Clair Obscur creator on how open-world games „killed” the popularity of JRPGs. „They started being considered uncool”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a huge jRPG success, but the game's developers don't believe their creation has completely overcome players' „preconceptions” about turn-based RPGs.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn't cure players of their "prejudice" towards jRPG, claim the creators of the French hit.
The project of Sandfall Interactive studio quite unexpectedly became a strong contender for the game of the year title, alongside Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza. Along with high ratings from reviewers and enthusiastic opinions from players come excellent sales, which have significantly exceeded the expectations of the publisher and developer.
For many people, Expedition 33 has become proof that "Japanese" RPGs still have a reason to exist, and the belief in their "niche" status in recent years is greatly exaggerated. However, the game developers themselves don't believe that their creation will overcome players' prejudices against jRPGs.
Source: Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive.
Players and prejudice towards jRPG
Creative Director Guillaume Broche and Lead Programmer Tom Guillermin talked about the creation of the project in an interview for Automaton (via GamesRadar). As the first one of them put it, the popularity of jRPG ended after the Xbox 360 era (that is, before 2013).
Since then, there have been a lot of great representatives of the genre, including games from Atlus that have sold millions of copies. Nevertheless, Broche believes that despite the success of subsequent titles, players are still prejudiced against turn-based RPGs, which, since the debut of "open worlds," are seen as "uncool."
I could talk about the prejudice [against] jRPG forever (laughs). Personally speaking, I think Japanese turn-based RPGs were super popular up until the Xbox 360 era. But around the time open-world games started getting more popular through gaming media, [JRPGs] started being considered "uncool." […] While they do still sell a large number of copies, with the Persona series as a prime example, I feel like the prejudice against turn-based RPGs isn't completely gone.
"Uncool" turn-based RPG with DLCs
It's hard to deny that there's something to it. Just take a look at how the Final Fantasy series has evolved, moving away from turn-based battles to real-time combat (partially or completely, depending on the installment). Even Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 somewhat deviated from the classic jRPG framework, which can be seen, for instance, in the system of parrying blows.
Broche emphasized that these systems weren't meant to make the game "cooler" in the eyes of modern players. The team had planned to implement such mechanics from the beginning, although initially it caused the team a lot of problems. Only the Creative Director's session with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice really inspired the developer and helped him come up with a satisfying system.
Nevertheless, as we know from previous statements by the creators, various jRPGs were the main inspiration for the studio - from old installments of the Final Fantasy and Suikoden series to Shadow Hearts and Persona 5. This mix of classic turn-based gameplay with various improvements turned out to be a bullseye, and Expedition 33 immediately became one of the best titles of 2025. Not that this big success will lead to a bigger, high-budget project - Sandfall Interactive is not planning to experiment with AAA games.
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- „Any nomination I get, I really have to give to him” Expedition 33 voice actor praises motion capture performance
- After Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 matched Baldur's Gate 3's record, the devs are shocked: „It's surreal”
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Author: Jacob Blazewicz
Graduated with a master's degree in Polish Studies from the University of Warsaw with a thesis dedicated to this very subject. Started his adventure with gamepressure.com in 2015, writing in the Newsroom and later also in the film and technology sections (also contributed to the Encyclopedia). Interested in video games (and not only video games) for years. He began with platform games and, to this day, remains a big fan of them (including Metroidvania). Also shows interest in card games (including paper), fighting games, soulslikes, and basically everything about games as such. Marvels at pixelated characters from games dating back to the time of the Game Boy (if not older).
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