Sam (He/Him) is the former Managing Editor of DualShockers and is now Senior Reporter at TheGamer. He’s been in and around games media for six years now and has held a variety of roles within the industry, including staff writer, SEO editor, managing editor and global head of gaming content.
During this time, he’s hosted a PAX panel, interviewed game directors, reviewed some of the biggest games, attended Gamescom, Summer Game Fest, and Tokyo Game Show and covered some of the hottest news stories.
Sam has been learning Japanese for almost three years now, with the intention of bringing you news from the country before anyone else.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is on a generational award-sweeping run. It cleaned up at the Golden Joysticks, did the same at The Game Awards, and comfortably won our Game of the Year here at TheGamer. It’s a game that’s been lauded the world over, with some of Japan’s finest developers admitting their love for the French-developed video game.
The accolades don’t seem to be slowing down any time either, nor does the Japanese adulation, as today Famitsu has just confirmed its “Super Popular Game Of The Year” for 2025, and you guessed it, it’s Clair Obscur.
Famitsu Crowns Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 As Super Popular Game Of The Year
For 11 years now, Famitsu has been polling the Japanese games industry on its favorite game of the year, crowning the winner the “Super Popular Game Of The Year.” Previous winners have included Marvel’s Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Elden Ring, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
This year, the Japanese news site polled 191 developers, including some all-time greats, for their game of the year, and unsurprisingly, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came out on top.
The list of those who voted reads like a who’s who of the Japanese gaming industry, and it included the following in its 191 poll respondents:
Koji Igarashi (Castlevania)
The remainder of Famitsu’s top five was made up of Ghost of Yotei, Urban Myth Dissolution Center, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Mario Kart World. Surprisingly, despite Death Stranding scooping the award in 2019, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach failed to crack the top five this year.
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In its awards, Famitsu called Clair Obscur “truly the representative title of 2025,” and it marks another show of just how fervently Japanese gamers have taken to Sandfall Interactive’s unique spin on the beloved JRPG formula.
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My favorite thing about the game being so beloved is it’s after TWENTY YEARS of producers, jrpgs and suits all saying turn based combat is dated and would never be successful, always wanting action RPGs 😂 😂
As if like a dragon didn’t show it before, people still love them
I wonder if this will trigger a renaissance in jrpgs
2025-12-24 13:32:21
More people who should be jailed at least!!! Don’t they know that ‘AI’ took their jobs already? There won’t be any more jobs in 5 years, only ‘AI’! Won’t President Donald J Trump do something about this, or is he ‘AI’ already???
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
-The AI
2025-12-23 13:38:47
again, the ai assets were removed from the game and they were only used as placeholders. so annoying how people are just willfully hating on this game without even trying just because it’s popular.
2025-12-23 18:37:53
NateTheGreat This is like some athletes who take steroids, apparently the steroids disappear at the time of drug testing. That means they never used steroids…?
2025-12-24 07:24:05
Cloud it would be like if they took steroids, ripped the muscle they gained physically out of their body, then rehabbed with muscle memory.
2025-12-24 13:48:49
Jo Clair Obscur is available on all systems, including PlayStation.
2025-12-24 17:53:16
