You gotta start somewhere, and the recently resurfaced first trailer for a game that will turn into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reveals the humble origins of the whole project.
Clair Obscur turned out the be the sensation of the year. A game made by an “unknown” studio became one of the highest-rated games ever and captured the hearts and minds of both critics and players everywhere, due to its gripping story, fleshed-out characters, awesome support cast, and jaw-dropping soundtrack. But, it was a project that took about five years to complete, and would you know it, the initial plan for the game was widely different than the end product.
The Recently Resurfaced First Trailer for Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Reveals the Game’s Humble Beginnings
We all heard the story of how Guillaume Broche made Sandfall Interactive and started the whole project. Well, a piece of “history” is still with us. What happens on the internet, stays on the internet (forever, apparently). Some fans dug out one of the first Reddit posts, where Mr. Broche is asking for some voice actors.
“Our Demo is almost complete, what we lack are the cutscenes (being made right now) and some voices behind our characters. The game is a 3d modern take on the JRPG genra with western style characters, developed on Unreal Engine 4. We have 5 main characters so far who need to be voiced : 2 adult Female, 2 adult male and 1 child female. The game will be heavy on narration so voices are very important to us.“
They have also provided a trailer, which is “locked” behind a Google Drive link. Thankfully, one Reddit user shared the whole thing in a separate post and on YouTube.
What we can see here is that Lune was always a caster, but without her flying abilities, and that Maelle looked…different. With a scythe instead of a rapier. Furthermore, the initial plan was more like the classic turn-based JRPG, with no real-time inputs (parry/dodge) like Expedition 33 has. And the whole “vibe” of the game was pretty different, since we can clearly see some sci-fi elements in there.
Could’ve Been Set in Victorian England
It was revealed in an interview that The Gamer had with Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, the lead writer of Sandfall, that the initial idea was pretty different. “This game was very different. The gameplay would have been similar, but the story was completely different. It was set in a steampunk Victorian England with zombies, aliens, and various things,” said Jennifer. She also reveals that when investors asked them what they would love to make, if funding were not an issue, they scrapped the whole idea and began working on what was to become Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
As some folks have already said, if you were asked to join in on the project based on the trailer shown above, you would most likely carry on with your day, not knowing that this wonky trailer would turn out to be a gaming sensation. As the age-old adage goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”…or a game by its initial trailer.
