{"id":45480,"date":"2025-03-11T17:29:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T08:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=45480"},"modified":"2025-03-11T17:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T08:29:06","slug":"masahiro-sakurai-praises-atlus-hard-work-on-metaphor-refantazio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-praises-atlus-hard-work-on-metaphor-refantazio\/","title":{"rendered":"Masahiro Sakurai praises Atlus\u2019s hard work on Metaphor: ReFantazio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Last year, Atlus released their new RPG <strong>Metaphor<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><strong> ReFantazio<\/strong> to critical acclaim, with the title garnering praise for its brand-new world, story, combat, bold visuals and UI. It seems that the development team\u2019s efforts are also appreciated by veteran game developers who weren\u2019t involved in making the game, including Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who recently took to X to give his take on Metaphor: ReFantazio.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u300e\u30e1\u30bf\u30d5\u30a1\u30fc\u300f\u5c55\u306b\u884c\u304d\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3088\u3002<br>\u7f8e\u8853\u304c\u7d20\u6674\u3089\u3057\u3044\uff01<br><br>\u2026\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u4f5c\u308a\u3063\u3066\u3001\u672c\u5f53\u306b\u672c\u5f53\u306b\u5927\u5909\u3060\u3088\u306d\u3002 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bieBeUWoPD\">pic.twitter.com\/bieBeUWoPD<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u685c\u4e95 \u653f\u535a \/ Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sora_Sakurai\/status\/1898261158131646649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 8, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Post translation: <\/strong><em>I went to the Metaphor exhibition. The art is wonderful! &#8230;Making games is really, really tough.<\/em>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems that Sakurai visited \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/metaphor-ex.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Metaphor: ReFantazio The Exhibition<\/a>\u201d, which is on at the Warehouse Terrada B&amp;C Hall in Tokyo from March 3 until 23. Spread across two floors, the exhibition features concept art for characters, enemies and locations, developer comments, and showcases the game\u2019s visually striking menus.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visiting this exhibition prompted Sakurai to acknowledge Metaphor: ReFantazio\u2019s art and the sheer amount of hard work that went into making the game. Metaphor\u2019s art direction and character design was handled by Persona veteran Shigenori Soejima, who has previously discussed <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-charm-of-persona-and-metaphor-refantazios-character-designs-lies-in-a-sex-appeal-that-doesnt-reveal-the-artists-gender-says-former-atlus-designer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his approach to creating attractive characters<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1274\" height=\"717\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1274px) 100vw, 1274px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250311-45480-001.webp\" alt=\"Metaphor ReFantazio menu\" class=\"wp-image-45492\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250311-45480-001.webp 1274w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250311-45480-001-380x214.webp 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250311-45480-001-768x432.webp 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Since its release in October 2024, Metaphor: ReFantazio has not only given <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/atlus-is-one-of-our-most-successful-acquisition-deals-to-date-sega-sammy-reports-strong-sales-of-metaphor-refantazio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sega\u2019s finances a boost<\/a>, but it has also won multiple game awards. Just last week, the game\u2019s director and creative producer Katsura Hashino received an <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/metaphor-refantazio-director-katsura-hashino-receives-japanese-government-award-for-remarkable-contribution-to-art\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">award from the Japanese Government,<\/a> which recognized Metaphor\u2019s creativity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more insights into Metaphor ReFantazio\u2019s development check out composer <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/metaphor-refantazio-soundtrack-composer-didnt-mean-to-go-so-hard-with-the-games-ost-and-was-surprised-at-the-attention-it-received\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shoji Meguro on how he created the game\u2019s unusual soundtrack<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/metaphor-refantazio-and-persona-series-katsura-hashino-reveals-his-approach-to-directing-and-producing-i-want-to-oversee-the-creative-process-right-to-the-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hashino on his approach to directing and producing the game<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/metaphor.atlus.com\/index.html?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Metaphor: ReFantazio<\/a> is available for the PC (Steam\/Microsoft Store), PS4\/PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Super Smash Bros. and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai recently shared his opinion on Metaphor ReFantazio and its artwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":45486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-45480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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