- Primary Subject: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Director on Lost Odyssey
- Key Update: Director Guillaume Broche continues to praise Lost Odyssey, calling it one of the most emotionally impactful RPGs ever made and a key inspiration for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: July 6, 2026
- Quick Answer: Broche described Lost Odyssey as one of the most powerful emotional experiences in gaming, saying it stayed with him long after finishing it.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director Guillaume Broche has never been shy about the old-school RPGs that shaped Sandfall Interactive’s breakout hit.
But few games seem to mean as much to Broche as Lost Odyssey, the overlooked Xbox 360 classic he still considers one of the greatest games ever made.
Why Is Lost Odyssey Guillaume Broche’s GOTY?
Speaking on a recent episode of Jeux Vidéo Club, where guests choose games from an archive and discuss their personal importance, Broche picked Lost Odyssey as his Game of the Year.
It may seem like an unusual pick for a game released nearly two decades ago, but he had much more to say than simply looking back fondly.
Broche called Lost Odyssey “truly one of the most powerful, emotional experiences of my life,” praising its story, soundtrack, characters, and the way it continued to stay with him years after he first played it.
He admitted the villain was not particularly strong, but almost everything else left a lasting impression.
“Every now and then, I think back on it, I listen to the music and immerse myself in it all over again,” Broche said.
He has spoken about that emotional connection before, previously calling Lost Odyssey the last game that made him cry.
The game’s Thousand Years of Dreams stories remain especially famous among fans for exploring the memories of Kaim, an immortal man who has lived for a millennium and witnessed generations of people come and go.
Broche’s latest comments also revived that reputation among fans, who once again began recommending Lost Odyssey to Expedition 33 players, with several pointing to both games as some of the most emotionally powerful stories they had experienced.
Why Does Broche Call Expedition 33 Its Successor?
Lost Odyssey arrived in 2007 as a huge, cinematic turn-based RPG at a time when the genre was beginning to move in other directions.
Broche remembers critics dismissing parts of it as old-fashioned even then, particularly its linear structure, random encounters, and traditional combat.
He never saw those qualities as a problem. Lost Odyssey represented exactly the kind of game he loved, and over the following years, he watched major studios largely stop making RPGs like it.
Turn-based games remained popular, but games combining realistic visuals, a serious story, blockbuster presentation, and traditional turn-based combat became harder to come by.
“For me, Clair Obscur is sort of the successor to that in a way,” Broche explained.
The comparison makes sense for reasons beyond their turn-based RPG foundations.
Lost Odyssey used timed inputs through its ring system, asking players to hold and release a button during attacks, while Expedition 33 built a much larger combat system around precisely timed offensive and defensive actions.
Fans have also drawn comparisons between Lost Odyssey’s ability system and Expedition 33’s Lumina mechanics.
Both games also center their stories on mortality, grief, memory, and loss, despite exploring those themes through very different worlds.
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