Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and AI – What We Know So Far

This is what could go wrong: Clair Obscur Expedition 33 won the Game of the Year 2024, then the team was celebrating, and then a news broke that the developers have used AI in the process.

By the time the controversy began, I had been half a way through my second playthrough. Honestly? I did not feel anything AI-generated in the combat or mechanics. But I felt the need to explore and I returned and tried all over once more with new eyes.

This is what I discovered about Clair Obscur Expedition 33 AI integration-and, indeed, this is much different than it appears to people.

The Controversy: What Actually Happened

The gaming community divided rather quickly when Sandfall Interactive revealed that they generated AI on a generative basis. Some players felt misled. Some maintained that it did not really matter whether the end product would be solid.

I kept track of the entire affair as it went. The studio made it clear that AI was not used as end art resources, character design, or even base gameplay. More so, it had to do with the prototyping and optimization of workflow in the pre-production period.

However, this is what I would like to know: did AI touch the real game systems that I was playing? Time of battle, Pictos construction, the element plan? That is what I was looking to determine.

Testing the Combat: Where AI Does (and Doesn’t) Show Up

I repeated important passages after which I re-read them specifically in search of clues that could point to the creation of AI. The exhaustive turn-based system of combating is reactive-classical in nature whereby you strategize and then perform the move with the control of timey button presses.

Here’s what stood out:

Patterns of enemy attacks are hand-tuned. There are 10-12 different attacks of each boss that you need to know. Dodges and parries have tight and regular timing windows. You did not get that by chance AI generation, that is actual design work. I tried this on several occasions and in every instance the attack telegraphs coincided in the timing windows.

Strategy Elemental weaknesses are balanced. Almost all enemies have certain weaknesses and strengths. When I tried these elements out in a systematic style, the debilitating conditions gave tactical sense of ice bred opponents resistant to shots, of steam-driven opponents vulnerable to lightning. These trends recompense experimentation, rather than chance.

Pictos system is complicated in nature. There are also 193 distinct Pictos to be collected with stat increases and an effect. Conquer a Pictos in four combats and you get a Pictos Lumina on passive side, a feature you can place on any character; you need to deal with systems that are interconnected that are in no way procedurally generated.

What AI Probably Helped With

According to developer mentations and personal testing, AI was probably used in the initial stages of prototyping such as creating conceptual variations given an environment or experiencing alternative combat sequences before they were perfected by human designers.

But the final mechanics? Those feel human. The manner in which parrying would regenerate Action Points, into which defensive play leads to offensive combinations, what happens with the interaction of character capabilities- that is systems design, which had to be playtested and refined.

I contrasted my experience with other RPGs which openly employ procedural generation and the distinction is obvious. The difficulty curves in combat of Clair Obscur are purposefully introduced and challenge spikes that are designed to grow with the skill of the player.

My Honest Take After 50+ Hours

I have conquered the main story, and other optional superbosses, as well as, I have tried other Pictos construction. Provided that AI did lead to early development, this did not at all undermine the end experience.

Still, the fighting requires proficiency. The dodge and parry timing with the Expert difficulty requires a near perfection job. The elemental coverage combined with Luminas and weak point targeting: That strategy depth is because designers worked out that balance and not because AI applied it.

Besides, Sandfall Interactive promised a free large upgrade that will include new locations, endgame bosses and cosmetics. Such after sales services would imply a team that cares about their trade, rather than a team that makes use of AI short-cuts.

Should the AI Thing Matter to You?

I would say this game is not the game you are the purist who wants zero AI presence to do anything during the development stages of the game. However, in the event you are interested in the end product, how it plays, how it challenges you, whether the systems feel well-thought-out, then there should be nothing to halt you on the AI controversy.

When I went in afterwards I was skeptical of the news. The mechanics are tight, and I was impressed by this. The game values your time and is playable, boasting the depth in strategy comparable to game classics of the genre.

FAQs

Q: Did AI design AI fighting in Clair Obscur Expedition 33?

No. Action points management, the timing of parry and the reactive turn based combat were developed by the team. Early prototyping required AI, whereas the final combat systems are hand-made and tested by hand in terms of balance.

Q: Have you ever been asked to play the game using AI?

Not really. Having spent 50+ hours searching patterns generated by the AI within the game in the first place, the combat seems purposefully modeled and possesses controlled difficulty curves and balance. In case AI had helped in pre-production, it did not affect the end experience adversely.

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