It's a very interesting time for Japanese RPGs — and not just because Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sparked all sorts of arguments amongst genre enthusiasts.
Indeed, it feels like we've been hitting some serious highs with JRPGs of late, with critically acclaimed titles like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter making big waves recently.
It goes without saying that Metaphor developer Atlus remains at the forefront of this modern JRPG push — and that makes director Katsura Hashino's new comments all the more interesting.
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Hashino, who's spearheaded the Persona series and the aforementioned Metaphor, believes that the genre is now on the cusp of evolution — something he calls "JRPG 3.0".
During a recent talk about artistry in media (as reported by 4Gamer and translated by GamesRadar), Hashino explained that he views the genre in three distinct stages: old school, classic JRPGs are "1.0", modern and current JRPGs are "2.0", and future JRPGs are "3.0".
He suggests that modern JRPGs are defined by being "higher quality due to how much more responsive they are to the player", setting them apart from older adventures. In other words, aspects like more accessible design and increasingly involved gameplay mechanics are now the norm.
But what about the "3.0" era? Well, Hashino says we're almost there, and he wants to be part of this new wave.
"There will be a greater dimension to these games and they'll change the genre's structure and presentation at a fundamental level," Hashino claims, without going into too much detail.
It's a fascinating subject, we think, especially since current JRPGs are already trying new things
For example, action-based mechanics seem to be seeping into the genre more and more; Metaphor and the latest Trails games both utilise action combat as a part of their overall battle systems, while the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series adopts a full-on hybrid between action and command combat.
While Hashino appears to be talking about evolution on a more general level, increasingly popular trends like action-based gameplay will contribute to how future JRPGs present themselves.
What do you think the future of JRPGs looks like? Is Hashino right? Are we about to behold the next step? Level up in the comments section below.