Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was inspired by Souls series, Devil May Cry, and Nier

As development continues on Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, director Guillaume Broche has revealed some of their greatest inspirations for their highly-anticipated premier RPG title. Drawing from some of the greatest games in the genre, Broche alludes that players have a lot to look forward to.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was inarguably one of the biggest standouts at the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, with public reception to the entire presentation positively glowing. Apart from its spectacular fantasy French Belle Epoque aesthetic and compelling apocalyptic story premise, what stood out the most in the trailer to just about everyone was its dynamic and impeccably designed turn-based combat.

Sandfall Interactive's director Guillaume Broche recently sat down with PlayStation Blog to talk about his team's impassioned 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 craft such an experience, the developers took a huge amount of 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, timings, and weaknesses for each enemy encounter, and we wanted to translate that challenge into a new genre.

Guillame Broche - PlayStation Blog

The influences from such games, namely their attention to fluid, impactful, and immersive combat are abundantly evident in the reveal trailer. Harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 5's tech, those beloved elements are interwoven with an equally clean and rewarding turn-based system.

Among their many other inspirations, Broche made note of fundamental ones like the Final Fantasy series, Lost Odyssey, and especially Persona, incorporating their "awesome UI, rhythm, and dynamic camera". Beyond gaming titles, Broche branched out to find other muses such as a French fantasy novel called La Horde du Contrevent and even the highly acclaimed anime/manga Attack on Titan.

In general, stories about venturing into the unknown despite incredible risks, like the anime/manga Attack on Titan, have always been very appealing to me.

Guillame Broche - PlayStation Blog

It's absolutely 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. While paying plenty of respect to all that the genre has done immaculately well, they also want to bring the perfect degree of innovation to those elements that will give players a "fresh" and captivating experience. We may have a while to wait still before the game debuts, but discussions like these make Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feel all the more promising.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is currently slated for release in 2025. While preorders haven't opened yet, the game will be available across all current-gen platforms, including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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