Finding Comfort in Non-Cozy Games - Metaphor: ReFantazio
When Cozy games don't quite work for you, there are always other options.
Finding Comfort in Non-Cozy games is a series about how I, and probably many others, find comfort in games that don't usually qualify as cozy/comfort games. They can be dark, dramatic, filled with some really depressing themes, but if you play them over and over and find comfort in them, they become your own comfort games. This is a multi-part series and this is Part 4. I will always link prior and following parts at the beginning and end respectively.
Cat
Cat
Cat
The Introduction
A core part of this series is trying to find comfort in the period of reality. Here in the real world you have to deal with a ton of shitty things. So far we have talked about corruption, corporations run amok, and fighting a world ending threat. But there's another thing that is at the core of our society that many don't like to talk about despite the fact that the majority of people have faced it in some form.
I'm talking about discrimination. This has been a core of society for thousands of years. Modern day wise, people experience it everyday. Going to the bathroom as a trans person and you get clocked? You're gonna be discriminated against. Are you gay and just want to have a wedding cake made for your marriage to your partner of a decade? You could be discriminated against. Have to use a wheelchair to get around and companies refuse to make the world accessible for you? That's discrimination. An immigrant in a country that is rapidly descending into far right authoritarianism? That's gonna be some discrimination. A woman who simply wants to have a job in a majority male career field? You're going to be discriminated against. Do you exist as a person of color in a society that is structured around white supremacy? That's gonna be some discrimination.
My core point is that discrimination is something most people have to face in some form and it's hard to go up against that in modern society. So with all of that in mind, today we are talking about Metaphor: ReFantazio, a game that has a core theme of resisting and fighting against the systemic discrimination and prejudice that exists in the world.
The Age of a New King
Okay so Metaphor revolves around how the King that ruled over the nation was killed and now the dead kings spirit is running, essentially, an election to decide who will succeed him on the throne. You are running for King and have to do things that make the public be enraptured with your vision for the country. This can be anything from just helping some folks around town to fighting dragons to fulfilling bounties of some bag guys in the local area. This world has multiple races, or tribes, of people and you, the main character, are one of the most discriminated against tribe, an Elda. Easily identified by your eyes, which are quintessentially Elda eyes. They allow all people to be able to identify you at a glance.
See, at the core of Metaphor is that the world is unfair. The first moment you get to the capital city you face your first bout of discrimination. When you go up to random people they'll basically go "Ew, you're Elda? Get away from me." This is one of the most ingenious decisions by the developers of Metaphor. They chose to make you the bottom of the totem pole because it makes you, the player, see what it's like to be looked at with revulsion. It makes you want to fight for others because no one else will. It has you lead a group of revolutionaries because it shows you that fighting for a new world is the only way forward. That there is no reality where things can continue as they are.
This discrimination in the game is a good thing, a positive thing. Imagine if you played a person who was a member of the highest on the totem pole tribe. Would you still feel the need for change to the same extent? Would you still be able to see that the world is structured in a systemically unjust way? Of course not. Instead you'd be a highest on the totem pole person with a savior complex. Someone who believes they can fight just as well for change as anyone else. This is not necessarily wrong of course, just as white people can fight for racial justice. But the story and the core of the game just doesn't have the same punch if you as the main character isn't facing constant discrimination from regular civilians and from fellow candidates for King.
Discrimination shouldn't be a positive
I get your point, dear reader. But I'm not saying it's a positive. Far from it, I believe discrimination is fucking awful and should be fought against at all levels of society. But that's not easy and the system itself is fighting against you in turn. Metaphor though allows you to do something that is hard to do in real life, bring all types of people together to fight and help fix the systemic discrimination that exists. This isn't done through people always having the drive to fight for change right from the get-go. In fact, it usually is the opposite.
Over the course of the game you help the people you have relationships with develop as people. You help them find their reason to fight. See, people in this world have often become resigned to the reality they exist in, it takes someone like our main character to show them that there is a way out. That there is a way to improve the world. That change is not only possible and a worthy cause to fight for but also a necessary thing to do for the good of the individual as well as all people.
