Director of stylish JRPGs Metaphor: ReFantazio and Persona 5 isn't excited by "highly polished games that look like they were designed by a bunch of people in a CEO boardroom"

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Atlus' Katsura Hashino clearly values originality and creativity

Metaphor: ReFantazio's protagonist looks into the camera with a determined expression.
(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)

Metaphor: ReFantazio's director has admitted that he's not really interested or excited by any games that "look like they were designed by a bunch of people in a CEO boardroom," which is perhaps to be expected from the mastermind behind so many distinctive JRPGs.

Katsura Hashino has been at Atlus for around 30 years, and his latest director's credit on the fantasy JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio is one of many. He was previously at the helm for Persona 3, 4, and 5, the puzzle game Catherine, and more. Speaking in a new interview with IGN, he's spoken a little more about what games motivate and inspire him to keep developing new things himself, and it sounds like he has a great deal of admiration for fellow creatives.

"I feel like if you have these super highly polished games that look like they were designed by a bunch of people in a CEO boardroom, that doesn't really excite me – it doesn't really interest me," Hashino explains. "But when I see these sorts of games [which reveal a little about the people that made them], it really fills me with the motivation to keep developing." 

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He adds that seeing artists and creatives "had something they really wanted to say" is ultimately "where I get all of my inspiration from," as well as "the drive to continue to be creative myself." While he doesn't give any specific examples of this, it's quite obvious just looking at Hashino's own work that he's constantly looking outside the box. 

In a recent interview on the Xbox podcast, Hashino talks about how the team looked into "traditional fantasy culture," including The Lord of the Rings when they started working on Metaphor: ReFantazio, before they "threw out all of our ideas" since it "would lack the originality that defines us." This pursuit of originality is likely exactly what Hashino is referring to in this latest IGN interview, and it's fair to say that it's clearly worked out for him with his works to date. 

Be sure to check out our Metaphor: ReFantazio review to find out why it's already become such a massive success for Atlus.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.