Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

I promise I am not here to turn Kotaku into a Ys fansite, even though I have a Word document on my desktop called “Roadmap To Turn Kotaku Into An Ys Fansite. Seriously though, for those who wished Metaphor was more about its real-time combat than turn based battles, I legitimately cannot think of a better recommendation than Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana.

The snappy sword strikes and emphasis on dodge rolling in Metaphor largely carry over to Ys VIII, albeit with some satisfying guard mechanics and special attacks to level up. Ys VIII also features a party of six playable characters, each of whom control differently just as Archetypes change your protagonist’s playstyle in Metaphor. Combine this with a large cast of NPCs to recruit and build relationships with, and you get a shockingly Metaphor-y experience despite not looking like one on the surface.

There are other Ys games that might interest you if this sounds appealing. In fact, Iwrote an entire article detailing how to best get into this series. Again, I’m not turning Kotaku into an Ys fansite, I’m just planning on it.