Metaphor ReFantazio's Lore Has Untold Implications

[@bsheart5300]

When i got there i literally yelled "Shinjuku???" Now i realize even the layout was referenced. Its so insanely cool for someone who absolutely loved untold 1.

[@Ornitorrinco246]

"Even in a new IP... FOE" Man that takes me back

[@Forgetthereality]

Metaphor Refantazio is peak Atlus Fanservice You get all sorts of nods nudges and winks to all atlus has ever done. The weapon names are from all other Atlus games, Characters names are anagrams of some older characters Dungeons, towns, and traveling all have touches of past osts somewhere. They turned inward for inspiration and instead of facing database collapse they blended everything they have done into an amazing tapestry of all their old works. This all and it still hasnt touched upon the metas in the narrative itself. Atlus is still just has creative and unique and god im so thankful they chose to take a risk and did something this wild. So much style and inspiration can be had from this title. I hope the success of MRF greenlights a sequel cause is desperately need more of this world!

[@TitusConstantine]

What are some examples of the character names being anagrams?

[@robo567]

when i saw that the masks needed for the masked dancer were named after the major arcana i just knew atlus were having the time of their lives.

[@JosValenz]

Yeah, just the moment when I tried the demo and saw the names of the spells I said "holy shit, these bastards still remember Megami Tensei"

[@ryankeith2712]

Rata has officially made it big! He’s got bots in the comments

[@JotaKingtero]

Holy shit what a revelation. I never played the Etrian games so now I understand why this dungeon was so different. This game has a lot of references to other Atlus RPGs and I love it

[@krispy_kornflake]

Yeah that dungeon felt so out of place, like 80% of it was also optional I think. This explains a lot. I still don't like this revelation overall because it doesn't make much sense, it kinda worked in SMT IV but here... I don't know how it was tied into Etrian Odyssey but it just feels wrong here. I mean, if EO has an explanation to how an entire world grew AROUND the old one, in the air just like that, ok I guess but it isn't very believeable.

[@Fleshlight_Reviewer]

That dungeon was rough

[@nek729]

Just when I thought this game was done with its lore, I got to the part in Metaphor when we go underground and find ancient society that's actually a post apocalyptic modern society. I thought it was reference to Shin Megami Tensei 4, but then I remembered they been doing this since Etrian Odyssey and my mind was blown when I made the connection

[@Yeti1473]

Bruhhh why did I look at this before the video got started 😭

[@kewa_design]

I also thought it's the end but then we get like 5x the same "last mission" feeling and it still doesn't end, massive game

[@tangledfish]

Not sure if you noticed but the shops in the village Eht Ria have nearly the same names as the ones in Etrian Odyssey. Shilleka's Weaponry is Shilleka's Goods. Keft Incantations is Ceft Apothecary. The Rooster Inn remains the Rooster Inn. Actually before going into the dungeon I thought that was just a cute easter egg for the dozen EO fans out there. Boy was I wrong.

[@griffca4814]

Well Eht Ria sounds like Etria and is also the real name of the Drowned City in the 3rd game. So that's one hell of a reference.

[@Lonewulf321]

Yeah It’s not just a cute Easter egg. It’s one of the best Easter eggs and references we ever got as Etrian Fans

[@CosmicVoid_119]

Another cool thing is during the part where everyone has to bring back the relics if you look at the relics one of them is the holy grail from p5 and another was a helmet from strange journey

[@moonielivee4836]

​@@CosmicVoid_119literal multiple god remains

[@KhangNguyen-ij4xh]

@@Lonewulf321I’ll be honest I yield to you guys. I tried but I can’t even get past EO3 first dungeon. The limited mana pool, the forced random encounter and the big “fuck you” elites that jumps you makes the game a slog to me. I know that I’m supposed to run around and explore the map but due the aforementioned parts of the game I don’t even wanna move a step because it’s a potential TPK or it’ll chew through a good chunk of my resources.

