Metaphor: ReFantazio - Main Theme / Battle Theme | Reacting To Video Game Music!

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#MetaphorReFantazio #Metaphor #Reaction

[@HakumeiTenshi]

Lotus Mead is spittin'

[@Crocogator]

stealing that.

[@CybeleVG]

Lotus Kambucha

[@poisonedart1333]

Lotus Weed

[@duckducklarry]

@@poisonedart1333 that's P3 Reload

[@ShadowOfMassDestruction]

Lotus Bard

[@bluemori2822]

According to Shoji Meguro the vocals are buddhist chanting in Esperanto. Which is a constructed language made in the 1800s designed to be internationally spoken

[@kawaiipotatoes7888]

@@bluemori2822 There is live of that performance it is indeed a monk.

[@ninototo1]

that is genius

[@samuffert]

​@@kawaiipotatoes7888link?

[@FaFares]

@@kawaiipotatoes7888 Can I have a link? I can't find the video.

[@aldair9845]

@@FaFares kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWXThqWdf7iipJIsi=Czob1HOrq-O_dJ1r The main theme's at the beginning and the battle theme is at around 48:30

[@krisminime2]

Fun fact. The music in this game is canonically playing in the main characters head and reflects the mood of the character depending on what’s going on. Your fairy companion casts a spell on you near the beginning of the game to make it so.

[@reizor5276]

I loved that detail, reminds me of just how Ichiban can see the enemies as monsters since he played too much Dragon Quest

[@themiskers4552]

@@reizor5276 it also plays into the theory that ichiban is a undiagnosed schizophrenic lmao

[@blakec8549]

It's my head cannon that the music in ff14 is the main characters echo feeling the ambient aether

[@timkimmel9935]

I actually think it's the King's. Consider he is watching all candidates, and the eye lense for battles. If you use the MetaphorFix on PC to extend the aspect ratio past 16:9, you can see blood vessels in the vignette during battles.

[@Rogério_Martins]

Nice to see examples of meta-diegetic music in games. For those who aren't familiar with the concept, meta-diegetic sound is something that the character cannot hear per se but is instead imagined or hallucinated into the story, allowing the viewer or player to also experience it.

[@minimanbeast1014]

The lyrics in the songs are actualy in the real world language esperanto, which was created to be a universal language, which ties heavily into the games themes of unification and allyship

[@J2ojuiced95]

Thankfully Shoji Meguro isn’t retired, he’s just working as a freelance composer and indie developer now and he’s said he would like to continue working with Atlus in the future. This particular battle theme is what you would consider the advantage battle theme, as it plays when you engage the enemies rather than them engaging you. From all the music I’ve heard in the demo so far, it seems like Shoji Meguro has fully realised that grand, sometimes oppressive orchestral style, that he was going for with SMT Strange Journey back on the Nintendo DS.

[@Druidlover]

Going freelance was a great move for Meguro. Atlus games can take a long time to come out so this way he can take on more work at his own pace once his work is done on a particular project and who knows. Maybe one day he'll create his own recording company like Mitsuda did.

[@MutateSin66]

what if Masayoshi Soken and Shoji Meguro collaboratet? 👀

[@jaybee4288]

Soken is hideously overrated and neither the best composer in SE or the FF franchise.

[@Rayya275]

@@jaybee4288 alright bro. Slow down.

[@spiderdude2099]

Fun fact: Many of the monster designs are driectly inspiried by the surrealist paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. He is most well known for his painting "the garden of earthly delights"

[@maxrollwage161]

@@spiderdude2099 I knew the very first enemy in the game reminded me of the Egg Man painting by Bosch!

[@Gangerworld]

Some fun facts: the chanting vocals are a real buddhist monk chanting in Esperanto. The music is diegetic to the game. The fairy character, Gallica, sends the music into the MC's head so he hears the music in game. There are multiple battle themes based on whether you are at an advantage when the encounter beings or not. You should check out the disadvantaged/ambush battle theme. The mood is so different and it's my favourite.

[@Mako0123]

“Music was the first magic this world ever knew, after all. Makes the road a little easier.” This game fully captured me from that very moment ❤

[@enderlp9666]

imagine your ally telling you ''dont worry, ill give you the magic of music!'' and hits you with a rapping monk

[@corruptedteka]

"pretty brand new", haha yeah ! it comes out tomorrow ! what a delightful surprise !! it is no exaggeration to say this game is my current obsession, and the music contributes a lot to it !

[@ExaltedUriel]

The language the chanting is in is actually _Esperanto_ , surprisingly enough.

