Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director admits one particular game inspired Sandfall to step up its game

n a recent interview, Sandfall Interactive CEO and director, Guillaume Broche, revealed that Round8 Studios’ Lies of P forced his team to step up their artistic ambitions during Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s development, as both games were tackling similar artistic turfs, inspired by the golden age of French art, the Belle Epoque era.

Lies of P launched in 2023 with a soulslike retelling of Pinocchio, selling 3 million copies worldwide as of June 2025. The game arrived amid Expedition 33’s development. Broche spoke alongside Lies of P game director Choi Ji-won, and admitted that the game’s artistic take left him reeling, causing Sandfall to re-evaluate the Expedition 33’s development to match Lies of P’s polish.

In an interview on Lies of P’s YouTube channel, Broche stated, “We had the same way of thinking, like Belle Epoque is kind of unique, it’s not explored that much in games. And when I played Lies of P, I was like ‘Wow, ok, this looks absolutely stunning, so we have to up our game first.’

And really, the thing that struck me the most was Hotel Krat. Because we also have a manor in Expedition 33, and when I arrived in Hotel Krat, I was like, “This is exactly what we have in our game!”

However, more details overlapped both games, like the phonographs that were scattered throughout the game’s environments. Broche recounted his thoughts when first playing Lies of P, and added:

“When Lies of P came out, the manor, at this point in development, was still the hub of the game. We didn’t have the camp yet. And Hotel Krat is the hub of Lies of P, and we also had a record player, and there’s a record player in Hotel Krat, and I was like ‘People will think we have copied!’”

Broche further stated that he had sunk in “hundreds of hours” into Lies of P post-launch. He further mentioned, “I was really happy to see that it looked great, and that people responded very positively to Lies of P and the art style and everything, and it kind of validated that we were going on the right path.”

Choi praised Expedition 33’s visual take on the Belle Époque era and wished Round8 had incorporated more French architecture in their game.

He stated, “I felt that we should’ve been more daring in using the architectural and cultural styles that represent the Belle Époque. When I saw how Sandfall audaciously used iconic French landmarks, a ruined Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Place de la Concorde, I felt a sense of lingering regret, thinking, ‘We should’ve been bolder.’”

Buy Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on Amazon here