[@anonwalkerr]

We got hulkenberg in etrian odyssey like 7 years ago. it was destined

[@brenoanselmo9563]

It's pretty cool that she is in Etrian Odyssey Nexus

[@donovangrant424]

Of the stated 18 Etrian Odyssey fans out there, I want to chime in that I had a visceral emotional reaction to everything related to Lost Shinjuku in this game. The music swell, the big reveal, the damn-near identical maps, the not-FOE's placed throughout, it was like looking at a photo of the home you were born in long after you've moved into a new home and started working on your future. Genuine art.

[@Audiophillie]

This twist is actually so cool. I'm 100% stealing this for my next d&d campaign Different system, different game style, everything, only for the players to (later on in the story) find statues of their old characters in their dilapidated hub town.

[@Enderrock424]

genius idea low key

[@illusive-mike]

I would say the retcon goes a bit deeper than just "it's magla". Because magla is obviously magatsuhi. It is drawn from negative emotions, powers magic, and masses of it can be imprinted with the "image" of what is in SMT parlance called demons. Dragons fit the bill perfectly, and it's no coincidence that the Summoner Archetype manifests dragons while its elite variant summons actual SMT demons. The apocalypse as described fits the template of an SMT story, with the discovery of magic leading to an eventual armaggeddon as humans unleash magical creatures upon each other. Metaphor made Etrian Oddysey into a Megaten franchise. Here's hoping the possibilities that carves out will spur them to actually make a new one, since the way they've treated it after the 3DS's end (making the HD ports of the original 1-2 rather than Untold) hasn't inspired my purchase so far.

[@deepdarksecretful]

if we think about it, the timeline is basically Persona -> SMT -> Metaphor -> Etrian Odyssey. just waiting for its IRL discovery so I can finally tap out lmao

[@illusive-mike]

@@deepdarksecretful It's not necessarily like that, since Megaten is a multiverse. Persona is an alternate universe of SMT I-II, and EO III is not necessarily in continuity with the rest of them either. The only thing that unites all of them is the way magic works. Which, with the integration of the Royal Magic, casts literally us in the role of the Axiom. So hey, we're the reason these universes suck to live in. Which tracks.

[@Andrews13channel]

@@illusive-mike huhhh??!?!

[@Randomness-hz7kj]

The moment I walked into shinjuku in metaphor, I recognized it and the music instantly, and was completely overcome by excitement. Seeing them bring Metaphor into the Etrian Odyssey world is giving me incredible hope for an eventual EO6, and I could not be happier.

[@rainbowkrampus]

I've been waffling about playing this. But if the twist is so impressive that Rata is geeked, I guess I'll have to play it. So instead of finishing the video I will simply like and remain subscribed, out of spite.

[@Vexdon]

Someone on Bluesky linked me this video and I'm glad I watched it. EO means so much to me and its nice to see how many EO fans I keep finding day by day. Thanks alot for the video!

[@CherikoSol]

When I saw it I immediately thought of your conversations about before playing the game. I was floored!

[@Derpdeder_]

I'm getting the Etrian Odyssey Class Costumes & Battle BGM Set. Never buy dlcs but, I need to remind Atlus we EO fans exist.

[@dualwieldroxas358]

I absolutely love that there are parts of the game that the game will not explain. Phenomenon that could be entire stories all thier own, but like us, they are a mystery to the party, one they will never solve because it is not THIER story

[@danielgrezda3339]

When you said all 18 of us I felt personally attacked and congratulated. Hope this reference makes people try out the series!

[@gageshippy2256]

I just finished this game today. December 1st. 2024. I sat through the credits. Its beautiful.

[@Axel-er1hx]

If you talk to Catherina after the final fight, she says she saw many amazing things beyond the shores of Euchronia. Hinting that there are many different countries outside. If Metaphor 2 happens it will either be in those countries or it can be a prequel to this game explaining the destruction of the old world

[@roxas7295]

This piques my interest in this game a little more. I fully expected it to take place in a post-apocalypse, but to have it literally be Etrian Odyssey makes it a lot more clever.

[@MistWalkerSam]

Thanks for this video because I did not get this reference and this made the game even better for me

[@MistWalkerSam]

I knew of Etrian games because of Persona Q, but didnt get the Eth Ria reference, kinda dissapointed at me because now it seems too obvious

[@questionmarkquestionmarkques]

i thought he called the town eht ria because its the air backwards

[@DMG-Again]

Dude I haven’t played the untold games since they were released. I loved the shit outta them. When I got to lost shinjuku I was like “damn they stole this plot twist from etrian odyssey”. I can’t believe it didn’t click for me until I saw this video.