[@sodathejunker]

Esperanto, the living dead language for all and everyone that is spoken basically just in Brazil when people are bored and want to spice things up a bit. I LOVE that it's become used for creative endeavors and art more than anything XD Shoji Meguro cooked once again.

[@crowolf3862]

Japan’s had a big historic interest in esperanto going back to Kenji Miyazawa. You may have seen animes referencing his work “night on the galactic railroad.”

[@Kurlija]

Ha, I was waiting for you to look up the composer, really interesting direction for Meguro. The vocals remind me of Fire Emblem: Three Houses a bit, specifically God-Shattering Star.

[@MetalSilverDX]

Even the instrumental gave me big FE vibes, probably the horns

[@ИгорьГорелов-ы4п]

Yeah, horns definitely feels like Three Houses leitmotif.

[@alexeypickle1921]

Sounds more like Strange Journey tbh

[@Kurlija]

@@alexeypickle1921 I didn't even realise Meguro did SJ! You're right, the instrumental parts sound very similar. It was the vocalist that made me think of FE.

[@hundvd_7]

12:30 _This_ is what I stayed for Not knowing anything about the game beforehand was truly a blessing this time around. "I've never heard anything like this before" even though you played a lot of the composers songs as your _own_ soundtrack just in this video

[@manbearpigsereal]

Meguro left Atlus to go freelance, he's still getting Atlus contracts

[@Hurricayne92]

Meguro should really put togther a concert of his works.

[@vaidenkelsier7757]

The demo is huge and it's an incredible game. DEFINITELY worth checking out if you're vaguely interested in JRPGs or really unique games.

[@Kasuta_Ikite]

Happy Metaphor Launch Day tomorrow everyone!

[@zachm2331]

Also, the director of Metaphor is Katsura Hashino, who was the director of Shin Megami Tensei III and Persona 3, 4 and 5. Character designer on Metaphor is Shigenori Soejima who also worked on the aforementioned titles with Hashino and Shoji Meguro. So, three core members of the senior leadership team of Metaphor are Persona and SMT veterans. They left P-Studio in 2016 following completion of Persona 5 Vanilla, and formed Studio Zero, a new internal development team within Atlus. Soon after, active development of Metaphor: Refantazio commenced under the codename ‘Project Re: Fantasy’. In 2019, Studio Zero released their first product: “Catherine: Full Body”, a remaster of the 2011 P-Studio game: “Catherine”. Then focusing solely on Metaphor.

[@Jaimethepanda]

“The zaza got me chanting Esperanto.”

[@dou5397]

Shoji Meguro has done music for Persona,SMT 3, SMT Strange Journey, Devil Survivor and many others SMT Spin Offs. Metaphor is a new IP (tho it does have references to SMT, it isnt part of the series) and it being developed by the same director as Persona 3,4,5

[@TheFamousYakTamer]

If you're wondering what the game is like, it's basically an entry in the Persona series in everything but name. The gameplay is nearly identical, but the setting around it is not high school Japan but more of a classic JRPG fantasy realm. The demo is very well received by the world(and me!) and it releases literally tomorrow so I think you can assume that you'll get more requests for this soundtrack as we all hear more of it!

[@YourGodHasAFace]

Metaphor is a new title by the Persona 5 team, originally announced a few months after that game came out and the core dev team formed Studio Zero. It is a new game but is also considered a 35th anniversary title for Atlus and features elements from all over the Megami Tensei series and beyond, from the most well known Persona mechanics to the most obscure references to the famicom game that started Megaten in the fitst place. Shoji Meguro hasn't retired but more so gone freelance, he might work more with Atlus in the future but we don't know what's in store for him after Metaphor as he was almost entirely abscent from Persona 3 Reload.

[@CloudsfuryX]

Shoji has done a similar operatic soundtrack in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, which is a game that has a Space Opera-like feel to its soundtrack. For me Metaphor feels like it borrows those Operatic elements. Or at least he's had a chance to do an Operatic Soundtrack with Strange Journey. I imagine there's a request for Strange Journey somewhere in your list.

[@Amuro1X]

Best part of this reaction was you finding out in real time after listening to the songs that they were composed by Shoji Meguro. Man is one of the GOATs.

[@KaosuAiden]

The battle theme single handedly made me download the demo and subsequently the game and im not mad at all.. its fun af and the music is ❤❤❤❤❤.

[@3of6mylove]

Lotus Bard in his bardcore/tavernwave phase I see...

