A fantasy Persona game - that's the back of a napkin pitch for Metaphor: ReFantazio , the upcoming Atlus RPG that blends the key mechanics from the Persona games with a novel fantasy setting. But Metaphor marries this with an expanded scope, situating its lengthy story campaign within a semi-open world game structure. That could spell trouble for Atlus, who haven't necessarily been known for technical prowess over recent years - and it's fair to say that for all of the brilliance in the game design, Metaphor: ReFantazio has some profound technical issues at odds with the relative modesty of the visuals.
I think it's best to start with what Metaphor: ReFantazio does well, because its visual presentation can be striking at times. In signature Atlus fashion, its UI design is an absolute highlight. Menus combine carefully illustrated 2D character art with bold splashes of paint texture, and iconography that recalls the Renaissance era of human scientific exploration.
This is best appreciated in the game's main menu, which highlights shifting paintings of the main character sandwiched between background and foreground paint splash elements, which are used to highlight text. The main font is an Industrial Revolution era serif typeface, that emphasises visual contrast between thick and thin lines. Text is intersected with ragged straight and circular sketch marks that suggest a kind of older scientific or engineering illustration.
Plus, the game has a small obsession with clocks and.
