In 2025, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to gaming, as more and more top quality titles are being released one after the other. Developer Sandfall Interactive faced an unusual and unexpected challenge, as Bethesda announced and released Oblivion Remastered just days before the release of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Speaking to GameSpot ahead of the release, Ben Starr, who voices the mysterious character of Verso in the game, said this isn’t actually a bad thing at all, despite challenges that the small studio of just 30 developers may face. “I think when it comes to that, one thing that we can absolutely speak to is how exciting it is that we’re in 2025–a year that, whatever your gaming tastes, whether you’re obsessed with Blue Prince, whether you’re obsessed with Oblivion, whether you’re excited for Doom: The Dark Ages, whether you’re excited for Clair Obscur, you have so much diversity to explore.
“I think Expedition 33 is this amazing new IP that doesn’t come along very often. You’ve got two ends of the spectrum. You’ve got the remake of the masterpiece that is Oblivion, the juggernaut that is Oblivion, and you’ve got this new IP that is Expedition 33, and hopefully they can exist alongside each other,” he explains.
“I know that they can, because there is so much space in the industry to enjoy it. This game isn’t going anywhere. This game is on Game Pass. Download it, put it on your console, and experience it when you get there. Genuinely, what a great year for videogames.”
When we asked Starr whether he’d be diving into Oblivion any time soon, he confirmed that it’s certainly on his to-do list. “We’re so lucky because we have a world where we are reinventing, not reimagining, and bringing old games to the fore. It’s amazing for those who didn’t get to play Oblivion. I look forward to playing it, I have it downloaded. At the same time, I’m deep in Clair Obscur. I’m a huge, huge fan of both.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s release will certainly be bolstered by the reviews it received a day before launching. With a Metacritic score of 92, it’s tied with Blue Prince for the best-reviewed game of 2025 so far. Our own Clair Obscur review calls it “a phenomenal RPG” that “that reinterprets familiar mechanics with an imaginative eye.”
