After watching a latest hands-off demo of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which for my part appears like one of the vital fascinating new RPGs incoming in 2025, I used to be significantly taken by what I perceived to be the sport’s indebtedness to the nice turn-based RPG sequence, Persona, and particularly its newest and biggest launch, Persona 5 Royal.
From the strike first or be struck initialisation of fight within the real-time world, by the crew and turn-based fight in addition to monstrously distinctive enemy designs, and even onto the same digicam angles and slick menu animations, after I checked out Expedition 33 I noticed a darkish fantasy western tackle a Persona recreation. So, being within the room with the sport’s Artistic Director, Guillaume Broche, I naturally requested him about it.
“Yeah. We’re positively not hiding that there are influences from the large Japanese style,” Broche famous. “Truly, [though], I wouldn’t say that Persona is the most important affect on what we do. I don’t cover my love of motion for the Remaining Fantasy 8, 9, and 10 period. I believe lots of the core of the sport positively takes inspiration from that. Indirectly. It’s not like we take it from the video games. The sport is extra like [what] I grew up with, and type of constructed my inventive tastes on. So I might say we take lots of affect from them however indirectly making an attempt to select issues from them.
“And on the Persona facet, yeah, we positively took a take a look at what they had been doing by way of the digicam actions, and the menus, and the way every little thing has been created dynamically, and making an attempt to do one thing that actually feels dynamic, however can be extra like our personal factor, in a manner. As a result of, additionally, we’ve a really completely different artwork model. We simply needed to do it our personal manner.”
It was not solely refreshing to listen to from Broche that my intestine feeling was appropriate, but additionally that Expedition 33 is trying to make use of such acclaimed video games as a base for what its doing, which very a lot seems like a singular western darkish fantasy tackle the normal turn-based JRPG. To get a flavour for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 then you’ll be able to try the lately launched reveal trailer beneath.
Watch On
I do not find out about you, however I am actually digging the look and tone of Expedition 33. There is a palpable ‘finish of days’ vibe, which may be very Remaining Fantasy, and the fight, whereas turn-based, really has motion components to it, with assaults being optimised with well-timed button presses, in addition to dodges and parries of enemy assaults executed with button presses, too. It is like a extra participating turn-based RPG, the place you’ll be able to combat as quick or as gradual as you need. Undoubtedly a recreation to keep watch over as we progress into subsequent yr.