5 turn-based RPGs to play after Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has had incredible success since its launch in April. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 got incredible review scores, strong sales, and has seemingly served as a gateway to turn-based games for people who might not normally play them. Whether this is your first turn-based RPG or in the hundreds for you, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has people hungry for more turn-based RPGs like this. While DLC might be on the way, it will likely be awhile until it's actually released. If you are looking for more turn-based RPGs to play through, we have a selection of games for you that will certainly scratch it. There is no shortage of great turn-based games to recommend, but we stuck with games with unique and interesting combat systems, since the active battle elements from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are what makes it special.

A GOTY contender from last year

Metaphor: ReFantazio is widely considered one of the best games of 2024, and is an excellent turn-based RPG. Developed by the team that made Persona 3, 4, and 5, it features an incredible cast of characters that feel like real people living in a world. Similar to the themes of perseverance of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Metaphor: ReFantazio focuses on a world filled with anxiety and bigotry among people. It also takes itself somewhat seriously and doesn't feature as many JRPG clichés as those previous Persona games.

Perhaps the best part of Metaphor: ReFantazio is the combat, which has a ton of different character classes to choose from. You will need to constantly switch classes and mix skills in tactical ways to deal with tough enemies. It also features a quick restart feature that lets you restart a fight at any point during it, and if you are powerful enough, fights will need to be instantly without you needing to even start the fight.

4 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

A clear inspiration

The Paper Mario and Mario RPG active turn-based combat systems are a clear inspiration for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, so why not play the best game in that style. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was originally released on GameCube, but it has since been remastered for the Nintendo Switch. It features a classic battle system, still offering traditional leveling and equipment stats, combined with real-time elements. During fights, pressing a button at the right time on both offense and defense can either increase how much damage you are doing or negate incoming damage. It highly encourages you to be active and pay attention at all times, just like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door also has a great story and is widely considered the peak of character writing for the series. All the party members have strong personalities and are more than just generic Bob-ombs, the way they are later in the series.

3 Marvel's Midnight Suns

A large cast of characters with unique abilities and builds

Calling Marvel's Midnight Suns a turn-based RPG is a bit of a stretch, since it's more of a tactics game, but it is turn-based. The reason why I'm making this suggestion is that the character building and party creation will likely appeal to anyone who loves crafting builds in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a cool mechanic where every character not only excels at something different, but has a unique mechanic on how they work, with Maelle's stance switching as an example. Every hero you can use in Marvel's Midnight Suns works completely differently and has a wide range of cards for you to create a build.

You're not going to be swapping out weapons and skill points in the same way, but the deck-building offers tons of customization and choices. You also have far more characters to choose from, offering unique combinations of heroes for you to put together and even more opportunities for build crafting.

2 Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Incredible characters that feel real and are adults

After a half dozen mainline games, the Yakuza series shifted from a beat-em-up game to a turn-based RPG with the seventh game, Yakuza: Like A Dragon. Despite being that late into the series, this entry serves as a jumping-on point, with a cast of new characters to help introduce you to this world. Yakuza: Like A Dragon has a few things that make it a great follow-up to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. If you liked the taste of mini-games in Clair Obscur, Yakuza: Like A Dragon is filled with mini-games, from business management to kart racing and so much more.

It also features a cast of adults, something that can be a bit rare in the genre. Just like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, this isn't a story about a bunch of high schoolers. The cast of characters is incredible, the class system makes combat interesting throughout, and if you need a heartwarming story featuring a bunch of adults, this is a great place to go. Plus, the next entry, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, is already out, so if you love the series, you have even more games to play.

• Steam
• Xbox
• PlayStation

1 Sea of Stars

Independent developers delivering great games inspired by the classics

Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG that takes the same inspirations as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but ends up with a drastically different result. More focused on pixel animation and feeling like a classic JRPG, Sea of Stars features more puzzles, an isometric view, and a lighter tone than Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but it takes inspiration from the same classics. As a result, Sea of Stars also includes real-time elements, asking you to do timed button presses to maximize your attacks and avoid damage. The button pressing is more active on offense here, with some moves requiring multiple timed presses to deal even more damage. You won't be doing parries on defense, but you will still need to time out attacks if you want to avoid getting wiped on the regular. If you want a more throwback feeling, turn-based RPG inspired by the classics, Sea of Stars is for you.

No shortage of turn-based games to choose from

The five options above are just a sliver of the options available to you after Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. There are plenty of games, like Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger that directly inspired the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, if you want to head back in time. You also have so many modern classics, like Persona 5 Royal and Octopath Traveler 2, which don't feature active time elements but are incredible turn-based RPGs.