It turns out that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wasn't always based in France – the turn-based RPG was, in fact, originally planned to be set in Victorian-era England.
Lead writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen confirms as much in a recent episode of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Game Maker's Notebook on YouTube, recalling how she met director Guillaume Broche. Amusingly, she actually first reached out to Broche after he posted on Reddit, looking for voice actors for his "ambitious AA game project" – the game project that would end up becoming Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 later on down the line.
As Svedberg-Yen says, and Broche's old post confirms, this project was initially titled "We Lost" and "actually a completely different game set in Victorian England." Work progressed on the original game until Broche told Svedberg-Yen and the other developers to "forget what that story we were working on" and "think bigger." It sounds like the OG project was just about fully fleshed out story-wise, too.
"Part of me was sort of annoyed because we had just finished working on the narrative bible for this other story," laughs Svedberg-Yen. There were 20-30 pages of "character timelines, story arcs, and all the narrative beats," but ultimately, the writer thinks it was good for them to "start from scratch together." As a blossoming fan of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 myself, I'm inclined to agree – and I'm certain I'm not alone.
In just 33 days, the turn-based RPG sold 3.3 million copies – almost as though it was fated to end up the gem that it is now. It also currently boasts a perfect rating on platforms like Steam, with countless reviews discussing how fun and well-written it is. While it's intriguing to think about what an alternate universe's "We Lost" game looks like, it's amazing to see how far the idea has evolved since it sprouted and took shape on Reddit five years ago.
A piece of me will always wonder what could've been, though. Fingers crossed that another turn-based RPG set in Victorian-era England could still come to fruition one day.
Playing the turn-based RPG yourself? Here are our best Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tips to read ahead of diving into one of this year's greatest new games yet.
