Expedition 33 Dev On Turn-Based JRPGs: They Became ‘Uncool’ In Xbox 360 Era, Still Haven’t Fully Recovered

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 blew us away when it released earlier this year – one of the best Xbox releases of 2025 without a doubt, and up there as one of the best turn-based RPGs we’ve seen in the Xbox Series X and S generation.

Speaking in an interview with Automaton recently though, Expedition 33 creative director Guillaume Broche explained how he feels there’s still a “prejudice” around turn-based RPGs and JRPGs, suggesting that it started sometime around the Xbox 360 era when open-world games started to take over in a big way.

Here’s a bit of what he had to say to the outlet:

“I could talk about the prejudice 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” (laughs).”

Of course, we’ve seen plenty of successful examples of turn-based games in recent years – the Persona series, Like a Dragon and Sea of Stars to name just a few, as well as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 itself which has been a huge hit.

Broche did mention the Persona series when highlighting how things have picked up since the Xbox 360 era in terms of the genre’s popularity, but advised there’s still a long way to go for it to return to how popular it once was.

“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.”

Later in the interview, he spoke about how Expedition 33’s beloved real-time dodging and parrying mechanics weren’t added to the game in an attempt to make a “cool” turn-based RPG and “avoid our game facing prejudice”, but simply because the team thought they would be excellent additions to the game.

However, the parrying side of things didn’t go as planned at first, and Broche ended up turning to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – a game he was playing at the time – for inspiration. Ultimately, it led to the system we’ve come to adore today.

So, what do you think? Did turn-based RPGs become uncool in the Xbox 360 era in your view? Tell us below.