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I had a good feeling! Celebrating 40 Years and 108 JRPGs of Destiny

I kept up with Deltarune as the episodes were released until last year, when I tapped out on episode 3 because a minigame in it was hurting my hand. I'll have to go back to it some time and either find a more comfortable way to play or just accept a bad score in that minigame. (It was the one where Susie is Godzilla, which involved pressing/holding one of the right shoulder buttons a lot) The first two episodes were great.
 
I played the first chapter and have watched Lumber play the rest, something about the Deltarune characters didn't click with me as much with Undertale. But I feel I'm in the minority so since Deltarune showed up first I'm now wondering if Undertale will show up at all, huh.
 
Violentvixen said:
I played the first chapter and have watched Lumber play the rest, something about the Deltarune characters didn't click with me as much with Undertale. But I feel I'm in the minority so since Deltarune showed up first I'm now wondering if Undertale will show up at all, huh.
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I would be pretty shocked if it didn't.
 
I'm halfway through Chapter 3 and haven't had time lately to get back to it. I like Deltarune, but there's no secret that it lives in the shadow of Undertale and I don't know how to engage it separately from that work. Or if I'm even supposed to! As I'm sure will come up when it appears on the list, the meta levels are off the charts in a way that perfectly fits THAT game. My problem is, do I play Deltarune like a Player Who Has Played Undertale? I keep waiting for shoes to drop, and Toby Fox throws sandals and flip-flops and crocs. Do I play normally, or with the knowledge that Toby knows that I know that he knows that I know he's going to break the 4th wall as a core mechanic?
 
Once an artist has a Defining Work it is very hard for them to ever escape its shadow. It's also very hard for fans of that artist to evaluate any subsequent work on its own merits. So I don't blame you for struggling to separate Deltarune but a lot of the time someone makes the perfect thing and then they spend the rest of their lives just making good things and that's okay.
 
Issun said:
Once an artist has a Defining Work it is very hard for them to ever escape its shadow. It's also very hard for fans of that artist to evaluate any subsequent work on its own merits. So I don't blame you for struggling to separate Deltarune but a lot of the time someone makes the perfect thing and then they spend the rest of their lives just making good things and that's okay.
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This is also probably even more significant when that Defining Work happens so early in their career. If you haven't seen them make something that's merely good beforehand, easy to fall into the idea that everything afterward is going to be amazing, and then you get disappointed when that doesn't happen.
 
It's really not that I see Deltarune as "lesser" or trying to live up to or surpass Undertale. I think Deltarune is an even better game in some ways. It's just that the unique twist of Undertale, something I suppose would be huge spoilers if you're not familiar with it, affects the way I play Deltarune because I expect something similar to happen, and Deltarune keeps dancing right up to it but swerving away at the last second. And given the meta level that Toby Fox interacts with his fans at, it's entirely possible this is a completely intended reaction.
 
Meditate on the lessons of "The Stanley Parable."

And then, trust me when I say with absolute certainty and veracity that the twist you anticipate will not happen. I have seen the future.

And at any rate it's not like there's a prize for guessing right or a punishment for being surprised.
 
I don't be the Big Twist that Toby has in mind will be Undertale Again. Despite everything, he's not a complete hack.
 
He certainly enjoys teasing that he will Do An Undertale and then not actually Do An Undertale.

To discuss the actual game and not my own neuroses, I think Deltarune is a great deconstruction of 16-bit JRPG mechanics in the same way Undertale perfectly deconstructed 8-bit. And the music, my God...
 
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72. Metaphor: ReFantazio
Studio Zero, 2024: PS4/5/X/PC Points: 229 Votes: 5​

Here's another title I have absolutely zero experience with. As I understand it, it's Persona without the SMT trappings and high school setting but still retaining the calendar-focused approach, social link mechanics, and excessive over the top style. Oh, and Hieronymus Bosch is there. But that's all I got. I don't even know what metaphor Metaphor is a metaphor for! But it says something that such a new game ranked so well. It does appear to be dripping with quality and I'm looking forward to experiencing it.

