Atlus's director explains why Metaphor: ReFantazio doesn't have romance options

The highly anticipated action JRPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio, created by the team behind the Persona series, is coming very soon. Since its debut announcement at the Xbox Game Showcase in 2023, Atlus has been steadily providing fans with updates on the game every day.

We know that Metaphor: ReFantazio will not feature any romantic relationship options, which was confirmed in a Japanese livestream by Studio Zero just a few months ago. After this announcement, many fans were puzzled, wondering about the deeper reasons behind the developers' decision. This is because their previous games in the Persona series, known for their success, had a prominent romance system.

Now, we finally have an answer. Recently, the director of Atlus, Katsura Hashino, spoke about the decision to omit romance options in the game, and the primary reason seems to be that it just wouldn't fit into the story in the same way.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ at Summer Game Fest 2024, Katsura Hashino, the director of Metaphor and Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5, acknowledged the popularity of Persona's romance options. He explained that these options fit well in the Persona games because the characters are high school students, and romance was a natural part of that setting. In contrast, Metaphor: ReFantazio centers on a character striving to become a ruler, focusing more on the relationships between the ruler and their supporters rather than romantic relationships. Hashino noted that while they recognize the appeal of the romance system in Persona, it wouldn’t align with Metaphor: ReFantazio's story and themes.

Katsura Hashino also confirmed that a system similar to Social Links will appear in Metaphor: ReFantazio, though it won't be identical to Persona. He also stated that this relationship mechanism won't include any romantic interactions for the characters.

While romance options aren't included in the game, that doesn't necessarily discard the possibility of a story-based romance. The developers have clearly thought very carefully about this important decision, so we might have to wait until the game’s release to find out.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is set to launch on PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X/S on October 11. Make sure you don't miss any great deals on Metaphor: ReFantazio by using our price comparison tool to preorder the game today.