Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director points to Final Fantasy 10 for allowing players to overpower the final boss, acknowledging it may have made the game too easy.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s director acknowledges that the team “made it a little bit too easy to get overpowered,” attributing this to the influence of classic PS1 RPGs like Final Fantasy 10.

In a conversation with an outlet, director Guillaume Broche was asked if the ability to overlevel before facing the final boss was a deliberate design choice. He explained that the intention was to create a structure reminiscent of PS1 RPGs, where the last act is open-ended, allowing players to either tackle the final boss directly or engage in side quests.

It appears that many players chose to dive into side content rather than rush to the climactic battle, which the team admits led to a somewhat underwhelming boss fight for some. Broche conceded, “maybe we made it a little bit too easy to get overpowered, but we wanted players focused on the narrative to transition from the end of Act Two straight to the conclusion.”

I personally took a different route, grinding through several levels of the Endless Tower before entering Act Three. Consequently, the final encounter felt like a breeze compared to some of the optional challenges. However, Broche mentioned that developer Sandfall still feels it aligns with their vision—”more or less what we wanted.”

Broche attributes part of this design choice to their inspirations. Even up to the latest update, Expedition 33 is rich with JRPG influences, and Broche’s own journey with JRPGs began with a less-than-stellar experience with Final Fantasy 8. Interestingly, it was a later entry in the series that shaped Sandfall’s decisions: “If you look back at Final Fantasy 10,” he noted, “if you get overpowered, you can defeat the final boss in one hit.”

While I haven’t reached that level myself, I’ve noticed players pushing damage numbers into the tens of billions since the latest update. I may not unleash Maelle to that extent, but it’s encouraging to know that it’s (almost) what Broche and his team envisioned for players to achieve.

Before Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made waves at The Game Awards, Sandfall was hoping for a solid 80 Metacritic score.