One of our most anticipated titles of early 2025 is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a dark fantasy RPG from Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive. In a world where a mysterious sorceress regularly wipes away entire generations with a simple act of magic, players lead a party of adventurers on a quest to put an end to her tyranny once and for all—and since its reveal at last summer’s Xbox Games Showcase, we’ve been eager to join their mission.
After checking out the preview build last month, we had the chance to speak with Lead Writer and Voice & Localization Producer, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, and Lead Game Designer, Michel Nohra, via email and pull the curtain back a little more on the work of art they’ve been crafting.
Right from its global reveal, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has drawn gamers’ attention with its unique plot hook: that a sorceress paints a number, and kills everyone of that age. Were there any particular influences that inspired the game’s premise?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: Guillaume Broche (Creative Director) and I kicked around a lot of different concepts, but kept coming back to the idea of a woman with a giant doomsday clock. This came in part from some art references Guillaume found while brainstorming — and now that I think back, we also had in our minds a semi-gothic adversary from an early game concept (that we subsequently shelved) who was spiritually similar to the Paintress.
This was back in 2020, in the midst of COVID, so the idea of an unrelenting force wiping away groups of people was somewhat top of mind. How do you mount a resistance when you feel helpless? When everything seems inevitable? When you don’t understand the enemy you’re fighting, or when the enemy seems impossible to fight?
We spent quite a bit of time trying to fit the pieces into a compelling story. Who was this entity? What do they want? Why is everyone getting erased? But we kept hitting a wall — nothing really captivated us.
Around that same time, I was working on a concept for my personal short story collection, and I suddenly realized that it fit very well with the game and could be adapted to answer all of those questions in a satisfying way. I pitched the idea to Guillaume, he loved it, and voilà, the Paintress was born.
Likewise, Expedition 33 has a very intriguing visual style, mixing eldritch horror and Belle Époque aesthetic, with a painterly influence reminiscent of the “Paintress” herself. What drew you to this very specific, and perhaps niche, era of art history to base your game around?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: We had considered other settings previously, including Steampunk Victorian England (Bloodborne was an early visual reference before we switched tacks). But in truth, many fantasy stories are set in a quasi-British setting, and we ultimately decided that we wanted to create something that was uniquely ours and that was true to the studio’s French identity. Belle Époque France was a natural choice, as it overlapped the Victorian England time period, has a distinctive visual identity, and carries strong artistic and cultural relevance for France.
In the preview demo, we were fortunate enough to take Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for a spin and meet Gustave and Lune, as well as Maelle. What can you tell us about Gustave and his relationships with his fellow expeditioners?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: To avoid spoilers, I’ll focus primarily on Gustave’s relationship with the characters he meets early in the game.
Gustave is Maelle’s foster brother and guardian, and one of the few people she feels close to and trusts. Maelle joined the Expedition partly because of him. She never truly felt at home in Lumière and longs to explore the world outside their island. Joining the Expedition was a chance to do that and spend as much time as she can with Gustave in his final year (and also watch his back!). Gustave is very fond of Maelle and feels responsible for her safety, as he helped convince Emma (his twin sister and Chief Councillor of Lumière) and the Expedition Academy to allow Maelle to join Expedition 33.
Gustave (an engineer) and Lune (a scholar) are colleagues who have collaborated in recent years on Lumina technology, hoping to give their expedition an edge. In Lumière, they are friendly, but they are not friends — in part because Lune does not have time for friends. It has been many years since she let herself feel close to anyone. Gustave, in contrast, is friends with almost everyone.
“We designed each character [in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33] to play completely differently with a ton of options and fun combinations. Our intention is that all players can find a way to build the characters in a way that they enjoy.”
Gustave greatly respects Lune and admires her passion and focus, though he thinks she is a bit tightly wound and too hard on herself. Lune values Gustave’s work on their Lumina tech and appreciates that he is one of the few who is as passionate (aka obsessed) as she is about defeating the Paintress. She does find him a bit naive, though. Over the course of the mission, they come to rely upon each other and become close.
Gustave and Sciel have been friends for over a decade, ever since they collaborated on an agricultural project with Sophie (Sciel’s close friend and later, Gustave’s romantic partner). They periodically lost touch, for a variety of reasons — Gustave and Sophie broke up, Sciel went through a traumatic experience that haunted her — but their friendship never wavered. They were extremely glad to team up once more at the Expedition Academy. They view each other as confidants and loyal friends who have helped each other through good times and bad.
We were also struck by the unique abilities that each of the playable characters in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have, like Gustave’s Overdrive, Lune’s “elemental stains,” and Maelle’s fencing stances. How did you go about designing these personalized powers for the characters? What do they tell us about the state of this world and the characters themselves?
