Metaphor: ReFantazio is Sorely Missing a Persona 5 Royal Change From P5

2024 has been a year filled with great games so far, butMetaphor: ReFantaziois arguably one of the best among them. This turn-based JRPG fromPersonadeveloper Atlus received a widespread positive reception when it came out in October and, according to review aggregators like OpenCritic and Metacritic, garnered perfect 10/10 scores from more than 25 outlets.Metaphor: ReFantazio’s critical success can be attributed to its lengthy, 8-year development time and the talent it had behind it.Persona 5director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro were all heavily involved in the production of the game.

Metaphor: ReFantaziois, in a way, a culmination of everything Atlus is known for. It features stunning UIs, impressive art direction, engaging characters, tactical battle systems, and thought-provoking themes. Although it does take cues from some ofAtlus' prior works, such asPersona,Shin Megami Tensei, and evenEtrian Odyssey,Metaphor: ReFantaziostill manages to distinguish itself from its predecessors instead of being just a mere reskin. That being said, the game isn’t perfect and can use more fine-tuning in some areas. Its calendar system, for instance, is bizarrely missing a quality-of-life feature that’s present in one of Atlus’s most iconic games,Persona 5 Royal.

Metaphor ReFantazio Tag Page Cover Art

Metaphor: ReFantazio’s Calendar System Lacks a Helpful Feature from Persona 5 Royal

Persona 5 Royal is a Re-Release That Makes Some Major Changes to the Base Game

For those who are out of the loop,Persona 5 Royalis an enhanced editionof the originalPersona 5, akin to other Atlus re-releases likePersona 4 Golden,Persona 3 FES, and the more recentShin Megami TenseiV: Vengeance. The fifth numbered installment in thePersonafranchise initially launched on July 18, 2025, in Japan as a PlayStation console exclusive.P5R, meanwhile, came out on the PS4 in Japan in October 2019, before ultimately receiving an international release in March 2020.

Most re-releases these days tend to bundle in previously-released DLCs and minor pieces of content without making significant changes to the game they’re based on.Persona 5 Royal, however, wasn’t a traditional re-release. This version ofthe critically-acclaimed JRPGnot only added over 30 hours of important story content to the originalPersona 5, but it also overhauled some of its gameplay systems, in addition to making some small tweaks here and there. One of the more well-received adjustments inPersona 5 Royalis the one related to the game’s free time mechanic.

Persona 5 Royal Gives Players More Free Time After Completing Dungeons

Like the previous mainline entries in the series,Persona 5takes place entirely during a single calendar year. Each in-game day is broken up into two activity slots, one for daytime and one for nighttime. In between major story events,players are given some free time inP5so they can take part in miscellaneous activities, like brewing coffee, completing social links, and studying for school. In the originalPersona 5, spending time in a dungeon took up both of the activity slots on any given day. This was changed inPersona 5 Royal, so that even after completing a dungeon during the day, players could still take part in other activities at night before going to sleep.

Metaphor: ReFantazio’s Omission of Persona 5 Royal’s Quality-of-Life Feature is Disappointing

Strangely,Metaphor: ReFantaziodoes not include this useful improvement fromPersona 5 Royal. Althoughit also features aPersona-style calendar systemand a day-night mechanic, the game does not give gamers the freedom to read books, cook food, or perform other side activities after traveling through a dungeon. The only instance this isn’t the case is when players set up camp near a dungeon at nighttime and resume their dungeon exploration in the morning. For the most part,Metaphor: ReFantazioprovides gamers with ample free time throughout most of its in-game year, but the fact that dungeons are so restrictive in this regard is nonetheless disappointing, especially considering thatPersona 5 Royalhad already fixed this issue.