Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 never kept silent about his influence. A turn-based role-playing game from developer Sandall Interactive, which received “Game of the Year” and a number of other prizes at the exhibition Gaming Awards 2025is clearly a love letter to the many great RPGs that came before it. This inspiration and love for the genre's classics is even more evident in Clair Obscur's recently released free “Thank You” update.
Announced on stage at The Game Awards during one of the many acceptance speeches given by the Clair Obscur team, the update adds a whole new level called “Verso's Drafts.” It's a sprawling, whimsical level that has more color and life than any other environment in the base game. While there's a loose storyline, it's mostly just a playground to collect new weapons and defeat challenging bosses.
The Clair Obscur update appears to contain references to Persona 5, FFXIV and Xenoblade.Cinéma absolu.#Expedition33 pic.twitter.com/ISp1RdeMIdDecember 12, 2025
However, it was in these fights that fans noticed some cheeky nods to the games that inspired Claire Obscura. When certain enemies attack, small pieces of text appear on the screen that will seem very familiar to RPG fans. Persona 5earworm from “You'll Never See It” Final fantasy 14“Testing Your Reflexes” by villain Zenos and the meme-worthy “I Really Feel It” by Shulk Xenoblade Chronicles everyone appears. This is clearly Sandfall Interactive's fun.
This isn't the first time this has happened, however, as the base game Clair Obscur was also full of similar references to past RPGs. This included skills and enemy attacks called “Shadowbringer” and “Stormblood”, both names of expansions for Final Fantasy 14. Paying homage to the games that came before it is part of what makes Clair Obscur great. Sandfall wanted to write a love letter to the titans of the genre, and in doing so, created something that could stand alongside them.