Michel Nohra: The unique mechanics for each character are part of the bigger picture about how we want each character to play. We want our unique mechanics to have enough depth and modularity to synergize with many passive effects, while complementing our character’s various Skills.
Lune, for example, follows an “elemental mage” archetype. We wanted players to rely on casting Skills strategically and to put more emphasis on elemental weaknesses than other characters. And that’s how we came up with the elemental Stains: it encourages thinking a few steps ahead while giving a lot of importance to which element she casts.
We first came up with having Skills that generate Stains while others consume them, but it felt too restrictive and limited how Skills could be combined. After some iterations, we came up with the current version that allows each Skill to generate Stains but also consumes them to have upgraded effects. We think it allows players to have a lot of creative freedom in terms of how they want to combine Lune’s Skills and passive effects, which is something that we value immensely.
We followed the same principles for each unique mechanic, and that’s how we landed on Maelle’s ‘Stance’ system. We wanted her to use swords but in a more sophisticated way than Gustave, so the idea of fencing and stances kind of came up naturally. We only made small adjustments over time to make her gameplay more dynamic, for example, by giving her AP when she switches stances.
Making simple systems is often the hardest, and, funnily enough, the last one we figured out was Gustave’s. He actually had no unique mechanic for a very long time. In the end, we came up with the idea of charging his mechanical arm to deal a lot of damage. We were afraid it wouldn’t provide enough depth in the long run and had some discussion about adding overcharge effects to all of Gustave’s Skills, but we preferred to keep it as simple as possible, considering he is the first character unlocked.
Can you give us any further hints on the powers for the rest of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s playable cast at this time?
Michel Nohra: Sciel is more esoteric than others, and her character revolves around death and fate. She has two components to her unique mechanic; she applies what we call “Foretell” on enemies (which can be used later to generate additional effects on her Skills), and she also gains some sort of Tarot Cards when casting a Skill. Some Skills give a Moon card, others a Sun card. Having both cards makes Sciel enter her Twilight mode, which increases the effects of her Foretell and makes her deal more damage. Exploiting these mechanics can be a bit harder than the other characters, but it also feels much more rewarding when it clicks!
The last character I am allowed to talk about (for now!) is Monoco. He has almost twice as many Skills as any other character because one of his particularities is that he can transform into Nevrons and use their abilities against them. By playing Monoco and beating Nevrons, you will loot their feet and thus allow Monoco to unlock their unique abilities.
On top of that, in battle, Monoco uses a Bestial Wheel with five distinct areas that correspond to a Mask: Balanced Mask, Agile Mask, Heavy Mask, Caster Mask and Almighty Mask. Each of Monoco’s Skills are associated with a Mask, and they get stronger if the Wheel’s pointer lands on its corresponding Mask. So, to optimize Monoco’s turns, it is best to make sure you can optimize multiple Skills in a row!
It will be up to you to figure out which Skill to equip to make Monoco’s Wheel turn as smoothly as possible…
We designed each character to play completely differently, with a ton of options and fun combinations. Our intention is that all players can find a way to build the characters in a way that they enjoy, and I’m looking forward to seeing some unique combinations from our players when they get their hands on the game.
The game has a very curious title. Obviously, Expedition 33 refers to Gustave’s team and their mission, but is Clair Obscur meant to be a sort of title for a larger series, or does it also refer to something specific about this story?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: Clair Obscur is the French term for chiaroscuro, a Renaissance painting technique using dramatic contrasts between light and dark. This creates both strong focal points and shadowy areas in the painting’s composition. In part, we chose the term for its linkage to art and for its connotations of drama, elegance, and technical mastery. But there are also thematic links underlying this name.
For one, in chiaroscuro, the composition relies on the combination of light with dark to convey meaning and emotional effect. There is no value judgment attached. Neither is good nor evil. Both are necessary, and neither is sufficient on its own.
This speaks to a broader philosophy in our story, which focuses on people who truly care about each other, yet conflict arises because they have different perspectives on what needs to be done. They struggle with how to protect their loved ones or do what they feel is right, while also honouring their loved ones’ autonomy and choices. No character is strictly good nor strictly evil; they each have light and shadow, and, like chiaroscuro, it is that combination that makes them feel alive.
“[Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 art director Nicholas Maxson-Francombe] is a wizard and came up with a lot of cool and distinctive level biomes, which he then used to design matching creatures.”
Similarly, light represents hope and joy, while shadow represents grief for what has been and for what could have been. This combination lies at the heart of the story, and they are deeply intertwined.
Another aspect, in chiaroscuro, the painter makes a conscious decision on what to place in the light and what to place in the shadow. We, as the audience, what we perceive, even how we perceive — they are the result of a conscious choice by the painter. Obviously, all paintings reflect the choices of their painters, but chiaroscuro conveys a particularly dramatic spotlight. We admire what’s in the light, and we wonder what’s in the shadows. The painter tells us what we know and teases us with what we don’t.
