In the 1990s, the turn-based RPG was unstoppable. From Pokémon to the multimillion-selling PlayStation Final Fantasy games, there was nothing cooler than vanquishing blocky beasts via drop down menus. Then came the new millennium. As computing power blossomed and western-made games rose in popularity, traditional Japanese-made RPGs slowly but surely fell out of fashion.
“What Final Fantasy was doing before – a more realistic, grounded take on the turn-based genre – now, nobody is doing that. And that’s where we want to be,” says Guillaume Broche, CEO of Sandfall Interactive and creative director of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Citing 2007’s Xbox 360 classic Lost Odyssey as the last truly high-budget turn-based RPG, the ex Ubisoft employee founded a studio with a mission to move the genre forward.
The result is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The name is a baffling mouthful, but this ambitious French epic is inspired by France’s 20th-century belle époque and surrealist painters. A lavishly rendered party of adventurers move through a world that shimmers with a dreamlike quality, from a Little Mermaid-esque underwater kingdom to gothic, grandiose mansions.
It’s not just the setting and aesthetic that separate Expedition 33 from its peers, but its fast, fluid combat. “I’m a bit burned out on turn-based RPGs, because I’ve just played far too many,” Broche shrugs. “So for players like me, we wanted to make sure the turn-based battles feel more interactive and different, requiring skill and offering something fresh.”
Each attack requires successfully pulling off a timed button-press. Dodges and parries are performed in real time during enemy attacks, with successful parries and evasions recovering HP and enabling counterattacks. Jumps are introduced halfway through our demo, adding an extra layer of dynamism as each party member leaps out of the way of incoming attacks.
“The belle époque and art deco aspects are really present throughout,” says Broche, “from the costumes to the decor and the environments. We wanted to push that aesthetic as deep as we could into every aspect of the game.”
While the developers are remaining tight-lipped on specific plot details, the plot centres on an expedition crew with only one year left to live. Each year, a mysterious painter daubs a new number on a distant tower, and everyone of that age disappears into ash. Seeking answers, the party venture out to find and kill the painter, discovering the lifeless bodies of the expeditions that came before them.
“The tone of the story, the writing, the characters we have developed are darker than traditional JRPGs,” says Broche. “[Games such as] Sea of Stars and Octopath Traveler are what I would call love letters, because they’re reminiscent of old times. We don’t consider ourselves a love letter at all. Obviously we take inspiration, but in terms of art style, presentation and gameplay we take a different approach.”
The high fidelity and sombre tone recall the aforementioned Lost Odyssey, an impressive feat for a game made by just 30 people. While the opaque cutscenes shown so far have left me scratching my head, there is an irresistible flair and dynamism to this world. If you have even a passing interest in the genre, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one to watch.