r/MetaphorReFantazio:

u/xander707

One area where Metaphor challenges you in ways persona doesnt is that traveling is a mechanic that takes up time. In P5, youre either making progress on the story in someones Palace, or youre exploring mementos which still ends up being required for the story. In Metaphor, theres a lot more freedom and sidequesting. Some areas require talking to npcs and/or buying optional information to even unlock. Then you have to invest travel days in addition to the time actually exploring the dungeon, AND theres a mechanic to seek out rivals in this whole process. Im not complaining per se, its good content and mixes things up a bit, but it throws me off from the typical Persona rhythm.
u/xander707

Im playing through it now and its really good. Sometimes the UI is a little too over the top and difficult to navigate for certain things. I will say that compared to Persona games, there are times in this one where I just feel a bit overwhelmed – like Im just not sure what to do or what archetypes I should be focusing on etc. The game has A LOT going on and doesnt do much handholding. I felt like modern personas were a bit more straightforward.
u/xander707

I feel you. Typically NG+ should let you carry over as much as possible. Losing access to the Royal archetypes until the end of the game and pretty much the same for many of the best skills. Even persona games let you carry over the full compendium with ultimate lvl99 personas with all their skills intact.