Summary

  • Expedition 33 features a reference to Final Fantasy 8.
  • You can find two gestrals playing Double Dyad at the Gestral Village.
  • Final Fantasy was a big inspiration for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Sandfall Interactive, developer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has made no secret of the game's Japanese inspirations, namely Final Fantasy and Persona.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Expedition 33 includes a subtle reference to Final Fantasy 8 (nice spot, Automaton).

The Final Fantasy series is well-known for its mini-games, and Final Fantasy 8 featured a particularly popular card game called Triple Triad. This game is one-versus-one and is staged on a 3x3 grid, with both players playing cards to try and dominate the board. Each of these cards has its own stats, with complementary combos. Yoshinori Kitase, the game's director, said at the time that the game was inspired by Magic: The Gathering.

The upcoming Magic: The Gathering crossover with Final Fantasy features several characters from Final Fantasy 8, such as Quistis Trepe, Ultimecia and Rinoa.

Double Dyad

Credit: Automaton

In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you can stumble upon two gestrals playing a familiar card game at the Gestral Village. These two aren't playing Triple Triad, but rather Double Dyad. Perhaps this is the same game on a 2x2 grid. After all, the majority of gestrals aren't known for their mental acumen, so a simplified game may suit them.

It also feeds into the idea of how competitive gestrals are. Even if they're not fighting with their fists—and gangly legs—gestrals are still competing on the card board, fighting for supremacy. Those two don't seem like they're going to stop playing anytime soon, a testament to the competitive spirit of the race.

The only sad thing about the reference is that we can't play Double Dyad with our gestral friends. There are plenty of janky mini-games to play on the various Gestral Beaches dotted around the map, usually based on questionable platforming mechanics, which I actually quite appreciate. It's like an old tank controls horror game where some of the horror comes from how inefficiently your character moves around.

Final Fantasy 8 suffered from being the follow-up to the most famous Final Fantasy of all time, but is still very well regarded. The game received a remaster in 2019.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. It is currently on Game Pass.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Turn-Based RPG Fantasy Systems 41 9.6/10 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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