When Atlus’ Venture Re Fantasy was formally revealed as Metaphor: ReFantazio, I questioned the place I would find yourself taking part in it probably the most. As somebody who has replayed Shin Megami Tensei V (with Vengeance) and Persona 5 throughout a number of totally different platforms and variations, I questioned if Atlus’ new fantasy RPG could be one thing I spend probably the most time with at residence on my console or on the go by way of Steam Deck. With Valve’s handheld, I received to do each, and I’ve now put in over 120 hours into Metaphor: ReFantazio solely on each my Steam Decks. I’ve additionally performed about 30 or so hours of the console variations, however I’ll deal with how the present construct of the sport I’ve is on Steam Deck and what settings I like to recommend for the very best expertise.
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Earlier than going additional, the PC overview construct of Metaphor: ReFantazio has gotten a number of patches already with efficiency bettering on Steam Deck with each patch. Valve has presently marked Metaphor: ReFantazio as Steam Deck Playable and never Verified. It’s because Valve says some textual content is small and could also be tough to learn whereas the sport’s graphics settings require handbook tweaking to have it carry out properly on Steam Deck. After taking part in it, I agree with each of these caveats for the score, and I will get to them under.
Proper off the bat, Metaphor: ReFantazio hasn’t gotten the most effective PC port on the subject of optimization and graphics choices. It looks like a step again from even Persona 5 Royal in methods, and the general picture might do with good anti-aliasing. There’s a rendering scale possibility that defaulted to 125% for me. Whereas that does assist cleansing up the picture on the Steam Deck’s display screen, I don’t suggest taking part in above 100% rendering scale no less than proper now.
Identical to the demo, there are totally different menus for the graphics and show settings in Metaphor: ReFantazio. You may regulate the graphics utilizing presets (customized, low, intermediate, excessive) or change the settings individually. I like to recommend doing the latter on Steam Deck.
Metaphor: ReFantazio Steam Deck Really useful Settings and Graphics Choices
After seeing how each location in Metaphor: ReFantazio together with non-compulsory dungeons look and run on Steam Deck, there are a number of areas the place efficiency tanked properly under 30fps earlier than patches. These had been the opening desert space, the primary most important hub metropolis, one mid to late sport location, and the ultimate dungeon. The ultimate dungeon truly had the worst efficiency I had seen for Metaphor: ReFantazio on Steam Deck with it dropping under 20fps earlier than the patch. As of the newest patch, that very same location runs above 30fps nearly all through with it even hitting 45 and 50fps.
As for the sooner areas I discussed with efficiency points, they barely dipped under 30fps and I did not see something under 28fps when checking these areas on older save recordsdata and in addition in New Sport Plus.
Had I written my Metaphor: ReFantazio Steam Deck efficiency overview earlier than the most recent patch, there would have been a whole lot of caveats to this suggestion, however issues have modified for the higher now. My expertise has improved fairly a bit throughout the patches pre-release, and Metaphor is getting near excellent on Steam Deck.
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My Metaphor: ReFantazio Steam Deck advisable settings are rendering scale (100%), texture high quality (regular), operating in fullscreen mode, ambient occlusion (off), and limiting the body fee to 30 fps. This will provide you with a extra constant expertise, though you are able to do what I did and depart it uncapped so the sport runs nearer to the 40s and 50s in lots of areas whereas sticking to the low 30s in massive open cities and villages.
Getting a locked 40 or 45fps at 90hz is just not doable proper now as a result of even when you play at 720p and decrease the rendering scale to 75% it drops under 40fps in locations like the ultimate dungeon. Whereas I might like to have a 40fps or 45fps at 90hz possibility accessible for Metaphor: ReFantazio on Steam Deck, it is not doable with out dramatically reducing the picture high quality, and that isn’t price it. Taking part in at native decision and concentrating on 30fps is probably the most constant expertise on Steam Deck.