[@Tarrot]

Fun thing: The song is so new that the game hasn't came out yet. As of the posting of the video, the game will be out the day after. Most of this stuff is just from the 8ish hour demo (I think) to hype up the game. I haven't touched the demo cause I want to go in blind without restrictions when the game comes out.

[@samuelchallis3420]

The demo save carries over to the game, and it’s long enough that if you start now the game will be out before you finish the demo

[@NarfiRef]

Yesss! I was hoping you’d get to this soon.

[@厶しりあらな]

The music from this game hit so hard that I had to turn the bgm meter down to half to focus on gameplay

[@alkalineclockwork8715]

Meguro didn't retire, he just left Atlus to go freelance. Even then, when he announced his departure, he did state he'd be still working on Atlus projects, just no longer as an in-house employee (plus, this game has been in the works for a LONG time, so it's likely the majority of the music here was at least partially finished before he left). One minor thing to note is that while he's been named as the sole composer for now, there are a lot of other Atlus sound team members actually credited as sound staff in the game (this unfortunately seems to be a trend in Atlus games lately, for some reason), along with the fact that this is the first time Meguro works with a real, full live orchestra instead of just samples/libraries or with the occasional string players (like in Persona 5).

[@lanonyme-vod8090]

12:15 You did react to Keves Battle (some of it) from Xenoblade 3 before the game released, it was the first time on the channel!

[@Squeenix1]

I wanna play this but I have a backlog and don’t wanna start another 100 hour rpg 😂

[@saifis]

At this point in my life I just trust the artistic ability of Shouji Meguro, if it doesn't make sense all it means is there is more of a rabbit hole to fall into, and that is always a good thing.

[@StarfieldDisarray]

The flow is the vocals is insane

[@masstrash4609]

Meguro worked on only two main series SMT games, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and SMT: Strange Journey. Bro was responsible for composing like 90% of Atlus' games during the 2000s lol

[@masstrash4609]

He didn't compose for SMT Nine, the first Devil Survivor game, Stella Deus, or the Trauma Center games after Under the Knife 1, as far as I know

[@Zephhi]

This game boutta be sooooo good. Technically releases tomorrow

[@NX_TV]

synopsis of the game if you're interested, so spoilers (i avoided presenttions for months, now, so it's very vague even for me): There are many races, but also monsters named "humans", and we're basically their version of wha a fantasy world is. now, for the plot, it's about a King's death, and the next king must be elected mentally by the whole world population, so it's a race to popularity or something.

[@dee6561]

Yes, let's go! This game's music is insane!

[@Malacite]

YES was hoping someone would request this. Yeah the game comes out tomorrow, but the demo has been out for over a week. It's likely going to be GotY and I cannot wait to try it out - it's a blend of Persona and SMT but in a Medieval setting

[@xidjsj1390]

The game is actually releasing in just a few hours!

[@Mik_S]

I have played most of the demo (got a few hours left apparently) and the game has a lot of Persona mechanics, probably closer to the SMT games but I have never played those (yet)

[@segafan1316]

If you want to hear Meguro using a similar style, I recommend the SMT Strange Journey soundtrack. That was also Meguro

[@millythompsonfromtrigun98anime]

I was listening to Needles by SOAD directly before watching this and I was caught off-guard by the mention lol. These themes rock

[@AndrewDLuffy]

Phenomenal music for such a phenomenal game

[@NX_TV]

It's not exactly "pretty new", but more like "not yet released". though the demo did release, so now we have proper themes to listen to. That's the game I'm the most hyped about this whole year. EDIT: Oh wel, you looked it up. Metaphor ReFantazio is done by the 3 most important people that are responsible for the modern Persona recipe (3, 4, 5), including Shoji Meguro, who left Persona projects, but isn't retired yet (he's 53)

[@tiffk5768]

My fave songs from this game so are probably the desert theme and the dragon boss theme

[@optckatana]

Im So Glad you started listening to this side of Meguro’s Composing, its very reminiscent of his style for Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey which is another amazing game for soundtrack

[@bianca8237]

Just got the game a second ago, can’t wait to play

[@giovanniprovost]

Man you really need to listen to anything from Strange Journey, you'd like it I think.

[@ashing838]

I love this battle theme overall. I will say the chanting makes me think of the B-52s though and I keep singing Love Shack because of it 😂

[@lightningevo5429]

loving this game its so good.

[@CGBartz]

Giving Strange Journey vibes with these songs. Shoji never fails man.

[@ninjabunny9526]

I specifically love akemdemia's theme from this game so far, I hope you listen to it one day!

