Suikoden

Konami’s cult classic Suikoden series hits several notes that Metaphor does, even if they don’t look terribly similar on the surface. Suikoden is steeped in political themes, involves collecting a following of 107 Stars of Destiny, and features classic turn-based combat. It was honestly hard to think of non-Atlus turn-based RPGs that have the same feeling as Metaphor, and the fact that I had to refer back to a franchise that hasn’t had a new mainline game since 2006 is a testament to that fact.

I’d put Suikoden higher up on this list under normal circumstances, but getting any of these PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games nowadays is a bit of a tough sell. A remaster of the first two games is slated to arrive on March 6, 2025 on PC and modern consoles, so keep your eyes peeled for them! Note that these Suikoden remasters have been delayed a shocking amount of times (they were originally slated for 2023!), so let’s hope this release date sticks.