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Warning: Spoilers ahead. If you've managed to complete French breakout hit RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you'll know there are two possible endings. After making your way through the sweeping story inspired by the Belle Époque era, a single choice dictates which of the conclusions you get to see.
Naturally, such a pronounced fork in the road has inspired much debate among players about which ending is ‘canon’ or ‘right’, because ambiguity is bad, apparently, and everything needs to be definitive. According to Sandfall Interactive’s Jennifer Sverberg-Yen, the lead writer on Clair Obscur, such discussion is the opposite of what was intended.
"I tell everyone there is no correct ending, there is no canon ending, there is no official Sandfall ending," she explained during an interview with Lits Play. "Both endings are there for a reason, we put them both there for a reason, they were designed in a very particular way. Neither is perfect. Both are heartbreaking in their own ways."
She's definitely got a point there. The climax comes down to a battle between siblings Verso and Alicia, and whichever one you choose defines the outcome to a substantial degree. Each comes at a cost to characters you've grown to empathize with, and neither is clear-cut emotionally or ethically.
They reject neatness in a deliberate way, to mirror the imperfections we face in our own dilemmas. "Both of them have parts of them that make you glad, that make you feel like 'I want a happy ending for these characters,' but both of them have their own cost," she says. "It's a reflection of reality, a lot of times, some people's happiness does come with its cost, things are rarely perfect."
Sverberg-Yen adds that she and creative director Guillaume Broche actively resisted a "story that was just good versus evil" from quite early in the development process. They wanted a paradigm where all points of view were understandable, as opposed to more contrived, archetypal tales of goodies and baddies.
"In this instance, we wanted to focus on the fact that because both sides care, they have different perspectives on how best to move forward. They care about each other, and they care about each other's future," she muses, later adding: "The player can decide for themselves what is the right ending based upon their own perspective."
While this probably won't stifle much discourse, it's refreshing to hear devs be unashamedly bold in their narrative choices. However you choose to finish Clair Obscur is the right way - besides, it's the journey that matters.
