This game...

[Calandir]

So I'm close to 4th dungeon. And I wanted to say this...

The writing in this game is one of the best I've seen. And I'm quite weird about it. The companions and overall story, with heavy focus on fantasy and metaphor, showcasing our own plight in fantasy and vice versa. I love it. It just speaks to me on personal level.

I'm big fan of Atlus and Fromsoftware. To this day, SOTE or Black Myth was my game of the year. But playing this... it really changes my mind, to want This game to win GOTY. We will see how it will go further and ends, but so far I love it. It's amazing.

I'm a bit puzzled because a lot of people said this game is for fans of SMT series, yet I don't see anything resembling those games. It's more like Persona.

Anyone has similar or different thoughts?

[Tiasmoon]

Originally posted by Sharkofspace:

I've played Persona 3 FES (Haven't played Reload), 4 Golden, 5, and 5 royal, and loved all of them, but I absolutely hate everything about Metaphor.

I don't understand how everyone seems to universally agree that this game is a perfect masterpiece when it just feels like Persona but significantly worse in every way. What am I missing?

Originally posted by Sharkofspace:

I just feel like there's a key part of Metaphor that I'm somehow missing. The story is nothing, the combat feels broken, the time management feels impossible because they only give you ten days to do way too much stuff, and the characters are just empty archetype slots with no personality.

Personally I was gripped by the story early on despite in recent times having (health related) issues immersing myself in story. If the story doesnt grip you, you'll have to explain why it doesnt, otherwise its hard to understand why you your not attached to it at all.

The combat is.. well, fairly similar to Persona but also a bit newish. Im enjoying it.
I guess its not for everyone, but its not like its radically different from Persona either.

You played P3 FES, 4G and 5R. Every single one of those had much worse time management. And that is despite the improvements they got in those upgraded versions of the base games. Yes, you only have 10 days. However:

-There are fewer 's-links'
-They are available much more often instead of on only a couple of days in the week
-In my experience you dont have to grind affection points for any of them
-You can level every single stat at every time of the day, up to twice per day
-There is basically zero filler in the game and almost no wasted days. No exams, no vacation.
-You can level stats and sometimes party 's-links' even during journeys.
-You can get exp in easy optional dungeons and not just in the main story dungeon.

And you dont have to exactly complete the game in those 10 days. You will get more deadlines, and much more time.

If you played all those Persona games you should be having a very easy time with this game's time management as in comparison you barely have to plan anything as most activities are available almost all of the time.

[DivineLion]

Originally posted by Tiasmoon:

Originally posted by Sharkofspace:

I've played Persona 3 FES (Haven't played Reload), 4 Golden, 5, and 5 royal, and loved all of them, but I absolutely hate everything about Metaphor.

I don't understand how everyone seems to universally agree that this game is a perfect masterpiece when it just feels like Persona but significantly worse in every way. What am I missing?

Originally posted by Sharkofspace:

I just feel like there's a key part of Metaphor that I'm somehow missing. The story is nothing, the combat feels broken, the time management feels impossible because they only give you ten days to do way too much stuff, and the characters are just empty archetype slots with no personality.

Personally I was gripped by the story early on despite in recent times having (health related) issues immersing myself in story. If the story doesnt grip you, you'll have to explain why it doesnt, otherwise its hard to understand why you your not attached to it at all.

The combat is.. well, fairly similar to Persona but also a bit newish. Im enjoying it.
I guess its not for everyone, but its not like its radically different from Persona either.

You played P3 FES, 4G and 5R. Every single one of those had much worse time management. And that is despite the improvements they got in those upgraded versions of the base games. Yes, you only have 10 days. However:

-There are fewer 's-links'
-They are available much more often instead of on only a couple of days in the week
-In my experience you dont have to grind affection points for any of them
-You can level every single stat at every time of the day, up to twice per day
-There is basically zero filler in the game and almost no wasted days. No exams, no vacation.
-You can level stats and sometimes party 's-links' even during journeys.
-You can get exp in easy optional dungeons and not just in the main story dungeon.

And you dont have to exactly complete the game in those 10 days. You will get more deadlines, and much more time.

If you played all those Persona games you should be having a very easy time with this game's time management as in comparison you barely have to plan anything as most activities are available almost all of the time.

combat is very similar to SMT rather than persona

[Calandir]

Originally posted by iPwnU2:

Originally posted by Ethram:

So I'm close to 4th dungeon. And I wanted to say this...

The writing in this game is one of the best I've seen. And I'm quite weird about it. The companions and overall story, with heavy focus on fantasy and metaphor, showcasing our own plight in fantasy and vice versa. I love it. It just speaks to me on personal level.

I'm big fan of Atlus and Fromsoftware. To this day, SOTE or Black Myth was my game of the year. But playing this... it really changes my mind, to want This game to win GOTY. We will see how it will go further and ends, but so far I love it. It's amazing.

I'm a bit puzzled because a lot of people said this game is for fans of SMT series, yet I don't see anything resembling those games. It's more like Persona.

