Expedition 33’s New Update References FF14, Persona, And More

After a pretty successful night at The Game Awards, sweeping almost every category it was nominated in along with the grand prize, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall Games got up on stage to announce its big Thank You update is now live, adding a whole new level to the game called Verso’s Drafts. It’s a massive new area inspired by Verso’s childhood, and houses new bosses, weapons, and outfits.

It also houses a few cheeky little references to other JRPGs that have undoubtedly shaped Expedition 33 into the game that it is today. Just like Sandfall made apparent on stage at The Game Awards last night, the game wouldn’t exist without the likes of Final Fantasy to serve as inspiration, and Sandfall has decided to use Verso’s Drafts to pay tribute to a few of their favorites.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s New Update References FF14, Persona, And More

First shared by a Twitter user called Bainonis, it seems as though one fight in particular can’t help itself from making a cute little reference to other rather famous JRPGs, and they come in the form of mid-combat taunts. As you can see in the video that Bainonis shares, one of these is “you’ll never see it coming”, which Persona 5 fans should immediately recognize as the game’s iconic battle theme Last Surprise.

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There are a couple more battle taunts like this, another being “a test of your reflexes”. It’s probably not immediately obvious to the average JRPG fan, but Final Fantasy 14 fans should get a chuckle out of it, as it’s a very well-known quote from the game’s fight with the overdramatic, blonde-haired villain Zenos yae Galvus in Endwalker (or Zenos viator Galvus if you want to be really picky).

Having already given Sega and Square Enix some love, Clair Obscur then moves onto Nintendo, as the final line that Bainonis shares is “I’m really feeling it”, a very obvious reference to Xenoblade protagonist Shulk. Heck, even Super Smash Bros. fans should be familiar with that particular line, which Shulk brought with him to his Super Smash Bros. Wii U reveal.

Of course, these are just goofy little lines in one particular fight, but it’s nice to see Sandfall acknowledge a few games which inspired Expedition 33. It’s really evident that modern Persona helped shape the game’s style and UI, while we’ve already seen a bunch of Xenoblade references in the main game too. It’s just one masterpiece of a JRPG paying tribute to a couple of other JRPG masterpieces, which I think is pretty neat. It’s better than a Shrek reference, at the very least.

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher(s)

Kepler Interactive

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