There seems to be a disconnect between me and the current discourse surrounding Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I like the game quite a bit, but although I find it to be a good example of a turn-based RPG, it hasn’t changed my life. It’s good! Great, even. But there seems to be a prevailing message being parroted back and forth between people who really like the game that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:it somehow has ‘saved’ turn-base𓆉d RPGs.
I’ve seen this idea discussed a lot over the past week on social medi🃏a and , but each time I do, I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality where the last 20 years of gaming never happened.
“Turn-based RPGs should make a comeback”? Where h𒉰ave you been? They never left.
Wait, Who Even Are You?
It’s kind of difficult to know where to start when debunking a claim that’s just flat-out untrue. Allow me to list off a handful of great turn-based games released over the last two years or so: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Metaphor: ReFantazio, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur’s Gate 3, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Persona 3 Reload, Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Dragon Quest 3: HD-2D Remake, Fire Emblem Engage, Sea of Stars, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Honkai Star Rail, Octopath Traveler 2, Unicorn Ov༺erlord, Super Mario RPG, the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake — the list goes on, and on, and on.
In fact, there are so many excellent turn-based RPGs from the last few years that I’m certain my list must be missing something big (feel free to let me know in the comments if you’ve thougꦛht of one I didn’t).
My point here is clear. There has been no shortage of excellent turn-based RPGs in the last few years, and people who think the genre has disappeared simply haven’t been paying attention. It hasn’t. Turn-based RPGs have been among the most popular games of each year, and there’s usually at least one nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards. I don’t need to remind you that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ba♔ldur’s Gate 3 swept at the 2023 Game Awards. If you think theꦉ genre has fallen into obscurity, you just haven’t been paying attention.
Just Say What You Want To Say
The most frustrating part about the discourse is that it’s completely fine to have not been playing turn-based games until something like Clair Obscur came along. It’s a great game 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:that reviewed extremely well, and if you weren’t paying attention to the turn-based space, it might seem like it came out of nowhere. Those sorts of games are really fun to play because they take you by surprise, but it seems like Clair Obscur has broken out of the RPG niche and into the mainstream which means people who don’t normally play RPGs ar🅠e talking about it.
Since that seems to be the case, we now have people who don’t play turn-based games making these big sweeping statements a𝔍bout the state of turn-based♑ games and how there haven’t been any successful turn-based RPGs since Final Fantasy started i♓mplementing more active-time combat elements in 2006💙.
It feels like the reason these big statements are being made is because mild takes don’t garner the same attention as extreme ones. It’s a lot more impactful to say ‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has revived a dead genre’ than to say ‘I haven’t played a turn-based game since Final Fantasy 10 in 2001 and I’m really liking Clair Obscur!’ The first statement might be true, but 168澳洲幸运5开🉐奖网:the other statement is far mor🌄e retweetable.
I wish people would ♏just be upfront about their relationship to a game and its place in the industry.ও It’s fine to not be a turn-based expert, but it would be a lot easier to talk about games in a nuanced way if people just owned up to that.
Square Enix Isn’t ‘Gaslighting’ Anyone
The other big take about Clair Obscur that’s been shared a lot has been that Expe💫dition 33’s succ🥀ess proves that Square Enix is wrong about modern audiences not being interested in turn-based games – into think꧅ing that they want real-time action games like Final Fantasy 16 and not turn-based RPGs.
First of all, a company can’t ‘gaslight’ you into thinking anything. You’re misunderstanding what gaslighting is. Second, multiple things can be true at once. It’s not a secret that Square Enix has soﷺme pretty lofty sales e🅠xpectations that few of its published games seem to be able to meet. While Clair Obscur has been suꦆccessful for a small team, 🌊that success looks c𝕴ompletely different when viewing it through the lens of being a major publisher.
Square Enix has seen incredible success with its smaller turn-based titles in games like Bravely Default, Triangle Strategy, Life A Live, and Octopath Traveler, so the company understands that there’s a market for the genre, it just has to find the right balance for its flagship series. Final Fantasy has been trying tඣhings out fo🌜r a while and strayed away from traditional turn-based games, but that doe🅠sn’t mean the company is trying to trick people into thinking that they don’t like the genre when the company has given audiences some of the best turn-based RPGs in recent years.
At the end of the day, I understand that my irritation stems from reading takes from people who have no business having takes on RPGs, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying to see these same ideas echoed over and over again. Well, listen up everyone, if you look to your left you’ll see that it’s my turn in the turn order and I’m using it to dispel the bad takes from Twitter. If you liked Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, go play Metaphor. Or Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Or any of the many titles I listed above. Don’t listen to the detractors, 168澳洲幸𝔍运5开奖网:there are plenty of turn-based RPGs to go around.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Released
- April 24, 2025
- ESRB
- 𝓰 Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, 🍒Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 🉐 ꧒ Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- 🌊 ♛ Kepler Interactive
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