In a post-Baldur's Gate 3 world, was Metaphor: ReFantazio right to ditch romance?

Between Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Baldur's Gate 3, romancing party members is a big deal in so many RPGs nowadays. Atlus is no stranger to love: the studios' games have featured chaste romance in the past, with no journey through high school feeling complete without some thoughts of awkward romance and confessions.

With Metaphor: ReFantazio being set in a much grimmer fantasy world, many were curious as to whether this element would receive a bit of an overhaul. After all, as Final Fantasy 16 took a similar turn to chase a Game Of Thrones vibe. Was this Atlus striking out with a similar aim? Yet, it turned out that while building relationships was vital to powering up your spectral archetypes in the class system, Metaphor: ReFantazio featured no romanceable characters at all.

Is that a missed opportunity? Why would Atlus take so much from their earlier work but not this? Or does it allow the RPG to explore new ground without it? Catherine Lewis, who wrote our Metaphor: Refantazio review, and James Daly, who cut together the video version, place their hands together to forge a bond while discussing just that.

Love letter

James Daly: The fact of the matter is, we live in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 world. When you look at Baldur's Gate 3, and you go further back to the Dragon Age games and Skyrim, it's always been a part of these incredibly hostile worlds that you can take comfort in the arms of a companion.

So for it to not be in Metaphor: ReFantazio... I don't think I'm really missing it, to be honest with you. Don't get me wrong, Brigitta is the most wonderful character in the game to me, and 100% I love the idea of a scene like that. But you kind of get these emotional moments anyway. You're not really missing anything. I said in my piece that it's not a dealbreaker, and I saw a comment online that was like "actually it is." And I thought, you know what? Maybe it is a bigger deal than I'm giving it credit for. Maybe romance in games is more important than I took it to be.

Catherine Lewis: I mean, I really like romance elements in games. As you say, you still have nice moments with those characters. I would argue, without spoiling anything, some lines actually do feel somewhat flirty, a bit more than friends, with some of them.

James: In one case I helped someone out, and then he went, “Oh, I can't ask him to stay anyway, can I?” And I was like: “Hello! What's going on here?”

Catherine: There are things like that. I think the thing is, as well – I'm kind of sidetracking myself – but ultimately, when you play Persona, you're living your life, and then this thing comes along and it drags you into it and then it's "oh, okay, I guess I'm a Phantom Thief now."

With Metaphor, it's more you have a mission, and the whole purpose of the game is you fulfilling that mission. And so I kind of get it in the sense that the protagonist doesn't have time for that. It's not his focus, you know? He's got his goals in mind. He's doing everything he can to make them happen, even against all odds. It kind of makes sense to me that it's like, okay, maybe now is not the best time to tell Strohl he's a beautiful boy.

James: He's a great character. Can I make a suggestion as to why I think they cut it? It's a very grim game. At times, very dark. But it's also very honest. There are depictions of violence that are pretty serious. Don't get me wrong, some are subtly shaded out, or there's someone stood in front of the sword that swings down or whatever.

But some heavy stuff happens, and it feels like you're meant to feel everything. You're meant to feel every bit of violence, every bit of subjugation, every bit of discrimination. It's all happening to you. I think that's probably why they didn't put romance in it, because they would have had to go down the route of the games I mentioned, of Dragon Age, and of Baldur's Gate 3, where you see that stuff happen, and Atlus aren't going to do that. I think they literally were like, 'We can't offer a satisfying romance in a world where you see everything else for real'.

Catherine: Yeah, and I think that it does feel like a more mature game in many ways as well, for those reasons. So it's like you say – though, I mean, maybe they could have held hands a little? I wouldn't have been upset at that. That would have been quite nice.

James: Like when characters put their head on your shoulder at Christmas in Persona 5. That's enough! You get the idea that these two are in love just from that.

Catherine: Yeah, I don't think that it feels lacking. It's not something that I pointed out in the review as "oh, I wish it had this!" Because I think it doesn't need it. I think that it explores character relationships in a meaningful way. It puts focus on some of the intricacies and complex parts of those characters. It shows that you don't have to delve into that in a romantic way. I think that's nice.

And also it's like, with Persona 5, there's the social link with Ann, and the option if you want to keep that platonic – it's horrible! I'm kind of glad you don't have to deal with that, because you're ultimately just making good friends and companions, so you don't need to turn around to someone and say, "I'm not going to support you, but some other guy will."

James: For anyone who doesn't know, Ann is experiencing first-hand trauma, and you can choose to put your arms around her and give her a hug, as I would do to any friend of mine. (Within reason... there's some friends that I actually probably don't care enough about.)

But with most friends I'd be all, "Come here, I got you, buddy. I love you so much. You're my bro, etc." But if you do that, that's the romance option. And the other option is just, "ah, sucks to be you." That's pretty much it. You just stand there and go, "Yeah, well, one day it might be all right."

Rejecting Mitsuru is a harsh one too. In Persona 3 Reload when you're on the roof at a school, she's like, "You know what? I love you." But because I was only dating Yukari in the game, which is the canon relationship to me, I was only able to say, "Thanks, pal." And I like the stakes it added. But to be fair, maybe I'm thinking of it wrong. Maybe Metaphor is boldly making a statement of the power of platonic love. Maybe it's just saying it's not all about romance. It's actually just about real, 100% camaraderie that anybody can have.

Catherine: That's a nice way to look at it. Real power of friendship stuff!

Want to explore more Atlus RPGs? Check out our list of the best Persona games! Or our best RPG games for even more options on what to play next.