Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is truly surprising. Coming from the developers of the Cat Quest series of all things, it truly shows how much they have progressed on their game development journey. While not particularly a 100% indie studio, Sandfall Interactive is basically not a name you usually hear anywhere. It seems that they have managed to replicate what Larian Studio did, and give quality to players. JPRGs have been ignored for years now, and it is time that they make a comeback. Clair Obscur is that comeback, and it seems that a new era is ushering for these games. We at Infinite Start will cover this success story.
Clair Obscur makes a record
Selling 500000 in a single day for such a small studio is enormous. The team of around 30 talented individuals has managed to create something that blows the entire triple A industry away. It shows that smaller groups of people developing a single passion project can defeat just about anything. Real gamers want quality games that actually advance the medium further, and Clair Obscur seems to be that.
Despite yet again, the graphics going for an hyper realistic touch, you can ignore that and focus on the fact that this game brought some fresh air to the turn-based genre. What Clair Obscur did however, is not something that is truly unique, but a resurrection of mechanics since long forgotten on actual Japanese RPGs.
Xenogears was the main JRPG game that was well received, despite being niche, for having an actual interactive turn-based battle system with combos. If you wish to go more mainstream, Final Fantasy 8 also includes reaction based events to boost damage or even perform finishers.
Clair Obscur puts some graphic fidelity on the table, which looks truly stunning and pretty much kicks away all the fake promises the triple A industry has. As indie-like games, and true indie games like Bodycam keeps making the rounds with their amazing graphics, what does the triple A side of things have to offer?
