Like all games, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 underwent many iterations and mutations throughout its development before becoming the huge success it is today. With this trailer for a prototype version of Sandfall Interactive's 5-year-old title, we can get a sense of how far the French studio has come to deliver this superb gem.
A very different Clair Obscur Expedition 33 from five years ago
At its heart, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 was envisioned as an RPG with turn-based combat and free exploration of its vast world. But its atypical universe centered on mourning, painting, and French culture wasn't necessarily part of Sandfall Interactive's plans from the start. At least, that's what we can see in the trailer below. More precisely, it's a presentation of the title's gameplay dating back to 2020.
We can thus notice enormous differences between this five-year-old iteration and what Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is today. Starting with the opponents we face, and the overall artistic direction. Likewise, we can clearly see that the engine used was not Unreal Engine 5 at the time, this one having been released in 2022, thus indicating that the studio changed engines during development. What hasn't changed, however, is the presentation of the turn-based combat and the orientation of the camera during the exploration phases. We can also note that Moon was an adversary to face in this early version of the game.
We can thus see that the small team of around thirty people at Sandfall Interactive worked for many years before delivering Clair Obscur Expedition 33 to us. Hard, passionate work that has clearly paid off, with a title that is already a serious candidate for numerous prestigious awards, despite a year 2025 that was extremely busy with high-flying games.
Source: Reddit
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