The demo is a scam, but in a good way. The demo walls off the entire amazing portion of the game. Imagine if a SMT 4 demo walled off right at the Minotaur fight and that is basically what you're missing. Mechanics after mechanics and fun after fun. It also makes Persona 4's 4 hour tutorial seem like a joke, because ReFantazio doesn't actually start 'til about 10 hours in and oh boy is it hype.

If you are curious to buy it or not, allow me to give you some info since I have finished it, do not go in expecting in-depth open world JRPG. Instead it is important to know that this game is at foremost a Story telling game. The game itself is trying to provide a Fantasy story with a rather significant message about it with rather mature themes. If you played the mainline Megaten games before SMT V you would be no stranger to this. If you are unfamiliar with the series but familiar with Final Fantasy, imagine FF5 with FF6's story telling, that is to say some classes are locked until late game, by the time it reaches the end you're probably in tears and almost done with the game.

When it comes to explaining the 'vibe' of the story it has the magic of old children's stories or some fantasy Ghibli movies while mixing in rather abrasively harsh plots. That is to say it has beautiful and emotionally invigorating great happy moments while also having absolutely tragic parts hence the ff6 parallel which is often considered an incredibly depressing Final Fantasy. While SMT games especially like Strange Journey and 4 in their own respect are dark, the reason why I am comparing it to ff6 is because the cast of ReFantazio is easy to get attached to just like in that game. Overall, I understand why Yoko Taro (director of Nier/Drakengard) is unable to provide a clear and concise answer on "How is ReFantazio?" ReFantazio is one an emotional rollercoaster its difficult to put into words and two its like seeing reality through a looking-glass. I won't elaborate beyond that but needless to say it still has odd anime moments and corny stuff, but so did many other emotional JRPG stories. Absolutely love it. Below I run through mechanics and not elaborate much since my demo review already explains it indepth.


The gameplay consists of various elements from a variety of RPGs, I drop a small box to not elaborate on it. It really is just something you really have to experience yourself.



Absolutely beautiful and while the OST is not nearly as long as I would like it to be it serves it's purpose in the OST whether generic dungeon number 4 or important scene. It is a shame some songs appear like once or twice, but they serve their purpose there. I think the reason why some parts hit so hard is because of how great the music is. Shoji Meguro and the other Atlus composers are no stranger of being able to invoking feelings and tension with Music, look no further than Digital Devil Saga, Strange Journey, and Nocturne, I widely consider his part on these some of his best work. This soundtrack, Shoji Meguro along with other composers with Atlus did absolutely amazing.


There are most certainly valid criticisms to be made about the game. But most of these can be slightly(?) justified, once again you can could probably state "This game doesn't feel like a game". These criticisms probably spring up from the fact the content loop is very basic, in a very streamlined fashion it boils down to "go to area, story, finish story, do quests, do social thing, repeat" while have some generic designs for the 'side dungeons' or Jpeg city number 5. Some complaints can be coughed to be an error of Persona's core gameplay loop, and realistically as previously mentioned first and foremost the game appears to be mainly a storytelling game with a ton of magical elements. In other words, don't expect grind or large exploration like Monster Hunter, Elder Scrolls, or FF12. The game's progression feels much more like a poetic fantasy story like Ghibli or some other children's story along with the basic Persona content loop (Story, Story, dungeon, story). So yeah, sadly the dungeons might not be in depth and there may not be side villages that are not Jpeg files, and by the time everything is unlocked the game is basically ending, but overall it is satisfactory if you're going in for a story jrpg and not just a 'big gameplay jrpg'.


Overall, I waited like 7 years for this game, and overall I would say I am definitely satisfied with the end product. I have felt so much emotions and was conflicted time and again. There are personal complaints and I see the reason to other's complaints. But while experiencing it was honestly very refreshing to have something so unique and feel the magic of sorts. Let alone the twists that came along with it, had pleasantly surprised me quite a lot. I had a buddy asked if there should be a sequel, and personally I think no. Even though, world lore wise, technically there are sequels and may hint at the direction that series is taking considering it's core mechanic is tied to DS and 3DS and can be considered dated. Atlus tends to create direct sequels or remakes and a lot of the time it undermines the entire game or misses everything that made it good. This was also probably my last 'new' Atlus purchase. I am kinda done with Atlus with their actions in recent years and made a personal promise to only purchase older titles if ported, and I will try to hold this firmly having supported them for like nearly 2 decades it feels theyre outta touch and hate their fans. But I am pleasantly satisfied with my 'final' purchase of their newer titles. Heres to hoping their other great older titles get ported soon. Definitely recommend ReFantazio and recommend to just play it and finish it.