The name may still be kinda clunky, but Metaphor: ReFantazio is shaping up to be something distinct from the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games Atlus are known for, while still sharing some of the same JRPG conventions. One notable difference we reported earlier was the lack of the ability to romance other characters, something Persona in particular is infamous for. Now the game's director has shed some light on why Atlus decided to leave it out.

Katsura Hashino, whose previous credits include Persona, SMT, Catherine and other Atlus titles, shared the reason why the team chose to exclude romance in their latest project. Apparently, while he acknowledged it's a popular feature of Persona, the ability to date your party members wouldn't make sense in the context of the new game because it isn't about horny teenagers. He said:

"For us, the reason we included romance in previous games is that a lot of our games are based around the idea of teenagers living their lives. What teenager doesn't want to have romance in their life? It's part of the realism of the setting. We know people really like this system and it's really popular, but for this game specifically, it's not about teenagers. It's about a person trying to become the ruler of the land. They are more focused on the relationships between a ruler and the people who support them."

If that's their intention as creators then more power to them, however plenty of games in relatively realistic fantasy settings let you enter a tryst with other characters. Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, Dragon's Dogma, to name a few. Hoshino continued: "You throw out what you think won't work and take what you think will," which, in this case, includes romance. People who were hoping to have sex with Hulkenberg and the rest of the cast are understandably disappointed, but like Kinky said, even if there's no loving in the game, at least we'll have hentai of it.

What do you guys think? Should they have included a romance ability? Or make it DLC even? Let us know below!