While 2024 was jam-packed with Japanese role-playing games aplenty, does that mean we can expect less of the genre for 2025? 

Hardly. We already have a few eclectic JRPGs slated for the first half of 2025, with Atelier Yumia out in the next few weeks. And following that, we have one from French studio Sandfall Interactive, slated for April 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. 

Its debut trailer wowed many viewers early last year, myself including. Maybe it’s the art style and dreamlike feel of the world the game is in. Maybe it’s the turn-based combat coupled with dodging and parrying mechanics borrowed from JRPGs like the Mario & Luigi series. Or maybe it’s the fact that a Western studio is taking a stab at the genre and telling its own unique plot out of it using big names like Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, and Jennifer English. 

In any case, we came out of the hands-on preview build genuinely impressed.

Art Alive

Our preview build had us exploring the first 3 hours of the game, where we play as Gustave, a lost member of the titular Expedition 33 as he has to find his missing members and find out how to deal with the game’s adversary, The Painter. And in true JRPG fashion, companions are found, story bits are dished out vaguely with all of it making sense as you progress further, and new battle scenarios are experienced, giving us ample time to get a sense of the combat, the tough bosses, and how to get ahead with your dodges and parries. 

Like I said, combat is turn-based. You pick commands, dish out the damage, and enemies do the same to you. You can dodge attacks or even parry them, or in some cases, jump and counterattack. If you parry attacks perfectly, you can deal big counterattacks too. Your actions and successful dodges/parries net you action points, which you cash out using either skills or the Aim option. 

The latter lets you whip out your pistol or firearm of choice and shoot projectiles at enemies like you would in a third-person shooter. While these deal little damage, these are useful in getting rid of enemy armour that tank hits, and also deal damage to flying enemies. The latter will dodge most of your attacks except for Aim-related ones. You can even damage separate body parts or weapons using the Aim feature to hamper enemies. I was fighting some flying ghosts who uses sea mines as weapons, so I just whipped out my pistol and just shoot the mines to blow them up in their faces. Fun! 

As for my party members, they’re a unique bunch. Gustave (voiced by Charlie “Daredevil” Cox) is your melee tank archetype. He’s got a unique skill where if he gets Charges from other abilities like his Lumiere Assault, dealing regular attacks, and dodging/parrying, he can unleash it using a skill called Overcharge. The more Charges he has, the bigger Overcharge’s damage deals. 

Lune (Kirsty Rider) is your spellcasting archetype who can store elemental charges called Stains. Certain spells she has can be spent for free if she has the appropriately-coloured Stains. Also, Stains can power up existing spells and are spent automatically. Different spells store different Stains, so you need to study up on her spells to know what you want to pocket. 

Maelle (Jennifer “Shadowheart” English) is an agile fencer who can go into different stances depending on the attacks she pulls off. If she’s in an Offensive Stance, she deals more damage but takes more. If she’s in a defensive stance, she takes less damage but also deals less damage. If you manage to get her to Virtuose stance (via various conditions on the battlefield) she deals two times the damage for the next skill. 

These party members already show off loads of synergy off each and with enough practice on the dungeons I’m in, I manage to get the hang of combat. It gets easy the first few times, then gets challenging closer to some boss fights. The bosses aren’t easy, but with practice and getting the hang of their attack patterns, you’ll get them eventually. There are even optional uber bosses roaming around in the demo; I didn’t bother replaying these fights as they’re meant for hardcore players who can get through combat unscathed. Thankfully, I’m told that in the final version of the game, you can revisit these areas so you can challenge them when you’re overleveled.

Going For Broke

Speaking of which, when you level up in Clair Obscur, you can only distribute stats and sort out your powers at checkpoints, clearly indicated by expedition flags. So when you level up a ton when farming, be sure to head to the nearest flag to allocate your skill and ability points. Equipment and stat-boosting tools come in the form of Pictos. You can equip a maximum of four, but you can spend resources so that you can inherit their skills, leading you to equipping newer Pictos you find in the future. 

Clearly everything here in Clair Obscur is borrowed from many, many JRPGS of the past. But it’s all presented in a brand new light and a new coat of paint. In case you couldn’t tell from the video, Clair Obscur is a sight to behold and has quite an epic soundtrack ranging from orchestral, classical, to even electronica in certain action setpieces here and there. Clair Obscur is also proof of hope that single-player games with double-A production values are still important in the gaming landscape. 

Having said that, there is one glaring flaw that could be a bother for hardcore JRPG enthusiasts: the input indicators can get blurred together with the graphics at times. When pulling off special attacks, sometimes the inputs get meshed up with the action that I can’t tell if I landed the input correctly or missed it. It all happens so fast to be fair. At least when it comes to dodging or parrying, it’s easier to read since the enemy attacks aren’t quite as messy and effects-bombarded.

In spite of that issue, everything else about Clair Obscur screams huge potential. I’ve come out from the 4-hour demo very impressed with what’s offered. This could be a lovely beginning for Sandfall Entertainment, especially with a promising fantasy story with loads of imagination and flair, as well as JRPG gameplay chops to back it up.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be out in 24th April for PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5. Hands-on preview provided by publisher.