[@HammerspaceCreature]

Honestly while the Etrian Odyssey connections are very cool, there are so many plot holes with claiming Metaphor is literally a prequel to EO without a lot of retconning. A more obvious example is that there are multiple refences to the non-human races in EO being created immediately after the apocalypse to help humanity recover, so if that's the case where are they in Metaphor? (And I'm talking like full on harpies and furries and plant people, not little hip wings and horns, like you would notice if they were around). To be clear, if they are doing a lot of retconning, and essentially rebooting the EO lore with Metaphor, I'm into that, because the lore of EO was always kind of vague to begin with, especially when it comes to how the sequels are connected, but It's definitely not as simple as Metaphor just being a straight up prequel. That one foreshadowing line they drop about Virga being 'close to the world tree' did piss me off a little though. Like, no it isn't. The world tree in EO is hundreds of feet tall. If it was anywhere near it would be obvious, you can't just say that and not show it. At least they didn't make us fight any of those god damn mantises though.

[@Lonewulf321]

It’s just a reference in my eyes. 35th anniversary love letter to Atlus JRPGs

[@HammerspaceCreature]

@@Lonewulf321 ​ @Lonewulf321 Well either way, Rata is right about one thing: it's a weirdly large amount of references for a dead franchise that was never that popular to begin with. The more you look the more you find. It's hard to justify why Atlus would give the go ahead on dedicating so much of the game to EO references if they weren't cooking something.

[@Lonewulf321]

@@HammerspaceCreature I mean they’ve been teasing new EO stuff for a long time now. Or at least saying they wanted too.

[@creeperwithstyle]

@@HammerspaceCreature Agree completely here. While I definitely think it would be FANTASTIC if Metaphor was a direct prequel to Etrian Odyssey, I do have some doubts about it. Whatever it is though it is for sure more than just a simple reference. The amount of work that went into this goes wayyy beyond the references to SMT and Persona, and dedicating an entire dungeon to be identical to probably the most important dungeon in the Etrian Odyssey series is… something

[@demifolk8940]

@@HammerspaceCreatureyea but when you look at the game as a whole package, is it really that big of a reference? the gameplay is mostly, predominantly a mix between persona and smt. press turn, “social links” calendar system. synthesis is dds, theres multiple characters that look like other atlus characters (like catherina). EO is only a big part of this particular part of the story. the eht ria is very obviously a reference to them, the twist makes a huge reference, but theres literally nothing else to relate it to EO apart from that. i think its more likely that they took inspiration from all their IPs they have made, smt and persona are more popular, so they used EO as their story inspiration. thats my theory at least. even the class system is closer to FF than it is EO. so is the front and back system too. less peopled know EO, so using EO as the story inspiration makes sense. people would immediately recognize an smt/persona story reference in the main game.

[@MasutaMJ]

I'm going to circle back to this after I beat the game. I usually watch all your videos but I need time on this one.

[@WinstonOfDojima]

You’re safe to watch this video after the month of August in game.

[@michaeltsang1748]

If there is one thing I dislike about the dungeon, is that if you traverse it in a certain way, you end up skipping most FOE puzzles. I didn't take the first elevator and killed the human responsible for the FOEs later down the line. It's still a fantastic dungeon, but I wish they had more FOE puzzles on the lower floors.

[@alansquared]

I subbed for balanced, hard nosed game critique so the tone of this one is a plot twist in of itself.

[@Brandt21]

Dang man, had no idea you loved Etrian Odyssey so much. Thats awesome man. When I got to this area in metaphor I almost cried seeing it all. Such a great reference most wont understand, thanks for helping it be seen!

[@alitabattlebot013]

I never played Etrian when it was on ds, I picked it up when it came to switch, so for me I got to experience the reveal completely unspoiled, and let me tell you, it has to be one of my favorite moments in gaming and cemented the whole series as one of my favorites.

