Having hit well over one million copies sold, and being touted as a GOTY contender, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been making serious waves in the zeitgeist – but it turns out the Belle Epoque-inspired game almost looked very different.
With fans eager to get their hands on any scrap of information about the game, it took barely any time at all for them to uncover an old trailer in the depths of Reddit, posted by game director Guillaume Broche in 2020.
The post in question was a callout for voice actors to audition for the lead roles, stating, “Our demo is almost complete, what we lack are the cutscenes (being made right now) and some voices behind our characters … The game will be heavy on narration so voices are very important to us.”
The post also included a link (now password-protected) to a Google Drive folder which held within the draft trailer, and the vibe was very different to the final product. Forget France – the original trailer had us settle in London.
In an interview with The Gamer, writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen also confirmed that while the gameplay would have been roughly the same, the story and setting were originally going to be worlds apart. “It was set in a steampunk Victorian England with zombies, aliens, and various things,” she said.
Read: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review – Stunning in more ways than one
Critical response to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Given the widespread acclaim the title has garnered upon release, it’s safe to say that the direction shift was probably a good one, with many reviewers calling out the narrative and environments as standouts. That’s not to mention the hugely well-received voice acting from cast members like Charlie Cox, Jennifer English and more – so who knows, maybe the Reddit post did its job after all.
In the GamesHub review for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, we said, “It blends gorgeous aesthetics and authentic characters with engaging turn-based combat, in a gloriously heavy adventure that feels like Belle Epoque meets Persona meets Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation. In a world packed with consequence, death, and darkness, it’s a testament to the narrative prowess and voice acting performances of the team that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a feast for the senses.”
But that’s not all. The game scored highly across many of the major review sites, with GameSpot‘s Richard Wakeling noting, “When you factor in the voice talent involved, the visual splendour on offer, and the sheer scale of the whole game, it really feels like Clair Obscur is punching above its weight, considering the comparatively small size of the team at Sandfall.”
While we’re glad that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ended up being the gloriously moving and artistic game that it is, we know Sandfall Interactive has plenty more to offer, and that there’s plenty more to come from this studio. All eyes will remain on this studio, to see what it works on next.
Will it be sci-fi? Steampunk? What are the chances of returning to the London-based roots? Ultimately, a new game is a long way off, but one thing is for sure: whatever it is, it’ll almost certainly draw a crowd.
