Games to look forward to in 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Role playing games

IIn the 1990s, turn-based RPGs were unstoppable. From Pokémon to multi-million-selling Final Fantasy games on the PlayStation, there’s nothing cooler than defeating blocky beasts using drop-down menus. Then came the new millennium. As computing power and the popularity of Western-made games grew, traditional Japanese-made RPGs slowly but surely fell out of favor.

“What Final Fantasy used to do – a more realistic, grounded take on the turn-based genre – no one is doing that anymore. And that’s what we want to be,” says Guillaume Broche, CEO of Sandfall Interactive and creative director of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Calling the 2007 Xbox 360 classic Lost Odyssey the last truly big-budget turn-based RPG, the former Ubisoft employee founded the studio with a mission to push the genre forward.

The result is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The title sounds confusing, but this ambitious French epic is inspired by the 20th century French Belle Epoque and surrealist artists. A beautifully rendered group of adventurers navigate a world that shimmers with a fairy-tale quality, from a Little Mermaid-style underwater kingdom to gothic grand mansions.

It’s not just the setting and aesthetics that set Expedition 33 apart from its peers, but also the fast, fluid combat. “I got a little tired of turn-based RPGs because I played too much,” Brosh shrugs. “So for players like me, we wanted turn-based combat to be more interactive and different, requiring skill and offering something new.”

Each attack requires a successful timed button press. Dodges and parries are performed in real time during enemy attacks, with successful parries and dodges restoring HP and allowing for counterattacks. Jumping is introduced midway through our demo, adding an extra layer of dynamism as each party member leaps away from incoming attacks.

“The Belle Epoque and Art Deco aspects are really present throughout,” says Brosh, “from the costumes to the decor to the environment. We wanted to embed this aesthetic as deeply as possible into every aspect of the game.”

While the developers are staying tight-lipped about specific plot details, the story centers on an expedition team with only one year to live. Every year, a mysterious artist paints a new number on a distant tower, and all the people of that age disappear into the ashes. In search of answers, the group decides to find and kill the artist, discovering the lifeless bodies of participants from previous expeditions.

“The tone of the story, the writing, and the characters we developed are darker than traditional JRPGs,” says Brosh. “[Games such as] “Sea of ​​Stars” and “Octopus the Explorer” are what I would call love letters because they are reminiscent of old times. We don’t consider ourselves a love letter at all. Obviously we take inspiration, but in terms of art style, presentation and gameplay, we’re taking a different approach.”

The high precision and dark tone are reminiscent of the aforementioned Lost Odyssey – an impressive feat for a game made by just 30 people. While the opaque clips shown so far have left me scratching my head, there is compelling talent and dynamism in this world. If you have even a passing interest in this genre, you’ll want to check out Claire Obscurus: Expedition 33.