Metaphor: ReFantazio leads thought it would be shorter than Persona 5 but just kept adding content, so now we're matching the fan-favorite JRPG's 100-hour runtime
A (welcome) war on my free time it is, then
There's good news for those seeking bang for their buck and bad news for those light on time, as Metaphor: ReFantazio director Katsura Hashino confirms that the upcoming JRPG is just as long as Persona 5.
Speaking to the Spanish website Vandal about the size of the game, Hashino says that Persona 5 was a "very bulky game" and that Metaphor: ReFantazio will be able to match that regarding its length.
So, how long are we talking here? According to How Long To Beat, Persona 5 takes over 97 hours to beat when sticking to the story and 172 hours if you're going for a completionist run. Naturally, a standard run with a few more side quests comes between those two times, depending on how much you're doing.
Regarding Metaphor, Hashino says there's plenty of content beyond the credits to give you a reason to return to Eucronia. While the team thought Metaphor would be shorter than Persona 5, Atlus added so many extra goodies that the two are about the same.
Don't fret, though. Hashino also says the team has done its best to create a well-paced game and has added action elements to the turn-based gameplay to help with just that. You'll also get just as many anime-like cutscenes in Metaphor as you did Persona, as keeping that volume equal to Persona 5 is another goal of the team.
As someone who takes ages to complete a game, Hashino's comments make me sweat a bit, though at least I won't have to buy anything else for a while. Metaphor: ReFantazio releases on October 11 in any case, so we don't have long to find out.
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Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.