Comparison: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is France's GOTY contender
Sandfall Interactive delivers a turn-based RPG of rare elegance, blending Belle Époque art direction with an inventive real-time parry system.
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A French studio nobody had heard of two years ago has delivered one of the decade’s most acclaimed RPGs — and it’s no fluke.
Turn-based combat reinvented through parrying
Dodging, parrying, and countering in real time inside an otherwise classic turn-based system: Sandfall Interactive solves the genre’s biggest complaint — passivity — in one stroke. Every battle becomes a tense, demanding, always-readable dance, carried by Belle Époque art direction and a score that ranks among the year’s most memorable.
Writing that goes the distance
The story of Gustave, Maelle, and their companions, bound for a doomed expedition, never lets the tension slip despite a substantial runtime. Few RPGs manage to sustain this level of narrative and mechanical ambition from start to finish.
Verdict
A serious Game of the Year contender, and proof that a French indie studio can go toe-to-toe with the RPG genre’s biggest names.
