Persona veteran's new JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio attempts to bridge real-time and turn-based combat in a move Final Fantasy has tried to make work for years, and it's out in October

Metaphor: ReFantazio will launch later this year on October 11, and it's pivoting between real-time and turn-based combat in a pretty fascinating way.

At a brand new showcase dedicated to the upcoming JRPG, Atlus and developer Studio Zero unveiled the release date for Metaphor: ReFantazio and the new trailer just below, dubbed 'The King's Trial.' The trailer provides a basic overview of the fight for Metaphor: ReFantazio's grand kingdom, its turn-based battles, and characters both accompanying and fighting against the player character.

After the trailer, Metaphor director Katsura Hashino delved deeper into the JRPG. Persona fans will feel at home knowing Shoji Meguro, long-time Persona composer, is returning for Metaphor, but Hashino reveals the new game has thrust Meguro out of his comfort zone and into a new direction for Metaphor's soundtrack, which sounds intriguing.

Another interesting aspect is the switch between turn-based and real-time combat. If the player encounters a low-level enemy, they can vanquish them easily in real-time combat, and if there's a higher-level enemy strolling around, the player can deal damage to them in real-time before the turn-based battle kicks in. In terms of dungeons, there are more dungeons in Metaphor than any other Atlus game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio might look like an open-world JRPG, but it's actually split into plenty of large zones, not unlike Final Fantasy 16. Players can instantly fast travel between said zones, and Hashino also revealed that the main hub area changes as Metaphor progresses and the player advances through the huge JRPG. There are small-scale towns like Martira and huge cities like the Royal Capital to contend with.

The player character unlocks skills through 'Archetypes,' and you'll unlock more Archetypes as you recruit new followers to your cause. Every single party member can take up a new Archetype - you could even have every party member as the same Archetype.

Finally, you can undertake cooking, reading, bathing, and washing in your own time, with or without your party members. This sounds pretty similar to Persona's bond-type systems of how you could hang out with certain characters to get to know them better. For a complete replay of the full showcase from Hashino and Atlus, check out the video below.

You can also read up on our new games 2024 guide for a look at all the other titles launching throughout the rest of the year.