Summary
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success is partly thanks to its focused scope and respect for the player's time, says Sandfall Interactive's portfolio director, Matthew Handrahan.
- Handrahan says games can be "better by being shorter," and feels the same about films.
- CCO and producer, François Meurisse, explained Expedition 33 was designed to be an “intense and short experience” from the start.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s portfolio director has acknowledged the game’s success is partly to do with its scope and ability to respect the player's time, noting that he would like more games to be shorter. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG by French studio Sandfall Interactive, and it received its debut back in April. Gamers join a party of volunteer expeditioners who are tasked with defeating the Paintress, an entity that enforces an annual Gommage that removes people of a certain age from the world.
Expedition 33 received universal acclaim after its launch, with praise being given particularly to its dark fantasy Belle Époque art style, challenging combat, and epic-standard score by Lorien Testard. The music gained overwhelming popularity, enough to reach the top of Billboard’s Classical Music and Classical Crossover Music charts in May. Expedition 33’s most popular song nearly didn’t make it into the game, discovered at the last minute within drafts, and several fans are hoping a medley will be performed at this year’s The Game Awards.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Director Shares Advice for Developers
The Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director shares some advice for developers, highlighting key aspects of the game’s development.
During an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Sandfall’s portfolio director, Matthew Handrahan, credited Expedition 33’s correct scope that does not harbor "any sense of bloat or extraneous things," and states it "respects the player's time." Staying on the same subject, Handrahan believes more games should be scaled down, saying, "Brevity should be more of a virtue in gaming. Something can be better by being shorter." The portfolio director explained this was a point of contention present in the film industry as well, noting, "Every film seems to be two and a half hours long, and I think most people are like, 'Can they all be a bit shorter, please? Because we have other things to do with our lives’." Another factor that’s contributed to the game’s success across demographics is its JRPG inspirations, and Expedition 33’s director shared what he loved about Persona 5, one of the games that influenced the RPG alongside the likes of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs Believe Games Should Be Shorter
The studio’s CCO and producer, François Meurisse, weighed in on games being more refined, saying he places "the level of excitement and fun" over the length of a game. The producer also said that Sandfall wanted Expedition 33 to be an "intense and short experience" from the get-go. In a separate interview, Meurisse revealed that he wanted Expedition 33 to follow in the footsteps of Half-Life 2 and Zelda’s Ocarina of Time, referring to Sandfall’s plan to continue working with small teams on future projects.
The producer also confirmed Sandfall has already begun brainstorming Expedition 33’s successor, but remained tight-lipped about the nature of the project, whether that’s a completely new story or related to the Clair Obscur universe. Meurisse admitted the next project would be a "challenge" with higher expectations attached to it after Expedition 33’s overwhelming success. Furthermore, the producer revealed director Guillaume Broche already has "great ideas" in mind for the next endeavor.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- April 24, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Kepler Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
