Summary
What makesClair Obscur: Expedition 33so special is its compact, engaging narrative and its ability to take you from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in an instant. It’s deep, satisfying, and gut-wrenching, and much of that is thanks to lead writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen.
But while the game is set in the fractured city of Lumiere and its surroundings, Svedberg-Yen told TheGamer things were almost very, very different.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s France-Inspired Setting Almost Never Happened
Prior to Clair Obscur becoming Clair Obscur, writer Svedberg-Yen and Sandfall Interactive CEO Guillaume Broche were working on an entirely different game, for which Svedberg-Yen originally applied to be a voice actor. In our interview, she revealed how different that game was.
“The gameplay would have been similar,” she said, “but the story was completely different. It was set in a steampunk Victorian England with zombies, aliens, and various things.” A far cry from what the original Expedition 33 would have encountered.
While characters likeLune,Maelle, andVersoall kept their names, “they were completely different” in the original project.
It was set in a steampunk Victorian England with zombies, aliens, and various things.
Svedberg-Yen said the original script had been in the works for “almost half a year”, but investors made Broche and her change course.
“Guillaume called me, and he’s just like, ‘Alright, reboot. We’re starting from scratch,’” she said, following a call in which potential investors told them, “You know, you’re able to think bigger, don’t hold yourself back just because you’re worried about funding. If you could do what you wanted to do, what would you write?”
While zombies and aliens are never a bad thing, it seems like, for once, investors got things right, and we got the perfect version of the game.
You can readour full interview with Svedberg-Yen right now, in which the writer also discusses working with Andy Serkis,thatmoment in Act 1, and future plans for the Clair Obscur universe.
