Summary
- Some of the boss battles in Metaphor: ReFantazio are challenging and memorable, with brutal designs and unique mechanics.
- From Zorba to Devourer of the Stars, players will face resistance, changing weaknesses, and powerful attacks in each battle.
- Facing the final boss and the optional boss proves to be a test of endurance with high defenses and unique skills.
Studio Zero and many other internal Atlus divisions know how to put style into their video games. From the menus to the character designs, their latest venture via Metaphor: ReFantazio is oozing with personality. Some of the coolest designs are saved for the boss battles of which there are many.
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Some of the most memorable ones are also some of the most challenging in Metaphor: ReFantazio. It doesn’t help that many of these bosses are referred to as Humans which feels a bit demeaning. Is man the greatest folly? Meta-questions aside, let’s go through some of the game's most brutal boss battles. There will be spoilers.
8 Zorba
A Necromancer Putting The Dead To Work
- Location: Regalith Grand Cathedral
Zorba will be the first major boss that players will face in Metaphor: ReFantazio unless they check out the optional encounter with Fire Dragon Mauna within the Nord Minds. Zorba is a necromancer and one of Louis’ top men. As such, he can resurrect the dead as companions to attack players. That’s not ideal but what makes this fight truly hard is Zorba’s resistance to most attacks.
At this point with weapons, items, Archetypes, and spells, players are going to feel outmatched unless they really did some grinding for EXP in the dungeon. While technically his second form later is stronger, the limitations set on players make this encounter with Zorba more challenging.
7 Homo Margo
Hard To Detect A Weakness
- Location: Virga Island
When players first encounter Homo Margo, one of the Human bosses in the game, he is accompanied by the Dragon God Malvirta Drako Eht. Both will be waiting at the end of the Dragon Temple on Virga Island and the pair are a force to be reckoned with. However, after its defeat, Homo Margo retreats to the surface and starts to wreak havoc on the village above. In this new boss fight, Homo Margo has grown and developed techniques to help it change alignments. For example, one minute it could be weak to ice spells and the next minute it could repeal ice attacks. This makes finding the right weakness tricky.
6 Sea Horror Homo Sabara
An Unexpected Guest With Too Many Tentacles
- Location: Oceana Sea
There are a lot of Human boss battles in Metaphor: ReFantazio and to clarify, Humans are grotesque-looking monsters that look like transformed humans from our reality. They have an Attack on Titan vibe to them and the Sea Horror Homo Sabara is like a giant head with a beating heart for hair molded onto an octopus’s body.
This sea beast will interrupt the travels on the sea and unless players know the encounter is coming, it will be a surprise. That’s a challenge in and of itself but the actual fight is hard too. There are a lot of tentacles that each have their own turn and they can produce a large amount of damage. It’s best to take them out quickly to stun the main body and to go in for the kill.
5 Rella And Sogne The Icebound
A Trial By Ice
- Location: Mage Academy
Rella’s turn to the dark side is quite a surprise even though it turns out it was just a ruse. Rue or not, her boss battle wasn’t pulling any punches as she is joined by an ice-based dragon named Sogne the Icebound.
Ice-protecting armor is a must because this combo of antagonists will hit the party hard with group-based ice magic. If players manage to win, they will have to deal with another round with Sogne the Icebound as Rella will sacrifice her life to revive it. The false ending to this battle can throw players for a loop.
4 Homo Luano
Solid Defenses In A Duel
- Location: Port Brilehaven
Homo Luano is another Human-based boss battle or more like a mini-boss. There is a tournament held in Port Brilehaven that players can participate in. Most challenges will grant players great rewards from weapons to accessories, so it’s definitely a side quest worth pursuing.
Homo Luano will be one of the last challenges which players will have to face with Will, the protagonist of Metaphor: ReFantazio, alone. Not only that but Homo Luano is protected against all types of magical and physical attacks. Almighty attacks are the only hope for taking this thing down and even then it won’t be easy.
3 Devourer Of The Stars
The Strongest Dragon In The Game
- Location: Tower of Insolence
Devourer of the Stars is similar to Homo Luano as it is an optional boss but deadlier. This is the hardest dragon in the game and might rival tough dragons in other RPGs from Dragon Age to Dragon Quest. It too will be protected by attacks other than Almighty ones.
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At least players can have their whole party participate but even then it won’t be easy. Devourer of the Stars will boost its stats like evasion, making it harder to hit and any missed attack will lessen the turns of players. Also on turns, this dragon will give itself extra and it hits hard with group attacks. It will truly be a miracle if players survive this encounter.
2 Destroyer Charadrius
It’s A War, Not A Battle
- Location: Skybound Avatar
Destroyer Charadrius is the final boss of the game and it is the Humanized form of Louis. In the first battle, players will have to contend with three faces: the Mask of Joy, the Mask of Mirth, and the Mask of Ire. They can gain special bonuses by eating puppets and all three faces have a bevy of spells to weaken the party from status effect to group attacks.
What’s really hard about this section is the longevity because of how much HP each face has and how high their defenses are. The second phase of Louis is easier as his defenses are lower, but it’s still two gigantic boss battles back to back without giving players any time to heal and prep. It’s the cycle of many final bosses in RPGs.
1 Elegy Of The Soul
An Optional Boss That Is Near Invincible
- Location: Dragon Temple
Elegy of the Soul is an optional fight and without a doubt the most brutal in the game. It looks like the main character and it can swap between the many Archetypes of Metaphor: ReFantazio on the fly. Here’s the most bombastic thing about this encounter. If players are seemingly smart and equip their party with the best gear, they will die instantly.
Elegy of the Soul analyzes the makeup of the party and if they have any armor, weapons, or accessories equipped with elemental blocks or repellents, it will just cast a spell that does 9,999 damage on the whole party. To stand a chance, players have to equip weaker gear without many bonuses attached. If players don’t know that going in, they may perplexed about how to win, and even with that tip it’s still a rough battle.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Released
- October 11, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Studio Zero
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
