is this part of the overall Megami Tensei Universe?

[the little guy with Glasses]

I haven't had the time to buy Metaphor (although I'm finally trying out the demo)
the one thing I can't quite figure out however is that does this take place somewhere in the SMT Universe?

from what Iv'e seen the monsters/demons are completely new and usually I just count anything SMT due to monsters
even in the complicated between "mainline" and something like "Persona"

Clearly "unicorn overlord" is a different IP but Metaphor still shares a lot of gameplay from rest of SMT franchise and not to mention of course Shigenori Soejima art

[steven]

Having the same gameplay, same moves name, artists, devs or whatever doesn't mean you are in the same universe as Persona or SMT.
It's an entirely new IP linked to nothing, in a fantasy world, in 700-800 of the calendar.

ANSWER : NO

[Actuallynactual]

The setting is after humanity died so lore wise, probably not at all

[Outpost Omega 5]

No, this game is not part of the Persona universe. I've never played an SMT game, so I can't speak to that.

There are, however, a number of references to the Persona series, even including an "I am Thou" line, though blink and you miss it.

I'm about to be deliberately vague here to avoid spoilers. While there is nothing specific in the following, you may want still want to avoid reading it.

Part of the story follows a competition where you are tasked to do something, then present your results. During the second "show and tell" portion, there is an blatantly obvious, over the top, Persona 5 reference. Anybody who has played far enough into Persona 5 to be able to recognize the reference but fails to do so, well, you need to get the Phantom Thieves to straighten out you cognitive abilities. There is clearly something wrong with them. Obviously, if you have never played Persona 5, or have not played far enough into it, you can be excused for not noticing the reference.

[the little guy with Glasses]

"I've never played an SMT game, so I can't speak to that."

technically speaking P5 is indeed of the SMT Franchise
Persona in itself is a spinoff of the mainline titles.

[lexia88]

To put it shortly: No, it's not. You can play the game even if you know nothing about SMT or Persona.

It's the same for any Persona or SMT game. You can start wherever you want, all of these games have their own stories and set of characters with mostly easter eggs or references between them. But you won't miss anything if you play them in whatever order. It's a bit like Final Fantasy and Bravely Default. Both have shared elements but are completely independed from each other.

The only game(s) that are mentioned to have a minor connection to Metaphor are probabaly the Etrian Odyssey series. I never played any of these games, but the name immediaetly came to my mind once I've reached a certain point in the story.

[Woldy]

Not the same universe. gameplay is very similar though.

This however has got to be one of the wakiest and most unique Worlds i have ever encountered in a videogame or movie. every creature i come across i catch myself saying "what the hell is that". The devs must have been on 27 diffrent types of Drugs to come up with some of these designs because its straight out of a fever dream, its so bizaree and interresting.

[Kalypso]

Not necessarily, but would be weird for this game to be like the first game not in the multiverse of Megami Tensei.... In all honesty, it likely fits in the Raidou or Persona timelines. Raidou timeline ends with Persona 2 Innocent Sin where the Persona timeline (2: Eternal Punishment,3,4,5) is created. Yes it's an entire multiverse with multiple complicated branching timelines, but none of them directly connect to another and you don't need to play any of the other games to enjoy this one. Even something like Catherine is in the Persona timeline, so it would be really weird if Metaphor wasn't since it has mechanics from If, Devil Summoner, and Persona. Raidou and Persona timeline games.