DaRmaZat Following its award-winning 2024 debut, Metaphor: ReFantazio, the acclaimed and epic fantasy JRPG known for its distinctive anime-inspired art style, rich lore and hybrid combat, is finally available on Nintendo Switch 2. Complete with network features and multiple graphical modes, even on this new platform, the massive fantasy adventure feels right at home.
In true epic fashion, Metaphor: ReFantazio’s story kicks off with all kinds of beautiful cutscenes and artistic imagery. Every now and then, you are presented with bloody scenes, but always depicted in the gorgeous anime art style, packed with detail, accompanied by great music and solid voice acting, with a choice between English and Japanese. As expected from a game of this sheer scale, there are plenty of interruptions and dialogue, with the latter providing an abundance of lore that you can conveniently revisit in the Memorandum, essentially the game’s codex. First, you have to answer the questions of More, also known as the Scheming Man, starting with the name you want to give your character, as well as your opinion on fantasy.
Everything starts in the year 785, in the realm of Euchronia, where rising waves of monsters are appearing across the land. To make matters worse, the evil Louis Guiabern has murdered the king, after already cursing the prince and leaving him in a comatose state. Without an heir to the throne, it seems to be there for the taking. Or so he thinks, because that is where you come into the picture. As an Elda, an outcasted race blamed for everything that goes wrong in the realm, you always carry a mysterious book, the Fantasy Novel, while making your way to the Royal Capital, Grand Trad.
Alongside you is the small fairy Gallica, who possesses magical abilities such as Fae Sight, allowing you to judge from enemy colors whether they are easily beatable or best avoided at your current level. The immediate goal is getting enlisted as a guardsman at the army’s recruitment centre under Captain Klinger, where training has to start right away. That, however, is merely a stepping stone, as flashbacks make it clear that you were once close to the prince. Your real incentive is to meet a contact connected to Gallica who can help you defeat Louis Guiabern, save the prince, reclaim the throne and put an end to the injustice plaguing the realm of Euchronia.
Soon after, you meet your first ally, the heroic and selfless Leon Strohl, who also introduces you to the core gameplay: the turn-based tactical Squad Battles. However, as a hybrid battler, the game also allows you to attack or even eliminate enemies in real time beforehand. Successfully depleting an enemy’s break gauge through these pre-emptive attacks can even grant you a stun advantage that carries over into the battle itself.
Besides standard RPG weapons, you also have the familiar JRPG skill attacks based on magic points usage. During the turn-based rounds, you can analyze your opponents, use special items, take a defensive stance, yield your turn, or flee. Win your battles and you receive the usual Experience, Money and Spoils (items), as well as Magla points, alongside level-ups and stat increases that let you allocate points as you see fit. And speaking of Magla, it is also used to unlock the more than forty Archetypes, allowing your party members to transform on the battlefield. These are essentially superpowered spirits of former heroes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited in combat. Archetypes can be unlocked for each character and upgraded, alongside your abilities, through the Archetype Tree in More’s Akadeimia.
But the combat offers even more depth than this. The key to success is to exploit enemy weaknesses or score critical hits, as doing so halves the turn, giving you an extra attack opportunity. Meanwhile, Gallica provides tips on the ideal approach, including which limbs to target or the enemy’s healing strategies, although she will also actively help from time to time.
It is certainly nice that you can retry battles with a simple click, while the auto-battle option can also come in handy in certain situations. Although I have to say that the latter is not particularly intelligent and can lead you to a game over screen more often than you might expect. It can work well, though, with the assist setting automatically exploiting weaknesses for certain skills. Defensive options also prove their worth during battles, as choices such as Guarding ensure that turns cannot be stolen by opponents.
Formations also play an immense role here, with you deciding who belongs in the front row and who takes the back row. In this regard, the game also has an interesting network feature. For example, you can see the formations other players used at specific locations and even replicate them yourself. All of this combined makes the hybrid combat system quite an addictive experience. There are also five difficulty levels, so for anyone who finds the game too difficult, there are plenty of ways to make things more manageable.
When it comes to performance and graphics, this Switch 2 edition offers no fewer than three graphical modes that work both in TV mode and handheld: Performance, Balanced and Graphics. Contrary to what you might expect, all three modes use an unlocked, uncapped framerate, although there is no VRR support. Performance aims for the highest possible framerate, towards 60 FPS, but this comes at the cost of lower resolution and rarely reaches a stable 60 FPS. Graphics, comparable to a classic Quality mode, delivers the sharpest image, but has no fixed 30 FPS cap; in quieter areas it runs surprisingly smoothly, although the framerate drops back towards 30 FPS in busier areas.
Personally, I found the default Balanced mode to be the sweet spot, with the framerate fluctuating between 30 and 60 FPS, averaging around 40 FPS, without any noticeable sacrifice in image quality.
Final Thoughts
Metaphor: ReFantazio is a phenomenal JRPG that makes for a very solid Switch 2 port. Its captivating story, addictive hybrid combat and gorgeous anime-inspired presentation are among its biggest strengths, with the visuals and soundtrack making a lasting impression and the art style looking great at every resolution. On the technical side, performance scaling is not always convincing, as neither Performance nor Graphics delivers a consistently stable framerate. Balanced mode proves to be the best compromise, though, and the accessible gameplay helps make this epic fantasy adventure feel right at home on Switch 2.
Additional Information
Release Date: November 12, 2026
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch 2. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Studio Zero, ATLUS
Publisher: ATLUS, SEGA
Relevant links: Available via Steam and Nintendo eShop.
Mr_PoOL