Technologies

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Producer Talks Inspirations: FromSoftware, French Novels

At GDC 2025, the producer explains what the French studio brings to a modern JRPG, from combat to music to art and more.

Western role-playing game fans have had a handful of big releases this year already, like Avowed and the just-announced The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster. But gamers looking for novel RPGs trying to break the mold will have another option when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches on April 24 — and the game’s producer explained to me what’s in store for players.

At GDC 2025, I got to play a few early hours of Expedition 33, which was made by French studio Sandfall Interactive. With interactive turn-based battles and a sweeping story about death, combined with a gorgeous world and beautiful music, Expedition 33 seems poised to capture gamers looking for something a little different in their sweeping story-based games.

At the preview, I chatted with Sandfall Interactive co-founder and Expedition 33 producer François Meurisse about influences, combat and the art that goes into making a French studio’s take on the venerable JRPG genre.

David Lumb (CNET): This was the first time I’ve been able to get my hands on the game, and it feels so kinetic for an RPG — dynamic menus when I’m switching between windows in combat or dodging enemy attacks. What were the team’s inspirations?

François Meurisse (Sandfall Interactive): The game has some great [Japanese RPG] inspiration, like older Final Fantasies — Final Fantasy 10, for example. But also some big inspiration from more modern JRPGs like Persona 5, for example.

From Persona, we took this inspiration that every click is essential to the action, but no redundant gameplay manipulation to get to what you want to do. Every button you click triggers some camera movement. That makes it almost action-based when you see some people playing. We wanted to have this reactive turn-based feeling that mixes what makes the best out of turn-based games but with a real-time feel.

DL: I really enjoyed how interactive the battle system is. How did you balance parrying and dodging, especially for players who might not be good at either?

FM: So the defense system is quite demanding, but there are several defense options. It’s easier when you encounter a new enemy, for example, to learn their patterns and start with the dodge, which is more forgiving in terms of timing. And when you get the right timing for the perfect dodge, you can try the parry.

We’re very well balanced now, but there are many different playstyles and types of players. And we have a broad variety of equipment, different skills, different characters — so even if you do not like to parry, or if you’re not the best dodger on earth, you can equip some specific passive effects or equipment in line with your play style.

For example, I like dodges over parries, I can have passive effects giving me extra action points with dodges rather than parries. Or I can focus on specific builds to trigger some status effects on monsters and deal heavy, heavy damage and not rely too much on the defense system. And if that’s not something I’m into — the [quick-time events] on attacks — you can enable automatic QTEs in the settings.

DL: Another thing that is pretty striking about the game is the art style. In the demo, I run across this little guy in white, almost clownish look, with a stone corkscrew head. What inspired this art design?

FM: For the whole game, we had more of a Belle Epoque, Art Deco inspiration, so France from early 20th century mixed with high fantasy. That’s something that we wanted for the city at the beginning of the expedition, for the expeditionary outfits, for the manor.

Now, it’s kind of like an expedition into the wild, into an unexplored continent which is quite savage. Our art director chose different inspirations for different enemies and environments — for example, that enemy you mentioned, its references are more like clay sculptures and organic shapes.

DL: That’s a good segue — what does a French studio bring to JRPGs? What is French in the game?

FM: So definitely Lumiere [the city where the game begins and expeditions set out from], the Eiffel Tower [in it]. And yes, there’s a lot of feedback about like the French swearing, some of the names, art inspirations, some clothing patterns.

DL: I feel having the Paintress as the big villain in the end, or at least the one you’re seeking out, is a uniquely French enemy and not something we’ve seen in JRPGs so much.

FM: Yeah, maybe not. The Paintress will reveal some secrets anyway throughout the game.

DL: What else do you feel Expedition 33 brings to JRPGs that we haven’t seen before?

FM: Of course, it’s an RPG at the core, but the game also has more From Software inspiration for stuff like the defense system or even some stats system or deckbuilding inspiration for action points. We took several inspirations of what worked greatly in the games we love, but try to make it our own way with a unique art direction, unique story and unique characters.

DL: Can you tell me more about the music? The battle music especially is fantastic, I love jumping into a fight and hearing a choral element. But there’s also parts that are a little French with organs in the background.

