Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is no doubt one of this year’s best games. After taking home multiple Game of the Year awards (minus one), it’s no surprise that a game like this could spawn a wave of new similar titles in the industry. It didn’t take long enough for one studio to take inspiration from Sandfall Interactive’s magnum opus.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4: Remake is the first (of the possibly many) Clair Obscur-like titles that’s set to arrive in the coming years. It’s a remake of the 2007 RPG hailed as one of the best franchises in Chinese-speaking regions. Put simply, it holds the same cultural weight in China that Square’s Final Fantasy does in Japan.
The remake puts a fresh spin on its traditional turn-based combat, adding cinematic Unreal Engine 5 camera angles, parry-based combat and flashy menus reminiscent of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Fans were quick to comment on the recently uploaded YouTube video, with some jokingly calling it “Expedition 44.” Others also reignited the tired JRPG debate, arguing that Expedition 33 didn’t start this trend and insisting that “turn-based combat never went away.”
Gamers know turn-based games aren’t new in the market. In fact, the first Sword and Fairy games were made purely in the traditional turn-based combat that games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest popularized. This “AAA” evolution of the series wasn’t surprising, but given Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s monumental success, it’s as if Sword and Fairy 4’s found out there’s a market for cinematic turn-based RPGs, and now they’re striking while the iron is hot.
For added context, the Sword and Fairy series has already gained a massive foothold in China, dating back to the early 1990s. It is developed by Taiwanese studio Softstar Entertainment, and its narrative is deeply rooted in Chinese wuxia and mythology. Characters are caught between love, loss, and all the favorite recipes of Chinese storytelling.
After the release of Sword and Fairy 4 in 2007, the series went on an 8-year hiatus as the studio faced numerous development challenges amid a shifting Chinese gaming market. It was not until 2015 that the franchise saw its return with modern entries, remakes, and international releases. Now, this Clair Obscur-like remake will be its first break into the mainstream gaming market.
Whether this game is a copycat or not, fans of the Chinese RPG were glad to know that the series never entirely went away. If there’s one thing Sword and Fairy 4: Remake did right, it’s riding on the trend of a growing market of gamers who crave cinematic turn-based RPG combat.
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