yeah, Hashino mentioned consulting with Miura while he was still alive (this game has been in development since at least 2016), so all of the Berserk influences are most likely intentional in Metaphor: ReFantazio. please look forward to that being on the twitter freaks posts about "Hashino Bad" around the release of the game. I also remembered to place in my pre-order for the collector's edition physical (PC) - already pre-ordered the game digitally on steam, this goes into the "retirement fund" stash to break open decades from now.
in other news, I am so desperate for an MMO that I've taken up playing Black Desert again (horrifying) alongside OSRS (good), and looking up what other MMOs are coming out (every day I resist the temptation to pull on that Throne & Liberty pre-order). It turns out Andrew Gower, one of the original RuneScape creators before selling it off, is making another point-and-click MMO in that same style, and if it's not good, it will never be more over - so no pressure on his end:
(realistically, don't expect it to release in Q3 2024, since we're pretty much there with no release date in sight - delays to iron out issues are good! more games should do them!)