It's been a couple of month since we last heard from developer Sandfall Interactive about their first game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. First revealed during last year's Xbox Games Showcase, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that has now has a confirmed release date of April 24, 2025. It will be available on Xbox Series X|S and PC (a day one Game Pass title) as well as PlayStation 5.
The upcoming game is set in a world inspired by Belle Époque France and follows a group of protagonists attempting to stop the Paintress, a powerful being who once a year paints a number on her monolith. Anyone who is of the age of the number she paints becomes curse, turning into smoke and fading away.
"WIth only one year left to live, join Gustave, Maelle, and their fellow Expeditioners as they embark upon a desperate quest to break the Paintress' cycle of death," the description teases. "Follow the trail of previous expeditions and discover their fate."
Although Sandfall Interactive was inspired by the many classic RPGs that came before it, they are hoping to put an innovative twist on the genre with what they call "reactive turn-based combat." This is a unique approach to real-time battling that allows you to take your time and form strategies during battles, but also react in real-time to dodge, jump, or parry enemy attacks, triggering a powerful counterattack.
“I kept thinking about ways to make turn-based battles more engaging,” Guillaume Broche, founder & creative director at Sandfall Interactive, explained back in July. ”The attack rhythm system is a mix of different inspirations–we wanted to make something fast paced to fit the vision we had for battle. As soon as I finished the first prototype of the defense system, I knew it was something special.”
As a role-playing game, customization is also very important, and Expedition 33 will allow you to set up your characters and playstyle before you enter battle. One of the ways you can customize your characters are through Pictos. These work similarly to accessories or gear in traditional RPGs, providing stat bonuses to the characters who have them equipped.
They also have unique passive skills associated with them, called Lumina. Having a Picto equipped allows the character to learn the associated Lumina permanently. Between Pictos and Lumina, there is a wide range of ways to diversify your builds and customize your party to fit your playstyle.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is shaping up to be a must-play for fans of the real-time strategy/RPG genres. The game is due out this April.