Honestly I feel a lot like you. I'm still a newcomer to JRPGS, I've only played Persona 3/4/5 and Yakuza: Like A Dragon, but even not having that many games to compare it to, Metaphor doesn't seem relatable to me. It doesn't convey the feeling of grand, epic journey it seems to pursue. Most places and characters lack a lot of personality, story stops until you complete dungeons and feels so "objective-centered" in a way. Like characters don't really reflect on what's happening rather they just react by creating a new plan, exchanging lines that seem pretty interchangeable too. And I never felt that way while playing Persona, especially 4 and 5. Characters are always intertwined with what's happening in the story and they always get affected by it. In Metaphor that just doesn't seem to be the case, none of them really change much or have enough time to be developed. Heismay is the only one I find relatable, the rest just have momentary quirks to give you the impression they have more personality than what they actually have or just say the most bland, interchangable lines. Even social links are kind of meh, none of the stories have really moved or made me feel like there was a lot of thinking into them. In general, Metaphor seems like that kind of 7, maybe 7'5/10 experience that's so because it didn't risk much. I'm disappointed with it, to be honest. I really think they should've gone all the way and done something completely different to Persona. Time restriction, just to give an example, seems pretty forced in this one. Like they just did it because that's the type of pacing people's expecting from them.
Thanks for the long, thoughtful comment! I grew up playing Final Fantasy and with that and a few other JRPGs so they were a big part of my childhood. What made them stand out were the characters. Like you said in Persona 4, I never felt the way I’ve felt in this one either. Everything feels so disconnected. The social links don’t quite land as much as they did in Persona 4. I don’t know if you caught it but I said I love Heismay so totally with you there too! I thought I’d like Strohl but after a bit I’ve seen that archetype in too many games. The proud noble who cares for his people, maybe to a fault. I do think it gets better after Heismay. I’d say 7.5 for me right now too! Great point referencing the time mechanic. It does feel forced in rather than organically like in Majora’s Mask or the Persona games. It just all doesn’t quite work. I appreciate hearing your thoughts! Cool to see we connected on some points! Especially because the majority seem to downright love it.
Honestly I feel a lot like you. I'm still a newcomer to JRPGS, I've only played Persona 3/4/5 and Yakuza: Like A Dragon, but even not having that many games to compare it to, Metaphor doesn't seem relatable to me. It doesn't convey the feeling of grand, epic journey it seems to pursue. Most places and characters lack a lot of personality, story stops until you complete dungeons and feels so "objective-centered" in a way. Like characters don't really reflect on what's happening rather they just react by creating a new plan, exchanging lines that seem pretty interchangeable too. And I never felt that way while playing Persona, especially 4 and 5. Characters are always intertwined with what's happening in the story and they always get affected by it. In Metaphor that just doesn't seem to be the case, none of them really change much or have enough time to be developed. Heismay is the only one I find relatable, the rest just have momentary quirks to give you the impression they have more personality than what they actually have or just say the most bland, interchangable lines. Even social links are kind of meh, none of the stories have really moved or made me feel like there was a lot of thinking into them.
In general, Metaphor seems like that kind of 7, maybe 7'5/10 experience that's so because it didn't risk much. I'm disappointed with it, to be honest. I really think they should've gone all the way and done something completely different to Persona. Time restriction, just to give an example, seems pretty forced in this one. Like they just did it because that's the type of pacing people's expecting from them.
Thanks for the long, thoughtful comment! I grew up playing Final Fantasy and with that and a few other JRPGs so they were a big part of my childhood. What made them stand out were the characters.
Like you said in Persona 4, I never felt the way I’ve felt in this one either. Everything feels so disconnected. The social links don’t quite land as much as they did in Persona 4.
I don’t know if you caught it but I said I love Heismay so totally with you there too! I thought I’d like Strohl but after a bit I’ve seen that archetype in too many games. The proud noble who cares for his people, maybe to a fault. I do think it gets better after Heismay.
I’d say 7.5 for me right now too! Great point referencing the time mechanic. It does feel forced in rather than organically like in Majora’s Mask or the Persona games. It just all doesn’t quite work.
I appreciate hearing your thoughts! Cool to see we connected on some points! Especially because the majority seem to downright love it.
I'd say about 20-30 hours in it captures my attention and heart more.... What are your thoughts? Thank you for watching! Like and subscribe!