Expedition 33 Not Only Inspired By JRPGs, But Also By One Very Hard Souls-Like

Summary

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 blends real-time and turn-based elements in a unique RPG experience.
The game draws inspiration from Final Fantasy, FromSoftware titles, and Belle Époque France.
Expect immersive battles, unique character builds, and a rich fantasy world in this anticipated release.

Are you familiar with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? If not, you should be, as the RPG is turning heads, and what developer Sandfall Interactive has shown so far looks quite impressive.

At first glance, you might assume classic JRPG classics like the Final Fantasy games inspired the developers. While the legendary RPG franchise is indeed one of Sandfall’s inspirations, it’s not the only one.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Takes Inspiration From a Souls-Like

In an interview with GamesRadar at the Game Developers Conference, producer and studio co-founder François Meurisse shares some of the studio’s inspirations in crafting Clair Obscur.

Meurisse shares, “Final Fantasy 10: and the “the earlier ones on PlayStation, like 7, 8, and 9,” were some of the biggest inspirations for their in-development RPG.

Not only those games, but even one title from developer FromSoftware is an inspiration too, and it’s one of the Japanese studio’s hardest games. Nope, it’s not Elden Ring.

“Those are big childhood games for Guillaume [Broche], our game director. He wanted to have like kind of feeling that he imagined would have remained in modern Final Fantasy-like games, if they had kept doing turn-based stuff. But he mixed also lots of different inspirations. Definitely Final Fantasy and JRPGs are the preeminent gameplay heritage we have. The defense system is more inspired by Sekiro and From Software games. It has this kind of rhythm element and a more real-time component in it. More skill-based,” Meurisse adds.

The Final Fantasy series and even Sekiro aren’t a bad set of games to take inspiration from. However, I do hope it doesn’t try and mimic Sekior’s hair-pulling difficulty.

Clair Obscure Expedition 33 screenshot 2

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Collector’s Edition Already Sold Out; PC Requirements Revealed

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Collector’s Edition restocks are not guaranteed, as Sandfall is caught by surprise by the demand.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is due for release next month, and we already managed to get some hands-on time with it. Our preview was quite glowing, where it also said, “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is showing all the right things leading into release. Sandfall is crafting a world that looks like it can stand toe-to-toe with the biggest blockbuster games out there, but at a reduced cost of $49.99”

The game’s premise, straight from publisher Kepler Interactive notes,: “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.”

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 releases on April 24 on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.