Hannan Mundia 
Atlus’ newest JRPG is Metaphor: ReFantazio and many fans may wonder if it follows the same turn-based formula the studio is known for.
JRPGs have seen a drastic increase in popularity particularly in the West, in large part thanks to Atlus’ Persona series. Atlus is known primarily for the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei game series, so interest was instantly piqued when the studio announced Metaphor: ReFantazio. The game borrows heavily from both series, but stands as an original IP.
Fans are eating up Metaphor: ReFantazio. This was shown with the game soaring past 1 million units sold on its first day. However, while Metaphor does multiple things different from the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games, those who haven’t grabbed a copy may wonder if Metaphor: ReFantazio is turn-based, given some of the major changes to the combat.
Is Metaphor: ReFantazio turn-based?
Metaphor: ReFantazio primarily has turn-based combat, but adds light action combat to give a hybrid gameplay experience.
Players come across various regular enemies when in the field. Here, players can attack them using the attack button or initiate a proper turn-based battle. If players can stagger the opponent in the field, they can initiate a turn-based battle. The battle will begin with the enemies stunned and a chunk of their health already depleted. If players attack a low-level enemy in the field, they can kill them outright for EXP and item rewards.
However, real-time action combat isn’t always doable for players thanks to some factors.
Firstly, attacking an enemy in the field who isn’t much weaker than the player’s party will force the player to initiate a squad battle. Sneak attacks and getting hit by the enemy in the field can result in the heroes instead starting at a disadvantage.
Additionally, every mandatory encounter, particularly boss battles, takes place in a turn-based form. Though there are some more action-oriented elements, Metaphor: ReFantazio is still definitively a turn-based game.
When can you instantly kill enemies in Metaphor: ReFantazio?
Only enemies who appear blue when using Fae Sight can be instantly killed using field turn-based combat.
Using Fae Sight in the field highlights enemies with one of three colors:
- Blue means the enemy is significantly weaker than the player
- Yellow means the enemy is around the same level as the player
- Red means the enemy is much stronger than the player
The gap between the player and the enemy’s level determines the highlighted color. Fae Sight will highlight an enemy blue if the player is at least three levels higher than them. The protagonist’s level is the only one considered. Therefore, the level of every other party member is irrelevant in this case.
Additionally, using Fae Sight may sometimes show a question mark next to an enemy’s level. This happens when encountering a new enemy, and simply initiating a regular squad battle and registering the enemy in Metaphor: ReFantazio’s version of the codex will be enough to see their level the next time the player encounters them.
