magic Igniter will allow players to access the Archetype Tree from the menu, letting the party change inherited skills or learn new archetypes from anywhere. With More’s shade only appearing in certain locations, this is incredibly helpful.

Similarly, his Ability Forecast ability will show what abilities followers will gain at what rank within the follower menu. Using this, players can better plan out their days by seeking out some follower abilities over others. More’s quests aren’t particularly difficult either, and ranking up with him doesn’t take time, so while players may need to change up their playstyle occasionally to complete them, it’s very important to do them as soon as possible.

9 Cover Party Members’ Weaknesses

A Wide Variety Can Be More Useful Than Specializing

None of the first few characters to join the protagonist’s party begin particularly adept at magic, with Hulkenberg coming the closest. This can be an issue for players who also want the protagonist to be a physical powerhouse, as many enemies are only weak to certain magical elements. Despite this, it’s still wise to have everyone learn a bit of everything, especially magic and healing, as inheriting those types of skills can come in handy in a pinch.

This is most helpful in the early game, but later on, some more fragile characters may not quite cut it against a boss or two, necessitating swapping in party members with more endurance or evasion. For example, Heismay can make a great tank thanks to his naturally high evasion stat, so putting some healing skills on him can allow him to save the party if everyone else gets hit by a powerful attack. Players should keep an open mind for unorthodox combinations like this.

8 Don’t Allocate Stats Without a Purpose

The Protagonist is the Most Important Party Member

At the start of the game, the player will be asked a question which will determine the protagonist’s starting stats. For example, answering that the protagonist is light on his feet will put evasion at 7 and everything else at 5. Every other time they level up, the player can allocate a point to any stat they wish, though players should be careful as there is no way to respec the protagonist outside of starting the game over or going into new game plus.

Players should pick a build and stick with it, not spread their stat points around evenly. A good rule of thumb for beginners is to only put points into attack and magic, as keeping them high and relatively even with each other will let the protagonist comfortably fit any role in the party. He’s the only character who cannot be removed, so although the game won’t end if he dies in battle, it’s important to keep him useful at all times.

7 Don’t Rush to Max Out Royal Virtues

High Ranks Don’t Help Until Near the End of the Game

Persona players may want to max out the protagonist’s Royal Virtues as quickly as possible, but having them at high values early on isn’t useful in Metaphor. The Royal Virtues only serve to gate off some higher follower ranks, which only come up at appropriate times. So long as players don’t completely neglect them, they should easily be able to meet these requirements throughout the game. If a gate comes up, that is the time to start prioritizing a virtue.

Even so, sometimes the best virtue increases come from side quests. If a quest’s rewards include virtue points, it may be worth completing the quest rather than spending time just increasing the virtue, as players could kill two birds with one stone. Near the end of the game, a venue at night will unlock that gives the protagonist many points at once, making it much easier to max out stats after spending time with followers during the day.

6 Complete Side Quests Before the Main Story

The Game’s Level Curve is Designed Around This

Aside from a single exception, players should complete side quests and optional dungeons before attempting to tackle the main quest’s tasks in each area. The game is designed around this specific flow, as leveling up from optional content will put players on par with foes in the main story dungeon. Trying to tackle the story dungeon first will often put players at a big disadvantage, and then make side quests too easy if they push through.

The only exception to this is when on Virga Island because two very important things unlock after completing the dungeon: a new party member, and the ability to remove bad weather for three days. This is the only time in the game where completing a dungeon will immediately let a new character join the party, rather than having to wait for a certain date. A certain dungeon near Virga Island is also permanently in bad weather, which prevents extra actions after hitting an enemy’s weakness or a critical hit.

5 Take Time to Complete Dungeons

Most Cannot Be Completed in a Single Day

Once again, like Persona, many players will want to optimize their time and complete each main dungeon in a single day. While this may, theoretically, be possible, it would be incredibly frustrating. While side dungeons can and should be done in a single day, most major dungeons should take two to three days. One day to reach the halfway point, one day to reach the end, and a final day to fight the boss while at full strength.

The reason for this is that even normal battles expect players to go all out to win, at least on normal difficulty and above. This will greatly drain the party’s MP, and players simply won’t have enough characters to swap out until the final dungeons. Players may be able to stock up on MP restoring consumables or grind their magic back up using Thief skills, but that would be very expensive or take quite a long time, respectively.

4 Take a Dry Run on Most Bosses

Don’t Expect to Win on the First Try

Just about every boss in the game requires a sound strategy to counter its strengths and maybe exploit its weaknesses. With how customizable the party is in Metaphor, most players probably won’t be prepared for bosses on their first attempt, but that’s perfectly fine. These tougher encounters always have a save point or at least an auto-save just before encountering them, allowing players to reload after a failure and rethink their party composition.

Later on in the game, it may even take several attempts to defeat some bosses. If players just can’t seem to win no matter what they try, there’s always the tried and true method of grinding. Players should take note of a boss’ level and make sure at least the protagonist is on even ground with them. Even a difference of five levels can be big stat-wise, and grinding is made even easier thanks to the action combat, where enemies three levels below the protagonist die in a few hits.

3 Master Multiple Archetypes

It’s Worth It in the Long Run

Players can only allocate stat points for the protagonist, and even then he still gains a few random stats with each level up. However, there is a way to further customize party members and that’s by mastering Archetypes. When equipped, an Archetype will give bonuses to certain stats appropriate to their role in battle. These bonuses go away when unequipped, but mastering an Archetype will give the character permanent stat increases.

These increases can range from the normal options like endurance and luck to even raising maximum HP and MP. It is always worth it to master an archetype, especially if players diversify the roles available for their party members. At times, it may be more useful for a spellcaster to use a physical attack, and having that character gain a few bonus points in strength could be the thing that makes the difference between victory and defeat.

2 Don’t Forget About Items and Synthesis

Both Can Be Incredibly Handy

It’s the age-old RPG problem, saving consumable items for so long that they end up never being used. This is a bad mindset to fall into for many reasons, as items are as valuable a part of the game as any other. In particular, MP restoring items are a great resource and should be used whenever a character is low on MP, especially the protagonist. Similarly, healing or reviving with items means more MP the player has to use for the rest of the dungeon.

Synthesis skills are also easy to forget about but can turn the tide of battle if used properly. These skills require certain combinations of Archetypes and use the resources of two or more characters on top of consuming multiple turn icons. That makes them sound not worth using, but being able to end a normal encounter in a single action, such as with some of the Brawler Synthesis skills, is far preferable to dragging out a fight over multiple turns.

1 Specialize Party Members

Diversifying Only Works to a Point

While having multiple characters able to take on multiple roles in battle is very helpful early on in the game, Metaphor will expect players to eventually settle on one or two for each character. Spreading too thin may require grinding for Archetype experience to get a party member back on track with the rest of the party. At a certain point in the game, beginner skills from the base Archetypes just won’t cut it anymore, and players will have to master preceding Archetypes to acquire Adept and Elite skills.

Mastering an Archetype can take a while, and that may be time players just don’t have. So, play to each character’s strengths; Hulkenberg should be taking hits for the party with her high endurance, while Junah should be devastating the enemy with powerful spells. This is where diversifying early on comes into play, and players can find another role for party members to occupy while still understanding the main function of each character.