Shacknews Best RPG of 2024 - Metaphor: ReFantazio

Politics in 2024 were hard to watch, and it only got harder as the year went on. The current climate is one of fear, uncertainty, and a never-ending wave of corruption through our highest systems. That might be a big part of why Metaphor: ReFantazio hit so damn hard with its epic journey of ordinary people overcoming a broken system to unite the world on a path towards a better tomorrow. It could also be because the game is fun, stylish, and has an incredible story even outside of that context.

This time around, the newly-formed Studio Zero ventured from its usual modern society trappings into a fantasy-fiction setting, and good for them, because they turned out to be incredibly good at it. Metaphor: ReFantazio features a gorgeous world full of magic, combative races, intriguing steampunk machinery, and monsters galore (some more “human” than others). It also features an incredible cast of main and supporting characters, many of which ended up as favorites of the year for a lot of players.

This also feels like one of the strongest displays of the Persona Team’s signature RPG style yet. The Archetypes that serve as the “Persona” system in this game are basically character classes, but they can be equipped and swapped for every character where usually only the protagonist can do that. It makes for strategy that can be changed on the fly as you learn what synergies you need to defeat your opponents.

The challenges of this game are also amazing and make for a massive journey. Getting Confidante levels up, chasing bounties, engaging with side quests, and so much more ensure you’ll have plenty to do before the credits roll. However, even if you skip a lot of that stuff, you’re in for a journey that features strong emotional highs and lows as these unlikely heroes strive to overcome the overwhelming forces that keep them down, and with an absolutely stellar soundtrack to boot. We don’t know if Studio Zero meant to be so politically charged in an election year, but Metaphor: ReFantazio is also some of the best gameplay and style we saw all year. All of these factors together make the game our choice for Shacknews Best RPG of 2024.

Be sure to read over the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Games: 2024 feature.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.