some kind of metaphor
Metaphor has been lovely to play through. It feels incredibly effective for me especially with how I got into the genre starting with Persona 4, taking the calendar system that kept being featured in contemporary high school settings and applying it to a much more traditional fantasy dungeon crawling experience feels like a full circle moment. Metaphor has the typical Atlus slate of launch dlc, selling costumes that let you dress up as characters from other Atlus releases. There's the typical inclusion of school uniforms across the Persona series as well as some SMT protagonist outfits but a series got representation this time that typically doesn't: Etrian Odyssey. It's an incredibly appropriate inclusion too. Metaphor is positioned as part of a celebration of Atlus' 35th anniversary, so there's the obvious reason of Etrian Odyssey being a long running Atlus series, but I think it's appropriate for deeper reasons than that as well. Etrian Odyssey as a series is a classical dungeon crawler, medieval fantasy setting where you're managing a party of characters fulfilling classic rpg roles, a far cry from what mamy people nowadays think of when they think Atlus. A lot of the acclaim that Atlus receives lately has been for the Persona series, especially the third through fifth entries of the high school-based schedule management rpgs. They carry a very modern flair to them, sleek contemporary aesthetics and reinterpretations of classic dungeon crawling trappings to fit present day locations whether it be Shibuya or a rural Japanese town. There isn't a grand adventure your party goes on a journey for, you still go to school day by day, and occupy the same city for the runtime of the game. Metaphor takes the schedule rpg format for Persona 3-5 and brings it to a medieval fantasy setting fitting for an old school dungeon crawler. This combination works incredibly and feels like a true celebration of the Atlus catalogue at the same time. It's ironic looking at my history with Atlus, starting with Persona 4 and over time getting into SMT alongside Etrian Odyssey as well, and Metaphor being what it is makes it feel like an rpg distilled from all the things I've fallen in love with with the genre. It's hard to beat a fantasy adventure, travelling across a world map, encountering new cozy townd and cities. Metaphor even has the party take stops on your journey just to look at some gorgeous fantasy vistas, making sure the player has the opportunity to take a moment despite the forward momentum the scheduling mechanics create. The Persona team taking the opportunity to go for a journey has been lovely so far, and I can't wait to continue following them along for this one.