[@Fomortiis100]

This ain't the first time Shoji Meguro's composed music in this style. His work from SMT Strange Journey is very similar to this, but that was a DS game so it couldn't achieve the same level of fidelity that Metaphor has. Still a lot of great classical-style operatic music there.

[@krisisgod666]

Does anyone get SEVERE Fire Emblem Three Houses vibes from the instrumentals in the battle theme? Some parts seem almost 1:1 with the main battle theme in that🧐

[@Suguya]

Shoji Meguro already did a similiar "opera style" ost before in shin megami tensei strange journey, worth checking out a few songs

[@jackcrow3166]

this game comes out in like 9 hours im so excited, i been playing the demo all day

[@dorianTFF]

Let’s fucking go. Been waiting for this game since 2016!!!!

[@Gogmatic]

Shoji Meguro does again! Bless that man.

[@10k-Noodles]

This is new for me too. I only own a Switch so anything Metaphor is new to me. But it’s from a source I know always produces fire. Is this their battle theme, for real? I remember the OG Xenosaga having a battle theme this good. Holy shit.

[@stoogie375]

I'd get into fights just to hear this theme :D

[@Nobody-hc1rw]

A metaphoric story retold in a Fantazio world. Yeah this game is pressing all the right buttons for me.

[@kantokid9378]

The male vocal is the same guy who did God shattering star for FE: three houses.

[@Zen-66700]

Shoji Meguro doesnt disappoints and always deliver

[@Lordx718]

If you liked this then check out Fear of God from SMT Strange Journey, it's another Meguro track where he decided "All Battle Themes are Boss Themes"

[@elerrante5991]

Now we need the Akademia theme bro

[@marioefh1289]

I woke up late today just to wait less until midnight to play this.

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

The language is esperanto. Created meant to be a universal language. Very few use it.

[@d0minican0milan0]

The first time I heard this I had to stop playing just to vibe out to it lol so different...I have to commend them for knocking it out of the park like they always do go Atlus

[@tortilla8203]

after seeing this reaction, we gotta get the man to hear some strange journey music !

[@ytm0819]

The battle theme is crazy AF

[@kingant100]

I hope someone request the desert theme and grand trad post catherdral theme

[@dafire9634]

This game is going to singlehandedly get thousands of people to learn Esperanto, what a 4D chess play For jesse asking "is this italian", from what it seems, Esperanto is Italian, Latin, Spanish, French and German getting together and collectively making a baby

[@nuetralkitty58]

YES GOOD

[@Gogmatic]

Play this game, dude. It's masterclass.

[@kevinabbottlane1814]

If you listen to the battle theme of metaphor it almost reminds me of fire emblem three houses

[@AuspexAO]

I feel like when someone translates that Esperanto...we're gonna hear some serious shit.

[@scallahan1294]

The version you listened to cuts off right before the drop and looped to the start that was gross (for the battle theme) it was about to hit the best part then just stops and cuts to beginning idk who made that version but its gross

[@Reycied]

I played the demo, and at first blush HATED the battle theme. But by the time I was halfway through the demo, it had sunk the roots of Stockholm Syndrome into my head. Now I can't get enough of it. XD

[@Pichu1232]

The language is apparently Esperanto

[@TainoMoya]

peak dropped

[@farkblade6178]

shoji meguro diciendo q sigue siendo el amo

[@ClanNoSense]

Jackie Chan Vs Owen Wilson Drinking game Single

[@flare9612]

There are 2 battle themes, you only covered one. Though I liked the one you reacted to better, I still want to hear your opinion about the other battle theme

[@blakec8549]

Hey dilly dally dilly dilly dal hey

[@jjbaberams]

8:55 me, an alto: 🫥

[@Name1536803]

Medieval rap

[@blivveries]

I think you can really tell the battle theme's a Shoji Meguro track when you deconstruct it. The structure is very reminiscent of his SMT and Persona battle themes, even with such different instrumentation. Replace the orchestra with guitar and drumkit, and swap the chanting for Lotus Juice rapping, and it's straight out of Persona!

[@LordlyWeeb]

If you like this you should check out the Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey soundtrack. It's kinda the same style, also by Meguro

[@vascotech88]

Ah, sad that the music Jesse heard from the battle theme kinda looped in a bad way just as it was heading up again. In game it does not loop like that, that seems like a bad edit. There are extended versions out there which extend the song as in game and you barely notice the loop

[@yotambraunshtein9786]

Insanity

[@Autumnnm]

Please react to some ost from smt strange journey, it has a similar vibe

[@Oryips]

I never clicked faster

[@HattaTHEZulZILLA86]

I suggest buying the game for the soundtrack. Otherwise, it's just another Atlus JRPG with Personas, Velvet Room and social links given a new name.

