Metaphor: ReFantazio

Play it on: PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, PC
Current goal: Finish??

I recently reached a turning point in my time with Metaphor ReFantazio where I spent a night crying my eyes out because I simply loved the characters so much. If you’ve beaten the game, you likely know the sequence that prompted the waterworks. I’ve spread out my time with Metaphor—whereas everyone I know dove in headfirst—and I think the approach has weirdly altered my thinking on the game. Surely, if I loved it like they all loved it, I should’ve felt compelled to sprint to the game’s ending as quickly as possible, right? Because I didn’t feel compelled to do that, I’ve kept thinking to myself, “I like Metaphor just fine.”

But every time I come back to it after some time away, it’s so hard to put down. I am transfixed by so many of its qualities. I simply adore every person I’ve met along my 70-hour journey so far. I admire how much more precise and difficult the combat can be in this game versus that of a Persona title. I love taking trips on the runner to dungeons and stopping to take in the majestic sights of some otherworldly landmark, only for Neuras to decide to draw it. I love the fleeting sense of hope that this game gives me in the face of political tumult that threatens the very way we live. I’m having a great time, and I know I’m barreling to the conclusion of this epic journey, so this weekend, I may just buckle down and go full-throttle until it’s done and dusted. I’ll be sad for it to be over, but that’s how I’ll know how much this adventure meant to me. —Moises Taveras