Metaphor ReFantazio plays like Persona and Shin Megami Tensei’s greatest hits – and that’s a good thing when it’s a compilation of absolute bangers

Back in 2002, Iron Maiden released one of their now numerous ‘greatest hits’ albums, Edward the Great. Kicking off with Run to the Hills and ending with the iconic Rock in Rio version of Fear of the Dark, the album was my first taste of Maiden’s extensive back catalogue. It was hypnotic to me, delicious, heady, over-the-top, camp. Believe it or not, I got the exact same feeling from Atlus’ upcoming RPG, Metaphor ReFantazio, when I played it at Gamescom Latam this week. Let me explain.

If you’re not familiar with Atlus’ recent output, the Japanese developer excels at making proper RPGs, and I feel it helps to liken them to music genres. The most recent release, Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance, is like metalcore – edgy and angry and loud – and feels like a proper hardcore PS2 game (complimentary). The Pesona games – with a remake of its moody, emo third entry hitting shelves earlier this year – are a bit poppier than their parent series. The pop punk to MegaTen’s metal edge.

So what does that make Metaphor ReFantazio, the peculiar new IP from Atlus and Sega due to launch later this year? Probably prog rock, to be honest. But hey, hear me out – prog is good now! The way it samples all the best bits of the other genres, groovy bass lines and chugging riffs and clean and harsh vocals melding together to bring you something that sounds kinda familiar… but is wholly its own beast.