As development continues on Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, director Guillaume Broche has revealed some of their biggest inspirations for their highly anticipated flagship RPG title. Pulling from some of the greatest games in the genre, Broche hints that players have a lot to look forward to.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was undoubtedly one of the biggest highlights at the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, with public reception to the entire presentation positively glowing. Aside from its spectacular fantasy French Belle Epoque aesthetic and compelling apocalyptic narrative premise, what stood out most in the trailer for almost everyone was its dynamic and impeccably designed turn-based combat.
Sandfall Interactive director Guillaume Broche recently sat down with PlayStation Blog to talk about his team’s passionate dedication to not only the game’s outstanding high-fidelity graphics, but also the turn-based gameplay that has prospective players so enamored and excited . To create such an experience, the developers took a huge inspiration from many of the most reputable RPG series in the genre.
We were inspired by action games like the Souls series, Devil May Cry, and NieR, and their rewarding gameplay was something we wanted to bring into a turn-based setting… When you play those games, you have to learn the attacks, timing, and weaknesses for every enemy encounter, and we wanted to translate that challenge into a new genre.
Guillaume Broche – PlayStation Blog
The influences of such games, namely their attention to fluid, efficient and immersive combat is abundantly evident in the reveal trailer. Harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 5 technology, those beloved elements are intertwined with an equally clean and rewarding turn-based system.
Among their many other inspirations, Broche noted fundamental ones like the Final Fantasy series, Lost Odyssey, and especially Persona, incorporating their “creepy UI, pace and dynamic camera”. Beyond gaming titles, Broche branched out to find other muses like a French fantasy novel called The Horde du Convention and even the highly acclaimed anime/manga Attack on Titan.
In general, stories of adventure into the unknown despite incredible risks, such as the anime/manga Attack on Titan, have always appealed to me greatly.
Guillaume Broche – PlayStation Blog
It’s abundantly clear that Broche has his finger on the pulse of the RPG community and that he and his team have done their homework across the board, and then some. Paying a lot of respect to everything that the genre has done flawlessly well, they also want to bring the perfect degree of innovation to those elements that will give players a “fresh” and engaging experience. We may still have some time to wait before the game debuts, but such discussions make Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 all the more promising.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is currently scheduled for release in 2025. Although pre-orders have not yet opened, the game will be available across all current-gen platforms, including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
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