Sparking in Fantasy
Looking forward to two of the biggest game releases this year!
For the past week, I’ve been thinking about Metaphor: Refantazio after playing the demo. It reminded me why I love RPGs so much. RPGs nowadays can be a chore to play through and sometimes lose their plot, but somehow Atlus, once again, found a way not to waste your time. They made everything in the game feel meaningful. They managed to tell a cohesive story that hooked me from the beginning, putting you in a world of fantasy while giving you the hard question: what will you do to bring about peace and equality in the world?
With the full game releasing this Friday, I just want to gush after playing the demo, watching a few trailers, and reading reviews. Yeah, Metaphor: Refantazio is my RPG of the year—maybe even my personal game of the year, but I’ll have to see the rest of the game when it comes out. The story is already so good, and the combat is fast-paced. Metaphor takes the best parts from Atlus’ Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series and puts them into a stunning new world. They worked so hard on the UX/UI design that even the developers mentioned how annoying it was creating menus that looked so detailed and full of art.
I feel like they value your time a little more. Even though the main game is 80 hours and full completion is 100, it’s better than Persona 5 Royal, which took 100+ hours just for the main story. The soundtrack is magnificent, with angelic choirs and chants in the Akademia, and the battle music is seriously hype. I was in shock at how intense the soundtrack sounded for regular enemy encounters—I can only imagine how epic it’ll be for the bosses.
The art direction of Metaphor: Refantazio is beautiful. When I first saw it, it felt fresh—probably because I was getting tired of the school setting in the Persona games (and the endless versions of Persona 5). Atlus deserves praise for creating a brand-new IP, especially when Persona had become so huge, especially for a non-mainline series.
There are some things in the game that take time to get used to. There’s a lot happening on the screen, and it can become overwhelming—the constant chatter of people, the floating Magala particle effects. But the city design and character art are great to look at, so it’s not too bad. That’s just how next-gen games are; they want to flaunt the new tech.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the full game tomorrow—just a few hours away! With rave reviews so far (92, and 94 on PS5, on Metacritic), and 9s and 10s across other sites, we’re in for an amazing ride. I’m eager to see how the story unfolds, how we’ll stop Louis (the main villain, maybe?), and the wild bosses we’ll face.
The next game on my radar, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, has already launched for early access (if you got the deluxe/collector’s edition). The official release is tomorrow, so it’s coming out right beside Metaphor: Refantazio, which is insane to think about. The hype is real for this game. The Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series is close to my heart. It brings back memories of playing with my cousins in 2007, and I can’t wait to join them again for the mayhem.
The game looks amazing, and I know the FGC (Fighting Game Community) and the anime community are having a blast. Sparking! Zero is a true nostalgia trip—it sparks something in you, and you can’t help but smile. With 181 characters and more, we’ll be eating good for months with its long story, wild battles, and beautiful graphics. It’s basically the anime itself. Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is going to bring everyone together to enjoy this moment. Fun fact: cartel activity drops during Dragon Ball releases, so you know this game’s about to do numbers. Early access already hit 90,000+ players on Steam alone!
It’s been fun watching everyone’s experiences with the game, from learning mechanics not fully explained in tutorials to testing new playstyles and going hard in ranked matches. I know I’ll be terrible at first, but I’ll find the best team to spam—uh, I mean, combo those kamehamehas. I love seeing the clips, and we’re definitely going to show our gameplay, facing off against friends and family.
I do wish they had crossplay worked out. Crossplay is so important because no matter what platform you bought the game on, we could play together—whether it’s PS5, Xbox, or PC. Right now, you can only play with others on the same platform. Space Marine 2 did the same thing for PvP, which I get, but I don’t at the same time. Anyway, once they fix that, this will be the best Dragon Ball game to play with friends online—honestly, it already is. Even though they said it was difficult to implement, I’ll be there no matter what.
As I mentioned before, Dragon Ball and Metaphor both release tomorrow—just hours away! So, if you get the chance, definitely check out our gameplay for both games if you’re on the fence.