Does Metaphor: ReFantazio have romanceable characters?

Metaphor: ReFantazio is the latest JRPG from Atlus, swapping out high school drama and post-apocalyptic doom-and-gloom for some good old-fashioned political fantasy. Despite being its own new thing, the game leans pretty heavily into the Persona formula: Dungeon crawling mixed with day-to-day life sim stuff like ranking up bonds with your comrades and working on your social skills.

With it being so similar to Persona, it's reasonable to wonder if there's romance in Metaphor: ReFantazio. It's a major component of those games, and I was also under the assumption that I'd be able to smooch a party member or two.

Is there romance in Metaphor: ReFantazio?

Sadly—or perhaps not, depending on your preferences—Metaphor: ReFantazio has no romanceable characters. I suppose there's not much time for such things when you're busy trying to save a kingdom from falling into the hands of a tyrant while battling constant racism against the folk you're actively attempting to help.

While there isn't a definitive romance system present in the game, there are sprinklings of implied feelings throughout, and one particularly in-your-face moment with one of the protagonist's followers.

The game seems to heavily favour the protagonist's relationship with mustari priestess Eupha, the fifth party member you recruit in the story.

I wouldn't go as far as to call it Metaphor: ReFantazio's canon romance, but it's the closest you'll get. As you advance your bond with her, she asks for a handshake—not the regular-degular kind of handshake, the mustari kind, one that is understood to be rather intimate.

She expresses some feelings towards the protagonist, but I personally perceived the whole thing as being a little one-sided, or at least with Eupha's feelings being far more prevalent. A lot of the protagonist's responses give off confused or obtuse vibes, though you can select ones that seem a touch more understanding of her intentions.

That hasn't stopped the community from largely going all-in and declaring it Metaphor: ReFantazio's canon romance, though. While some seem to agree with me that Eupha is definitely feeling the fuzzies more than our WIll, others think that Eupha's later bond stages all but confirm that the two are rather cosy with each other.

After all, you'll also get a light ribbing from her brother, Edeni, if you go and speak to him after Eupha's rank 8 bond story. He'll say that he heard that the two of you shared a handshake, before saying he's happy that she chose you. He'll then bring it up again in a later cutscene, telling the protagonist: "Eupha trusts you, too. Actually, it's quite clear she does more than that," wrapping up with a brotherly thinly-veiled threat.

I didn't experience those heavy-handed romantic implications with anyone else in my 100+ hours with Metaphor: ReFantazio, to be fair. The closest I got was choosing to spend my time at the Virga Island bonfire with Junah. There's a relatively flirty dialogue choice the protagonist can choose, which Junah responds well to but also seems to brush off fairly quickly. Ah well, budding kings shouldn't be focusing on all this lovey-dovey nonsense anyway.