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The Vibe I got from 45 minutes of Microsoft-Smorgasbord is that it's Persona-but-the-stakes-are-hereditary-monarchy and other big themes of what-is-the-power-of-fiction? Which-... Like- I like the style, but I grew uncomfortable to the point where I basically said "If I'm going to watch a Japanese media property fumble a liberation message, I think I'd rather play FF14's Samurai Job Quests."
 
I have it but haven't started it yet. The peril of new games! I've heard mostly good stuff about it though (hence why I grabbed it in the first place).
 
I fell off of it but I was pleasantly surprised with what I played. I'm generally down on "anime" games; they need to have a certain tone (and more natural voice acting) for me to get into them, and I dug what I played here. I was less sold on the abundance of side quests: I haven't been a more-side-quests-devour-everything-this-has-to-offer kind of person for a good 25 years now, and I suspect that critical pathing this game doesn't do it justice. So I decided to set it aside for when I'm in a more receptive mood for the kind of thing this is.

I did enjoy the monster and boss designs. Right in my wheelhouse.
 
I was impressed by how much meat was on the bone for Metaphor, it's a JRPG that keeps on going, but crucially, it actually has more substantial story and character-work to deliver all the way to the end. It sticks in my mind as Atlas' most interesting game in a long while.
 
I fucking LOVED Metaphor. I had written it off after being disappointed by the lack of character writing growth and maturity I heard about Persona 5, and decided to give it a chance after all the reviews and several people I trust gave it a pass on the things I was concerned on, and it turned into a top 25 game of all time for me (#21 if you're curious). I love the cast, the art style, the menu design, the writing, the narrative, the combat engine, the music, the contrasts it makes with modern society, how it handles magic, and so much more. It's a game so exquisitely crafted for me personally. My choice for Atlus' best game ever, and my fourth favorite RPG of all time.
 
I wanna play this game someday, but I feel like I'd have to quit my job to do so lol. If these Atlus games like this or the Personas could whittle the gameplay experience from 100hrs+ down to the 50 range, I'd be all over them.
 
After missing the apparently much better versions of Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V, I've been waiting for the enhanced rerelease of Metaphor. I do want to play it, though.
 
Metaphor has such a cool look and feel. I liked what I played of it before I got run over by other video games.
 
Mothra said:
It sticks in my mind as Atlas' most interesting game in a long while.
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I hadn't thought about this until now but totally agree.

I had this at #19 and this was my note
I remember a review of this game describing it as "the game where no one was allowed to say no to the art department" and that's very true
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Anyway Hulkenberg is a damned amazing character. Interesting story/personal arc, and also some extremely funny lines. She's so awesome.

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I also screenshotted this, because honestly "You've survived dumber things than this, good luck" is what about 90% of JRPG followers could say to the protagonist in any game at any time.

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I was really taken with a lot of the characters in Metaphor, Hulkenberg probably being the overall MVP, but Gallica also being a delight. It's one of those games where there isn't a bad one in the bunch.

To compare it to Persona 5, I found that game underwhelming in how people in P5 don't reeeeeeeally have much interesting to say, but in Metaphor, they believe in things, they want things, they are curious about the world and they take action. That makes it so much more interesting when you are not the only agent of action in a world like this.
 
I'll play it eventually given its reputation, although the name is annoyingly stupid. I do not know how or why you would want to "re" a "fantazio", but I sure wish the Kingdom Hearts-ification of JRPG video game titles was not a thing.
 
WisteriaHysteria said:
I wanna play this game someday, but I feel like I'd have to quit my job to do so lol. If these Atlus games like this or the Personas could whittle the gameplay experience from 100hrs+ down to the 50 range, I'd be all over them.
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S'truth.

10-30 hours is the ideal time range for RPGs of any kind. Any higher, and I'm checking out, sorry.
 
"Metaphor: ReFantazio" strikes me as something pretty short and benign, when it very easily could be called something like, "That That I Overthrew a Cursed Kingdom's Broken and Corrupt Political System While Romancing a Harem"
 
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