[@BQD_Central]

I knew that the new name "Eht Ria" is a reference to something, but I didn't know what it was. That makes so much more sense now, thank you.

[@RollingStone501]

The moment I got into the twist dungeon's last few floors I felt massive deja vu cause EO Untold 1 was fantastic and once they named the village I realized the game isn't Fantasy Persona, its Etrian Odyssey with SMT/Persona elements. Makes one of the many DLC costumes make sense since they have the Metaphor Characters be able to wear EO outfits. What got me interested in those outfits was that they also have costumes referencing Persona 1 and 2. And I hope those get remade someday.

[@Aftokraftor]

I was freaking the hell out when I got to this part of the game I was like dude there is no way they just did this to me Unless something absolutely blows my mind for the end of this year this is definitely my GOTY for sure I love this game so much I'm already on my NG+ run I wish I could erase my memory and replay this game again man

[@Aftokraftor]

This game is a huge love letter to Atlus fans There are so many things I wish I could talk about but I dont wanna spoil anything But man this game is just wow

[@nicoleramos5964]

Bruh writing wise this game is predictable and absolutely stupid. In talking about the prince twists. They pulled that out of a hat... I was both ashamed and on the verge of tears when we got to that stupid reveal. It has good ideas but horribly executed.😢

[@Aftokraftor]

@@nicoleramos5964 bro I was just happy to see a series I grew up with have a cool Easter egg and nothing more I'm sorry you didn't like the game Blame the persona "fans" who only play to date minors for turning atlus into this piss baby slop because they couldn't handle smt games It was just nice to see atlus hadn't forgotten series I once upon a time cared about and they made some cool callbacks in this game The story didn't blow me away either and I guessed most of it myself But it didn't take away my enjoyment of the game either Things definitely could've been done better and I think they went too safe with this game but that's the fan base they have garnered over the years sadly

[@nicoleramos5964]

@@Aftokraftor well im not talking about the Easter egg to the game that it has. I never played that game. I did like that twist though. Fantasy world taking place and a post apocalyptic world. Now I love P5R. Yes more than this one. Music and writing wise. This one was a breath of fresh air in many areas. I'm glad there's no $exulization, in P5R it's Anne and just it gets weird, woman's pov. This one was cool just the poorly executed ideas were what made me wish for more. But it was enjoyable visual and game play wise. Far from horribly just not the best for me .

[@justmonica9253]

My face hurt after finishing this dungeon. It's a long dungeon, and I was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. It genuinely felt like a super special present just for me. My apologies to my coworker who knows nothing about Atlus games- I needed to tell someone about this amazing thing that happened.

[@Wakkowolf]

lol thanks algorithm. I was looking into this game, but I was also playing Etrian some years ago then sadly left my 3DS on a bus.

[@wedding2710]

They all run great on Citra. Drawing maps with a mouse is not ideal but it's worth it if you don't want to buy a 3ds

[@cornjeebus]

wow, a reluctant "I need to talk about it" vid from ratatoskr? I guess I need to buy this game immediately (I was already thinking about it, but this sold me)

[@bad_ideas289]

I would not say that Metaphor is necessarily a prequel to Etrian, as later revelations in Metaphor are fundamentally incompatible with Etrian's lore. All the Etrian references in Metaphor are likely just that, references, winks and nods to the Etrian fans.

[@shutup1037]

Yeah I agree

[@Lonewulf321]

Yeah, I agree also. It’s not a prequel at all, it’s just another reference. This is a 35th anniversary love letter to Atlus JRPGs and a ton of other games for referenced. I don’t think it goes deeper than that

[@markwatson8714]

Some of the earlier one's too (and I'm pretty sure there's similar references throughout the game). It's more than just a nod and a wink though. Metaphor is basically stepping through the mirror; to the inhabitants of Euchronia our fantasies are their reality and our reality is their fantasy. Atlus have basically mashed together elements from all of their games and sprinkled a bit more fantasy on top.

[@sueoshea2131]

Like the persona, soul hacker and devil summoner archetype (past heroes)

[@Lonewulf321]

@@sueoshea2131 don’t forget Megami Tensei skill names and last Bible skill names etrian odyssey items and similar plot structure and battle mechanics as Digital Devil Saga

[@TheAarlec]

As a huge Etrian Odyssey fan (one of the hallowed 18), this is the coolest thing I've seen in a game in years. What an amazing connection.