Anyone has similar or different thoughts?

ahahaha compare this with wukong ? :))))) BWAHAHAHA imgine comparing a game with under 5% player base of wukong on steam alone .....bro you must be high on fentanyl or something :)))))))))) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA or saying its better than SOTE ... bruh slap yourselp back to reality

So I assume Fortnite should win everything because of it's numbers. Since for you, Number of Players = Quality of the game.

Brainrot is strong with you it seems, And yeah metaphor is way better than Wukong.

[NeverLucky]

game is definitely a for the smt fans

the game uses
SMT DDS class skill inheritance system in the form of archtypes, and yes that includes the heavy mag grind
SMT3/4/5 Press Turn action economy for its battles
SMT Persona 3/4/5 for its life sim out of dungeon activities
It has refrences to soul hackers and devil summoners as archtypes
Devil summoning simulates race fusions to learn new skills
Masked Dancer simulates tarot summoning from persona

the only thing thats missing is skill cracking or tactics from smt devil survivor or first person dungeon crawling from older smt titles

it even shows love to the Etrian Odyssey series with a whole town dedicated to it

[Gosen]

I am opposite. I think the writing is one of the worst I have seen in Atlus game. Completely uninteresting world, uninspiring lore and generic characters don't help.

There's nowhere near GOTY. Graphic stinks PS3/PS4 era, there's hardly any gameplay. Yesterday 2h before sleep I wanted to play and whole 2 hours all I had were cutscenes and dialogues.

[Calandir]

Originally posted by Gosen:

I am opposite. I think the writing is one of the worst I have seen in Atlus game. Completely uninteresting world, uninspiring lore and generic characters don't help.

There's nowhere near GOTY. Graphic stinks PS3/PS4 era, there's hardly any gameplay. Yesterday 2h before sleep I wanted to play and whole 2 hours all I had were cutscenes and dialogues.

Well you're free to feel that way. I still stand that this game is my personal goty. Finished 4th dungeon, and it's only getting better so far.

[REBirthTheEdge]

It's honestly reminding me a lot of Grandia 2 for the adventure and dark town secret settings.

[REBirthTheEdge]

Originally posted by NeverLucky:

game is definitely a for the smt fans

the game uses
SMT DDS class skill inheritance system in the form of archtypes, and yes that includes the heavy mag grind
SMT3/4/5 Press Turn action economy for its battles
SMT Persona 3/4/5 for its life sim out of dungeon activities
It has refrences to soul hackers and devil summoners as archtypes
Devil summoning simulates race fusions to learn new skills
Masked Dancer simulates tarot summoning from persona

the only thing thats missing is skill cracking or tactics from smt devil survivor or first person dungeon crawling from older smt titles

it even shows love to the Etrian Odyssey series with a whole town dedicated to it

Honestly, we need a Mantra board from DDS.

[Comatose Dolphin]

Originally posted by Ethram:

Originally posted by Gosen:

I am opposite. I think the writing is one of the worst I have seen in Atlus game. Completely uninteresting world, uninspiring lore and generic characters don't help.

There's nowhere near GOTY. Graphic stinks PS3/PS4 era, there's hardly any gameplay. Yesterday 2h before sleep I wanted to play and whole 2 hours all I had were cutscenes and dialogues.

Well you're free to feel that way. I still stand that this game is my personal goty. Finished 4th dungeon, and it's only getting better so far.

A shame, this game will probably be viewed as a masterpiece down the line with most of these people’s frontal lobe kicks in or something. Or when big youtuber says “its actually based” they will dance to a different tune. For what its worth, the game is pretty damn unique despite the goofy stuff and flaws, and its a shame we might not get another ReFantazio for years by triple A anyways.

Now please enjoy Fortnite 2, the newest Monster Hunter, some game bundled with Chinese anti cheats, and the next $300 dollar Ubisoft and rockstar game.

[REBirthTheEdge]

Originally posted by 96,360 HOUR GOON SESH:

Originally posted by Ethram:

Well you're free to feel that way. I still stand that this game is my personal goty. Finished 4th dungeon, and it's only getting better so far.

A shame, this game will probably be viewed as a masterpiece down the line with most of these people’s frontal lobe kicks in or something. Or when big youtuber says “its actually based” they will dance to a different tune. For what its worth, the game is pretty damn unique despite the goofy stuff and flaws, and its a shame we might not get another ReFantazio for years by triple A anyways.

Now please enjoy Fortnite 2, the newest Monster Hunter, some game bundled with Chinese anti cheats, and the next $300 dollar Ubisoft and rockstar game.

Just like DDS back in the days! But this one sells over 1 million already and likely already made back the production cost.

[Comatose Dolphin]

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Originally posted by 96,360 HOUR GOON SESH:

A shame, this game will probably be viewed as a masterpiece down the line with most of these people’s frontal lobe kicks in or something. Or when big youtuber says “its actually based” they will dance to a different tune. For what its worth, the game is pretty damn unique despite the goofy stuff and flaws, and its a shame we might not get another ReFantazio for years by triple A anyways.

