Mere days ago, Metaphor: ReFantazio‘s release date was announced during a gameplay showcase. Not long after, it was revealed, shockingly, that Metaphor: ReFantazio will not contain any romance options. This important piece of information was divulged during a Q and A for the game (via Siliconera):
While Metaphor: ReFantazio will still contain social elements like Persona, you won’t be able to date your companions. Acting on who ships who or pursuing the best waifu will be impossible. However, the possibility still exists that there will be a forced romance as part of the story. If the developers can focus on that, perhaps a love story can be more fleshed out.
Somewhat surprisingly, those in the gaming circle are celebrating this development. As spotted on Kotaku, X user tiago feels the relationships in Persona lack depth anyway:
Others, like user Manic, just wanted to date the pink-haired animal/human hybrid:
As for me, I’m indifferent. I always dated everyone in the Persona series for completionist purposes and never thought they were given enough attention. But I also felt some characters made sense to be together and I had certain favorites. Maybe I will give Atlus the benefit of the doubt to create an experience where it is shown how important bonds are between all races and sexes, regardless of any romantic attachments.
Set in The United Kingdom of Euchronia after the assassination of its king, Metaphor: ReFantazio is releasing on October 11, 2024, on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Xbox Series X|S, and involves the Persona series’ creators: Katsura Hashino, Shigenori Soejima, and Shoji Meguro. It follows the story of the protagonist and Galica the fairy, as they work together to break the curse of the kingdom’s prince and compete in a tournament to win the throne.