FM: So Lorien [Testard], our composer, composed a full [original soundtrack] for the game. The OST is huge, it will be several hours long, and worked with us from the very beginning of development in 2020. He really composed music side-by-side with the creation of the game. And Alice Duport-Percier, she’s a composer and singer — she has a great voice, she’s a classical singer. And we have about 45 minutes of orchestra recordings with a French orchestra.

DL: We’re getting to the end of our time to chat, and I just wanted to focus on the game’s theme of recurring death as the age limit for surviving humans gets lower and lower every year. What’s the inspiration for that dour theme?

FM: About the countdown, I think Guillaume [Broche, Sandfall Interactive CEO and creative director] woke up one morning and though that idea could be cool. But the expedition concept, the special inspiration behind it is a French novel called La Horde du Contrevent, [in English: The Horde of Counterwind]. It wasn’t translated in other languages, but it’s a cult classic now in French, published in 2004.

It’s a great novel about a group of warriors, like an expedition of 20 or 30 people that try to find the origin of the wind in the world, which always blows from west to east. Every expedition fails, and they send a new one. We loved this idea of like trying to overcome what the best group did before you, trying to find out which point they reached in the world, how they failed and will you succeed?

DL: Okay, last question: what are you most excited for players to experience when they pick up the game for the first time?

FM: Oooh — I mean, everything, the gameplay, the world map. But personally, the story is great. I can’t wait for people to reach the end of the story, to share theories about it, to discover the fate of the characters. The story, its twists, the progression toward The Paintress — it gives me chills. Some of the voice cast [performances] made me cry. So I can’t wait to hear reactions to them.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 comes out for PC, Xbox and PS5 on April 24.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, May 19

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 19.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword is pretty easy. 5-Across, «one for whom every day is Boxing Day,» stumped me because I really wanted the answer to have something to do with cats. (Spoiler: It did not.) Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Network satirized on «30 Rock,» for short
Answer: NBC

4A clue: Sport played on horseback
Answer: POLO

5A clue: One for whom every day is Boxing Day?
Answer: MOVED

6A clue: Like correct letters in Wordle
Answer: GREEN

7A clue: Blend together
Answer: MELD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «Invisible Man» or «Little Women»
Answer: NOVEL

2D clue: Run in the wash
Answer: BLEED

3D clue: What bourbon whiskey is primarily made from
Answer: CORN

4D clue: Tiny hole in the skin
Answer: PORE

5D clue: Longtime movie studio acquired by Amazon in 2022
Answer: MGM

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 19, #238

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 238, for May 19.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition might be tough today if, like me, you don’t know what «loge» means. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Brag.

Green group hint: Where’s my seat?

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Opposite of go.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Boast

Green group: Stadium seating sections

Blue group: New York Knicks

Purple group: ____ stop

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is boast. The four answers are crow, gloat, grandstand and showboat.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is stadium seating sections. The four answers are bleacher, loge, suites and upper deck.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is New York Knicks. The four answers are Bridges, Hart, McBride and Towns.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ stop. The four answers are back, jump, pit and short.

Technologies

Blade Runner: 18-Rotor «Volocopter» Moving from Concept to Prototype

It may look "nutty" and like a "blender," but the designers say the craft could challenge helicopters

Inventor and physicist Thomas Senkel created an Internet sensation with the October 2011 video of his maiden—and only—test flight of a spidery proof-of-concept 16-rotor helicopter dubbed Multicopter 1. Now the maker of the experimental personal aviation craft, the European start-up e-volo, is back with a revised «volocopter» design that adds two more rotors, a serial hybrid drive and long-term plans for going to 100 percent battery power.

The new design calls for 1.8-meter, 0.5-kilogram carbon-fiber blades, each paired with a motor. They are arrayed around a hub in two concentric circles over a boxy one- or two-person cockpit.

After awarding the volocopter concept a Lindbergh Prize for Innovation in April, Yolanka Wulff, executive director of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, admitted the idea of the multi-blade chopper at first seems «nutty.» Looking beyond the novel appearance, however, she says, e-volo’s concept excels in safety, energy efficiency and simplicity, which were the bases of the prize.

All three attributes arrive thanks largely to evolo’s removal of classic helicopter elements. First, the energy-robbing high-mass main rotor, transmission, tail boom and tail rotor are gone. The enormous blades over a normal chopper’s cabin create lift, but their mass creates a high degree of stress and wear on the craft. And the small tail rotor, perched vertically out on a boom behind the cabin, keeps the helicopter’s body from spinning in the opposite direction as the main blades, but it also eats up about 30 percent of a helicopter’s power.

