Unshakeable confidence does newly blossomed Montpelier-headquartered studio Sandfall Interactive exhibit in their first project. Barely half a decade old, the company – led by CEO and creative director Guillaume Broche, a passionate gamer formerly employed at another game developer – has amassed a thirty-strong team, and their upcoming RPG-adjacent adventure Clair Obscur: Expedition’s presentation is bracing, intriguing, and damn-near faultless.
Graphical prowess isn’t the source of the studio’s confidence though. Sure, Clair Obscur looks incredible, but Broche and his team – wearing influence from Soulslikes, out of FromSoftware’s oeuvre like Sekiro – are certain they’ve crafted a distinct combat experience. Narrative, character-driven action is Expedition’s beating heart, but it’s battling is its body’s nourishment: vibrant, free-flowing, energising.
It was during Broche’s previous experience when he conjured up the ideas comprising Clair Obscur’s narrative framework. Expedition focuses on a populace desperate to halt their eradication by enemies whose cruelty looms oppressively in view of prosperous citadel Lumiere. The stage is set for some bitter skirmishes, experienced through the eyes of oppressed protagonists.
Once you get into it, you’ll quickly discover there’s an RPG heritage imbuing Clair Obscur’s combat. It’s turn-based in nature, so anyone who’s dabbled in RPGs will be rightly familiar in the ebb and flow of Expedition’s fighting. There are, however, extra elements which reframe Clair Obscur’s combat with asymmetrical lightness of touch. Real-time actions which add distinct flavour.
Amongst these are defence minded dodges, parries, and jumps to evade enemy attacks, each executed via time-based button presses. Especially precise dodges and parries result in perfect variations, gifting chance to unload potentially damaging counterattacks. Better still, if you successfully parry an attack aimed at your entire party, the whole squad will retaliate with an awe-striking, choreographed counter. Visual spectacle and ultra-high damage.
There is risk versus reward in parrying versus dodging, of course, with the risk heightened by numerous tough enemies who manoeuvre unpredictably to attack in off-kilter patterns. You’ll have to study their moves, ala FromSoft, in order to successfully deflect or evade every landing blow. Even on normal difficulty, the window for precise response is tight, so it’ll take some practice to truly get into the groove. The combat’s real-time swagger continues with a free-aim ability which can be used not unlike Horizon’s Aloy to shoot enemy weak points, wipe off chunks of their health, or immobilise or eradicate opponents altogether.
There’s depth to the combat’s turn based flipside too, with each character in your party capable of melee attacks in addition to the free-aimed range attacks. However, crucially, your characters need to amass Action Points if they’re to use their ranged ability, and landing blows is the best way to do this. Action Points themselves, according to Sandfall Interactive co-founder François Meurisse in conversation with GamesRadar at Games Developer Conference, are a further point of differentiation between Clair Obscur: Expedition and other RPGs. Meurisse explains that the idea is that the players accumulate points to put towards skills rather than more established magic or mana points in other games of the genre.
These skills are distinct to each character’s arsenal too and rely on building a specific attribute (also unique to each character). Grizzled expedition leader Gustave uses his skills to fill an Overcharge meter which he can spend to unleash a devastatingly powerful attack. Mage-like Lune wields elemental attacks which leave Stains upon her enemies, the effects of these consumed by subsequent attacks to boost damage alongside other effects.
From these two characters alone and this brief explanation of their skillset we can see already the kind of over-powered synergies players can concoct between party members. Lune leaves a stain; Gustave unloads an overcharged attack. We haven’t even mentioned the youngest of the trio Maelle, who joins the party later. Her skillset – when built over subsequent turns – seems especially potent.
See, she has three stances which she can freely switch between: an offensive stance to boost damage at the cost of defence, a mirror image defensive stance to increase resilience for a reduction in attacking power. Her piece-de-resistance however is her Virtuose stance which, should an opponent’s defences be whittled down enough or should one of Lune’s stains leave them elementally weakened, can eliminate them in a spectacular attack dealing 200% more damage.
There will be plenty of unlockable abilities for each character too which should provide a host of imaginative, and thoroughly gratifying, ways to take down enemies the deeper the expedition goes.
The characters you’ll command throughout Expedition are complex, emotionally nuanced, damaged, yet relatable. They exist in a world where their population is slowly being whittled down to zero. Gustave, for one, has had to suffer the recent trauma of seeing his 34-year-old love interest die. In fact, during Clair Obscur’s demo Gustave happens upon the bodies of his fellow expeditioners, with his anguish bubbling just beneath the surface spilling into an act of desperation and desire for suicide.
It’s Lune who stops him, her being the more pragmatic of the pair, essentially making clear that their mission will likely see them both dead before its culmination and that should either one of them die, they’re duty bound to continue regardless. The pair spend much of their time together quarrelling, both unable to see each other’s point of view, equally valid they both are. However, within the emotionally charged script are lighter moments. Shared laughter, banal conversation, that sort of thing, the more laidback moments examples that these characters deeply care about each other’s survival, alongside providing the perfect counterpoint to heavier moments of desperation and fear, emotions that make up the bulk of the character’s journey.
It’s another refreshing distinction in Clair Obscur’s favour in that these characters are written and performed with emotional gravitas. Too often in JRPGs characters act like foolish people and often make silly mistakes that are not to be expected from them. Expedition’s participants are adults’ scorn by generations of loss, dwindling hope, and trauma, and this is reflected in their actions and behaviours. So, we’re assuming Clair Obscur will deliver mature characters and will avoid the one dimensional route that so many games follow these days.
Topping off the superb action and wonderfully composed characters is a vibrant, thoroughly imaginative world in which the game takes place. Levels here meld high-art fantasy with the phantasmagorical, a highlight in the gameplay shared thus far being a realm seemingly underwater, with fish swimming through the air and seaweed waving in invisible currents.
Also of significance is Clair Obscur: Expedition is not open world. Instead, these levels are linear in design, with secret routes and hidden areas sure, but these biomes are curated experiences. From gameplay shared thus far, the game seems like it’ll be for the better than players aren’t free to take in the narrative, action, and exploration at their own pace. There’s an important purpose driving the motives behind each character, and Sandfall Interactive have opted to portray their odyssey at a pace they feel is most suitable.
Sandfall Interactive are right to be confident. Clair Obscur: Expedition looks fantastic and should end the year as one of the biggest games released. It’ll be nothing short of a Lumiere-sized tragedy should it fail to find an audience.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
