Clair Obscur: Expedition 33came out of seemingly nowhere and proved that new studios can make titles that compete with triple A studios in graphics, gameplay, and acting performances. Made by Sandfall Interactive, it might be attributed to the excellent work culture in France and the passionate love of the arts.
Sandfall Interactive isn’t the only gaming studio in France, as there are many developers both big and small that have been making games there for decades. Some titles you might recognize and others may have flown under the radar, but there are many French-made games that are worth playing right now.
Sloclap is a master of making fighting games, and Absolver is one of their most underrated gems. The setting is exceptionally unique, as you play as a masked absolver, mastering a specific style of martial art that focuses on either parrying, blocking, or dodging, while you craft your own move sets from scratch.
You unlock new moves as you fight NPCs who use them, building up your repertoire to use in multiplayer, which can be extremely competitive. Although not as active as it was on release, there is still a dedicated community and even a mentor mechanic where players can share their combat deck with you.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a narrative-driven action RPG where you play as one of two ghost hunters, traveling to New Eden to banish an especially powerful curse. Depending on your actions, there are even multiple endings, making the game fairly replayable, especially with unique builds and skills to unlock.
Don’t Nod is especially crafty at making narrative gems, truly pouring all of their creative talent into making memorable characters within unique settings that stick with you far after the credits have rolled. Banishers even more so with the stellar performances of Amaka Okafor and Russ Bain.
Chants of Sennaar is a puzzle adventure game that has a brilliant mechanic at its center, using fictional languages that you must learn to unlock the world’s secrets. It is immensely satisfying to fill your journal with new words, and it truly feels like you’re learning a language with each new location unlocked.
Rundisc is a fairly new studio, with only one other title under its belt, but has polished Chants of Sennaar enough to challenge industry giants. Who knows, maybe you will even be inspired to learn French after mastering the five languages of Sennaar’s tower.
One of the most accomplished indie titles of all time, co-developed by French studios Motion Twin and Evil Empire, and produced by the former. In Dead Cells, you take control of a character known as the Prisoner, making your way through a rogue-like metroidvania platforming world in search of a king.
Motion Twin has been making games since 2001, while Evil Empire hasonly two titles, including Dead Cells, both of which are platforming rogue-likes. With each DLC expanding upon the mechanics and lore of Dead Cells, both studios seem to have mastered the genre in the best ways possible.
Taking the time loop genre to the extreme, Deathloop is an action-driven first-person shooter that feels familiar to those who have played theDishonoredseries, which was also developed by Arkane Studios. However, Deathloop’s blend of sci-fi elements with a 1960s aesthetic makes it feel wholly unique.
The story is also complex but not discouraging, allowing you to unweave the mystery behind the time loop and giving you the tools to put the pieces together. Its multiplayer invasion mechanic also increases the pressure, suddenly making a routine run both intense and thrilling.
Detroit: Become Human is likely one of the most popular and accomplished narrative-driven QTE games, with numerous branching storylines that make it easy to play over and over. Taking place in 2038, where human-like androids are frequently used, play as multiple androids breaking free of their programming and learning how to be sentient.
Detroit: Become Human is another game directed by David Cage, who works with Quantic Dream to create intricate narrative experiences, includingHeavy RainandBeyond: Two Souls. Both of which feature very similar gameplay mechanics, wielding expert performances from highly talented actors.
Asobo Studios' most unique and ambitious title, A Plague Tale: Innocence is a narrative-focused adventure game speckled with stealth, combat, and puzzle mechanics. You take the role of Amicia de Rune as she attempts to save her little brother, who is at thecenter of an apocalypsecaused by swarms of rats.
A Plague Tale takes place in fourteenth-century France of all places, and, of course, includes French dialogue options for maximum immersion. Asobo Studios also released the sequel,A Plague Tale: Requiem, which concludes Amicia and Hugo’s story with ever more rats than before.
The actress for Amicia changes between games, which explains why her French accent becomes a British one.
Sloclap’s other fighting game, Sifu, is an action game where you battle hordes of opponents in diverse set pieces, utilizing familiar combat mechanics if you’ve played Absolver. The story of Sifu is sort of high concept, using a talisman that revives you when you die but ages you by a decade, allowing you to get ever closer to your goal.
This makes it similar to rogue-likes, allowing you to restart levels to increase your chances against bosses in much later levels, as you don’t regain talisman charges unless you restart completely. If you want a fighting game that’s more narrative-driven andsingle-player focused than Absolver, Sifu more than scratches that itch.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a puzzle game that takes place during, you guessed it, the Great War. You start as Karl, a husband and father drafted into the German army. The story is a little complex, meeting and controlling multiple characters with interconnected relationships, all tied to the German commander, Von Dorf.
The main gameplay involves using the various characters and your dog, Walt, to solve puzzles and navigate the environment, sometimes beating up soldiers or sneaking past them. The developer is a branch of Ubisoft based in France, best known for making theRaymanseries.
There is also a direct sequel to this game called Valiant Hearts: Coming Home.
A narrative-focused action RPG, Vampyr has you exploring London as Dr. Jonathan Reid, who is bitten by a vampire very early on in the game. The gameplay blends its mechanics and narrative with a neat twist, forcing you to choose whether to become more powerful or resist the urge to drink blood.
Vampyr also features multiple endings depending on how much you’ve fed and on whom, or if you never feed on anyone throughout the course of the story. The world is filled with detailed NPCs, including regular routines and deep backstories, and allows you to expertly roleplay as a doctor struggling with his lust for blood.