[@helloInternets]

The implication that things might go good for Etrian Odyssey fans if buy all the Metaphor costume DLC. Now, not that things are gonna go right for us but we're thinking that they will.

[@Ibear1123]

With how they described the relics in the game I thought we were gonna explore like a modern lab of some sort but seeing Shinjuku under there made my jaw drop. It reminded me of that undersea city in Xenoblade 2.

[@Grimbonez]

Will have to come back. I might end out playing it. But im glad it sounds like ur enjoying it! Bring back EO mapping!

[@ascended313]

I honestly think the two games aren’t really related, I think it was just a reference because the two games have similar settings in that sense.

[@Audiophillie]

What about the same map layout and item names though?

[@ascended313]

@@Audiophillie still just a reference, it wouldn’t even make that much sense for them to be connected.

[@Audiophillie]

@@ascended313 Fair enough, I know absolutely nothing about the games lol. I just thought it'd be a really cool way to revive an old series without directly saying "this is EO's retcon reboot you're playing right now"

[@grubfriend]

I never got into Etrian Odyssey because of the map mechanics - I still haven't finished its funky little half siblings in SMT Strange Journey or Persona Q, either. I recognized the silly ahh ear humans in Metaphor as FOEs, but had no idea how deep this rabbit hole went. Thanks for making the video, it helped to explain my own confusion with Metaphor's worldbuilding. I'm so glad that y'all EO fans got so much out of this, I'm glad Atlus didn't forget either :)

[@verathorn1556]

This kind of twist has been common in fantasy stories since pulp fiction magazine stories of the 1920s. It was even a big reveal in the original 1980s thundercats. And more recently in the show adventure time.

[@kaitino]

This video is gold. I was already shocked without all the Etrian context (because I never played the game) when I reached Drakongrace because it’s such a beautiful moment. Also I found other Atlus reference in the game: the personae master, the devil summoner, the soul hacker archetypes, and I was wondering okay but what about Etrian Odyssey: and then I found your video. Thanks a lot, you really helped me make a beautiful memory of this game even more amazing. And fuck, I didn’t realized Eth Ria / Ethrian… I feel so dumb agagahahahh

[@Dr_Donald_Duck]

Bro I'm still on October, so once I finish the game I'll come back and watch this! Looking forward to it!

[@travisgeorge1553]

If that's the case, this video won't spoil anything. It's based on the events that happened during the island nation vist.

[@Dr_Donald_Duck]

thx ​@travisgeorge1553 in that case it's an early treat :)

[@AirRice]

I was not expecting this game to be as much of an Etrian Odyssey homage as it is, but it's got Ariadne threads, front/back rows, and even the side dungeons feel a bit classic dungeon crawler-y. The entire arc revealing Lost Shinjuku, the music, the F.O.E. gimmick enemies, the SAME layout with the SAME floor names, and capping it off with the town named Eht Ria with the shops named the same as the EO1 Etria is such an incredible barrage of references one after the other. I can only imagine the shock and amazement if you were already an EO1 veteran (I'm only a Persona Q player.)

[@chrones56]

Honestly, I thought that it was supposed to be more of a deepcut reference SMT IV's Tokyo, but seeing this now, there's no doubt.

[@Alster26]

When I got to the Shinjuku reveal in Metaphor, I was like: "Damnit Atlus! Ya got me again!" Then I ran around that dungeon for so long finding all the lore items to see all the optional conversations. I also had thought it was weird that Atlus had an Etrian Odyssey costume pack for this game, but now I understand.

