Writing a novel? That’s your solo gig—at least most of the time. Screenplay stuff, though? Just around 120 pages, unless you’re like… working for Scorsese or something. But video games? Whole different beast. Hours of content. Bending words to fit the play vibe. Usually juggling with a bunch of other writers. It’s chaotic but hey, sometimes that messy process makes magic. Like, you got a deadline? Bam—it’s 3 a.m.—just chuck words at the wall. Brilliance might just happen!
And then you’ve got this Frenchy flair in Clair Obscur that players can’t get enough of. Esquie, in particular, steals the show. There’s this campfire chat where he rambles about François to Verso. François is kinda grumpy, but Esquie paints a different picture: “Franfran used to be all ‘Wheeee!’ but now he’s like ‘Whooo.'” I still remember Esquie explaining the “whee” and “woo” while players pick their own goofy route in the dialogue tree. Ridiculous? Absolutely.
“That was me at like three in the morning,” laughs Svedberg-Yen. “I had to scribble out seven chats for Esquie!”
The script for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? A massive 800 pages, folks. And nope, doesn’t even cover all those random NPC chats or the lore piles. Svedberg-Yen? Pulls inspiration from all over. Get this: Monoco, a floating gestral, got inspired by her dog. Needed a trim, and boom—it’s in the game. “I said, ‘you look like an overgrown mop’ to my dog.” Perfect game material.
The “whee whoo” bit? Total nonsense at dawn but somehow… perfectly right. “Wanted to touch on heavy stuff—joy mixed with sorrow,” Svedberg-Yen recalls. “Was so sleepy, words just… vanished. So it turned into ‘wheeeeee!’”
In fantasy writing, Svedberg-Yen goes for genuine vibes, shaping characters from authentic roots, even if they’re from another galaxy. Sometimes no second-guessing those oddball instincts. Clair Obscur needed its light moments amidst the drama—because, well, life’s like that. “Do I take it too far? Maybe. I toss my current feeling into the script. Authenticity right there because it’s what I feel.”
