Metaphor ReFantazio: Detailed Calendar for Trophy Hunters

In a fantasy world, a king and his rightful heir have been deposed through illicit means. With the rise of monster attacks, increasing unrest among the tribes, and no leader to provide direction, the entire kingdom of Euchronia is in chaos. With no proper succession in place, a competition is announced: whoever earns the people’s trust will be crowned as the next ruler. A troupe of unlikely allies from all walks of life must work together to prevent the rise of a tyrant by any means necessary.

Metaphor ReFantazio is an incredible JRPG from Studio Zero, the developers behind Catherine: Full Body. The studio is a subsidiary of Atlus, which is most prominently known for its Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series. Metaphor ReFantazio shares a lot of similarities with modern Persona games, including turn-based battles, dungeon-crawling, a calendar-based deadline system, and social links.

However, Metaphor ReFantazio breaks away from its Persona mold with a more mature story. Among its myriad themes, Metaphor ReFantazio tackles systemic discrimination, loss, and political intrigue in novel and thought-provoking ways. The game is an easy recommendation for almost any type of player and certainly deserved its nomination for Game of the Year in 2024.

When looked at through a trophy hunting lens, the game fares even better. Metaphor ReFantazio is easily one of the most accessible titles to come from Atlus’ studios. Unlike their other games, you can finish nearly all of its trophies with natural (albeit thorough) play, no guide required. Although it still takes 100-150 hours spread across 2 playthroughs, the majority of your time will be spent leisurely enjoying the game’s content at your own pace.

Despite its lax requirements, I missed a few important things during my playthrough of Metaphor ReFantazio. I decided to create a visual calendar and guide to remark on all missable content in the game to ensure that you don’t suffer the same fate. Follow along, and you can keep tabs on all potentially missable trophies in a colorful and easy-to-digest manner.

Metaphor ReFantazio

Trophies to Keep in Mind

The provided calendar is intended to guide players through a successful initial playthrough of Metaphor ReFantazio. If you follow the calendar, you will be on track to acquire the vast majority of trophies. However, even when played perfectly, there are a few trophies you may need to keep an eye on:

