Sandfall Interactive’s smash-hit debut game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, is still making waves across the game industry, and its momentum shows no signs of slowing. As a French love letter to the JRPG genre, this action-infused turn-based title has impressed many with its customizable and potentially execution-heavy gameplay, stunning visuals and music, and heart-wrenching story. It doesn’t hurt that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 represents a rare AA success story predicated on sustainable development practices, a trait that is becoming increasingly more desirable as layoffs continue to hit the industry.
Anyone who has already beaten Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and can’t wait for its potential DLC is in luck, as there are more contemporary RPGs cut from the same stone as this newcomer. Sega plays host to several, including Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Being turn-based RPGs with integrated action elements and mature stories already gives Like a Dragon and Clair Obscur a lot of common ground to stand on, but the next Like a Dragon entry pursuing those connections could push it to even greater heights.
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How Clair Obscur’s Gameplay Can Benefit Like a Dragon
Clair Obscur Already Feels Like The Next Step For LaD
Like Clair Obscur itself, the turn-based Like a Dragon entries owe a lot to the games that came before them, which in this case include the many beat-’em-up Yakuza titles, and Square Enix’s Dragon Quest games as an in-game justification for protagonist Ichiban Kasuga seeing battles as turn-based. With inspiration at their core, it would only make sense for one or both of these properties to borrow from the other, with Clair Obscur likely serving as the first donor. Like a Dragon and Infinite Wealth’s customization and progression systems are deep enough for their needs, but Clair Obscur reveals just how far they could go.
Progression in Infinite Wealth is fairly straightforward, with characters and jobs gaining new abilities as more jobs and weapon upgrades are gradually mixed in. Clair Obscur’s system of learning Lumina from equipped Pictos before being able to equip both in separate slots may seem more complicated and less versatile than mixing LaD’s job abilities allows, but it actually makes for a more modular system with greater build variety. Like a Dragon 9 will need to make some tweaks to an imported Picto system to ensure its many jobs are still supported, but successful results will keep players experimenting with their builds for a long time.
Like a Dragon’s Turn-Based Combat Has Something To Measure Up Against
However, the main thing in Clair Obscur that Like a Dragon 9 should take inspiration from is how combat gets handled. LaD9 gaining more unique character play styles like what Clair Obscur’s party and Infinite Wealth’s Kiryu enjoyed would be nice, but refining its action elements should take precedence. Some Yakuza fans still miss the days when action combat took precedent in the series’ mainline titles, and some tweaks to the current system could go a long way towards pleasing them. It’s a risky endeavor, but Like a Dragon could be the ideal place to recreate Clair Obscur’s parries.
Clair Obscur’s Action Mechanics Are Ideal For Like a Dragon
Despite Infinite Wealth already featuring perfect guards, a damage-nullifying parry could be extremely satisfying in Like a Dragon 9, especially if it guarantees counterattacks or Clair Obscur’s fight-scoring system also carries over. Dodging attacks would also feel good, and could be reframed as a special position-changing action for certain jobs. The timing windows for all of LaD9’s defensive mechanics should also have difficulty settings to match Clair Obscur’s. Adding as much kinetic gameplay as possible without disrupting the core turn-based gameplay could make Like a Dragon 9 the new standard for the franchise, and highlight the good that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has done even more.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Released
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April 24, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
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Kepler Interactive
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5