[@Ak-kd2zt]

Just got to this part in metaphor today I didn't know ANYTHING about Eht Ria fantasy glad you made this video and thank you algorithm gods

[@creeperwithstyle]

I’m a very recent fan of Etrian Odyssey all things considered. I started with the HD version of the original during the final quarter of last year, and have slowly been making my way through the games in release order since then (finished EO4 just before the P3RE DLC came out, and I plan on starting Untold 1 after I finish Refantazio). So this series is of course still super fresh in my mind, and by god I was just completely blown away by the reveal. I still can’t believe that Atlus decided to go this hard for Etrian Odyssey of all things. As a sidenote I also found it very funny that the first time I found Ariadne Threads to be useful in the game was in the Etrian Odyssey dungeon of all things

[@BobDylan-ho2gd]

Such an amazing game. 90 hours in and only in the month of August. 😊

[@willofd.2227]

Brother know that I love you, Just Experienced this Divine Feeling of Sheer Joy and Excitement in the game and wanted to Passively/Mutually experience with all the people who played this and this video did that and Far beyond, again I love you, Keep uo the great Work Brother 🖤

[@BriahnAznable]

I played Untold with my Niece back when it came out (was her first dungeon crawler so I helped out when needed)… just finished the dungeon today and my brain exploded. Eht Ria, the music, the layout, the FOE… I cannot wait to see where they go with this plot. Metaphor was the shakeup on the formula I’ve been begging for, stuff like this just makes me love it even more

[@Sarven3891]

Until this video i would have never believed that Metaphor was in actuality a Prequel to a different series of game. I appreciate the information Ratatoskr, and will at least look into what the Ehtrian fantasy games are about.

[@WilberforceWooster]

I am one of fortunate few that was surprised by Shinjuku back in 2007 and all over again in 2024. That music hit like a hammer when I heard it. A masterpiece of a game.

[@XxPoliatorxX]

I shed a couple of tears when I got there. I got caught off guard completely, and when I saw the trees in the door, then the music hit in the loading screen I actually felt shivers. Yuzo did this version of the music too, and goddamn another masterpiece of a track I love a lot. The first time I got to 5th Strata back in 2010 it got me, and for sure Atlus freaking did it again in Metaphor for me. Exact same maps (the paths that are available, I mean), same floor names, FOE reference, the music, the last floor being more ominous... If that's Atlus saying "sorry for the wait" until EO6 comes out, I accept 100% the apology and it makes me more excited for the future of the franchise! This was not a minor reference; one whole major dungeon dedicated to EO1 makes my heart skip a beat. I love it. I still feel the tingles when I hear Metaphor's rendition of the music and when I remember the moment I arrived there. It'll be a memory I'll cherish. Also, I don't think it's in the EO timeline at all, since EO1 was a pure climate change disaster story. I prefer to think about it as "another universe" story. Things went south, they discovered Magla, hence no need for the Yggdrasil Project... but it brought them to an end anyways. It's still so fucking cool. Ok so, I fanboyed enough. Good video :-)

[@SeeAndrewC]

Glad to see other fans of Etrian odyssey. From the beginning, the game really stuck out to me as a persona game in the setting of Etrian Odyssey

[@gemodemplay415]

I did not play Ethrian Odyssey, but I knew about it. When I saw this twist my jaw dropped. And then when I heard the name Eht Ria it immediately clicked. This revelation blew my mind.

[@theredtreeman777]

I love Etrian Odyssey, this is awesome.

[@keybladeMasterNadroj]

I thought of you the moment I started noticing the references One earlier foreshadowing I was curious if you picked up in is that in Eht Ria 3 of the shops are named after the shops in Etrian Odyssey The Golden Dear Hearth = Golden Dear pub Shilleka's Weaponry = Shilleka's Goods The Rooster Inn (just outright the same name) They have these names even when you first arrive in the village before it gets its true name, and at first I thought it was just a cute little reference that would end there, and was absolutely stunned when I got to Shinjuku.

[@HammerspaceCreature]

I knew I recognised the name Shilleka but I couldn't remember where from! Yes, that's great.

[@havenprice]

Omfg i LOVE ET. Many references in eht ria. Very cool. They even had the same shop name Edit: lmfao. I guess i am one of the 18.

[@charliexl5877]

Had to stop watching at the 8:00 mark to avoid spoilers, as I haven't beaten the dungeon quite yet, but this is so cool to hear! My big revelation ended with me being like "Ohhh snap Metaphor is taking place in a POST post-apocalyptic world-- like at least a few thousand years post. Reminds me of that one SMT game", but its so dope to hear that this is a prequel to an old, slept on Atlus IP. Implications for a new Etrian Odyssey in the near future?