Now please enjoy Fortnite 2, the newest Monster Hunter, some game bundled with Chinese anti cheats, and the next $300 dollar Ubisoft and rockstar game.

Just like DDS back in the days! But this one sells over 1 million already and likely already made back the production cost.

Uhhh I am not so sure on that. The game has been in development or pre-production for a long time. Project Re Fantasy started shortly before the release of OG P5 back in 2016/2017. This doesnt include marketing costs and the possibility the game was pretty much done in 2021 with QA testing being done since then.

If anything Im willing to bet Atlus will say it under performed their expectations and you will see Persona Q ports or more Persona spin offs. With Etrian Odyssey Origins and plenty of other ports just barely managing to chug their series above the 1 million mark (of all time sales so since it originally released) or no sellin’ at all i’d say it sucks for Atlus and Atlus vets in the long run. When it boils down to it, Persona is clearly performing like 10x better than mainline SMT and their other IPs

[Maximizer]

You haven't experienced the writing of true masterpieces like last years' Slay the Princess or this year's Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

[Comatose Dolphin]

Originally posted by Maximizer:

You haven't experienced the writing of true masterpieces like last years' Slay the Princess or this year's Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

You havent played a real game til you played Princess Maker 2

[archonsod]

Originally posted by 96,360 HOUR GOON SESH:

Project Re Fantasy started shortly before the release of OG P5 back in 2016/2017. This doesnt include marketing costs and the possibility the game was pretty much done in 2021 with QA testing being done since then.

Game started conceptual development in 2016. It's not quite the same as actually being in development; ideas cost nothing. IIRC they hit some delays from coof, but it wasn't until 2021/2 they progressed beyond the prototype/concept stage.

If anything Im willing to bet Atlus will say it under performed their expectations

They've already announced it surpassed their expectations, along with it being both their fastest selling game ever and having the most concurrent players at almost 1 million.
Persona wise there's the gacha game coming out soon (though not directly Atlus developed) and the expectation is they're releasing P6 next year.

Persona is clearly performing like 10x better than mainline SMT and their other IPs

Not exactly. P5 took two months to pass the 1 million sales mark. P3R took a week. Metaphor managed it on day 1 (SMT:V took five months, though did see record sales on launch in the US for the franchise). Persona likely does more for them in terms of license/merchandise sales, but in terms of game performance if we ignore SMT:V as a blip pretty much every game they've launched has done better than the previous one irrespective of the franchise.

[Comatose Dolphin]

Originally posted by archonsod:

Originally posted by 96,360 HOUR GOON SESH:

Project Re Fantasy started shortly before the release of OG P5 back in 2016/2017. This doesnt include marketing costs and the possibility the game was pretty much done in 2021 with QA testing being done since then.

Game started conceptual development in 2016. It's not quite the same as actually being in development; ideas cost nothing. IIRC they hit some delays from coof, but it wasn't until 2021/2 they progressed beyond the prototype/concept stage.

If anything Im willing to bet Atlus will say it under performed their expectations

They've already announced it surpassed their expectations, along with it being both their fastest selling game ever and having the most concurrent players at almost 1 million.
Persona wise there's the gacha game coming out soon (though not directly Atlus developed) and the expectation is they're releasing P6 next year.

Persona is clearly performing like 10x better than mainline SMT and their other IPs

Not exactly. P5 took two months to pass the 1 million sales mark. P3R took a week. Metaphor managed it on day 1 (SMT:V took five months, though did see record sales on launch in the US for the franchise). Persona likely does more for them in terms of license/merchandise sales, but in terms of game performance if we ignore SMT:V as a blip pretty much every game they've launched has done better than the previous one irrespective of the franchise.

Both P3R and P5R performed better than most. P5 among all copies is still 15 million+ global sales. Unfortunately when it comes to current rhetoric people will be even less likely to buy Metaphor, so while it performs well currently that doesnt take in account of its fall off. Nothing in your statement suggests that its pre production didnt cost anything, like sure they didnt need to onboard more staff at the time nor pay the priest, the choirs or anything else quite yet. Even if it covers developments costs there are still a lot more costs it has to cover from the resource usage over the years from then and the post production and marketing stuff.

SMTV combined its sales among both copies so 1.5 million is between both SMTV (2021) and Vengeance. Vengeance itself did not sale 1.5 million, it sold about 500k in the first month or so. Nocturne with the HD release basically barely even hit 1 mill in like 2021 among all versions of Nocturne. Etrian Odyssey HD Origins and Soul Hackers 2 were probably blunders and it hardly takes into the count of the mediocre performance of the mainline series. You can still say theyre mildly successful, but thats not what investors see if they dont break even.

Thats probably why Sega is trying for annual releases on the big titles among their subsidiaries. Atlus is relatively transparent somewhat about sales, and most of these can be looked into, but with quite a bit of companies seeing remasters/ports not performing well theyll probably eventually pull out from it