Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Devs Never Believed Mindset of “Turn-Based Players Don’t Like Action” and Vice Versa
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With Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Sandfall Interactive surprised gamers by delivering a turn-based RPG that felt familiar but also played fresh. While some might dismiss it right away since it’s a turn-based game, it’s so much more than that.
The folks at Sandfall Interactive managed to bridge an action game and a turn-based title that worked well on its own, and this was something the studio believed in from the start.
Sandfall’s Boss Doesn’t Believe Action Fans Do Not Like Turn-Based Games
Speaking to French content creator mistermv, Sandfall CEO Guillaume Broche talked a bit on how he was burnt out on JRPGs, and wanted to create a game that was a mix between turn-based gameplay with action games like Sekiro, and never believed turn-based players didn’t like action games and vice versa.
Broche said (via machine translation), ” I kind of consider myself a bit burned out on JRPGs. I think I’ve just played way too many. I’ve done all the turn-based ones. My problem with turn-based nowadays is that as soon as I start a new one, I immediately see the optimal strategy. I think it’s probably the same for you — when you’ve played so many, you can quickly see how the systems work, how it’s going to evolve. And yeah, I kind of got tired of it — even series like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, which I used to love. Like with Metaphor, I started it and I loved the art direction, loved the universe. But gameplay-wise, I was like, well, I’ve played Persona 4 like eight times, Persona 3 five times… I know it already.”
Broche followed it by adding, “So really, I just wanted to make a game that I would like. And right now, my tastes are more mixed — between turn-based and action. Like Sekiro — I used to speedrun Sekiro. I’m a complete maniac for that game. I love Souls games. So yeah, the idea was, let’s try to mix the two and do something cool. At first, it was really hard to pitch this idea, because there’s that mindset of “turn-based players don’t like action” and “action players don’t like turn-based.” But I never believed that. Lots of people play both.”
I can’t say I disagree. I like both turn-based games and action games; both genres can co-exist without damaging the other. However, I do get where Broche is coming from. When the game launched, people who were against turn-based games tried to review-bomb Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and thankfully, it didn’t work.
While Sandfall is taking a much-needed break, we’re excited to hear what’s next for the studio. Could DLC be part of the plans? They haven’t said no, but nothing’s confirmed yet.
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There’s definitely purists on both ends of the spectrum, but I think a lot of people are somewhere in the middle. Otherwise I wouldn’t have hundreds of hours in both Elden Ring and BG3 for instance.
I love traditional turn based combat but I also agree with Guillaume that I’ve played so many, I usually figure out how to break it pretty quick without even looking up info online.
E33 falls into the same trap but only by the 3rd act, or halfway into the 2nd at the earliest. Until then it’s honestly refreshingly challenging, and the system itself is a great novelty. I am used to action with turn based or RPG elements (e.g. FFVII Remake/Rebirth, Tales of series) so to have that turned on its head is really interesting, since you don’t have a lot of action elements in turn based games outside of like… Mario RPGs.