The mad artiste of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 paints a release date for the Persona-like RPG
If you turn 33 years old in the next couple of months then, sorry, you are dead. I don't make the rules, that's just how Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 explains the lack of elders in its very French yet very JRPG world. The fantasy game will see you journey across a dangerous landscape to stop the mad "paintress" who's magically culling humanity at younger and younger ages every year. We've been keeping a weary middle-aged eye on its development, and yesterday it got a release date. It's too late for most of us in the RPS treehouse. But watch the trailer for yourself, maybe you'll make it.
It's coming out on April 24th. Anybody squeak through in time? Good. You'll be able to enjoy the Persona-style turn-based combat, and probably have sprightly enough reflexes to hit the quicktime prompts at various points mid-battle (although the QTEs "aren't forced on you", we've been told - so maybe you can simply turn them off). This newest trailer, shared during last night's Xbox Developer Direct, also shows off some of the ways you can traverse the world, at one point using a big beetle-like friend to swim and fly over long distances. We've already seen the combat in a previous trailer.
Clair Obscur definitely has an interesting hook. The idea is that every year a big mortal countdown gets shorter, and a bunch of people over a certain age instantly dissolve into the air. Human lifespans are being mystically contracted, the various stages of life compressed into a smaller and smaller box while the remnants of humanity struggle on in the ruins of late-nineteenth century France. All the while the world seems full of weird critters painted into existence by a distant madwoman. Previously, developers Sandfall Interactive have revealed that Andy Serkis of Gollum fame is among the English voice cast. Although my bet is that his is a small part.
As for the title. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is certainly a bunch of words in some order with a number attached. The eyes pass over it like a
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