If you turn 33 in the next couple of months, then, sorry, you're dead. I don't make the rules, just like that Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 explains the absence of elders in very French, but very Japanese role-playing game world. In this fantasy game, you must travel through a dangerous landscape to stop a mad “artist” who is magically destroying humanity at an increasingly younger age every year. We've been following its development wearily, and yesterday it got a release date. For most of us living in the RPS treehouse, it's too late. But watch the trailer for yourself, maybe you will succeed.
It will be released on April 24. Did anyone make it on time? Good. You'll be able to enjoy Persona-style turn-based combat, and you'll probably be reactive enough to use quick cues at various points in combat (though the QTEs “don't force themselves on you,” we've been told – so maybe you can just turn them off). This newest trailer, revealed last night at the Xbox Developer Direct, also shows off some of the ways to move around the world, at one point using a large bug-like friend to swim and fly long distances. We've already seen the fight in previous trailer.
Clair Obscur definitely has an interesting hook. The idea is that every year the great death count gets shorter, and a group of people over a certain age instantly disappears into thin air. The human lifespan is mystically shortened, the various stages of life compressed into a smaller and smaller box, while the remnants of humanity continue to struggle in the ruins of late nineteenth-century France. All this time it seems that the world is full of strange creatures created by a distant madwoman. Previously, the developers of Sandfall Interactive reported that Andy Serkis, known as Gollum, among English voice actors. Although I bet his role is small.
As for the name. Claire Obscure: “Expedition 33” is, of course, a collection of words arranged in some order, with numbers attached to them. The gaze glides over it like a faded road sign. Beneath all the dirt and vowels, the sound has something important to say. But it could also just be a picture of a windsock. Let's be generous and say that the quirky name is just another example of a game following in the footsteps of JRPGs, right down to the often impenetrable naming conventions. Laxadolia: Menacing Shards of X. Sephic Fires: Miracle of Code. QsY XIV: The Last Awakenings. Yes sir, these are unique Google terms.
Edwin has watched the preview demo games with a curious raised eyebrow, drawing parallels not only to the Persona games, but also to older Xbox 360 games from the mid-2000s like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, not to mention similar alternative JRPGs. Valkyrie Chronicles. However, Edwin is already dead and lost several expeditions ago. I too got lost on Expedition 36, leaving my fingers too dusty to save this particular fantasy world. But perhaps some of you will survive in April.
