Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director wants the French RPG to be open to interpretation, but thinks "we failed as writers" if you don't connect to its cast as humans

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 screenshot of Verso, a man with black hair with white streaks running through his fringe
(Image credit: Kepler Interactive)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leaves things, urm, obscure in its final moments, but creative director Guillaume Broche has finally nudged players in the right direction on how to interpret its story.

Spoilers ahead!

So, Expedition 33 is full of big twists, though none seem bigger than the revelation that the characters and world you've gotten to know and love are actually not entirely real – they were created, or rather 'painted', into a 'Canvas' where the story opens, and many of them have really real counterparts waiting on the other side.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Broche insists that the story and particularly its two divisive endings should be left up to interpretation. But one thing he's adamant about is that Sandfall Interactive intended for players to connect with both the world and its beloved characters as if they're real and human – despite being created with brush strokes.

"If you don't, it means we failed as writers, so yes, I hope you do," Broche explains.

Now that its been some months since Expedition 33 took the gaming world by storm, Sandfall Interactive's developers seem more open about delving into its spoilery events. Just recently, the French RPG's lead writer explained that there's no canon ending, so whatever choice you made is valid.

It's not entirely the end of the road for Expedition 33 either. To celebrate the game passing a milestone five million copies sold, the studio announced that an upcoming update will add another location, more late-game bosses, new costumes, and more in the future.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director says AAA-sized "scope and budget" might have made it worse, actually, because "not artificially padding out the game time excessively" was key to the RPG's success

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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