[@kantokid9378]

People from Nier:automata have helped with the designs too.

[@lukemoonwalker8444]

I know and recognize the rest of the OST slaps but the Battle Theme is just way too symilar to the Fire Emblem Three Houses theme.

[@ioriart85xx33]

You should also try listening to the Abyssal Fracture ost from ffxiv. Zeromus theme.

[@SkandiTV]

tl;dr this is basically the next Persona game :D

[@shutup1037]

@@SkandiTV not even close

[@shutup1037]

Upgraded one with class system

[@Laurcus]

Metaphor is in fact the newest Shin Megami Tensei game. If this was released ten years ago the title of the game would have been Shin Megami Tensei: Metaphor ReFantazio, or something like that. Up until the end of the PS2 era, Atlus had a habit of marketing spinoff games in that way since all ~30+ games in the series are loosely connected via being part of the same multiverse and using lots of the same concepts. This led to some very very long game titles like Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army. The last spinoff game to be marketed in this way was if I'm not mistaken the European release of Persona 4, which was called Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. Shoji Meguro is, as far as I know, semi-retired but still has a good relationship with Atlus and especially Katsura Hashino, so he's not retired retired. For years Atlus has wanted a so called "third pillar" for their company. Everything comes from Shin Megami Tensei, but despite technically being a spinoff, Persona has become their main bread winner. They wanted a third Megami Tensei series to be able to stand alongside SMT and Persona. Originally they tried that with Soul Hackers. The first Soul Hackers game is quite old, and was called Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers. In 2022 they made a sequel simply called Soul Hackers 2, hoping that game could really be the start of their third series, but the game had mixed to negative receptions. But Atlus didn't put all their eggs in one basket. After the release of Persona 5, they told Katsura Hashino to make them a game that would really make waves and establish itself as a new sub-series within the Megami Tensei brand. They did this because Hashino is the freaking golden child. Dude just doesn't miss. He directed Nocturne, Persona 3, Persona 4 and Persona 5. He single handedly saved Atlus as a company as they were originally planning to close their doors after Persona 3. So for Metaphor they basically wrote him a blank check, let him pick his team and get to work. He chose Meguro to do the soundtrack and Shigenori Soejima, (Character designer for the modern Persona games.) to do the character designs. This game is basically being made by the Atlus super squad. For the music, Hashino told Meguro that he really wants him to go wild and not be constrained by his usual pop style.

[@kl0764]

Metaphor isnt Shin Megami Tensei its a brand new IP. When it was called Project Re:Fantasy the website said “this is not persona, this is not megami tensei, this is the beginning of a new story”

[@Laurcus]

@@kl0764 It's definitely part of the Megami Tensei multiverse. There's things in the demo that confirm that beyond the shadow of a doubt. It's a new IP in the exact same way Soul Hackers 2 was a new IP.

[@kl0764]

@@Laurcus sure it can be in the same multiverse but it isn’t a megami tensei game. Soul hackers 2 is because SMT demons are used in the gameplay, it’s the same reason why Persona is still megami tensei. Metaphor has as much in common with SMT as Catherine does

[@Laurcus]

@@kl0764 Catherine literally takes place in the Persona universe. KZbin search "Catherine Full Body Persona 5". You literally play as Joker in that game. And same multiverse means it is part of Megami Tensei. The multiverse, aka Sea of Amala, was created by the Great Reason. There are also demons in Metaphor. You meet a Jack Frost. You're also calling on Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious in Metaphor, which is the same thing as a Persona, minus the part of the Shadow-self wearing them as a mask. And the Collective Unconscious was created by the Knowledge of the Great Reason, which is now possessed by humanity.

[@Laurcus]

@@kl0764 Not sure why my other, much longer comment didn't post, but you play as Joker in Catherine, so it's confirmed part of the Persona world. Also the multiverse was made by the Great Reason which implies SMT. And there's a Jack Frost in Metaphor. There's many other direct connections.

[@chknrsandTBBTROX73]

Bro looks like Mango from Smash Bros.

[@JamieEhh]

I like the vocals, but I don't really care for the orchestral part. It just feels kinda boring and samey. You could replace the instrumental and you wouldn't even know

[@ItsSauIGoodman]

The most polite way to say you don't like it 😂 😅