Already in April, as part of a promotional video regarding Metaphor: ReFantasiathe game’s director Katsura Hashino quietly left out a fact (via a translator) that has haunted me ever since: “The music you hear in the game is created in the hero’s head.” During his conversation, a scene appears on the screen in which a little fairy, the main character’s friend, Gallica, casts a spell; blue sparkles surround the hero and a dialogue box appears saying: “It’s as if the music was playing directly in my mind. The effect of Gallica magic is inspiring.”
Gallica then says aloud to the hero, “After all, music was the first magic this world knew. It makes the journey a little easier.”
And so now, every time the song changes Metaphor: ReFantasiaI don’t think about the composer Shoji Meguro. I think of Gallica, the brilliant composer in the game, behind every single note. And it really distracts me!
Don’t get me wrong, I love you music in Metaphor: ReFantasia. The soundtrack was released on Friday alongside the game itself, and I’m listening to it as I write this. I like the haunting and sometimes dissonant string melodies, the energetic vocals in this song in the background of most of the battles, and the lively jig-like melodies that play during lighthearted moments such as the characters eating a meal together.
The problem is that I can’t support but think that all this music is in the heroine’s head and Gallica is composing it – or maybe it’s just a spell and she doesn’t play an energetic role in the story. the songs themselves, when do they change? I don’t know.
However, I know that I still judge music by this absurd measure based on fiction. Sometimes a melody comes on and I think to myself, “Is this the one Really appropriate, Gallica? It seems a little too cheerful for the conversation I’m having!” And on that note (ha, ha), does music ever distract our hero from listening to what other people are saying to him? Because it appears in almost every conversation he has, including the perilous and stressful ones. I probably want the accompaniment to pump me up during battle, but I’m not sure how much I’d appreciate having Gallica music pounding in my head almost every second of every waking moment. I mean, what is it? I wear headphones in high school and constantly try to match songs to my teenage mood swings?
It’s actually about the same age as the protagonist of this game, so maybe he’s interested. But even I had to take off my headphones when it was time to focus on a history lecture or whatever. And sometimes I just wanted some peace and silent!!!
It’s not a real problem, except I can’t stop thinking about it. Will the main character finally ask Gallica for the pause button on her endless playlist? I’ve had it for over 30 hours now and he hasn’t complained about it once. Maybe he’s afraid of offending her?
More to the point, why did game director Katsura Hashino think of music in this video game required explanation? I never listen to music in a game, TV show or movie and think to myself, “Where does this music come from?” Nobody thinks like that.
On the other hand, Metaphor: ReFantasia it’s a game about stories and the tropes within them, and it gets quite meta at times. So I think music is another example of this, and I need to be constantly reminded of the artificiality of the world my character lives in. If this is the vibe, it must have worked, because I’m fucking shocked.
