Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG incorporating real-time parts, specializing in a singular journey to cease The Paintress from ever portray loss of life once more. On this early preview of the sport’s preliminary levels, PlayStation followers will get a primary have a look at gameplay in Flying Waters, a mysterious region the place Gustave and Lune seek for their lacking companion, Maelle.
Every setting inside Expedition 33 presents one thing distinctive. Flying Waters, for instance, defies typical physics, presenting a setting that’s each underwater and not. This surrealistic strategy is central to the sport’s design, aiming to immerse you in a world the place the not possible turns into attainable. Inspirations from surrealist artwork are woven all through, making a hanging expertise that consistently retains you on the fringe of discovery.
In Flying Waters, you’ll navigate environments stuffed with remnants from previous expeditions, akin to destroyed constructions, worn paths, and different telltale indicators of earlier teams that met premature ends. Expedition 68 perished right here, and by intently inspecting the space, you’ll be able to piece collectively how they met their tragic finish.
Making these environments enjoyable to discover was one thing key for us. So, we constructed them to be nonlinear, with a layer of verticality and filled with mysteries and secrets and techniques. There are a number of instruments at your disposal to succeed in each hidden space: a grapple, climbing hooks left by earlier expeditions, ropes… Exploring a degree absolutely will all the time be very rewarding and you could discover secret bosses, objects and even complete secret ranges by being meticulous in your exploration.
Fight in Expedition 33 blends conventional turn-based mechanics with reactive real-time parts. Throughout battles, timing is vital—whether or not initiating assaults or defending in opposition to incoming strikes. The battle system requires fast reflexes and strategic considering. Whereas instructions are inputted in a turn-based format permitting you to take as a lot time as that you must set up your methods, it’s essential to additionally react swiftly throughout enemy assaults to defend successfully.
Fundamental assaults in the sport deal minimal injury, so it’s essential to depend on expertise and particular skills to topple highly effective enemies. Many expertise include timed instructions that improve injury or present different bonuses. As battles progress, you will note the flip order displayed on the left facet of the display, supplying you with a transparent understanding of when to count on assaults and when to organize your counters. It is possible for you to to dodge utilizing Circle and parry with R1. Dodging permits for a bigger timing window, letting you evade assaults utterly, whereas parrying calls for extra exact timing. A wonderfully executed parry not solely negates injury however may also set off a robust counterattack if the complete combo of an enemy is parried. And sure, because of this in concept, you’ll be able to beat any enemy of the sport at degree 1. Good luck with that.
Every social gathering member in Expedition 33 has their very own distinctive playstyle, that includes skills that may change the way you strategy fight. Gustave can cost his mechanical arm, increase his Overcharge to unleash a devastating particular transfer. The longer the cost, the extra spectacular and damaging the ensuing assault. Lune, on the different hand, can infuse expertise with elemental affinities utilizing her capacity known as Stains, enabling you to take advantage of enemy weaknesses with devastating results!
In battle it’s also possible to use the Free Goal system to shoot at an enemy’s weak factors. The Demineur, for instance, is accompanied by floating sea mines, and concentrating on and detonating these earlier than you strategy them will trigger a series response.
After battle, you’ll be able to degree up and allocate factors to varied stats and customise every character’s construct. Talent Factors earned in battles could be spent unlocking new skills in every character’s distinctive talent tree, permitting for additional specialization and technique customization. We additionally produce other development techniques that assist you to make actually loopy builds that we are able to’t wait to disclose in future updates.
Bosses in Expedition 33 are highly effective and normally have a component that provides to their energy in fight. Goblu is surrounded by flowers that grant it potent buffs, which might rapidly flip the tide in opposition to the social gathering. In these instances, the free-aim system turns into essential, permitting you to focus on and disable these flowers, weakening Goblu and shifting the battle in your favor. Figuring out and exploiting these distinctive boss mechanics shall be very important to your victory.
This preview has supplied only a glimpse into the world of Expedition 33, and we’re excited to share much more in the future. Our workforce is small and extremely obsessed with video games on this style, and we’re devoted to creating an expertise that each honors basic RPGs and pushes boundaries in new ways in which haven’t fairly been completed earlier than. Our dream is to make a sport that can profoundly contact gamers as a lot as the classics impacted our lives. And hey, even when we fail, we lay the path for individuals who come after, proper?
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches on PS5 in 2025 – Observe us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content material.
See you quickly, Expeditioners!