Metaphor ReFantazio’s director Katsura Hashino ignores fan feedback and he’s so real for that

Katsura Hashino, a director at Atlus who oversaw modern Persona and Metaphor ReFantazio, avoids reading fan feedback to keep his mental health in order

Atlus/GLHF

Katsura Hashino, a director at Atlus who oversaw modern Persona and Metaphor ReFantazio, avoids reading fan feedback to keep his mental health in order. Hashino made the comments in a recent Famitsu interview where he and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama discussed how they handle audience reception after their work on a project is over (thanks, Automaton).

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Hashino said he tries not to be “that conscious” of fan feedback, and while he does read it in limited bursts, he treats it like a work duty.

“Of course, I do check things out at certain times, such as right after launch,” Hashino said. “But it’s not like I can adjust [the game] based on what I see. When I need to look something up, I do it quickly in one go, because constantly looking at reactions isn’t good for your mental health.”

He also said he doesn’t look his name up online and doesn’t use social media.

Toyama, who Famitsu said was surprised by Hashino’s reaction, said he used to dismiss fan feedback as well, but approaches it rather differently now. He’s keen on adapting ideas that he finds interesting, and he wants to know what people expect from his work.

Given how vicious fan reactions often are, Hashino probably has the right idea. Major points of feedback are important, of course – such as international audiences asking Atlus to stop being so homophobic in Persona – but implementing every audience demand would just lead to a confused end result. 

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That’s before even considering that the most vocal people online usually don’t represent the people playing a game. Larian, for example, added Halsin’s romance after fan feedback during BG3’s early access. Comparatively few people have become intimate with him in ursine or human form, and the general consensus is that, while he’s an interesting character, he’s underdeveloped compared to the rest of the cast.

Not that Hashino has too much to worry about, at least with Metaphor ReFantazio. Atlus’ latest RPG sold over 1 million copies on launch day and still has a high number of concurrent players on Steam. Meanwhile, Toyama’s latest project – Slitterhead, a horror game from new studio Bokeh Studio – is set to launch on November 8, 2024.