ReFantazio’s Support Skills Puts Ball in Persona 6’s Court

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 15, 2024 14 Views 6 Min Read
ReFantazio's Support Skills Puts Ball in Persona 6's Court

As Atlus’ latest IP, Metaphor: ReFantazio has taken a bold step forward in redefining the traditions established by mainstay systems in SMT and Persona. While there are theories connecting it to the larger history encompassed under the Megami Tensei umbrella, this title has come with an entirely new set of skills with names to match. With the upcoming Persona 6 still on the horizon, however, it has become a matter of speculation whether these new skills from Metaphor: ReFantazio will factor into the future of Atlus’ biggest series.




Historically, there has been a dynamic of differing difficulty between the mainline SMT and what is technically a spin-off in Persona. This is mainly due to how Shin Megami Tensei‘s Press Turn system can be more punishing than what One More provides in Persona, incentivizing varying uses of shared skills. Now that Metaphor has set a new precedent with what it has introduced, the relationship between all these Atlus titles might only be able to remain if they adapt to the changes.

Metaphor ReFantazio Archetype in front of More's light

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Metaphor: ReFantazio Makes a Clear Case for Versatility in Persona 6’s Party Members

Metaphor: ReFantazio introduced a level of versatility that Persona 6 should pick up on, as it increases player agency and the complexity of combat.


Buffing and Debuffing Multiple Stats at Once

Holdover support skills that Persona inherited from Shin Megami Tensei typically raise or lower one of three stats for three turns. There are single-target skills like Tarukaja, which raises Attack, and multi-target options like Matarukaja for the same effect, but Metaphor has added skills that affect two or more stats in one use. These range from a simple increase of both Attack and Defense from Vitalja, to skills like Dynast Formation, which powerfully buffs four stats for the entire party.

Stat Effect Ranks Contrast Persona’s Binary System

As specified in their descriptions, the skills of Metaphor: ReFantazio can stack up to three ranks depending on how many levels of a stat they raise or lower. Compared to Persona, where skills can overwrite each other instead of adding up in the same way, there is more flexibility to lean into these boosts over simple offense. While that approach might be in line with the latter’s simpler nature, maintaining it in the same way while moving past Metaphor could be a jarring lack of progression.


Persona 6 May Feel like a Step Back if It Doesn’t Innovate on Support Skills

Leveraging the Disparity in Challenge Between Atlus’ Franchises

The primary reason that a concept like being able to affect multiple stats at once with support skills feels balanced in Metaphor is that the game’s difficulty tends to be more in line with the level of SMT over Persona, so these end up as necessary tools instead of overkill. If this feature comes to P6 without an appropriate adjustment to its challenge, it has the potential to trivialize the existing systems under the forgiving One More system of turns in Persona. Exploiting weaknesses to knock enemies down and inflict All-Out-Attacks on them is the optimal route for many battles as it stands, and that entire focus could end up subverted or encouraged depending on how support skills are handled. Despite this, the growing age of the spin-off series may have made it better suited for the greater level of strategic depth that can come from iterating on both ends.


Evolving While Maintaining the Accessibility of Persona

It may risk defeating the original purpose of the franchise if Persona 6 finds itself approaching the complexity of its mainline counterparts by following in the footsteps of Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s support skills, but it could also act as a bridge for players to learn about the more nuanced mechanics of buffs. If these non-offensive skills are pushed to the forefront of the upcoming title, they could cement themselves as core to Atlus’ future in RPGs.

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