Dec 11, 2025
3 min read
"In the end, what matters is your own interpretation of the ending and the story," Expedition 33 Creative Director Guillaume Broche told GameSpot.
Claire Obscur: 33 teams 'a lot' about the end of the match
Hoatsescot may receive affiliate and affiliate marketing revenue for sharing this content and from purchases made through affiliate links.
Video: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 GameSpot Video Review [१०:५६]
Game Awards, and the evidence of the year, and this time of year is exciting for all the nominees, and we have new game announcements, and there is one studio in particular, and there is one studio in particular, which is more than any of you: Sandfalf Interactive.
Earlier this year, the small-scale studio took the world by storm with its debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Despite being the first Sandfall game, the turn-based narrative RPG quickly entered the pantheon of the best RPGs of all time, earning near-universal critical praise for its art, story, and typical PG adoption.
Now, Sand's interactive booth is set to make gaming awards history.Last month, the studio won its third major Game Awards, picking up 13 award nominations, including Game of the Year.Earlier this year, I spoke with studio creative director Guillaume Brochet, who said the team was "in disbelief" at how the game was received;This feeling only increased with the great success of the game.
Broche also shared that behind the game, there was "a lot of debate" about the game's completion, the team opted for a minimal user interface, and how many people still don't know the game's biggest inspiration.
Gapt: First of all, I want to know: What's the atmosphere like in the studio after the big success of the game?
BROCHE: I think a lot of people are still in high spirits about how the game was released and how fans embraced it.
While playing Expedition 33, it felt like the team took a "less is more" approach to making the game.There are few UI elements on screen, and for the most part, the characters' expressions and what they don't say are as effective as what they do.That said, I'd love to hear about your design philosophies and principles in your own words, if you could elaborate on them.
We always want to tell stories that feel real and finished.Of course, we have fantasy elements in the story, but at its core, it's a human story.And in those stories we need subtle, real interactions - that's why there's a sense of "lesser", as you say.It just makes the game feel more "real" in our eyes, or less easy to engage and interact with.Not all interactions in real life are perfect conversations, it's metaphorical conversations, or subtutt moments, that have the most impact.
For the user interface, we also wanted the same grounded approach to exploration.We trust that players will find their way through our levels, that they will understand our systems, and that they will interact with the world as we intended.We've taken inspiration from the games we grew up with in that sense, and avoided bloating our game with systems and designs that ultimately don't enhance the core gaming experience.
I think Clair Landrur is great at working with shades of gray and each character feels deeply human.So it's fun and challenging to ponder the game's ethics and big decisions.Do you really believe that the game is real or "good"?
The team is also something we argue about a lot!I think your reaction to endings and what ending is "good" is super subjective and has to do with your own personal experiences in real life.I think it's the strength of the writing and our story – kudos to our lead writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen and the incredible mocap and voice actors for our performances – there's nothing that makes everyone happy and these complicated choices that make us real people.Ultimately, the latter and the story itself is your comment.
Many sites have been quick to mention Legend of Dragoon, the Final Fantasy series, and even Title Software as games that Clair Obscur seemed to inspire, but are there other works that have inspired you that you'd like to talk about?
In fact, I was not familiar with the dragon during the Dragon before it came with Qtes (quick-time events) during the skills.I later discovered that it was a game that was just as good!There were other inspirations such as the sweat man, but the action games like Jon Devil Souse and nae.
The main inspiration is a French novel called La Horde du Contravent.It tells the story of a group of explorers - or an expedition - who travel around the world to find the source of a supernatural wind that travels around the world.Their story, the human stories of the team and the discoveries they make while traveling the world, were our inspiration as we developed our own story about the explorers' expedition.Because it is densely written, it has been fully translated into English.So I guess fans should learn French and then read the novel!
Clair's absurdity will break the current US record, Part II and take home more than seven prizes.However, with 13 nominations and a Year Award throughout the year, it remains to be seen what will happen.Game giveaways tomorrow, December 11th at 9:30 am and // 6:30 pm PT.
