Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 conquered the hearts of many in 2025, leaving players wanting more. This desire could be fulfilled by an upcoming role-playing game, though it may not be in the way fans envisioned.
What is the Void all about? Few could pass by Clair Obscur in spring 2025. The combination of turn-based combat with real-time elements in realistic UE5 graphics provided precisely the fresh breeze the genre needed. Combined with a captivating story and a great soundtrack, it created a role-playing experience that rightfully received award after award.
However, this posed a problem for players, as many were sure: Such a game won’t come around again anytime soon.
An upcoming role-playing game shows strong parallels to Clair Obscur, but it remains to be seen whether it can truly fill the gap left by the surprise hit.
Cheap knockoff or the beginning of a new sub-genre?
Which game is it about? The Legend of Sword and Fairy, also known as Sword and Fairy, is a Chinese role-playing series, now with 9 mainline games and countless spin-offs, including several comics and adaptations.
On December 29, the trailer for the official remake of Sword and Fairy 4 was released. And it bears a strong resemblance to the role-playing hit of 2025. Some players already believe a new era of “Ex33-Likes” has begun, while others cynically refer to it as “Parry-Slop” – essentially, “trash, but with parrying.”
Here you can make your own picture of the trailer in the original Chinese:
Can the game fill the gap? Fans currently don’t seem to believe that. In the comments on YouTube, Sword and Fairy 4 is dismissed as a “cheap copy” rather than a worthy alternative.
They claim that camera angles, combat menus, and the entire user interface have been basically taken 1 to 1 from the role-playing hit. It also appears in the trailer that characters could parry enemy attacks in real-time – something not present in the original from 2007. Some believe that the parry system was forced into the existing turn-based combat to capitalize on the success of Clair Obscur.
Other users point out, however, that the hit role-playing game didn’t invent the wheel anew either, and was strongly inspired by JRPGs like Persona – and indeed Super Mario.
It remains to be seen whether the remake can distinguish itself with enough original ideas from Clair Obscur, without straying too far from its own original, and alienating the old fans. So far, little is known about the game, except that it is supposed to be released for PC. There is no release date yet.
Given the immense success of Clair Obscur, it is indeed probably just a matter of time before the first “Ex33-Likes” try to get a piece of the pie.
Even if there probably won’t be another game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 anytime soon, we have put together 5 strong alternatives for you to somewhat satisfy your craving. And who knows, maybe the first truly good Ex33-Like will surprise us sooner than expected.
