It's not just your favorite JRPGs, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes notes from Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle too

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a modern take on the classic JRPG formula that takes inspiration from early Final Fantasy games, but developer Sandfall Interactive isn't shy to take notes from the Souls series for its surprisingly demanding combat. Now, it's adding classic Studio Ghibli movies to the pile of inspirations.

Talking to Giant Bomb (timestamped here), creative director Guillaume Broche said most of the team at Sandfall are "super big fans" of Studio Ghibli's work and estimated that they've watched all of the movies "25 times." I must say though, very frankly, those are rookie numbers, Sandfall.

Specifically, Broche said that Clair Obscur composer Lorien Testard was heavily inspired by the legendary Japanese composer and musician Joe Hisaishi, who scored Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki's Delivery Service among many other high-profile credits.

Meanwhile, Clair Obscur's art and world were explicitly inspired by Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, with Broche adding that Sandfall is hoping to capture the same "sense of wonder" that you get watching those seminal anime movies.

We like to anchor Clair Obscur to its JRPG inspirations because that's where Sandfall seems to have found its core structure, but the game is a mishmash of elements from various genres, with studio co-founder François Meurisse recently telling GamesRadar+ there are tidbits everywhere from deckbuilding games to that distinctive 20th century Belle Époque art style that defines its visual themes.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't the classic turn-based RPG I've been longing for, but its combat is somehow even better than what I wanted.