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	[quote name="Ice Cream Jonsey"]82. Metaphor: ReFantazio Creator: Studio Zero Genre: JRPG Year: 2024 Platforms: Windows 10/11, Playstation 4/5, Xbox Series <a href="https://www.mobygames.com/game/231733/metaphor-refantazio/">Mobygames link</a> Available through: Steam [steam id="2679460"] What initially drew me to this was the art direction and style - if you've ever thought, "Dragon's Lair looked so good, I wish we had full control in a game setting like that", well, that is what Metaphor did for me. I like JRPGs but I am bad at them, but nevertheless, this thing was instantly beautiful and approachable when I started it up. I think this is the best game released in the last two years. I compared it heavily to Expedition 33 because I think I bought both of them at around the same time and while E33 is very much going for poignant, I had a better time with Metaphor. I like the inclusion of the fairie gal. It is nice to have someone around who cares for you. When dying early, Gallica (the aforementioned flying fairie) puts more emotion into reacting to the death than I have heard in a while. Move over, "Snake? SNAAAAAKEEEE???" we've got a new champion. The voice actors for the new Deus Ex game, the vampire hat gal in RE7 and Shadowheart are seemingly and correctly becoming famous for how good they are at what they did and I hope Gallica's <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2274825/">voice actor</a> achieves the same, because she's great. One of the things that quickly grabbed me about Metaphor, being a rapidly aging CRPG blobber fan from way back, is learning early on that you can antagonize mobs and then run away from them. Even while devouring games like Might & Magic, there was always this sense of, "I wish we could". Like, I wish we could fight some of these guys a little and run away. You can kind of do that with some RPGs. So many JRPGs have the mechanic of being in a fight to the death in a separate battle screen. The Final Fantasy 7 remake abandons that a little, but running around on the world map screens with total freedom is a nice touch. (Although I think this game is much, much better than any Final Fantasy game I have ever played.) I do not usually care for games that have a plot concerning kings and princes but everyone is just so earnest in this game that I got hooked. I do appreciate the earnestness in games. Right from the get-go, Metaphor assumes you bought in and are along for the ride, disbelief at things suspended. And apparently the music from the game is done through MIDI instruments, which I did not guess at. I guessed that they hired a full orchestra for this. As I have been heavily into electronic music, knowing that the same equipment can produce <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cww0TeaJvsU&list=PL-820bTd-pk3P68bif2KnmdHcS-9eIOi_&index=1">stuff like this is pretty neat</a>. <img src="https://www.caltrops.com/images/top100/metaphor01.jpg" width=800> [/quote]