Metaphor Refantazio Director Praises Clair Obscur For New Steam Bundle: ‘I Am Genuinely Delighted To See Japanese-Style RPGs Being Born And Embraced’

Best RPG winners Metaphor: ReFantazio and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are together at last. Sega revealed a new Steam bundle that gives you an extra 10 percent off both games if you buy them together. That’s over 175 collective hours of drama-filled, turn-based dungeon grinding if you go the completionist route. Metaphor: ReFantazio director Katsura Hashino used the occasion to celebrate Clair Obscur‘s breakout success last year.

“Expedition 33 is a work that conveys a deep understanding of and sincere dedication to the JRPG genre, crafted with great care down to the finest details. As someone who also creates RPGs, I found it to be truly inspiring,” Hashino, who’s been designing RPGs at Atlus since the 1990s, said in a press release. At a time when many franchises in the genre have moved toward more action-based combat, Clair Obscur showed turn-based mechanics could still keep evolving and appeal to a more general audience.

“I am genuinely delighted to see Japanese-style RPGs being born and embraced, not only from Japanese-based studios like ours, but other places around the world through diverse creative approaches,” the Persona 5 director continued. “While the two titles differ in their worlds and overall direction, players may find a shared spirit in how we each approach and express the RPG genre. I hope that this bundle encourages players to experience both titles and enjoy the breadth of what RPGs can offer.”

Sandfall Interactive CEO And creative director Guillaume Broche had equally kind words for Metaphor: ReFantazio, a grittier fantasy RPG than Atlus’ usual games with shades of Game of Thrones. “The game has one of the most charismatic villains I’ve ever seen in an RPG,” Guillaume noted. He added that he’s been a big fan of Atlus’ work dating back to 2003’s Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call, or as it was known in the West, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. That happened to be the first game in the series directed by Hashino himself.

Last year, Hashino predicted a new renaissance in the genre would lead to the birth of “JRPG 3.0.” While he didn’t say exactly what that would entail, he suggested it would include an innovative rethinking of the core concepts fans have come to expect from those types of games. “There will be a greater dimension to these games and they’ll change the genre’s structure and presentation at a fundamental level,” he said. For now there are more than enough JRPG 2.0 releases to keep people busy.