Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 writer explains the difference between writing a video game and a book

One of the big surprises of the year and an obvious candidate for Game of the Year is, of course, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Even though it was stunning both aesthetically and technically and had an incredibly well-composed soundtrack, it was still the story that really stole the show.

It was something as unusual as a role-playing game that really dared to take risks and where you truly didn't know what was going to happen next. The author behind the adventure is Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, who lives in northern Sweden. Since yours truly lives in the same city, I took the opportunity to meet her for an in-depth interview about the game, her inspiration, and what it's like to be a game writer.

Among other things, the discussion turned to the question of what it's like to write a game, as opposed to a movie or a book. Svedberg-Yen replied:

"Writing a book, I think, a lot of times you can really delve into what the character is thinking and feeling, you can describe things using a combination of senses, you can describe things in a particular way that you can't necessarily do in a strictly audio visual medium."

Of course, you can't do this in a game where you are the hero on the screen, which poses completely different challenges, but also offers other opportunities. She continued:

"I think there are a couple of elements there. One is through the combat experience, because you really get to know the characters through the many hours of battle. You're spending a lot of time with them exploring, and you're kind of in their shoes, and you're really kind of seeing and feeling things, which is different than when you're reading books. Then also you're able to make choices and I think having that autonomy and having that ability to direct things to a certain extent also gives people that feeling of agency, especially when it comes to the relationship dialogues. Having the player have a role in that I think also helps them to bond deeper to the characters and then at the very end asking them to make a choice so that they are then complicit in the decision.

"They have to, based on all the information they've taken in along the game, along the story, after all the things they've experienced with the characters, and then using their own personal perspective, their own life, and sort of what their values are, what their perspectives are, put that all together and figure out what they want to do. It makes the game and the ending more personal to each player."

Tomorrow we will publish our interview with Jennifer Svedberg-Yen in its entirety. Don't miss it. If you haven't played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 yet, we think you should, something you can read more about in our review.