Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's turn-based and parryable combat is one of the game's most memorable aspects, and director Guillaume Broche says that's partly because French studio Sandfall Interactive made a surprisingly "very Japanese" design choice while constructing it.
Broche describes Sandfall's philosophy toward combat in a new Japanese Denfaminicogamer interview, translated by Automaton. The interview also features Capcom veteran Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who's now leading Stupid Never Dies studio GPTRACK50. Both Kobayashi and Broche agree, Expedition 33 is sort of like Sekiro with a beret and cigarette.
The RPG's willingness to immediately overpower you with a devastating boss battle is uncommon "in Western games," says Broche. "One of the reasons I love JRPGs is precisely this experience of challenging something and eventually overcoming it. Even if I'm told it's impossible, I want to keep trying, even if it takes me three days. And when I finally win, I become overwhelmingly stronger. That feeling is irresistible."
This design philosophy works in the opposite direction for Broche, too – if Expedition 33 can crush you, you should also be able to bend it until it snaps. Kobayashi notes that having to always stay attuned to boss patterns gives players the tools they need to be able to "beat the final boss at Level 1," while Broche says it's "a game that can be cleared without taking a single hit."
"During the design phase," he says, "we first considered, 'Can a boss using this mechanic be defeated without taking any damage?' If the answer was no, we didn't use that mechanic in the first place."
