ATLUS unveiled the plot and characters for Metaphor Refantazio, their upcoming RPG about gaining powers while fighting anxiety.

The story of Metaphor Refantazio is as follows:

Just over ten years have passed since the Kingdom of Euchronia’s crown prince was assassinated.

Then, the king himself is cut down, leaving the kingdom in chaos without any ruler or heir to the throne. Who will be the next king? The sanctifex serving as head of the state religion, a lord or lady of a nearby nation, or perhaps a leader of the military…? As the royal funeral is carried out with various powerful parties all vying for the throne, a spell is unexpectedly cast at the funeral site.

Time is finite before my soul departs this benighted world… Come October, there shall be a reckoning.

A Day of the Hero. Upon that day, whosoever hath truly earned the greatest faith of the citizenry…

shall ascend to throne and crown by right of kings.

Ringing in the sky was the voice of the king who had been declared dead. He had a grand spell set to activate upon his death that would pit every one of his citizens against one another in a race for the throne, to be decided by popular vote.

The people descend into utter chaos at the thought of electing their own king for the very first time.

However, our protagonist decides he must throw himself into the fray in order to accomplish his mission.

And so begins the great race for the throne, to be carried out all across the kingdom. Over the course of his journey, he finds various allies to join him. What awaits them is a grand journey that will change the world as they know it

They also unveiled several characters from the game:

The Protagonist

A young man traveling alongside his fairy partner, Gallica, to lift the deadly curse placed upon his longtime

best friend, the kingdom’s prince.

Because he is of the elda tribe, he has been shunned by others and is looked upon with contempt and prejudice. This minority tribe has been labeled by the state religion of Sanctism as filth, and is said to possess dangerous magic which goes against its teachings.

Gallica

A fairy who acts as the protagonist’s travel companion, and  is also on special orders to assist in saving the prince.

She’s unable to fight due to her small stature, but her constitution as a fairy gives her special insight into magic and allows her to sense magla to a greater extent than the protagonist. While she sometimes speaks harshly when her values differ from others’, she is a reliable friend to have on a journey.

Strohl

A clemar man met at the capital’s recruitment centre.

A good man with a sharp mind who values justice, but given he’s enlisted among commoners despite his noble stature, it seems he’s under some complicated circumstances.

Hulkenberg

A roussainte knight originally assigned to guard the prince.

She served by his side as a royal guard.

Deftly skilled in the use of many different weapons, the proficiency cited upon her recommendation for

the royal guard at a young age is clearly genuine.

However, after the attack on the prince, she came to terms with her own disgrace and became a wanderer, lamenting her failure to protect her liege

Heismay

A eugief former knight.

As is characteristic of his tribe, he is very perceptive of noise, with the ability to sense minute changes through sounds that are imperceptible to others.

Eugiefs face no small amount of discrimination for their unique appearance, and it seems that Heismay has his own complicated past as well.