The volocopter’s multiple rotor blades individually would not create the torque that a single large rotor produces, and they offer redundancy for safety. Hypothetically, the volocopter could fly with a few as 12 functioning rotors, as long as those rotors were not all clustered together on one side, says Senkel, the aircraft’s co-inventor and e-volo’s lead construction engineer.

Without the iconic two-prop configuration, the craft would be lighter, making it more fuel efficient and reducing the physical complexity of delivering power to the top and rear blades from a single engine. Nor would the volocopter need an energy-hungry transmission. In fact, «there will be no mechanical connection between the gas engine and the blades,» Senkel says. That means fewer points of energy loss and more redundancy for safety.

E-volo’s design eliminates the dependence on a single source of power to the blades. As a serial-hybrid vehicle, the volocopter would have a gas-fueled engine, in this case an engine capable of generating 50- to 75 kilowatts, typical of ultralight aircraft. Rather than mechanically drive the rotors, the engine would generate power for electric motors as well as charge onboard lithium batteries. Should it fail, the batteries are expected to provide enough backup power so the craft could make a controlled landing.

Whereas helicopters navigate by changing the pitch of the main and tail rotor blades, the volocopter’s maneuverability will depend on changing the speed of individual rotors. Although more complex, it is more precise in principle to control a craft using three to six redundant microcontrollers (in case one or more fails) interpreting instructions from a pilot using a game console–like joystick—instead of rudder pedals, a control stick and a throttle.

Wulff’s first impression about the volocopter’s design is not uncommon. E-volo’s computer-animated promotional videos of a gleaming white, carbon-fiber and fiberglass craft beneath a thatch of blades recall the many-winged would-be flying machines of the late 19th century. This point is not lost on Senkel.

«I understand these skeptical opinions,» he says. «The design concept looks like a blender. But we really are making a safe flying machine.»

That would be progress in itself. Multicopter 1 looked like something from an especially iffy episode of MacGyver, complete with landing gear that involved a silver yoga ball. Senkel rode seated amid all those rotors powered only by lithium batteries. Multicopter 1 generated an average of 20 kilowatts for hovering and was aloft for just a few minutes.

There’s a reason why the experimental craft flew briefly and only once.Senkel describes that first craft as «glued and screwed together.» Seated on the same platform as the spinning blades, he says, «I was aware of the fact that I will be dead, maybe. Besides, we showed that the concept works. What do we win if we fly it twice?» he asks rhetorically.

Other than putting the pilot safely below the blades, the revised volocopter design would operate largely the same as the initial prototype. The design calls for three to six redundant accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure the volocopter’s position and orientation, creating a feedback loop that gives the craft stability and makes it easier to fly, Senkel says.

The volocopter’s revised prototype under construction could debut as soon as next spring. The first production models, available in perhaps three years, are expected to fly for at least an hour at speeds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour and a minimum altitude of about 2,000 meters, still far shy of standard helicopter’s normal operating altitude of about 3,000 meters. «This could change our lives, but I don’t expect anything like that for 10 years,» Senkel adds.

Given that most of the technology needed to build the volocopter is already available, «this idea is fairly easy to realize,» says Carl Kühn, managing director of e-volo partner Smoto GmbH, a company that integrates electric drive systems and related components.

Like Senkel, Kühn has modest short-term expectations despite his repeated emphasis on the standard nature of the technology involved. «I guess that e-volo will have [a prototype] aircraft in three years that can do the job—that it will lift one or two persons from one point to another,» he says.

The biggest immediate limitations appear to be regulatory. For instance, European aviation regulators consider any electrical system greater than 60 volts to be high voltage and regulate such systems more aggressively, Kühn says. As a result, the volocopter will operate below that threshold. The craft will also need to weigh no more than 450 kilograms to remain in the ultralight category, which is likewise subject to fewer government aviation regulations, according to Senkel.

The Lindbergh Foundation’s Wulff says the organization’s judges felt e-volo had «a greater than 50 percent chance of succeeding, or they wouldn’t have given them the innovation award.» Asked if she would line up to fly one someday, she says, «I sure would. It looks very compelling to me.»