Metaphor: ReFantazio was a critical hit, an awards magnet, and one of publisher Atlus' fastest-selling games. So, uh, surely a sequel would be a no-brainer, right? Frequent Persona and Metaphor director Katsura Hashino has now said that he doesn't want to rush into making a follow-up based solely on the first game's success, though. Whatever comes next for Metaphor has to "be worthwhile for the fans." "When we initially set out to create this game, we had the ambitions of hoping to cultivate this game into one of our brands within Atlus, like a pillar," Hashino told Game Informer, explaining how he wanted Metaphor: ReFantazio to join the likes of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona within the company. "With that being said, just because we had a certain level of success, we don’t want to just jump on that and quickly put out something as a sequel. We want to really give it some thought and make sure that if we are able to continue on in this series, we’re putting together something that is building on the values that we were able to infuse into this game, and something that would be worthwhile for the fans that would be waiting for it," he added. Persona 5 and Metaphor director hasn't been "super involved" in the Atlus JRPG series since P5 Royal As the wait for Persona 6 continues, developers tease "opportunities in 2026 to talk about future developments" Persona 4 Revival is "shaping up nicely" – but it's "not just about adding more" content, because the JRPG devs "have to create an experience that's enjoyable in a new and different way" For now, the developers need to be "able to confirm that we're going in the right direction" before building the brand up further. "Because of that, we're looking ahead into what we can do with this series, but we won't want to just act on it because we had a certain level of success, if that makes sense." Elsewhere, the Persona 5 lead also said he's not been "super involved" with the franchise after the last mainline game, even though he's still physically attached to the team behind it. As the wait for Persona 6 continues, developers tease "opportunities in 2026 to talk about future developments" for the JRPG's 30th anniversary