Clair Obscurs Director Invites Actors to Embrace French Cursing for Authenticity

The upcoming game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 boasts an impressive cast featuring both Hollywood stars and renowned voice actors. Sandfall Interactive has released a video showcasing the voice recording process of the game.

According to creative director Guillaume Broche, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features complex characters brimming with nuanced emotions. Motion capture was utilized to portray these intricacies, alongside separate voice recordings.

One of the highlights for Broche during the recording sessions was encouraging actors to use French curse words such as merde and putain, along with other French expressions. «It was fun to teach them the correct pronunciation. Being the only French person in the room, I was always reminding them to say it this way, not that way,» Broche recalled with a smile. The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 heavily draws on French culture, making these expressions quite significant.

The creators of the video spoke with several prominent cast members involved in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Except for Ben Starr (Clive from Final Fantasy XVI), everyone shared insights about their respective characters. Starr plays the enigmatic stranger Verso, and anything he might reveal could be seen as a spoiler. After all, Broche was present to oversee Starr’s interview.

Jennifer English (Shadowheart from Baldur’s Gate III), who voices the orphan Maël, Rich Keeble (from Good Omens), who plays the amusing Monoko, and Kirsty Rider (from The Sandman), who took on the role of Luna, provided well-known details about their characters. Thus, we will focus on those whose roles were not previously discussed by Sandfall.

Shala Nyx (Farida from CP2077: Phantom Liberty) portrays the cheerful warrior Syl. Despite enduring much sorrow and hardship, she retains her optimistic spirit. Syl serves almost as a maternal figure to Maël and shares an emotional moment with Luna.

The role of the bloated mythical creature Eski goes to Maxence Cazorla (from Ineffable). No one in the game world is certain of his actual existence. This powerful being can fly and can take down enemies of considerable size. Therefore, when the expedition encounters him and he decides to join them, it’s a pivotal moment for the group. Eski can provide emotional support, but he struggles to keep secrets. He interprets everything literally, which lightens the mood in some scenes.

Additionally, the voice cast of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 includes notable talents like Charlie Cox (from Daredevil), Andy Serkis (from the Lord of the Rings franchise), Devora Wilde (Lae’zel from BGIII), Tracy Wiles (Jaheira from BGIII), and others, though they do not appear in the video.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will launch on April 24 for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series, including Game Pass. Russian subtitles will be available.