I caught the latest reveal trailer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and proceeded to make discovering out precisely what is going on on within the new RPG’s darkish fantasy world, which is dripping with the type of ‘finish of days’ vibe generally present in Final Fantasy and Persona video games, a high precedence as, merely put, it is a bit bonkers. As such, just lately having the ability to sit down with the sport’s artistic director, Guillaume Broche, to see the sport in motion and ask him about it was an actual boon.
In Expedition 33’s metropolis of Lumière, annually the mysterious and seemingly omnipotent being referred to as the Paintress wakes up and, approaching a big monolith in the course of all the pieces, paints upon it a cursed quantity, ticking it down. As quickly because the Paintress paints it, everybody of that age turns to smoke and fades away instantly.
As such, the inhabitants’s most age is in decline. To remedy this, an expedition from the town is tasked with venturing forth into the unknown yearly to attempt to discover this Paintress and destroy her, ending her annual culling. However, so far none of those expeditions have been profitable, resulting in the operatives of Expedition 33, the upcoming age group subsequent to ‘die’, heading off on their hail mary mission. As such, Expedition 33 finds itself on a race in opposition to time to seek out and finish the Paintress.
So how and why did Broche land on this plot about Expedition 33 venturing forth into the unknown?
“I like this query,” laughs Broche, “as a result of I don’t suppose there’s a explicit factor the place it got here from one morning, like, ‘Oh, why don’t I do this?’ Basically, I like tales the place you go and enterprise into the unknown, and you actually need to go along with this type of concern, and you haven’t any concept what this objective precisely is, and you haven’t any concept what’s in between you and this objective. You simply go and hope for the most effective. You simply go round, being like, ‘What’s like taking place?’ [These are] actually the form of tales that I like.
“I just like the group dynamic. They go along with a objective, however nothing is evident besides the objective. And you’re like, ‘I don’t actually know what I’m purported to do, or the place I’m purported to go.’ I feel this sense of discovery is basically one thing that we needed to deliver right here.”
I can vouch for that air of discovery, too, after seeing the sport in motion. Nothing is evident at the start when it comes to plot, such because the Paintress’ identification, the destiny of the opposite expeditions, why the inhabitants’s being culled, and even actuality itself—with environments sporting many surreal components. But because the journey of Expedition 33 progresses, the participant begins to find increasingly concerning the world, characters and gameplay prospects.
Watch On
If you have not caught the reveal trailer but for Expedition 33, then it may be watched immediately above. The sport is because of drop someday in 2025, so one to regulate as we progress into subsequent 12 months, and particularly so in the event you’re a fan of turn-based RPGs like me.
