Metaphor: ReFantazio released last week to unanimous critical acclaim, which is probably not surprising: its famed director Katsura Hashino took over Persona 5. Following the success of Persona 5, Hashino formed a fresh arm of Atlus in 2016 called Studio Zero to work on Metaphor: ReFantazio (then known as Zero Re Fantasy), which involved leaving Persona in the hands of P-Studio.
In fresh machine translation Interview with Famitsu shared with Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, Hashino revealed that Studio Zero is already working on a fresh game. When asked what direction the studio would take after Metaphor, Hashino replied, “Oh, they’ve already started.”
When asked if he is spearheading the fresh project, Hashino seems to be taking a humble approach. “I don’t really think about it as an individual,” he said. “I look at Atlus as a whole and think about what our team should create. First I want our users to be joyful, and then I want the company to be joyful. That’s how I always work.”
(Also works according to logic that he doesn’t want his games to “look like they were designed by a bunch of people in a boardroom,” which explains why we have bosses like that Homo Avades not just a helicopter or a dragon or something).
Hashino continues to reprise the role of Studio Zero in Atlus’ maze machine. It wasn’t founded just to create Metaphor: ReFantazio; instead, it is “a place for fresh ventures called Studio Zero.” So it’s unclear whether we’ll get more Metaphor or something completely different. Maybe a sequel to Catherine? I don’t know who wants it. I don’t know if I want that.
That said, given the early success of Metaphor…sold a million copies on day one, and that’s a huge number, and it’s coming from a studio that was still considered undiscovered in the West ten years ago – I wouldn’t be surprised if it was spun off from there as part of its own ongoing series.
