‘We just want it to feel authentic’: Clair Obscur studio’s next game won’t necessarily have the same story, art style or genre
The game’s creative director says nothing’s ready to be confirmed yet
The next game from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 studio Sandfall Interactive won’t necessarily follow the same art style or genre, its creative director has suggested.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Guillaume Broche said that even though Clair Obscur has been a huge success with more than 5 million copies sold, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll go with the same formula for its next game.
The article notes that the game’s parrying feature and the ability to remain active during an enemy’s turn was inspired by Devil May Cry and the Mario & Luigi RPG games, but that it was too early to tell if Sandfall would lean heavier on action next time.
“We don’t want to be constrained by story, art style or gameplay in whatever we want to make next, so nothing to say,” Broche told the publication. “We just want it to feel authentic, and made with love.”
Elsewhere in the article, Broche said the big upcoming update for Clair Obscur is the studio’s way of thanking the players for the game’s success.
“It’s not exactly a full-blown downloadable content expansion thing, but it’s what we call a ‘thank you’ update,” he explained. “We have received so much love from our community and players, we just want to thank you for joining us.”
The update, which is in development for all platforms and doesn’t yet have a release date, will include a new playable environment, offering “new enemy encounters and surprises to discover”.
It also adds new late-stage boss battles, new costumes and “even more surprises fans can look forward to”.
In a separate interview in August, Broche explained that the addition of the parry mechanic wasn’t added to make the game appeal to players who didn’t like turn-based RPGs, and was purely a design choice made with gameplay in mind.
“It’s not like we added the parry system and built such a narrative experience because we wanted to avoid our game facing prejudice,” he told Automaton. “We just did it because we wanted to do it.”
