Metaphor ReFantaziomay look like a Persona game and lure in Persona players with mechanics like social links, but when it comes to gameplay and difficulty curves this game is much closer to Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyessy franchises. Both regular battles and bosses will keep players on their toes and have them rethink their strategies on the fly.
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With a game like this that’s unafraid to smack around the player, one may begin to wonder what the hardest boss battles in the game are. Despite the long length, that’s an easy question to answer, as if one were to examine the bosses in the game based on both pure stats and what gimmicks they bring to the table, it’s possible to put together the following list of the hardest Metaphor ReFantazio bosses.
The Cloning Thief
Starting off the list is a fight that isn’t hard per se, but rather has an obtuse gimmick for the player to figure out: Heismay. When encounteringHeismayfor the first time, you may be expecting an ordinary fight only to find all of your attacks to be blocked and your turn ended immediately. This is because Heismay’s shadow clones are invincible, requiring you to attack the real one.
While the fight becomes easy once you learn how to detect the real Heismay, the process of figuring it out may frustrate many players for several attempts. That initial difficulty at least earns Heismay the top spot on this list.
The Summoning Necromancer
The entire Shin Megami Tensei and Metaphor battle system relies upon a mechanic known as press turns, which allows you to act multiple extra times based on weaknesses and critical hits. Now, imagine an optional boss who not only ignores this vital rule of gameplay, but can also summon an equally powerful enemy to wreck your entire party. That’s the gimmick of the mid-game quest boss: Fatolich.
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Immediately upon entering battle, the Fatolich will summon a chimera to assist it during combat. The entire battle will be a game of juggling survival against the Fatolich’s single-target magecraft and the chimera’s AoE attacks. It’s a shockingly-difficulty jump in the middle of the game and one that clearly should make this list.
8Homo Margo
The Weakness Shifter
After completing the fourth dungeon of the game, players may be lulled into a false sense of security and let their guard down, only for the game to throw another boss at them immediately: the Homo Margo. Similar to Heismay earlier in the list, this boss appears to be invincible until you figure out its gimmick: it can only be hurt by one element at a time.
Which element that is will switch several times during the battle. This creates a situation where unless you have nearly every element ready across your party, there’ll be plenty of turns where you simply won’t be able to deal damage. While this is remedied the first time you fight it as Gallica can freeze the boss on a specific weakness, the rematch against the boss later in the game doesn’t have that advantage. Not being able to attack this boss earns it a high placement on this list.
7Devourer of Stars
No Grinding Past This One
One sure way to beat a JRPG boss is to simply grind and overpower it, but what if there was a boss that instantly lowered your stats at the beginning of a battle to a set amount and instantly killed you if you made any attempts to buff yourself? That is the challenge that the optional boss Devourer of Stars from Metaphor ReFantazio gives the player.
This boss will lock your HP at 300 on its first turn, and as previously foreshadowed, will gain more than enough turns to kill you if youraise your defensehigh enough to tank its attacks. To make things worse, it’s invulnerable to all elements except for Almighty, meaning this will be a long battle of attrition as you must constantly heal the little health you have while dealing little damage. This insane combination of limitations for the player both provides a fun experience and proves one of the hardest boss battles in the game.
The Difficulty Spike
Placing in the middle of the list is Sogne, a boss who marks a turning point in Metaphor ReFantazio and will immediately teach players an important lesson: dragon bosses are extremely difficult. While this is the only dragon you are required to fight, it will impart that lesson well into your brain.
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Every turn Sogne will cast a magical barrier that will block any attack spell as well as lower your stats. If you want to beat this boss you’ll have to do it fast and with either physical attacks or with enough Makarabreak to keep that barrier down. If the battle goes on too long, you may as well throw in the towel. This fierce defense and what feels like a time limit before your stats are completely nullified puts Sogne well into the list of hardest bosses.
5Devourer of Flames
Counter or Perish
Yet another dragon makes the upper half of this list as the Devourer of Flames provides yet another mighty challenge for players to overcome in the late game. This boss will switch between casting charm on your party members and casting a mighty spell that does 9999 damage every other turn. A number more than high enough to make the player panic and wonder what they did wrong.
That 9999 damage fireball isn’t invincible, however, as it’s still a fire element spell that you’re able to be immune to. If the player is careful enough to plan their party around a team of characters the dragon cannot instantly kill, then this battle actually becomes possible. Don’t lower your guard, though, as the dragon can still wreck your HP with simple tail attacks if you’re not careful. With a fun-yet-challenging gimmick, the Devourer of Flames earns a high placement on this list.
4Destroyer Chandrius
Three Times as Deadly
After defeating Louis’ first phase, you may be fooled into believing that Metaphor ReFantazio has an easy final boss, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. As Louis’ second phase, Destroyer Chandrius is one of the hardest fights in the entire game. With three heads all unleashing devastating attacks on your party, the player may panic before even coming up with a suitable strategy to defeat him.
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One head takes heavy damage from magic and will heal the other heads, one takes heavy damage from physical attacks and will inflict your party with ailments and one takes heavy damage from both while harming your party with massive damage. Taking down the heads in any order can be dangerous as while they will have less turns overall, it’ll also make the remaining heads more aggressive. Leaving a head you’re unprepared for last can ruin a long attempt at this battle, more than earning this phase of Louis’ fight a high spot on this list.
3Redscale Apocalypse Dragon
The Final Obstacle
Like most Atlus games, Metaphor ReFantazio contains an optional boss that can only be fought on a second playthrough. Metaphor ReFantazio’s is the Redscale Apocalypse Dragon. To access this fight the player must enter Akademia on their second playthrough and read the Book of Apocalypse.
Stat-wise, the Redscale Apocalypse Dragon is one of the strongest bosses in the game. The player must be fully prepared with a high-level party before they even think of challenging this foe. Other than high stats, however, there isn’t much to worry about here. It’s a difficult fight for sure and a nice way to end your playthrough of the game, but other than being a huge wall of health and strength, the Redscale Apocalypse Dragon doesn’t offer much in the way of difficulty and misses out on a higher placement in this list.
2Destroyer Chandrius 2
He’s Still Here!
Here it is, the final battle against Louis. After the difficulty of the previous battle against him, you may expect the game to tone it down a bit. That couldn’t be further from the truth, as now Louis will come at you with his full power and unleash a gauntlet of attacks at you which you must somehow survive. With barely any MP left over from the previous encounter, you’ll constantly be on the ropes in this battle.
If your own low resources and his fierce attacks weren’t enough to make this a difficult battle, Louis will gain extra turns as his health lowers. Having a boss who is already extremely powerful take ten turns in a row is enough to make even the most stalwart players lose confidence. This oppressive fight easily earns the second place spot on this list, but there remains one extra boss which is even more difficult.
1Elegy of the Soul
The Ultimate Challenge
One of the most fun concepts for a video game boss is the idea of fighting someone with all the same abilities as you. Pitting the player against their own powers can strike fear and excitement into their hearts in a way that cannot be replicated. This is where the beauty of Metaphor ReFantazio’s Elegy of the Soul boss comes in.
This boss will switch between a different one of your availableArchetypeseach turn, using the abilities you have grown used to against you effectively. What truly makes this boss battle work is how good the enemy AI is during it, seeing a boss plan several turns ahead to make your party weak to nearly every element and then gain uncountable turns via using the Summoner Archetype is heart-racing. Unlike other bosses on this list which can come across as unfair at times, or are just a simple war of attrition, this boss feels like a fair-yet-difficult challenge and more than earns the top spot on this list.
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