How 2025’s surprise RPG hit lured some big-name stars

Nestled between the crowd-pleasing guns and gore of Xbox’s 2024 summer showcase, was an eyebrow-raising, painterly role playing game. As its party of grimacing adults urgently sprints across a shimmering, surrealist landscape, a voiceover depicts a world terrorized by an omnipotent being called the Paintress. Each year, she daubs a new descending number on a distant monolith and everyone of the corresponding age disappears. With 60+ expeditions meeting a grizzly end, it is now up to the oldest remaining humans — the 33 year olds — to try and reverse their realm’s futile fate.

After Doom: The Dark Ages and Gears Of War E Day’s carnal thrills, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s existential journey offered something refreshingly abstract. The 30 strong team at developer Sandfall Interactive took inspiration from both classic RPGs and Belle Epoque-era Impressionist painters, aiming to make a refreshingly French take on Final Fantasy. It was this lofty ambition that attracted some big name voice talent to this relatively modest game.

“I immediately was drawn to the visual style, the world-building, the characters… just the themes behind the story,” says Andy Serkis, the …

Read the full story at The Verge.