Clair Obscur Expedition 33 lead “underestimated” how many players would do all the side content, regrets disappointing “people that wanted a challenging end boss”

The incredible experience of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s core story might be one of the main talking points when it comes to the hit J’RPG, but Sandfall Interactive also filled its debut title with plenty of side content to complete, something one lead dev didn’t think most players would finish before rolling credits.

From the various optional side bosses to the notoriously tricky Gestral Games, there’s no shortage of things to do in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, most of which you can access before taking on the RPG’s final boss. Doing so, of course, inevitably leads to you being a higher level than you would have been had you simply pressed on with the main narrative. Speaking to Edge magazine for issue 419, lead game designer Michel Nohra says “the only thing I regret is not making it clearer that if you want the intended difficulty for the boss, you have to go beat it now.”