Gustave, Maelle, Moon, Renoir and many others, as well as a baptized light of the city. From the first minutes of Clear Oscure: Expedition 33We understand that there is something “very French” in the world that is offered to us. The general description of the first trailer for the game of these perfectly identifiable representations inspired by a destroyed eiffel tower and a triumphal arch cut in half of the tone quickly.
“We wanted to do something very oriented towards the Haussmannian, the Parisian, everything that had a little French, from the beginning, told Tech & Co Nicholas Maxson-Francrombe, artistic director of Clear Oscure: Expedition 33. “We put a beautiful side of the time mixed with Art Deco, either in architecture as attire, everywhere.”
And yet Guillaume Brooche, the man behind the initial idea, had initially thought of a more Victorian style and Steampunk. “But there were already many games in this style and we wanted to find something much more unique than it had almost never been explored,” adds Nicholas Maxson-Francrombe. And François Meurisse, co -founder of the study, to add: “We went to look for quite French inspirations in terms of references of this era for places and elements. And then, the game begins in a city called Luz.”
The Belle-Epopoque Paris
The house of the city “Art Deco” where the interactive studio Sandfall Interactive was installed in 2021, with its great majestic staircase, its high ceilings and its very special architecture, should not be very strange in the style that is also found in the first game of the Montpellirain studio. A “a little destroyed” style, explains to its designers, voluntarily beloved.
“We have taken many architectural references, Haussmannian buildings, urban furniture, etc.” François Meurisse specifies. The game begins with a walk in this city and in its roofs to better admire the excellent visual work done to give life to this. Clear Oscure: Expedition 33 Yes French. “It is a city that we know well and we are proud to have been able to reuse the things of our daily life to make a role -play (roles game) that has inspirations that we had not seen so far in this type of games. That is our little special thing.” And she is also accompanied by music also created in France, by Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percer, the interpreter and composer of certain songs.
The characters also have something very hexagonal in their appearance, their clothes and their way of speaking. Gustave and Maelle’s names are written in French in the text, either in English or French. Renoir, embodied in English by Andy Serkis, appears as an sometimes ethereal and impressionist artistic style that creators also seek, even if Clear More often it changes to the dark side than of course, as a painting of yesteryear with its dark and varied environments, in specific colors for each area. The flying rocks that converge towards the painter “in the fetal position of a sad woman”, this mixture of unexpected and absurd also remembers the French visual culture of the early twentieth century, went to the prism of fantasy and the dystopian world, to create a unique and memorable visual style.
And the effect is immediate on the player. The narrative also follows this point with a framework, dialogues that can be found in the French literature of the nineteenth century. Gustave’s guardianship figure decided to protect his sister Maelle, who is also much more violent and sometimes limits Zolienne to renew, remember very internalized characters, alternating between darkness and the luminous. Characters with the appearance of a hero of black romanticism, in his physique, his very elegant dress style, their attitudes, even in combat, far from the traditional RPG game mechanics in turn.
Sandfall added real time with possible elusive and parades, which makes the very dynamic and modern. “Guillaume (brooch) had the idea of revolutionizing the RPG, because he did not find what he loved in this genre. And he is probably the greatest fan of Final Fantasy In the world, “François Meurisse laughs.” If we could talk about the JRPG (Japanese role -play game), maybe now we can talk about FRPG (French role -playing game).
French even in … the English version
And to bring this French touch at the end, the creators of the game even had the English voices recorded … the great French words in French. “The greatest difficulty for me, was ‘put ***’,” says Jennifer English, Shado Clean in Baldur Puerta 3 And who gives Maelle’s voice, delighted when he is told to pronounce it well.
“Guillaume would tell us no. He always told us: ‘But no, no’ pot *** ‘, but’ Pon ***”, without really seeing the difference. “His partner, Ben Starr (Clive in Final Fantasy XVI), He had “more damage with the R” of another French jurum. But both have maintained a cheerful memory and “the feeling of speaking French” in this little French game, of an unknown study that knew how to please them with their cocoric atmosphere and artistic style, he stressed to Andy Serkis.
And the millions of players who had put him in “wishes list” (desire list in Steam in particular) will undoubtedly savor the metácic ditrambica note of 92 of 100 obtained by Clear Oscure: Expedition 33 Who makes it the best qualified game of the year ahead? Divided fiction either Monster Hunter Wilds AND Indiana Jones and the old circle (PS5 version).
A note that summarizes the criticism of the press worldwide, unanimous criticisms that remarkably praised the “French touch” of this long -awaited game that wanted to print its French brand in the role game. One more than successful bet.
Source: BFM TV
