Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Director Crowns Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as His Game of the Year — For More Than Its JRPG Combat

If the guy steering Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth tells you his game of the year is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that carries some weight. Naoki Hamaguchi just planted his flag, and yeah, it lines up with the buzz that game has been getting.

Hamaguchi's pick for 2025 so far

In a chat with GamesRadar+, Hamaguchi was asked what his favorite game of 2025 has been to this point. His answer: Sandfall Interactive's debut, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. He did not hedge.

"It's a really great game and would deserve game of the year. I'd like to see them get that."

What he thinks Expedition 33 nails

• Turn-based, JRPG-style combat that adds a new wrinkle with quick-time parrying
• A reminder not to fixate on combat alone - in his view, the whole package is the point
• He specifically called out the setting, world, characters, and storyline as being just as strong as the gameplay
• He believes that balance is why the game is so well regarded by fans and why it has sold as well as it has

A small but cool behind-the-scenes detail

Hamaguchi mentioned that some of the Clair Obscur team visited the Final Fantasy head office, and he found it genuinely inspiring. He said you can feel the respect they have for classic, turn-based JRPG design, and as Japanese creators, his team is thrilled to see developers outside Japan pick up that tradition and do something fresh with it.

Where he stands on AI in development

He also touched on the AI conversation: however much AI tries to creep into the creative side of game development, his goal is for his team to be strong enough as creators that they can simply outperform it. Short version: humans should win on craft.

Now someone please ask him what he thinks about the real 2025 GOTY, Megabonk.