Played as a nuzlocke. Also, I was playing on an older version of the game. You know, it's not often that games like this or Unbound come out. I understand that it takes a lot of work to make a game like this one, but it's always fun when they do. This game is basically "what if the Mario universe had a whole Pokemon-like thing going on?" and it works really well. Taking a lot of the usual Mario enemies like Koopas and Goombas and turning them into usable captures was a nice touch, and they gave some representation to the Mario RPGs like Superstar Saga and Partners in Time. The only real glaring things to note are the unusual abundance of physical attackers and significant lack of Electric types. Some captures are also just big balls of defenses, like Lubba and King Boo. This was a game very much made by fans of both Mario and Pokemon. The little references and moments were nice when they came by, and the story wasn't too serious, to the point where you could laugh from the goofiness of Bowser's scheming. It was also funny that he was a sort of second rival...even though he didn't know how to play, to the point he literally clicked Selfdestruct during the double battle in the Jungle Kingdom and took out his own ally. Naturally, though, there is a reason why I'm only giving this game 4 stars instead of 5, and that's Bowser in the Molten Kingdom. Prior to fighting him, the highest level trainer has Level 50 captures. Bowser suddenly has his ace (himself) at Level 56 with no prompting whatsoever. Shortly after these events is Luigi on Rainbow Road where his ace is Level 58. Yes, I did use Content Creator Mode to get the Infinite Rare Candies and the Cap Candies, but I made specific rules about how I used them. My team was Level 53 when I reached Bowser and one of my team members got blasted by a Level 55 Kamek. I would argue that was the low point in terms of balance, in my opinion. Even so, I still very much enjoyed playing Super Mariomon. Maybe one day I'll go back for the RetroAchievements set. Not sure yet, though.

If I had to describe this game in any one way, I'd say it's a melting pot of Persona, SMT, and funny enough, Digital Devil Saga specifically. Right away, I do like how Metaphor is a change of pace from the usual Atlus fare. You can only get so much out of playing as a second year high school student before it honestly starts getting a bit old. Euchronia is honestly a pretty abysmal place to live, what with the discrimination between tribes, monsters roaming about, and the general corrupt church, which is a pretty standard thing in RPGs, but still. Even so, there is good in that place, even if it's not totally in the limelight. Moving to the gameplay, this game has, yes, a job system, and you know what that means. The main goal of the gameplay is abusing the systems given to you to utterly smash the kneecaps of your enemies. Archetypes are like having the demon forms of Digital Devil Saga both without the Human Form, a gun (besides the Gunner line), but also the ability to inherit skills from other Archetypes to use in strategies, at a fee, naturally. Unlike Persona as well, after the first dungeon, you can go learn Archetypes or inherit skills with the press of a button instead of having to constantly visit Akedemia. The one main complaint I do have about the Archetypes, however, is their availability, namely in one particular example. If you're running a magic build, you're likely putting MC on the Mage line with maybe some diving into Healer line for light magic. Wizard is given fairly early and is a decent magic class, but as you progress and start acquiring more Adept Archetypes, Wizard starts to feel a bit lacking on it's own. The problem is just how late the Elite Mage classes unlock, because by the time you get them, you get MC's best Archetype, which is so powerful that you'll likely never switch off it. Sure, another character can get value out of it because of her high Magic stat, but it's a real shame you never have a reason to put MC on Elemental Master. I did like how the game encouraged the player to diversify the party's setups, as some enemy formations react differently depending on certain factors, like Goborns going berserk if anyone's a Mage or Healer or the birds that instakill anyone without a defense buff. I feel like these kinds of scenarios where Archetype diversity did fall off in the lategame, but by then, you're likely destroying random encounters in the first turn with no effort, so they have no time to deploy their tactics because they're already dead to your hyper efficient combo. In a way, it does feel like the Archetype system does fall to the wayside a bit once you have your two big setups: your "destroy mobs" squad and your "obliterate the boss in as few turns as possible, and in some cases, before they even get a turn" squad. This is especially a thing that can happen in the last couple of dungeons with the right setup. Similar to Trails through Daybreak, Metaphor has a hybrid system of field combat and turn based combat. Unlike Daybreak, however, enemies weaker than you can be defeated with ease in the field with a couple of hits, with no need to bother engaging them in turn based combat. You still get all the rewards, but don't have to waste time and it kept the flow going when you were farming weak enemies for money and Magla with Merchant. Even so, you could still engage with enemies in turn based combat with a simple button press. For the stronger enemies, it's a similar deal to Daybreak, stun them, get into a Squad Battle, and you'll have the advantage to lay the smackdown on them for free. While I did enjoy a couple of the dungeons, I will admit a lot of the side dungeons are not great. There are a bit too many samey looking caves, forests, and three towers with mostly similar layouts for my liking. They do step it up in the main dungeons, but one in particular, the Dragon Temple, does feel like it overstays it's welcome a bit. Then again, I also did an unhealthy amount of grinding in there before the boss, so that could be why I feel it overstays it's welcome. Before I get to one other thing, I need to address one thing. Synthesis Skills, namely how utterly broken they are. Similar to Digital Devil Saga, you have combo moves that require using more than one of your press turns to pull off. You don't get many AOE magic attacks without using this system, but as soon as you gain the ability to purchase a certain accessory, the floodgates of pain open. Two turn moves turn into one, and quickly open the door to utterly slaughter enemies with the most powerful skills in the game. Peerless Stonecleaver and Royal Sword are so incredibly fair and balanced, I killed three of the final dungeon's bosses with just one use of Royal Sword and a Masquerade Charge powered Peerless Stonecleaver. The Dragon Trial bosses? Didn't last one turn. It is absurd just how powerful these skills are with the ability to use them like regular moves. I barely needed to use a regular skill in a boss fight on anyone not names Heismay aside from Hero's Cry, which just gives you 4 half press turns for a measly 99 MP, in the lategame when you're swimming in MP restoring items. Anyway, I will say the characters are...well, they're alright. The real star of the show was the antagonist, Louis. This isn't even a spoiler since the first scene you see when you boot up the game is literally this dude stabbing the king. I do like a villain who sticks to his ideals to the very end, even if the endgoal was hyper extreme. Now before I end this, I need to add one thing. Lots of people are likely coming to this game from Expedition 33, and while I have my personal opinions on the...opinions people have with that game, making comparisons and acting like this game is bad because "it's not Expedition 33" is not a mindset you should go into playing this game. Enjoy the fantasy as it is. Don't go comparing it to what's apparently god's gift to RPGs and apparently the greatest video game to ever exist. Play Metaphor as it is. Not everything needs to be Expedition 33, and this game predates that anyway, so I fail to see the constant comparison. Anyway, it was a fun game, and now it is time to close the book on this fantasy. As the new king and his companions embark on a new journey, fantasy lives on.