If you’re planning to pick up Atlus’ latest fantasy JRPG, you’ve probably wondered how much time you’ll need to set aside to finish it. Many players first look up Metaphor Refantazio HLTB numbers before buying, to make sure it fits their existing gaming schedule. I’ve put in 3 full playthroughs of the game across different difficulty levels, so I can break down exactly what playtimes you can expect, plus factors that will make your run shorter or longer than the average listed on HLTB. You don’t have to guess if you can squeeze it in between work, school, or other game releases—this guide covers every scenario.
What the Average Metaphor Refantazio HLTB Numbers Actually Mean
First, it’s important to remember that HLTB (How Long To Beat) numbers are crowdsourced from real player submissions, so they’re far more accurate than generic developer playtime estimates. Main story only runs for Metaphor Refantazio average around 45 hours for players on normal difficulty who skip all optional side content, don’t grind extra levels, and only complete quests required to advance the plot. This count includes all mandatory cutscenes and story boss fights, so you won’t miss any core narrative beats if you stick to this path.
Main story plus side content runs average 72 hours, which covers most players’ first casual playthroughs. This count includes doing all companion character quests, exploring most optional dungeons, and trying out a handful of side activities like crafting and mini-games, without going out of your way to collect every hidden item. 100% completion runs, which require unlocking all achievements, collecting every hidden item, maxing out all social links, and beating all secret bosses, average around 115 hours.
Difficulty settings will shift these numbers significantly too. Playing on easy can cut 5 to 10 hours off your main story run, since you won’t get stuck on boss fights that require extra grinding to beat. Playing on hard or merciless difficulty adds 10 to 15 hours to even the shortest main story runs, as you’ll need to spend more time optimizing your party builds and leveling up to take on tougher enemies. You’ll see a lot of variation in user-submitted Metaphor Refantazio HLTB entries for this exact reason, since players have very different priorities when they play.
Key Factors That Change Your Metaphor Refantazio Playtime
No two playthroughs will ever be exactly the same, and a handful of choices will have a huge impact on how long your run takes, even if you’re aiming for the same completion level as the average HLTB submission. The biggest factors to keep in mind are:
- Social link and character quest priority: Each of the 12 companion characters has 8 unique quest lines that take 30 to 45 minutes each to complete. Skipping all of them cuts 12+ hours off your run, while doing all of them adds that same amount of time, plus extra hours for the bonus endgame content you unlock for maxing all social links.
- Grind tolerance: If you hate grinding, you can use the game’s built-in difficulty modifiers to lower enemy health and increase your experience gain, so you don’t have to spend extra hours fighting random enemies to level up for boss fights. If you love optimizing builds and testing different party combinations, you can easily add 20+ hours to your run just experimenting with different skill setups.
- Collectible hunting: The game has 200+ hidden memory fragments, 50 rare weapon skins, and 12 secret mini-bosses scattered across the open world. None of these are required for the main story, but hunting all of them down is the biggest contributor to the 115 hour 100% completion playtime.
- Cutscene skipping: The game has almost 15 hours of fully voiced cutscenes. If you skip all non-essential cutscenes, you can cut 8+ hours off your total playtime, though most players recommend not doing this on your first run to get the full story experience.
That’s why you shouldn’t take the base Metaphor Refantazio HLTB numbers as a hard rule for your own playthrough. Most players don’t fit perfectly into one of the HLTB categories, so don’t stress if your playtime is 10 hours over or under the average. I’ve seen players finish the main story in as little as 38 hours on easy with cutscene skips, and others take 90 hours just for the main story plus side content because they stop to talk to every NPC in every town. It’s all about what you want out of the game.
Tips to Adjust Your Playtime to Fit Your Schedule
You don’t have to rearrange your entire life to enjoy Metaphor Refantazio, no matter what type of player you are. If you want to finish the main story quickly without ruining the experience, stick to the critical path only, and set the difficulty to easy if you don’t care about combat challenge. You still get the full, unedited main story, and you won’t get stuck on boss fights that force you to grind for hours just to progress. If you only have 5 hours a week to play, that means you can finish the main story in around 9 weeks, which is manageable for most people.
If you want to take your time but don’t want to drag the run out for months, prioritize only the character quests for your favorite party members, instead of doing every single one. You don’t have to complete every piece of side content to get a satisfying ending, and you can always go back for a second playthrough to catch the stuff you missed. The game’s new game plus mode lets you carry over all your levels, gear, and social link progress, so you can catch up on missed content much faster on a second run.
For completionists who don’t have 115 hours to spare for a full 100% run, do your first playthrough as a casual main story plus side content run, then do your 100% run on new game plus. I did my 100% run on new game plus, and it took me 47 hours, which was way less daunting than trying to do everything on my first playthrough. You’ll already know where most collectibles are, and you won’t have to grind for levels at all, so you can focus on knocking out the achievements you missed the first time around.
Is Metaphor Refantazio Worth the Time Investment?
This is the question most players ask after looking up the HLTB numbers, and the answer depends on what you’re looking for in a JRPG. If you’re a fan of Atlus games like Persona or Shin Megami Tensei, the answer is almost definitely yes. The story is well-written, the turn-based combat is deep but not overly complicated, and the character arcs feel earned, even if you have to put in extra time to unlock them. The open world is also surprisingly fun to explore, with lots of little hidden details that make wandering off the main path feel rewarding, not like a chore.
For casual JRPG fans who only play a few games a year, you might want to wait until you have a clear stretch of free time, or plan to play it slowly over a few months. You don’t have to binge it to enjoy it, and stopping for a few weeks between play sessions won’t make you lose track of the story, since the game has a detailed recap feature every time you load a save. If you’re the type of player who hates long, drawn-out games with lots of side content, you can still enjoy the main story in under 50 hours, which is comparable to most other modern single-player RPGs.
The only part of the game that feels like unnecessary filler is the collectible memory fragments, which are often hidden in hard-to-reach spots with no in-game map markers. If you’re not a die-hard completionist, you can safely skip these without missing any key story beats, and you’ll cut 20+ hours off your total playtime. The game doesn’t punish you for skipping optional content, so you can tailor your run exactly to your preferences.
At the end of the day, the Metaphor Refantazio HLTB numbers are just a baseline to help you plan your playthrough. You don’t have to stick to any set timeline, and you’ll get the most out of the game if you play at a pace that feels fun for you, instead of rushing to hit a certain hour count. Whether you’re playing for 40 hours or 120, you’re getting a polished, engaging JRPG experience that lives up to the hype around its release. If you’re still on the fence about picking it up, test out the free demo first to see if the combat and story vibe fit your preferences, so you don’t waste time on a game you don’t enjoy.