With over five million copies sold, the game has won over not only the public but also one of its rival directors.

Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, clearly has good taste—his own work shows it—but if there was ever any doubt, he stated that his personal 2025 Game of the Year is undoubtedly Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Asked by GamesRadar about his favorite game of 2025 so far, the head of the FFVII remake trilogy named Sandfall Interactive’s debut title. He highlighted the JRPG-style, turn-based combat and the genre’s fresh twist with fast-timed parries.

“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a really great game and deserves game of the year. I’d like to see them get that. Combat shouldn’t be the main focus, because what makes the game so good is that it gets all the elements right and balances them at a high quality level. For example, the setting, world, characters, and story are all very well done, in addition to the gameplay. I think it all comes together, which is why fans love it so much and why it has sold so well.”

“The developers visited us, and it was very inspiring… You can see they’re highly respected. They not only made a great game, but also paid respect to traditional turn-based JRPGs. As Japanese game creators, we’re delighted to see others embrace this style and do something with it.” Hamaguchi said.

We’ve written several times in the past week about the third part of the Final Fantasy VII remake project. It appears to be progressing well toward release, but we probably shouldn’t expect the as-yet-unnamed game before 2027.

Source: GamesRadar