Sandfall Interactive revealed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a reactive turn-based RPG inspired by France’s Belle Époque, during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase. Gustave and his fellow Expeditioners set out to end the Paintress’ cycle of death.
Turn-based decisions, real-time defence
Combat combines command selection with real-time defensive actions. During enemy turns, players can dodge, parry or jump over attacks, while successful parries enable counterattacks.
Characters have individual mechanics, customizable statistics, skill trees and equipment. A free-aim system can also target enemy weak points. Sandfall confirmed Unreal Engine 5, but did not specifically announce Lumen or Nanite implementation.
Calling the system ATB would be misleading. Sandfall’s own description is reactive turn-based combat, and that better explains the design: planning still determines the action, but execution affects whether the party survives the enemy turn.
The reveal demonstrated a strong mechanical identity without providing console resolution or framerate targets. Those details should come from final platform documentation or measured code rather than engine assumptions.
Sources: Sandfall’s official Xbox Wire article and the official Steam page.