When you, like me, additionally get pleasure from utilizing your Steam Deck plugged into your TV or monitor, there are a number of extra issues to bear in mind. There’s nearly all the time a efficiency influence to operating a sport by way of HDMI out or DisplayPort. My suggestion for taking part in docked is operating the sport at 1080p with the rendering scale set to 75%. This ensures the UI is crisper than at 720p, however the sport nonetheless runs decrease. You too can strive taking part in at 1440p with a 50% rendering scale, however this actually pushes the system an excessive amount of with the present model of Metaphor: ReFantazio. You’ll begin to see common dips under 30fps in locations the place it normally ran within the mid 30s.
As for show settings, Metaphor: ReFantazio solely runs at 16:9 whatever the decision you set in-game. I performed with it at fullscreen and 800p. For v-sync, depart it off when you cap the body fee utilizing the Fast Entry Menu on Steam Deck to restrict the body fee or flip it on if you’re utilizing the in-game body fee limiter at 30fps.
Whereas not crucial, Metaphor: ReFantazio additionally allows you to select the button prompts displayed or have it auto detect primarily based in your controller. Since I used to be utilizing my new PS5 controller to play docked, I compelled Metaphor: ReFantazio to show PS5 button prompts (Kind 2) whereas taking part in handheld as properly. The sprint possibility can be good to have since I dislike holding a button to run in RPGs and like having it as a toggle. As of this writing, the toggle sprint possibility is seemingly solely accessible within the PC model. Yet one more factor I like about taking part in it on Steam Deck is having the ability to faucet the touchscreen to progress dialogue like I do in most visible novels or journey video games.
With the choices accessible on PC and the advisable settings out of the best way, I need to additionally observe that I did run into a problem the place I could not launch the sport offline earlier than logging on and having it verify (most likely for DRM causes). I tethered my Steam Deck to my cellphone over hotspot to repair this the primary time, after which simply began leaving the sport in sleep mode earlier than heading out. This is not surprising given the numerous current SEGA-published titles that had comparable points, however I wished to notice this since I bumped into it twice throughout the numerous hours I put into Metaphor: ReFantazio on each my Steam Decks.
Visually, Metaphor: ReFantazio is kind of totally different to what we’re all used to from Atlus, particularly from Studio Zero’s employees. It’s nearer to Catherine than Persona, however it actually looks like in contrast to something Atlus has launched thus far in its construction regardless of borrowing some construction from the newer Persona video games.
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Wanting again, I can see myself eager to replay Metaphor: ReFantazio much more than Persona 5 given the fight and construction of the sport’s move right here. The areas are various all through the 100+ hours I put right into a single save, and I additionally love the numerous non-compulsory dungeons together with two I did not absolutely full but. I am working to do this in my New Sport Plus save.
Based mostly on what I performed of the demo as properly, the unique demo launch was very near the primary construct of Metaphor: ReFantazio I had on Steam. It struggled proper out of the gate to hit 30fps, and was worrying. Quick ahead to immediately, Metaphor: ReFantazio seems to be and runs very properly on Steam Deck all issues thought-about.
With fashionable menus, nice character designs, and improbable music, my solely actual challenge with the technical aspect of Metaphor: ReFantazio is the dearth of any kind of anti-aliasing. Working at the next rendering scale is a poor answer given how heavy the sport is on present {hardware} together with consoles. I hope we see even primary anti-aliasing added as an possibility in updates.
Whereas this is not the primary Atlus sport to get a day one launch on PC with the console variations, it looks like probably the most important one given it’s from Studio Zero. I beloved my time with Metaphor: ReFantazio, and I am glad that it has improved significantly in its optimization since I began taking part in, making it a straightforward suggestion for Steam Deck house owners seeking to dig into a huge RPG on the go. Hopefully we see extra optimization and options added to the PC port to take away the few caveats I’ve.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is properly price taking part in on Steam Deck, and I sit up for persevering with my New Sport Plus save over the approaching weeks. I do know a whole lot of of us personal a Steam Deck along with a console, and when you had been hoping to have an excellent transportable expertise from day one with Metaphor: ReFantazio, seize it on PC to play on Steam Deck.
Ensure to learn our prolonged overview of the complete sport as properly right here.
