Metaphor: ReFantazio omits romance for an "experience unlike any you have had" in previous Atlus games.
Atlus has been pretty forthright in Metaphor: ReFantazio going in a hugely different direction than the Persona series and throwing out romance entirely. It's partly because Metaphor: ReFantazio isn't a game about flirty teenagers, and so romance being omitted is "part of the realism of the setting." The new JRPG still has a traditional 'bond' system though, and director Katsura Hashino has elaborated on it in the video below.
"Interacting with characters of all ages, tribes, and values, and from different perspectives, will give you a new experience unlike any you have had in previous titles," Hashino proclaims in the video below, around the 15 minutes mark. This comes off the back of explaining how you can bond with allies like the bounty hunter Catherina (the one with pink rabbit ears) to form a "unique relationship."
Hashino also talks up another ally called Alonzo. This silver-tongued young man has the protagonist undertake a certain quest, and gives them the run-around a fair bit with mischevious words and deeds, but in the end, if you can level up your bond with Alonzo enough, you'll unlock the Faker Archetype. This can be used as a "trump card" in battle to tackle difficult enemies.
So it sounds like although there aren't romance possibilities near the conclusion of bond stories with your allies, you're in for scenes of a different type, such as unlocking powerful Archetypes. Admittedly, this does sound a lot like how allies' Personas would transform into more powerful variants once you'd maxed out their Social Link level in the Persona games, so I'm intrigued to see what the final game holds.
Read up on our Metaphor: ReFantazio preview for our hands-on take with the new Atlus JRPG.
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