Metria is an action RPG game that recently had a global release on November 7, 2023. The game features a promising storyline, vibrant and colorful cel-shaded, anime-inspired graphics, third-person combat with various character classes, and seamless character switching.
Metria primarily plays as a third-person hack-and-slash action RPG with seamless character switching, with a party of three. The game features traditional character tropes, each with their unique skills and playstyles, such as swordsmen, spearmen, mages, healers, and archers. There are two skills and one ultimate, all of which recharges without the need for mana. Players are to explore a world subdivided into small regions and a bunch of loading screens (fast but to frequent for my taste). Players can take on various quests to progress, as well as gather resources from the world to craft gear, build facilities, or cook consumables.
Progressing through the story which was very intriguing, I find the mission design in Metria simply lackluster; everything feels uninspired, from the fetch quests to the main quests, which involves a lot of back-and-forth interactions with NPCs. Most of the quests I've encountered revolve around talking to an NPC, then reporting back to another, followed by more dialogue with additional characters, all oddly silent due to the lack of voice-overs. This results in extensive running around across the map, populated by neutral monsters that do not pose a threat and a broken respawn system that respawns almost immediately after you kill them. Multiple loading screens further contribute to the tedium of these interactions. It's a rather uninteresting experience.
One of the few enjoyable aspects of the game so far is the challenging boss fights, which require skill and strategy to beat. However, players may feel restricted by power level limitations as early as their first few hours of play, which can create pressure to utilize the gacha mechanics and spend real money to make progress.