You better book some time off work for Metaphor: ReFantazio, as the upcoming JRPG is apparently almost as long as Persona 5

Persona 5 was a ridiculously long game, and it looks like the next title from the devs behind it, Metaphor: ReFantazio, will take up just as much of your time.

There are a number of reasons I haven't played Persona 5, but easily one of the biggest is just how long the damn thing is. I've heard people say "yeah it's like 100 hours minimum" and I shrugged that off as people exaggerating how long it actually takes, only take a peek at How Long To Beat and see, oh my, this thing really is like 100 hours long. To be clear, that's people just logging the main story, with completionist hours coming in at 173 hours (Atlus wept) - though Persona 5 Royal clocks in at around 142 hours for completionists, despite having more content, so your mileage may vary there. And now, the director of Persona 5 and the upcoming Metaphor: ReFantazio Katsura Hashino has said the new JRPG will be roughly just as long.

Speaking to Spanish website Vandal in a now seemingly deleted post (later shared to Reddit), Hashino noted how Persona 5 was a "very bulky game" and that Metaphor: ReFantazio will be able to catch up to its length. On top of that, he shared that even after the credits roll there'll be numerous reasons to keep exploring the game's world, Eucronia, noting that the team has tried to make a well-paced game as best they can (a welcome bit of news considering the pacing issues the Persona series is known for).

Funnily enough, Hashino did also say that the team thought Metaphor was going to be a little shorter, but due to the sheer amount of content they added to it, it's coming up to the same length as a title like Persona 5. Those of you that like "animated cinematic sequences" will also be happy to hear there'll be roughly the same amount of Persona 5 too.

Our own Dom got to chat with some of the team behind Metaphor last month, which you can read here.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is due out October 11, and will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.