„We value the turn-based genre” Expedition 33's success left an impression on Square Enix
Final Fantasy has been moving towards action and away from turn-based combat. However, a recent investor call suggests that Square Enix may change that.
Today, Square Enix has acknowledged the success of one of the year’s biggest RPGs, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, including its focus on turn-based combat. Square Enix is perhaps best known for the Final Fantasy series, the sixteenth of which was released in 2023. This RPG series was a major staple in the turn-based RPG genre, but the last few entries have begun to shift away from this style, focusing more on action. Final Fantasy XVI has become particularly controversial among fans for taking this shift the furthest. We have now heard from Square Enix that they view turn-based combat as a viable strategy for future games.
Square Enix will release more turn-based RPGs in the future after the success of Expedition 33
This news story, initially reported by VideoGamer, comes from a social media post by a user named @yuzz_. This user attended a Square Enix investors meeting and shared their experience, which included the opportunity to speak and receive a response. During the meeting, Yuzz_ reportedly expressed a desire for future “…Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles to be command-based RPGs…” referencing the shift in direction with Final Fantasy XVI and the recent success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
According to Yuzz_, Square Enix responded positively, saying, “…they are aware of Expedition 33 and consider command-based RPGS to be Square Enix’s origin and foundation… They value the command-based RPG genre and plan to continue delivering games in this style in the future.” Please note that this has been translated from Japanese to English, so the exact wording may vary. Additionally, to clarify, ‘command-based’ is just another way to say ‘turn-based.’
Every few years, it seems that the video game community is once again surprised that turn-based RPGs are popular. This happened earlier this year with the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It also happened in 2023, when Baldur’s Gate 3 swept every award show. It is bound to happen again. Despite the continued popularity of turn-based games, a significant portion of the gaming audience remains unclear about their popularity. This doesn’t even mention the immense popularity of Pokémon, the number one highest-grossing media franchise on the planet, which revolves around games with turn-based combat.
Square Enix still has the third installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series in the works, and inevitably, we will learn about the seventeenth new game in the series at some point. It will be interesting to see which direction the series goes from here. Will a return to turn-based combat be met with just as much backlash? Has the series divided its fanbase so thoroughly that there’s no easy answer anymore? We will have to wait to see.
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