1. Hey, Listen!: Consulted Gallica 100 times
   • While in the overworld, you can talk to Gallica with the triangle button. This is incredibly useful for traveling directly to your Followers. If you use this regularly, you will earn this trophy in no time.
2. Blessed Power: Purified a piece of equipment
   • Once you gain access to the church’s services in Grand Trad, you will be able to purify gear with materials found in dungeons. Simply do this once to earn this trophy.
   • If you want to be able to purify every piece of gear you find, you might need to go out of your way to grind for blessed/graced/heavenly water. A set amount may be purchased from the Malva settlement, but you can also steal these from the various mimic enemies in dungeons. Try to grab these whenever you encounter one.
3. Money is Power: Spent a total of 100,000 reeve using skills that consume money
   • Money skills are unlocked through the Merchant Archetype tree. This trophy is best achieved with the higher tier version, the Tycoon, as it unlocks a synthesis skill with a cost of 9,999 reeve. Simply use these skills until you’ve spent at least 100,000 reeve in battle.
4. King of Cuisine: Made all recipes
   • Once you reach a certain rank with Maria, you will gain the ability to cook on the Gauntlet Runner without passing time. I’d recommend not attempting this trophy until you unlock that skill. All recipes are acquired through story progression, although you will have to go out of your way to gather some ingredients from shops or fishing.
   • The Gauntlet Runner has a pantry that stocks a new food ingredient every single day. You can enter this room freely to grab it. Similarly, you may enter the bathroom and shower nearby for a chance to increase your Luck stat and gain a few experience points each day!
   • Near the end of the game, you will be able to purchase nearly all recipe ingredients in shops. For example, Lumibees and Dreameater Moths can be acquired from the item shop in Grand Trad in the final month. Lord of the Lake and Queen’s Honey will both need to be fished up, however, and Gauntlet Shrooms can only be found in the Gauntlet Runner pantry.
5. Bookworm: Finished reading all the books
   • There are 7 books in Metaphor ReFantazio. 6 of these are unlocked through natural story progression. 1 is missable and is denoted as such on the calendar. When you’re on the Gauntlet Runner and do not need to rank up with your Followers, prioritize reading any unfinished books.
6. Hearts as One: Maxed all Follower ranks
   • There is plenty of time to do this. You need to raise your relationships to level 8 for all 14 Followers in the game. Only one is expressly mentioned in the calendar, as it is easier to obtain earlier rather than later.
   • Some rank-ups will require higher tiers of royal virtues. Don’t worry about these unless you have nothing better to do with your free time, like ranking up other Followers or completing side quests or story dungeons.
7. Summon Mask Time: Created all summoning vessels and masks
   • If you enter every dungeon and fight a wide variety of enemies during your playthroughs, you will be well on your way to earning this trophy. You will not gain access to the required menu in More’s room until you obtain future party members. The items required to craft the summoning vessels and masks can be dropped or stolen from enemies in battle.
   • If needed, you can also purchase mask ingredients from the Eugief salesman in Brilehaven near the end of the game. Every day, he offers a new selection of masks for purchase. They are 25,000 reeve each.
8. At Your Own Risk: Successfully challenged the test of courage at the highest difficulty
   • Once you’ve reached the maximum level of courage, return to Martira. There is a vendor near the main square that allows you to jump off of a cliff in exchange for courage points and a small reward. You need to return a few times to unlock the highest difficulty. Successful completion of this task will net you a trophy.
9. Coliseum Champion: Won 30 consecutive Gold Class battles at the coliseum
   • The coliseum may be accessed in Brilehaven. You can enter battles during the day and night, provided there isn’t any inclement weather. To gain access to the Gold Class consecutive battles, you first need to reach Gold rank in the single battle queue. There are about 12 battles in total, spanning from Bronze III rank to Gold I rank. This will take about 5 or so days to complete.
   • Although this trophy only requires reaching Gold III to gain access to the Gold Class consecutive battles, you still need to complete the remaining battles to become champion of the coliseum. This is required for a side quest.
10. Help Anyone in Need: Completed all quests
    • The calendar mentions all missable side quests with deadlines. For this trophy, you will need to complete every single mission in the game, including story missions, side quests, and bounties. Keep in mind that you will not earn the trophy until you reach the very end of the game, as you must complete the final story mission.
11. Worldly Wisdom: Unlocked the entire map
    • To earn this trophy, you will need to obtain all journey drawings, visit all towns, and see all dungeons. The calendar mentions all potentially missable journey drawings and locations. Otherwise, you will need to visit all locations while working on other completion requirements.
    • This trophy will unlock near the end of the game, as the last location to be visited is the final story dungeon.
12. All That Glitters: Made all possible gold beetle exchanges
    • Near the coliseum in Brilehaven, there is an old man who will trade rare loot in exchange for any gold beetles you find during your travels. To earn this trophy, you must find 46 out of 50 total gold beetles and trade them with the old man.
    • All missable golden beetles are indicated in the calendar; you must find the rest on your own. If you explore every optional dungeon fully and pick up all the treasures indicated on the mini-map, you will be fine. Many beetles can be picked up at any time in cities. If you’re still worried, this list details all gold beetle locations.
    • It’s recommended to hold onto all gold beetles that you’ve collected until you accumulate 46 in your inventory before making any trades. This is because they can be carried over in New Game Plus (NG+). If you trade them early and do not make the required quota, you will have to start over in your next playthrough.
13. Archetype Hero: Mastered all Archetypes with the protagonist
    • To obtain this trophy, you must get to rank 20 with every single Archetype in the game with your player character. When played naturally, you are unlikely to complete this in one playthrough as it requires extensive amounts of MAG and A-EXP.
    • You can use the grinding method described below in the final dungeon if you need a boost. Otherwise, I’d recommend playing normally for the two required playthroughs and picking up the slack at the end. Keep in mind that you still earn the same experience points when using an Archetype that’s already maxed, so you can continue using your favorite builds and still make progress with the produced Hero’s Leaves of Light.
14. Star Shatterer: Defeated Destroyer Charadrius
    • This trophy is easily missed. Even though it is included in the calendar, I have also included it here for additional clarity. In the final dungeon, Tyrant’s Star, you will be given the opportunity to defeat several optional bosses in exchange for exceptional weapons. To earn this trophy, you must NOT defeat any of these bosses and instead go straight for the final boss.
    • I chose to get the weapons in my first playthrough and go for this trophy in my second. Since two playthroughs are required for the platinum trophy, you can choose whichever you prefer first.
15. Sword Surfer: Travelled a significant distance by blade-riding (NG+)
    • It is unlikely that you will earn this naturally in your first playthrough. Try to use your sword to glide around cities wherever possible and avoid fast travel until you earn this achievement.
16. Closing the Book: Defeated the redscale dragon from the Book of Apocalypse (NG+)
    • This battle is only available in New Game Plus (NG+), therefore my calendar does not include it. The fight can be triggered at any time in More’s room, but you will likely need to build up your team first to stand a chance. In general, it is recommended to reach at least level 70, which is reasonably accessible near the end-game.