The game ends with the main character taking the throne and shows how he aims to be the king for all people, he aims to be the King who will create a society where everyone is actually treated fairly and discrimination just doesn't exist. Obviously this is a hard job, but that doesn't stop the party characters in the game. In fact, it makes them want to fight more and harder. This just isn't something that is a possible thing to do in reality. So why not find comfort finally having the ability to do something for once. In being able to fight for what's right and actually be able to change things.
Change is possible
That obviously leads me into my next point. Metaphor is comforting because, even though it is a fictional world, it reminds the player that we can in fact change things. That we don't have to keep turning away from facing the tough reality of constant discrimination and prejudice. That we are actually able to fix things if we all join together and try.
It's easy to look outside our window at the world slowly, and sometimes rapidly, devolving into fascism and climate catastrophe. But there's not anything that we as individuals can fucking do about it. You personally recycling does absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. You driving less doesn't do anything, even getting an electric car is not as green as many have been lead to believe (although it is the better option over gas cars). We as individuals are pretty much useless on a grand scale.
It is in these moments that we have to remember that there is comfort in each other. That the only time change actually fucking happens is when people become more than individuals and impact the world for generations to come. Slavery in the US didn't end when a few slave revolts happened. It didn't end when John Brown tried to spark the end to slavery through terrorist actions. It ended when the US itself decided to fight against it. Women's suffrage is similar. It didn't happened when women were simply asking nicely or peacefully protesting. It didn't happen when some women even made it into governmental positions despite not being able to vote themselves. Women's suffrage happened when women went out and broke some fucking windows and made it happen through being a force to be reckoned with. Both of these instances are moments of people joining together for a larger than individual cause. Obviously there are many more moments of this happening in history, like most revolutions, the civil rights movement, the LGBT rights movement. The only time change happens is when we all fight together.
Metaphor is the epitome of this ethos. It teaches the player that change is possible. That it is achievable. But only when we all join together to fight for it. When we don't waver in the face of a steep hill to climb. When we don't give up when we lose a battle or two. Change is possible and Metaphor shows that more than any game I have ever played.
That in itself is comforting. Knowing that there is a path through the darkness that has engulfed our world. Metaphor is comforting to me because it reminds me how we as a people are capable. That i shouldn't just abandon all hope and go and build a cabin in the woods, have a large garden, and raise chickens. That giving up is actually the worst thing you can do. Metaphor exemplifies what it means to find comfort in the very existence of the fight against discrimination.
The Conclusion
Here at the end, I think it's important for me to reiterate that discrimination and prejudice is abhorrent and here in the real world is something that, despite being a core part of our societies structure, should be fought against. Metaphor: ReFantazio is a game that is capable of providing its player a sense of comfort in that reality in a controlled way that allows for us to actually make a difference.
Metaphor is an amazing game for a lot of reasons. It has amazing combat, a detailed and deep story and world, a massive amount of refinements from the prior developers game (Persona 5), characters that you really feel like you're getting to know, and isn't bogged down with the idea of putting romantic options in the companion character development sections. The game is a truly wonderful experience.
As the world continues to develop in the direction it seems to be going we have to find comfort in anything we can. Metaphor: ReFantazio allow us to find comfort in a situation that most people find fundamentally uncomfortable. It allows us to explore what it means to join together to fight for change. How we as a people are capable of fighting to change society if we only join together to fight for that change. Metaphor is comforting because of these things and if you are able to approach it in this way I truly believe you can find comfort in it too.
Next Time On...
Well we are nearing the end here but I have one more game I want to talk about, it's a bit of a change from the games I've talked about before. It doesn't have a story for you to fall into. It doesn't have a way to absorb the world from the perspective of a character that you can really connect with. It is a game that allows you to develop society without any amount of discrimination while still sticking to the same technology and general structure of our society. This game has a way of making you just want to keep playing, it makes you not want to put it down. Next time we are taking just one more turn and looking at Civilization VI. Until then, always remember that Gandhi will use Nukes the moment he gets a chance to.
Meow,
Cat
Thanks for reading Cat's Controller Corner! Subscribe for free to receive new posts every Wednesday and support my work.
