Sandfall Interactive showed off Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, an original title coming for 2025.
The company made the announcement at Microsoft’s Xbox showcase today. In the game, a woman paints images and then brings them to life. But when she paints something new, everyone in the images fades to pieces and dies.
It’s an interesting new world, and it’s nice to see an original IP.
Your job is to break the Paintress’ cycle of death. It is coming in 2025 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC
London and Montpellier-based developer Sandfall Interactive unveiled their highly ambitious debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in today’s Xbox Games Showcase.
It was inspired by beloved classic fantasy JRPGs and action games alike. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has immersive reactive turn-based battles, a mature and moving narrative and a stunning, evocative art style inspired by French and Parisienne art and architecture.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 promises players a beautiful story-driven experience and an emotional cast of characters that will stay with them long after the credits roll. It will be published by Kepler Interactive.
As for the story
Once a year, the Paintress wakes to paint a cursed number upon her monolith and everyone of that age instantly turns to smoke and fades away.
Year by year, that number ticks down. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” Join Gustave, and his fellow Expeditioners as they embark on a desperate quest to break the Paintress’ cycle of death once and for all. Retracing the steps of dozens of failed Expeditions before them, players will overcome powerful enemies and fight to save the future of their world. Set in a dreamlike world, the story unfolds as fantasy and art converge, backed by an enchanting soundtrack to create a breathtaking story unlike any other.
“We poured our hearts and souls into creating the game of our dreams, something that would feel fresh and new, so we sincerely hope you will enjoy discovering the world and characters we crafted with love,” said Guillaume Broche, Founder of Sandfall Interactive and Creative Director of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, in a statement. “With an incredible and epic story, a unique reactive turn-based system, and a vast hand-crafted world to explore, we gave our all to make the journey in ‘Expedition 33’ one that you will never forget. We can’t wait to share more with you as we get closer to release!”
Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, or ‘Expedition 33,’ is an innovative reactive turn-based RPG with immersive real-time offensive and defensive commands to enhance combat, making battles more engaging than ever.
Players will master their offensive skills and magical abilities, dodge, parry and counter enemy assaults in real time, and target enemy weak points using a ranged free-aim system to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds. Furthermore, players will be able to customize each character’s unique stat growth, skill tree and gear alongside a wide range of learnable passive traits, offering endless opportunities to fine-tune their preferred strategies.