In addition to the above, I will list the remaining trophies that you may need to keep in mind. Since they most likely will be obtained naturally, I will let their descriptions speak for themselves.

1. Archetype Adept: Mastered an Archetype
2. United Front: Used a Synthesis skill
3. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Used 50 different Synthesis skills
4. For Science!: Performed a Special Experiment
5. Stunning!: Stunned an enemy
6. Tactical Strike: Inflicted ambush damage against stunned enemies 100 times
7. What’s Yours is Mine: Stole an item from an enemy
8. Stray Elements: Defeated 10 Elmentas
9. No Mercy: Ended 50 battles without taking damage
10. Monster Hunter: Subjugated a bounty
11. Shrewd Shopper: Bought an item on discount

Notes for Use

Below, you can click on the individual months to open them in a new tab at a larger size. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts CTRL + and CTRL – to adjust the zoom level as needed for your screen size.

Unlike our Persona 3, 4, and 5 calendars, our Metaphor Refantazio calendar does not provide optimal routing for how to spend your free time every day. While other Atlus titles necessitate this due to time constraints, Metaphor Refantazio provides plenty of room for players to complete everything. When played optimally, there are at least 20 days left over at the end of a playthrough.

For that reason, only missable items that are required for achievements are included in the calendar. That includes 12 side quests, 8 debates, 5 journey drawings, 3 golden beetles, 2 miscellaneous trophies, 1 book, and 1 Follower rank.

Besides what is listed in the calendar, you should feel free to spend your time however you like. The calendar lists deadlines for story events and side quests, so be sure to complete them before the listed date. The journey drawings are collected from taking certain paths and are shown as unfilled diamonds on the in-game world map. The potentially missable locations are pointed out in the calendar, so take care that you acquire their respective drawings while in the region they’re available in. If you wait too long, you may not be able to get them due to story events.

Additionally, unlike the Persona games, the options you select during rank-up events with your Followers do not matter. Feel free to select whichever option you like, as it only impacts the amount of MAG you receive, not your progress in the social link.

In general, you should make sure to do the following:

1. Prioritize activities in the following order: debates, side quests, story quests, bounties, Follower ranks, reading books, miscellaneous trophy tasks, then lastly any activities intended to boost the royal virtues. Don’t worry about cooking early on, as you will unlock the ability to cook without spending time later.
2. Try to complete story dungeons in as few days as possible. The more time you can save here, the more time you will have to complete everything else.
3. Be thorough when exploring dungeons. Fighting all enemies will help you gain progress toward your Archetypes, and finding all treasures will ensure you don’t miss any gold beetles or important quest items.
4. Try to shop only when there are discounts available. There are sales across the board every week on Idlesday. Additionally, the 29th of every month is a special sale day for weapon and armor shops. It is a good idea to save your shopping for these days to stretch your wallet further.
5. Save often, especially in the final month of the game. You should have enough time to complete all the tasks you need for achievements, but you can always do miscellaneous tasks such as beating the coliseum or the test of courage then reload for more time.
6. The best grinding location in the game is in the final dungeon: Tyrant’s Star. There are Melancholia Crystals near the end that have a chance to spawn large teeth enemies that give insane amounts of experience and MAG. You can also return to the beginning of the dungeon to recover your health and stamina for free. If you want to spend time honing your Archetypes, this is the best place to do it.

Calendar

Conclusion

With these calendars, trophy hunting in Metaphor ReFantazio is incredibly straightforward. You can rest easy knowing that you won’t be missing anything important if you follow along with our guide. Were we able to help? Let us know in the comments below.

We also created calendars to help with Persona 3 (Portable + Reload), Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 (Original + Royal) if you’d like to continue with more of Atlus’ works. Be warned, however, that the Persona games require much more effort to earn their platinum trophies, and the level of detail in their respective calendars reflect that!