Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 surprised me with its world map reminiscent of classic RPGs

(Image credit: Sandfall Interactive / Microsoft)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is coming on April 24, 2025
The Xbox Developer Direct revealed a massive, explorable world map
The map will be dotted with secrets and optional bosses to find

We've got a lot more information on the upcoming Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 thanks to its lengthy appearance at January 23's Xbox Developer Direct. This includes a closer look at combat, characters and a fully explorable 3D world map.

A new official Xbox Wire post goes into more detail on the upcoming turn-based RPG, which is the debut project of French developer Sandfall Interactive. The post includes information about a feature that caught my eye the most - a massive overworld that players are able to explore akin to classics like Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana.

“Since the day I started working on this project in Unreal engine, I wanted a world map,” said creative director Guillaume Broche. “I feel like it’s such a cool thing that has almost completely disappeared from the face of the gaming industry. Like, nobody does that anymore, and for me it was such a crucial and important part of what made the old-school JRPGs unique."

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Broche went on to describe the world map as "very big" and will be dotted with "hidden bosses" and "tons of secrets." From the glimpses we've seen, the world map also looks utterly stunning, presenting a fractured world with the hauntingly warped Eiffel Tower as its centerpiece.

Broche also talked about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's turn-based combat. Particularly, its context sensitive prompts for attacks and parrying that aren't too dissimilar to those seen in Xbox 360 classic Lost Odyssey.

It does seem like the game is going to be fairly challenging, but Broche stressed that there will be various difficulty modes. He also encouraged players to experiment with different character builds and combos, which both seem to be a huge focus. Broche hopes players will "break the game, because it's made for that!"

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will release on April 24 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5 and PC. It'll also be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one of release.

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Rhys is TRG's Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.