For most game developers, there is a “balance” that often happens when it comes to how much content they put into their titles. After all, they want something that will “entertain for a while,” but not “feel like a slog.” We’ve seen how far some developers have taken their games in the past, and with mixed results. However, with Clair Obscur Expedition 33, the team at Sandfall Interactive created a world that people not only wanted to play, but play every aspect of, much to the team’s surprise. In a chat with EDGE Magazine, as noted by GamesRadar, Lead Game Designer Michel Nohr admitted that players’ desire to do everything before the endgame made him regret a particular element:
“Often, people don’t want to finish the game, so they do all the side content before finishing it, because once the story is over, you’re usually less motivated to do the side content. And that’s something I underestimated, which made people that wanted a challenging end boss fight feel a bit disappointed. I don’t regret doing it the way we did it, but [we could have] had more explanation about your choice [in Act 3].”
For those who haven’t played the game, we won’t do spoilers, but we will say that there was a bit of a jarring “whiplash” between how the title set up the endgame, and how the endgame actually went down.
Lead Programmer Tom Guillermin had this to say on the matter:
“We weren’t sure if our game was going to be that good… And if it’s not, people may just want to see the story, and go directly to the end of the story. So it was a surprise for us [that] people were doing every single thing there is to do in the game before going to the final dungeon. We’re happy about that, but we didn’t see it coming.”
That speaks to the wonder of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, as it was a world that many saw great fun in, and wanted to see all they could before the end. It also helped that by the end, you could fly around the map on Esquie, enabling players to try their luck at the more difficult challenges. Plus, there were plenty of odds and ends to find that could help flesh out the story further, like hidden Gestrals, records from past expeditions, and so on.
Now, though, Sandfall Interactive will understand their fanbase will have that “itch” for both plenty of content and a satisfying endgame boss fight, and that will definitely play into the next game’s design.