This speaks to the power of the Paintress and how she affects everyone in this world. Their entire lives are shaped by her choices, in more ways than they know.
We sincerely hope that players enjoy our game, and if there is demand for it, then “Clair Obscur” could very well be the umbrella title for a larger series!
The preview build and the trailers so far have introduced some unorthodox creatures that Expedition 33 will encounter along their journey, some friendly and some hostile–Noco and the Bourgeon were some personal highlights for me. Where did the inspiration for these creatures come from?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: On the visual side, it all sprang from the creative mind of our brilliant art director, Nicholas Maxson-Francombe. His approach, in his words, is to “draw what he thinks is cool.” He is a wizard and came up with a lot of cool and distinctive level biomes, which he then used to design matching creatures. He’d often start with a few keywords in mind and go from there. With the Bourgeon, I believe he was thinking of a giant hunchback, with coral tubes and tulip elements. This was the approach for the vast majority of the enemies you’ll encounter.
On the narrative side, certain creatures originated in the story and have narrative importance, and after briefing Nicholas, he then brought them to life with his own spin.
For instance, Noco and the gestrals are based on mini-paintbrushes (for story reasons), and their personalities directly reflect their in-game origin story (sorry, no spoilers!). Most (not all) of the gestral names are an homage to a certain staple in our studio, and I’m sure the players will quickly figure out what each one refers to. Nicholas took the idea of fun combative paintbrushes and created the gestrals we know and love today.
There’s also François the grumpy turtle, aka Esquie’s best frenemy (who is named after our beloved COO, François Meurisse). Why is he a grumpy turtle? Mainly because I love grumpy characters, and I like turtles, and I was feeling silly that day! François, the character, has quite a bittersweet backstory, and there are some elements of Toy Story in his emotional journey. I’ll let the players piece together the full details. Nicholas designed an amazing François, and I can’t wait for players to meet him.
For a few characters, the process happened in reverse. Nicholas came up with some amazing designs, and I wove them into the story. For instance, we wanted some very challenging mid- to late-game enemies (known as Axons) and we had a storyline for why they were there, but no specific visuals in mind (other than “behemoth-sized”). Nicholas designed some beautiful creatures and matching biomes, which served as a great source of narrative inspiration. Using his visual designs, I developed distinctive backstories for each Axon which tied back narratively to the Paintress’ broader story.
As a French studio, did you approach the game’s writing primarily from the French perspective or in English?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: Everything was written in English, but there was definitely a French touch to things, such as the enemy names, many of which are based in French. My favourite is the Sakapatate, whose name sounds like a bag of potatoes!
The game has a star-studded cast in both languages. Were the characters changed at all to suit the actors who would be lending them their voices, or as a result of the actors’ performances or insights?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: No. We did blind auditions and were very fortunate to assemble a talented group who truly embodied the characters as we envisioned them. Jennifer English, for instance — I think within the first line of her audition tape, we were like, “yup, that’s Maelle.” She captured Maelle’s essence perfectly.
Same with Rich Keeble, who is fantastic and has THE best comedic delivery. He innately channelled Monoco’s outsized personality and special combination of humour and sincerity. Ben Starr, Kirsty Rider, and Shala Nyx all delivered nuanced performances that really channelled the spirit of their characters. Our English cast was truly fantastic.
The same goes for our French cast. For the French dub, we did live auditions and similarly sought out actors who really embodied the characters. We were very lucky to have Adeline Chetail, Féodor Atkine, Alexandre Gillet, and many other amazing actors join the cast.
The final ingredient was our voice directors, who helped guide the actors and fine-tune their performances. We had the fantastic Jo Green for English, the esteemed Serge Thiriet for French, and our very own Guillaume Broche (and me), who helped voice-direct in English.
I’m biased, but I am quite proud of our English and French voice actors. Everyone was so professional and so focused during the recording sessions, and they beautifully tapped into their characters.
What element of the game are you most excited for players to experience when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches April 24?
Jennifer Svedberg-Yen: I am super excited for players to finally uncover the truth about the Paintress! I hope players find the journey emotionally satisfying (and I hope they finish the story feeling both torn and torn up about the ending!). I’m also excited for players to spend time with the characters and experience their story arcs and relationships. I hope people feel a connection with the characters.
Michel Nohra: I just can’t wait to see how players will play our different characters and what they will do with all the options we gave them. I love seeing unique playstyles, and I hope that at least some players will enjoy figuring out weird builds as much as we enjoyed creating them!
[Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches April 24 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Steam.]