[@Lonewulf321]

When I noticed the map for this dungeon was literally 1:1 with lost shinjuku I lost my shit

[@RazAnime]

I cant believe that despite playing every single Etrian Odyssey game I did not recognize this! ...because I played every single EO *EXCEPT* the very first one D:

[@CarlosThadeu]

I never heard of this game but man, Metaphor just becomes one of my favorite games more and more each day ❤

[@j.corbygaming]

I played the demo for Etrian Oddesy Untold, I liked it. I wish I got it before the shop died. Crazy lore!

[@yinyun2715]

I'm here, I'm one of the EO fans!

[@austinwoods466]

Such a great twist. Twice!

[@DerAstrophysikerr]

It's important to note that, no matter where you are in-game, you always see little Magla crystals floating around in the air, just like actual pollution. I like to think this is also a metaphor for nuclear fallout, considering that it also drove evolution so much that within a few hundred years (or 1000 years max - the kingdom was founded some 800 years ago), some people had literally evolved into basically humanoid rabbits.

[@thunderhogTH]

As someone with sadly zero experience with Etrian Oddesy, the whole deal with the Yggdrail core now has brought my attention back to the first landmark of the game, the Tree of Prophecy. You know, the giant tree growing in the desert that feeds off Magla? Looks a lot more significant now in hindsight.

[@brucedao2360]

This needs more views no famous reviewers caught that.

[@Maelys_ACNH]

One of the things I like about this is that the Etrian odyssey references in this part if the game are really cool but not necessary to enjoy that part. Like, as someone who's never played Etrian odyssey, I honestly didn't at all feel lost or like I was missing out on important parts of the story due to my ignorance. And hell, now I even want to play Etrian odyssey myself ! Sick reveal, gotta love it.

[@mostlyjoe]

The fact that this is a prequel to the series is bloody amazing.

[@FrnzFrdnnd]

That is awesome. I didn't know about this. Granted I've only played the demo for one of the Etrian games.

[@mareczek00713]

I suspected something similar from the start - with Humans being fallen monsters while races in the game seem to be evolved (possibly magically to speed it up) animals explaining the animalistic features post-apo was obvious and my main thought was "Will they connect it to EO or SMT?" xD

[@sasuke11457]

I would never have known this was a reference as i only get to the 3rd stratum before my party falls apart and i do want to redo my party. If they continue the series i want class switching to have no drawback as leveling back up again is stupid

[@itsnotborker456]

It's probably most likely a spinoff series in the same way Persona is to SMT but they dropped Etrian Odyssey name for the same reason they dropped SMT from Persona

[@Nowhere_4243]

Absolutely blows my mind when developers do this kind of stuff. Even though I have no knowledge of nor emotional atatchment to Etrian Odyssey, it's so freakin cool that they just made a years long thread like that. Not only have they made a really cool story, they've basically had an interaction with an entire group of strangers (however small it may be) on an "if you know you know" level. Gotta love games.

[@jacobnguyen8372]

Seeing the guys from Drakongrace, I just shouted “They got FOEs in this bitch!?” Even though I only know about Etrian Odyssey’s gameplay through Persona Q1 😅

[@SavantGardeEX]

I wouldint say its a prequeal, since they also refrenced persona, soul hackers, devil summoner, ect in the archetypes. Just a big nod to it or a little twist in one of metaphors areas lol.

[@c01onel]

I do feel though that EO got way bigger of a reference than the other franchises. EO gets a whole island, dungeon, even music, Persona, SH, and DS are just archtypes mostly.

[@hugosppezapria]

That kinda explains why Metaphor's world has such high temperatures

[@kentonroush]

I had no plans to play Metaphor before this but wow, as one of the 18 Etrian fans, that is SO cool.

[@pencilcheck]

I am not at the explanation of this twist yet, but I am seeing the mystery of the reveal, and seeing weird stuff of the world

[@sansundertale8765]

As someone who never played any of them, this video blew my mind!

[@Viewtifulyoshi]

It’s honestly impressive how unique Metaphor feels given that it’s almost all of Atlus’ previous games rolled into one. Absolutely phenomenal experience.

