‘Expedition 33’ Actor Ben Starr Explains The Game’s Secret Weapon

It’s not often you see a debut from a new studio as impressive as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The Sandfall Interactive RPG has stunned both reviewers and fans with its emotionally gripping story, its inspired take on turn-based combat, and its jaw-droppingly gorgeous soundtrack.

Expedition 33’s soundtrack is over a whopping eight hours long, but what’s most impressive is that this is the first soundtrack ever composed by Lorien Testard. “I was writing one song a week, and I’d just post it in an online forum. One week, [game director Guillaume Broche] found it, and he emailed me to say let’s do a soundtrack, and five years later, I’m here,” Testard tells Inverse.

Expedition 33 is a prime example of developers, creators, and actors coming together to create something they’re passionate about — and being given the creative freedom to do it. Testard’s work has resulted in one of the best soundtracks of the year, if not the decade. And a huge part of that is the ambitious swings he was able to take while composing.

Among those swings is getting renowned actor Ben Starr, who you might best know as Clive from Final Fantasy XVI, to contribute vocals on a key track. This was the first time Starr, who plays a character named Verso, contributed vocals to a project he’s worked on. Inverse had the chance to speak with Testard and Starr about the creative philosophy behind Expedition 33’s imaginative music.

This interview had been edited for clarity and brevity.

Expedition 33 has a massive amount of music. Did you know going in that this project would be such a big undertaking? How did it change over five years?

Testard: It was pretty clear for me, but I wanted the full world to have custom music. Guillaume, the director, is really ambitious. We thought of doing three tracks for every environment, a custom battle theme for each, and a custom boss theme for each. So the soundtrack is huge, and took five years, but I’m really glad to have done it this way.

There’s a big emphasis on vocal tracks in Expedition 33. Why did you feel those vocals were important to the music?

Testard: Voice for me is the most emotional and powerful of instruments, so I wanted it to be on the soundtrack. And the voice of Alice Duport-Percier, the singer of this game, is so wonderful. If I don’t have a voice, I don’t have lyrics, so I don’t tell the same stories. The voice is part of the world, she tells the story of the world, and she follows the player through their adventures.

Ben, this was the first instance of you ever contributing vocals to a game. What was that like, and when did that song happen? Was it before or after recording for Verso?

Starr: The great thing about this game, and it cannot be overstated, is that it is made by a small team. I think that’s part of the beauty of it, the fact that everyone wants to muck in, and is so open to trying stuff. There is a level of honesty to its creation. It is made with love and with joy.

The only reason I’m on this track is because I was visiting the studio. [Maelle’s voice actress] Jennifer English and I came down for Christmas because we were invited to be a surprise for the team, they hadn’t even told them we were coming. It was like their Christmas surprise that the characters they’d heard for years were coming to visit them. And we entered the studio, and everyone kind of stood on the stairs like the Von Trapp kids and welcomed us into their house.

We were looking around the studio, and Lorien had had this idea for a while and said, “Ben, can I pull you aside? Would you like to sing on this track?” which Alice had already provided beautiful vocals for.

But he said it’s about your character, and it would be really great to feel that. I was like, okay, and I agree, because even though I was probably out of my comfort zone doing it, I wanted to contribute because it was clearly part of Lorien’s vision.

Lorien was an amazing teacher, because what we wanted to do was get a level of vocal quality that is honest. It isn’t perfect. It’s real. It tells a story. Alice does the beautiful, melodic tune, but in Verso’s story, he’s just singing about himself. It happened long after I’d parted with Verso, but it felt really beautiful to get to add that.

Every main character has their own theme. How did you approach composing them, and trying to represent each character?

Testard: I follow my instincts, and the concept art of [Nicholas Maxson-Francombe]. His concepts were so beautiful and gave so much emotion to the characters. So I tried to follow what I thought would be the best way to give soul to the characters. With Verso, for example, there are four tracks about him, because he’s such a deep and mysterious character, and I want to have all those aspects.

So he’s singing on the track “Until Next Life,” and the track is about Verso, but it’s not the theme of Verso. It’s something really different around the fire at camp, and like the life of Verso and the world together. For composing, I use the team and what I think is good for the characters, and my own sensitivity for the music.

Lorien, correct me if I’m wrong. But is this the first video game you’ve composed for?

