Whatever Atlus' next game afterMetaphor: ReFantaziois going to be, it needs to leave the overused calendar system behind. First instituted inShin Megami Tensei, an adapted version of the calendar system soon became astaple of thePersonaseries. It works by dividing the game into days, each of which has its own weather, special events, and side activities. Days don’t progress in real-time, like in most other RPGs - instead, each day is further subdivided into an afternoon and a night, and players may select activities to occupy each and advance the calendar another day.
The calendar system can be fascinating when applied correctly- it forces the player to consider a unique kind of strategy, in which what they do outside battle is as important as what they do in it. However, it makes a lot less sense inMetaphorthan it does inPersona, and if Atlus continues developingoriginal games afterMetaphor’s success, it’s time to leave the calendar system in the past.
The Calendar System Makes Sense In Persona
And SMT, Too
It’s easy to see why the calendar system has become such an integral part of thePersonaseries, becauseit makes such perfect sense in those games. InPersona, the protagonist is always a busy student, and there are lots of time-limited events that follow the natural course of the school year. With minimal flexibility, players must make the most of their time - they have to ensure that they study enough to boost their Knowledge before midterms, for example.
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Missing out on this opportunity means losing access to certain benefits; if the player doesn’t make top of the class, they won’t gain the extra Charm rewarded for doing so, and won’t have another opportunity to try again until their next playthrough.The Social Link/Confidant system, by which the protagonist grows closer to various NPCs, is also closely tied to the calendar. Spending time with another character almost always burns through an afternoon/evening time slot, andcertain characters are only available on certain days.
Besides that,Persona’s dungeons are also subject to the whims of the calendar system. Each dungeon always has a deadline; inPersona 3, the party must reach certain floors of Tartarus by certain dates; in4, they must rescue a victim from the TV world before they’re murdered; and in5, they must steal each antagonist’s heart before they’re able to abuse their authority in one way or another.
InPersona 3and4, much of the timed events and special dungeon effects are also related to the phases of the moon.
Balancing dungeon exploration, time-limited events, the need to raise social stats to succeed at them, and ranking up Social Links/Confidants isn’t difficult, per se, butit requires more than a little bit of thought. Players really have to think three steps ahead - if they send a calling card tonight, they’ll be busy in the palace tomorrow, and won’t be able to hang out with their favorite Social Link on one of their few days off. In a way, it can even be considered representative of the fleetingness of youth, a theme implicit in much of thePersonaseries. This makes it a valuable part of gameplay.
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The original version of the calendar system, introduced inShin Megami Tensei,works very differently, but has a similar impact on strategy. In theSMTgames, the calendar is constantly shifting in real-time. The date and time, along with the phases of the moon associated with them, determine which demons appear, how powerful they are, and which negotiation tactics and status effects they’re susceptible to.
It’s a lot simpler, butSMT’s calendar system also requires the player to strategize around the date and time; if they want to recruit a particular ally, they may need to search for them within a limited time frame. If they’re having trouble getting through a difficult area, they may want to wait for a particular phase of the moon that makes demons less aggressive. For all these reasons, the calendar system has become an integral part of bothSMTas a whole, and thePersonaspinoff series.
…But Not So Much In Metaphor
Metaphor Could Do Without The Calendar System
Butnone of the justifications for the calendar system inPersonaorShin Megami Tenseiexist inMetaphor: ReFantazio. It works a lot more likePersona’s iteration: days are divided into afternoons and nights, and players can choose certain activities (leveling up Royal Virtues, progressing through dungeons, orspending time with Bonds) to do during each.
Metaphor’s calendar system does have a couple of cool, unique considerations: for one thing, travel is a lot slower inMetaphorthan it is inPersona, with the lack of a subway system in its fantasy setting. So travel time factors into certain activities, occasionally forcing players to sacrifice a couple of days in order to get to and from an optional dungeon, for example. When it comes down to tight deadlines for mandatory dungeons, this can force the occasional strategic choice, but by and large, it doesn’t add anything to the game.
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Dividing activities into afternoon and night, and limiting the player to two per day besides, seems to have been treated like a foregone conclusion. There’s scarcely any justification as to why a particular shop is only open at night, besides the simple fact thatthat’s howPersonagames have always been doing it. The protagonist isn’t a busy student - he’s a grown adult who doesn’t really have a job, besides saving the world. As long as he’s meeting his deadlines, why does it matter so much if he explores a dungeon at night, or stay up late to visit a friend after?
It’s natural to think that this application of the calendar system makesMetaphormore restrictive, butit actually has the opposite effect. Besides quest deadlines, there are no time-limited events inMetaphor, and players can go back and revisit areas the main quest moves them away from. Characters are more frequently available, regardless of the day of the week, so there are fewer limits on Bonds, too. The only day-to-day difference is that certain shops hold sales when it rains, which is hardly demands the kind of engaging, strategic gameplay thatPersona’s calendar system so often does.
What Atlus' Next Game Could Do Better
The Calendar System Needs An Update
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with games using time and date systems, butAtlus' next original RPGwould do well to try a more immersive take on its typical calendar system. For example, something that moves in real time, not unlike the time and date system used inDragon’s Dogma 2, could be interesting. But honestly, it doesn’t even need to be all that complicated; a simple open world, in which players can undertake any activity at any time, would work equally well. With this approach, an RPG could lock certain Social Link ranks behind story events, for example, to ensure players don’t progress too far too early.
Alternatively,Atlus' next RPG could still use the calendar system, but simply ensure that it makes more sense with the game’s story and characters. As long as there’s some sufficient thematic reason why certain events are limited to afternoons or evenings - not a plot contrivance invented as an excuse - then the same old calendar system would serve its purpose. It’d be nice to see some innovation there, but the calendar system isn’t inherently broken. It’s just underutilized inMetaphor: ReFantazio.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
The creative team behind Persona 3, 4, and 5 present Metaphor: ReFantazio, a new fantasy action-adventure RPG game. The game’s development team includes the original director, character designer, and composer of the Persona franchise and is as a full fantasy-setting game with modern elements.
