The paradigm shift in RPGs

[Ikagura Ikagura]

People who complained about Expedition 33 are always people who haven't played it, got baited by the negative reviews and/or scared that their old fave RPGs are taken by its hype.

Anyway, nigs in a row format is still the most tried and true JRPG formula since DQ and SMT and I can't see it going away anytime soon, or even changing much in the first place. The paradigm never shifted much.

Once again I'm sorry but Expedition 33 really screams to me "westerners that are nostalgic with Chrono Trigger or any popular JRPG of the 90's trying to replicate said Japanese game".

Maybe I would enjoy it but if I wanted a great turn based JRPG I'd just turn up a SNES with Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI on it instead, it'll be cheaper and the pixel art is immaculate.

All Expedition 33 did was merely evoking that nostalgia in millenial gen who grew up in what you could call the best gaming experience yet.

And that's the biggest issue about this game: "merely evoking that nostalgia".

A bunch of frenchies trying to make a facsimile of the masterpieces Japanese devs used to create.

"Best gaming experience yet" may be absolutely subjective.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

The 90s isn't the best gaming era we've seen so far in history? That's not subjective, that's the cold, hard fact.

Post automatically merged: Aug 13, 2025

90s isn't the best gaming era we've seen so far in history? That's not subjective, that's the cold, hard fact.

And Expedition 33 is really its own thing altogether despite taking many notes from successful JRPGs from back then, it oozes creativity reminiscent from that missing era. People really should play it first before judging.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Turn based combat will never feel outdated to me because there is so many different ways to do it and it's fun seeing developers constantly coming up with new twists on it. Games like Circus Electrique, Chained Echoes, Final Fantasy XIII, Grandia, Valkyrie Profile, the Octopath Traveler games, The Legend of Dragoon, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, Vagrant Story, and Battlechasers: Nightwar all have their own unique quirks. Even the Voice of Cards series while not doing anything different in terms of gameplay just feel different on account of the aesthetic.

Even strategy rpgs have a vast amount of diversity with Valkyria Chronicles, Fire Emblem, Jeanne D'Arc, Tactics Ogre, Dynasty Warriors Godseekers, Fuga: Melodies of Steel, Dragon Force on the Saturn, those crazy Disgaea games, and the battles in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.

I don't mind some games trying for a more action oriented approach, it worked pretty well for Kingdom Hearts and Crisis Core. I just don't want it to become the norm. I miss when Final Fantasy used to experiment with turn based combat from game to game instead of just abandoning it completely.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

The 90s isn't the best gaming era we've seen so far in history? That's not subjective, that's the cold, hard fact.

Saying "this is the cold, hard fact" doesn't make it systematically true (especially when it's about entertainment products and art). It's like saying that the Sun turns around the Earth "because it's true".

Some could even consider the 80's to be better simply because of how many innovations and great franchises got created during this time frame.

And then you'll have people saying how the 2000's were the best because of how groundbreaking the PS2 was and how game changing the 7th gen was.

And Expedition 33 is really its own thing altogether despite taking many notes from successful JRPGs from back then, it oozes creativity reminiscent from that missing era.

Once again that's my issue, it has things "reminiscent from that missing era" which means that outside of the nostalgia it has nothing making it unique.

I like some nostalgic trips but things should go forward and not just stagnate in the past.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

It was almost unequivocably true for gamers that lived in that time, there is no denial whatsoever. It was the era when gaming becomes not just a hobby, but a lifestyle and a culture where many would make their own local communities just to play games and enjoying them (arcade center) and when people would flock at some specific games regardless of how good or bad it is. It was so groundbreaking that not even the 2000s of PS2 era onwards can't even hope to compete despite raising the bar of high quality graphic games and even the internet gaming stream boom can't replace the exhilarating feeling of 90s pride.

And saying that Expedition 33 offers nothing unique aside of the nostalgia is just absolutely disparaging I don't even know what to tell you aside of to try playing it yourself. Heck, the fact that it's a French JRPG that didn't shy out to show its Frenchiness itself already gives a lot of unique vibes in the whole setting so you're wrong too in the regard because it's not a merely FF expy or 90s JRPG copy.
The fact that you deliberately left out "oozing creativity" part told me that you're just being contrarian for the sake of it, because the most standout part of most games in the 90s is that the devs back then creating them to be as creative as possible, taking considerably high risk regardless of whether they would sell or not. The games that are made out just to be FUN before anything else. The thing which is missing from most games post the 90s era (aside of the standout select few) because the devs are playing them pretty much safe for the most part by largely copying what's successful before.

End note, I won't say that Expedition 33 gonna shift the old paradigm of JRPGs immediately, but I do believe that it could open so many possibilities in the future with how outstanding and successful it is. Where a game is confidently crafted with so overwhelming love and fun by the devs, not thinking much about how the crowd would receive it as a whole.