Testard: Yes, it’s my first contract. I’m really grateful to be a part of something like this.

Starr: Can you say how you got involved in the project, because I think it’s perfect.

Testard: I was writing one song a week, and I’d post it online in a forum. One week, Guillaume found it, and he emailed me to say let’s do a soundtrack, and five years later, I’m here.

Starr: The journey of how they assembled this insane team is beautiful. At the Xbox Developer Direct they said they assembled this team, and that’s not underplaying it. It’s finding cool people that want to make cool stuff.

I think there’s this level of gatekeeping in this industry sometimes, but [Expedition 33] is made by people who are really talented, and Guillame brilliantly spotted that talent. Now you have one of the most memorable soundtracks of the past year, if not the past decade, just because of giving someone a chance – giving someone creative freedom.

Video game music is a little different than other media because of how it has to be interactive. What was it like working on a game specifically? Did it inform anything about your own style?

Testard: Honestly, I didn’t have rules or anything, it was more about discovery for me. I follow the simple idea that I want good music, and I want to write music I would love to hear.

If it’s the right one at the right place, it’ll be good for the player. For example, I love in games where even if it’s the same track, looping for hours in a small place, if it’s a good one, it’s pure beauty. Like in the old Zelda games, you have the shop music.

Video games are what I love the most. When I started composing, I started with video game music, and I want to keep doing that.

Ben, one of the things that’s remarkable about this game is that it almost feels like these characters were written for the actors playing them. How was this recording experience different from other games you’ve worked on?

Starr: Because of our direct connection to the team, I think when you have a small team, you almost feel like if anyone’s gonna let the team down, it’s gonna be you. There’s a level of accountability because everyone’s working so hard in it. When you have a team of 30 people making a game, and then you have a relatively small cast, you want to do the best for these people. We weren’t just doing it for the audience. We were doing it to impress Guillaume.

There’s a scene towards the end of the game with Verso and Maelle, and Guillame said to me, “This is my favorite scene.” And the pressure of going in and thinking, “Well, I have to do the best acting I’ve ever done in my life, because this is your favorite scene.” You just want to do your best.

That’s not to say that in other experiences I haven’t tried my hardest, it just felt like there was that real personal connection to the team, not just the characters. I think it’s a testament to the direction that we were given, that we were allowed to make these characters feel like our own. We weren’t doing them to anyone else’s heartbeat. We were doing it to our own, and trying to find that honesty.

I was also really lucky, because we came in at a certain level, where I’d have a lot of Lorien’s score already underneath it. So I was doing scenes relatively late in the day sometimes, and I’d hear this beautiful, epic string music that lingers and think, okay, I understand what we’re trying to evoke here, and it’s going right.

The first time I ever worked on this game, I was privy to the first bit of music we hear in the reveal trailer that we saw at the Xbox showcase. And I thought this music is so familiar, and yet so individual and new, and it’s so difficult to kind of capture lightning in a bottle.

I think, hopefully, Lorien’s score is going to be something that people listen to outside of the game. We’re RPG fans. RPG fans listen to the score separate from the game, and it becomes their entire personality. I can see a lot of people doing that, and not just from the beautiful, heartbreaking stuff. Like, you go into the Gestral Village and there are absolute bops there you can dance to.

This might be like choosing your favorite child, but is there a single track in Expedition 33 that you’re most proud of, or that most represents the game?

Testard: It’s so so hard. There are so many tracks, and so many characters.

But if I have to, I prefer what tells a meaningful story. Like the last song of the soundtrack, the 144th, was so important for me, almost transcendent. To see the final session of this song and see it live in front of me, because we recorded with an orchestra and a mocap actress who dances on it. It was at the end of production, and I knew it would be my farewell to the characters, so it was really special.

Starr: My favorite piece is near the end of the game, called “It’s Time to Stop Painting,” when you’re getting close to making your decision. And it’s a beautiful denouement moment, a coming together of characters. It beautifully underscores this moment.

I remember doing this scene and having Lorien’s music underneath it and thinking, “Oh my god, is this really going to be in the game?” It’s ethereal but grounded. I just think it’s what the power of music can do, take a moment and amplify it, make it seem more human than when we’re doing it. I can’t wait to see people do other versions of it, put some EDM on it, make it funky, give us the club version. It’s theirs now, it’s everyone else’s now. Go enjoy the world and make it your own.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.