Atlus confirmed all the way back in 2017 that it had started development on new fantasy RPG, referred to as Project Re Fantasy at the time. Developed by the newly established Studio Zero – which is led by the creative leads of Persona 3, 4, and 5 in director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro – it was formally unveiled earlier this month as Metaphor: ReFantazio, and given the talent behind it, it’s no surprise that the game has attracted plenty of attention.
In fact, it’s not just fans who have high expectations from the game. The makes of Metaphor: ReFantazio are also expecting it to become an important property for Atlus. In a recent interview uploaded by Atlus, director Katsura Hashino said that the fantasy RPG’s development team is hoping that the game will become a “third pillar” for Atlus alongside Persona and Shin Megami Tensei.
“Following the worldwide success of Persona 5, I think many people think of either Shin Megami Tensei or Persona when they think of the two largest RPG franchises by Atlus,” he said (transcription via Gematsu). “With this game, we wanted to build a third pillar for the studio, by crafting a large-scale, epic fantasy RPG, something we’ve never done before.”
During the interview, Hashino also spoke about Metaphor: ReFantazio’s fantasy setting, and how it makes use of modern aesthetics, in spite of having started out as much more conventional medieval fantasy setting. Meanwhile, new details have also emerged on the game’s story and its world. Read more on that through here.
Metaphor: ReFantazio launches in 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PC. According to Hashino, the game is currently in the polishing stages of development.