A P4 Golden Remake Can Expand One Feature By Imitating Metaphor: ReFantazio

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 25, 2024 5 Views 7 Min Read
A P4 Golden Remake Can Expand One Feature By Imitating Metaphor: ReFantazio



Metaphor: ReFantazio isn’t a Persona game, strictly speaking, but there’s no mistaking its influences. From its turn-based combat based on summoning iconic heroes, to its time management and relationship-building functions, Metaphor: ReFantazio truly is the high-fantasy equivalent of Persona. It would stand to reason, therefore, if its mechanics end up influencing future Persona games in turn. Right now, leaks and rumors suggest Persona 6 is coming up next, but the highly successful Persona 3 Reload has also sparked hope for a Persona 4 Golden remake, and that game could benefit in quite a few ways by borrowing from Metaphor.

Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden sort of come across as a transitional period for Persona. They bridge the gap between the Persona 3 suite of games, which first introduced social sim elements and third-person dungeon-crawling, and the Persona 5 games, which arguably feature the most streamlined and detailed social mechanics and dungeons yet. However, the Persona 4 games still have some unique mechanics, like the party member follow-ups that can occur when an All-Out Attack doesn’t end a battle. This particular piece of teamwork is a must-have for a P4G remake, should that ever happen, but it also has room for growth. Luckily, Atlus already has a clear blueprint for expanding on it, thanks to the Synthesis abilities in Metaphor: ReFantazio.

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Synthesis skills are perhaps the most powerful skills in a Metaphor: ReFantazio player’s arsenal, costing multiple Turn Icons (and often lots of MP) in exchange for devastating damage or game-changing status effects. They also require players to plan team comps carefully, since each Synthesis relies on certain Archetype combos. Persona 4 Golden‘s All-Out Attack finishers work similarly; players can only activate them if they have the combination of Chie and Yukiko, Yosuke and Teddie, or Kanji and Naoto in their party.

Running comps like these is well-worth the effort, since the follow-ups sometimes make all the difference when fighting big enemy groups or Golden Hands. While the follow-ups are useful, however, they’re a little restrictive, since there’s only three combinations total and no team comp can feature more than one combo. The extra damage they provide is useful, but it’s also rather basic.

This is where Synthesis can inspire Atlus to think bigger in a Persona 4 Golden remake. Firstly, a remake could add a ton of new party member combinations, so players can activate combos with Yosuke and Kanji, Teddie and Yukiko, and every other possible combo — maybe even including the protagonist. Secondly, a Persona 4 Golden remake could add unique effects to each of these combinations. For example, Kanji and Yukiko’s finisher might deal more damage than others, since they’re both high-DPS characters, while Teddie and Yukiko could heal the party on top of damaging the enemy. Even the existing combos can get upgraded this way; to make the most of its Junes theming, Teddie and Yosuke’s combo could drop extra money and items for each enemy defeated.

Of course, Atlus might be tempted to revamp this system in a way that’s much more like Synthesis and introduce activated team-up abilities, perhaps combining Persona 3 Reload‘s Theurgy skills with Persona 5 Royal‘s team-based Showtimes. This would definitely open up some more straightforward utility, but an upgrade to Persona 4 Golden‘s All-Out Attack follow-ups is crucial regardless. It’s an entirely unique P4G feature that should be honored with its own gameplay improvements. Any Persona 4 Golden remake should work to improve the team-up feature it already has, rather than prioritizing an all-new team-up function.

It remains to be seen if a Persona 4 Golden remake will happen anytime soon, if at all. It does seem inevitable, though, given that Persona 3 Reload was such a massive hit, and that Persona producer Kazuhisa Wada has expressed interest in Persona 1 and 2 remakes, even while saying they’d be difficult to pull off. Persona 3 Reload‘s big changes over the original game suggests a Persona 4 Golden remake would look very different too, and if that’s the case, hopefully it includes All-Out Attack upgrades that borrow a thing or two from Synthesis skills.

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