I like the dungeons in Metaphor: ReFantazio. I swear I do. I know some people think they drag, and that first one just keeps on going and going, but I like them. The inclusion of action combat makes them feel breezier than either the Palaces or endless treks through Mementos in Persona 5, which Metaphor basically combines. I like them, and yet I can’t bring myself to do them.
The time pressure of deadlines is supposed to make you sort out the dungeons early, then sweep up whatever you have left. With real life deadlines, I’m usually pretty proactive and avoid leaving things to the last minute. But in Metaphor? I am an eternal procrastinator, and if the deadline is still in double digits, I don’t even need to think about it.
When you first arrive in Brilehaven, there are a lot of cutscenes. It’s the first time since the contest started that each of the combatants for the throne have been in the same place, and your exploits plus Louis’ continued absence leads to a lot of narrative developments. When you finally get to play, you’re given singular goals – find lodgings, eat, speak to Louis – that restrict exploration.
Eventually, it becomes clear that you need to infiltrate Louis’ runner and take out his captains. However, once you get this goal, you also get to wander around town and grab a bunch of side quests. You can also return to old cities where you may need to wrap up previous quests, and new allies either unlock or can be conversed with to raise their ranks.
Add in the latest bounty on the board, and suddenly there’s a lot to do. The sensible thing would be to clear the story dungeon in as much time as it took me, then use the rest of the free time until the next event to sweep up the extra stuff. But I am not sensible when it comes to Metaphor: ReFantazio.
I spoke to each quest giver first, but that’s only polite. They might have needed something in the dungeon, after all (they didn’t). Then I grabbed the bounty to see where it was located. Oh look, same place as a couple of quests. Might as well do them, yeah? That’s a couple of days gone, and there’s another quest a day away. Clean that one up too, but at least I’ll leave the one that’s two days’ ride alone for now.
Then I figured it would be rude not to speak to Heismay when he had something to say, but the next day I didn’t want Hulkenberg feeling left out. I saw Brigitta in the evening, and the next day Strohl wanted to speak to me. Borden became an ally and immediately needed a couple of afternoons, while Brigitta’s lost dog required my attention and each party member requested my time again.
I put aside an afternoon for Maria as well, and before long a week was up with little actual progress to show for it. Finally, I decided this was getting silly and not befitting of the go-getter I wanted my character to be. So even though I, the player, wanted to chill more with Hulkenberg, I, the character, finally took on the dungeon.
The odd thing is I still ended up doing it too early. The third major dungeon is atypical, as it’s not a gauntlet you need to work your way through as your MP is worn down too quickly for you to keep up. Instead, there are a couple of minor stealth sequences in a single room each, which lead to three different bosses (technically four, as you pick which of the middle two you want to fight).
These bosses are the only fights you’ll have in the dungeon, and while they must each be completed in three turns, there’s nothing stopping you from emptying the MP clip in each bout. It’s a nice twist, that this is not a dungeon you can drift through over hours but one that must be done quickly and decisively, but my archetypes had enough of a spread with high enough attacks that I made short work of it.
I still enjoyed it, and that now means each of the three major dungeons have been notably different from both each other and the smaller side quest caves. It just makes me feel a little silly that I was starting to worry if I’d left enough time with eight days to go, only to wind up having to kill time for another seven.
Metaphor is so rich that there are always things to do. I have a feeling Brigetta’s story is going to offer a new instalment soon, I have another postcard for Maria still, and there’s still that side quest a couple of days away. Raising my royal virtues is an option if I really do run out of things to do, but in Metaphor: ReFantazio, that’s unlikely to happen any time soon.