[@chadwolf3840]

Damn that’s cool. Playing though this masterpiece now.

[@turnonthetube_Pat]

This video makes me want to experience eteian odyssey

[@thefraser5131]

I have never played an Atlas game, and likely never will, but I'm all for hearing about a super cool plot twist.

[@WackNoir]

Try SMT 5 Vengeance, it came out this year and the story is alright but the gameplay is fun. It should be on sale right now which is why I’m recommending it, but metaphor is really fun and worth the price imo as someone that doesn’t like to pay full price for most hames

[@betasector]

Yeah, Atlas games are pretty elusive, it's really hard to find any, so it's no wonder you have never played any.

[@thefraser5131]

@WackNoir I was thinking of starting with either Nocturn, Persona 5, or Digital Demon Saga if I ever were to play an Atlas game eventually. The issue is I just typically don't like JRPGs, just as I dont really enjoy anime that much. Thanks for the recommendation though!

[@Renbuscus]

​@@thefraser5131DDS and smt 3/4 are your best starting points aside from p3-5, I don't reccomend playing smt 5 though, the game sucks compared to everything else in the series (Same with smt 4 apocalypse).

[@thefraser5131]

@Renbuscus I'll keep that in mind. Currently playing Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines. Might play Dragon Age Origins since I got it on sale, but based on the tutorial, the game doesn't seem very interesting and actually seems kinda generic/boring. might finally get around to Bioshock afterward, but if I'm not in the mood for anything in particular, I might try out one of the Atlas games.

[@StickNik]

You are the Chaddest version of nerding out at things.

[@sniggelbob]

As a newbie atlas fan, I just thought the lost shinjuku moment was a reference to SMT 4 and i was slightly disappointed because it just seemed to me like rehashing the same idea. But realizing that its a canonical connection to a completely different game is WAY cooler!

[@MothmanEndured]

I had this spoiled without any context for where or when it occurs, but apparently there's also a fairy somewhere in the game that looks like Kupala of the forest people. What a great game.

[@metrothered]

I don't think Metaphor can be a prequel. It HAS to be a sequel because there is no Visil/Etreeant in Shinjuku. The Claret Hollow does not exist and none of the World Tree labyrinths are around. Also, some of the enemies in Metaphor are just straight up from EO, out in the world when we know they originally came from and were created by the labyrinths. Altabury is High Lagaard. Enjoy that information.

[@reiezevan]

Also if Metaphor was the prequel, then what happened to the mustari…

[@steveboy35]

i never heard of that DS game but this blew my mind now.

[@linkintrecomode]

That Music.... Hit me like you!

[@ianp5367]

So being an Etrian Odyssey fan, I picked up on all the references, and so when the name of fhe island was revealed to be Eht Ria (Etria), I was like ," fuckkkk?! So I wasn't crazy for seeing it that way!" Such an awesome reveal!

[@kaic5225]

This was lowkey like Shin megami tensei 4 when u defeat the minotaur who keeps the door that let you go down until u reach shinjuku too, i was so excited but sadly most people havent played SMT 4 that is a big moment in any megami tensei game after such cool boss fight.

[@devilfacethedarklord]

Also the "ear human" monsters move just like the enemies in etrian odyssey too.

[@Dracomasterthefirst]

What's even more- the dragons function exactly like the yggdrasil trees do- they absorb the pollutant in the enviroment. And just like Eht and the superboss dragons / they can become corrupted

[@nickperri6571]

I am so ready for more Ratatoskr lore videos

[@DBinitiate]

There're even more cheeky references in Eht Ria, namely the weapon shop being called "Shilleka's" (which is the name of the shop owner in Etrian Odyssey) and the inn being the Golden Deer. Oh, also... The story about the Yggdrasil Core becoming a problem is an Untold-version change in the story. The maps of ReFantazio are the original EO1 maps, so I doubt this plotpoint is actually important. Untold uses different maps for the fifth stratum, after all. The real problem, however, comes from the reason why Visil in EO1 fused with the Yggdrasil tree. He did so to ensure that the Yggdrasil project would come to fruition, so there should've been a man named Visil in ReFantazio as well.