r/JRPG • u/Marinebiologist_0 • Apr 27 '25

News Clair Obscur has achieved the highest concurrent player rate ever for a JRPG on Steam.

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Incredible numbers, this doesn't even include the Xbox Gamepass player count. The last time I remember a JRPG getting this level of attention was Persona 5 and NieR Automata in 2017. It'll be interesting to see how massive Persona 6 will be, if it launches day 1 on all major platforms.

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u/Sc2MaNga Apr 27 '25

Elden Ring is my favourite JRPG. And anime is just the japanese word for animation, so Shrek is my favourite Anime. /s

Some people get way to hung up about tags of games. The success of Clair will get a lot more people interested into other JRPGs. Everyone knows if you say it's like a JRPGs, same with a game beeing soulslike, like an mmorpg or rogue like/lite.

For people who are so hung up about the japanese part, should look up stuff like "why are french fries called french fries" (spoiler, they are not made in france), but everyone knows what you are talking about.

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u/SomaCK2 Apr 27 '25 edited Apr 27 '25

The problem is that your example argument just fall flat when you considered games like Code Vein.

Okay, Elden Ring is not a JRPG because it lacks the Japanese Aesthetic, despite being made by 100% Japanese devs, then Code Vein is a JRPG through and through., despite both games are definitely of the SAME Souls game genre.

Is E33 a JRPG because it is menu heavy turn-based or it has Japanese style aesthetics (somehow?). Was Lord of the Ring The Third Age is a JRPG? So many questions arises because both E33 and LOTR TA doesn't have an ounce of Japanese aesthetic.

I think the problem is there because there is no clear cut definition for what is a "J" in JRPG. Maybe we should just call games like E33 just Turn-based RPG or JRPG-like/JRPG inspired games lol

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u/Setsuna_417 Apr 28 '25

Yeah, JRPG inspired would work.

The thing in the multiple threads I've seen people praising E33 for is that it isn't 'anime'. Which is fine, Dark Souls is hardly 'anime', and its rightfully not classified as a JRPG, so in that case why does E33 get the pass?

JRPG and ACG culture are intertwined deeply, and once you remove that it's not really a JRPG. People like to bring up gameplay, but there are so many games ranging from command based, ATB to full action that are JRPGs so that falls flat as well.

To sum it up, it seem people calling Clair Obscure a JRPG are forgetting that the 'J' means the culture of Japan as well, not just its location.

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u/glorpo Apr 29 '25

Elden Ring is so anime that "anime boss combos" is so a prominent source of criticism

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u/Paenitentia May 02 '25

Saying shrek is your favorite anime is super based, actually. I realistically don't see any reason why the fandoms for manga, comics, and webtoons should be split. It's literally all just comics. Cartoons and anime are the same thing too.