Two French success stories have crossed paths since 8 October. Astral Ascent, Hibernian Workshop’s action roguelike, has added a free update built around Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Sandfall Interactive’s acclaimed RPG. It brings six members of the Expedition in as summons, three brand-new bosses and three rooms lifted from the Montpellier studio’s game. Revealed during the Triple-i Initiative broadcast, it unlocks once you’ve beaten the game on its base difficulty.
At a glance
Astral Ascent received a free Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 update on 8 October, on PC, PlayStation and Switch.
Gustave, Maelle, Sciel, Lune, Verso and Monoco become summons, while Golgra, the Mime and Pétank turn up as bosses.
The content unlocks after finishing the game on Destiny Level 0, the base difficulty.
Six Expedition members summoned in Astral Ascent
First released in full on 14 November 2023, Astral Ascent on Steam is getting one of its biggest additions in a while, and Hibernian Workshop lays it all out in its Steam announcement for the Expedition 33 crossover. Sandfall’s heroes arrive as summons: at the Campfire, you’re offered three Expedition members as a special summon and pick one for the rest of the run. Each brings a mechanic of their own, designed to echo how they fight in the original game.
Gustave heals you, boosts your attack and strikes alongside your basic attacks, with an arm that charges up a little more each time until it unleashes a devastating blow. Maelle switches between attacking and defensive stances depending on your health, and Sciel draws cards: Moon restores mana, Sun has her hit enemies directly and Twilight unleashes a powerful attack.
Lune casts elemental spells that follow the affinity of the spells you use most. Verso climbs in rank with every hit you land and drops when you take one, going from an attack penalty at the start to a massive bonus. Monoco draws one card from a set of five, each calling up a different monster. As for Esquie, Hibernian simply promises that you’ll get to give him a hug.
Watch it too
Clair Obscur’s Expedition joins Astral Ascent for free
Golgra, the Mime and Pétank as bosses
Three foes from Clair Obscur have also invaded the Prison. Golgra fights with kicks while small gestrals join in from the crowd, and a second phase kicks off once she loses her temper. The Mimes come as a pair, armed with hammers, nails and brick walls, and they keep reviving unless you finish both off almost at the same time.
Pétank starts by running away before raining down projectiles, splitting into clones and setting off big explosions. These fights take place in three rooms based on Sandfall’s game: Lumière, the Gestral Village and the Campfire, with the Paintress and the monolith on the horizon. The rooms appear at random before each world’s final boss, and one world per run offers a choice between the Andromeda Bar and the Expedition 33 content. Skip it, and it’s gone for the rest of that run.
Clearly, the studio put a lot of heart into it. “We’ve wanted to do this for a long time. Getting to work with Sandfall Interactive on this crossover has been one of the best experiences we’ve had making Astral Ascent,” the team writes, adding that its biggest challenge was translating that world into its own pixel art. Keeping it secret until the Triple-i Initiative was hard, the team admits, because they had been bursting to share it.
A free Astral Ascent update on every platform
According to Insider Gaming’s recap of the broadcast, the update is called Expedition 33: For Those Who Come After, and it’s free for everyone. It shows up as soon as you’ve finished Astral Ascent on Destiny Level 0. It’s available on Steam, the Epic Games Store, GOG, Humble, PS4, PS5 and Switch, and a new sub-menu now gathers the game’s add-ons in one place.
The pairing makes sense. Hibernian Workshop is an independent studio based in Angoulême, and Sandfall Interactive works out of Montpellier. Astral Ascent has carved out a solid place among action roguelikes since launch, while Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has passed 8 million copies sold, according to Sandfall and its publisher Kepler Interactive.
Hibernian is already looking ahead, with a Boss Rush mode due in the next few months. France’s indie scene is having a busy autumn, between this crossover and Knuckle Paradise, the Metz-made brawler published by ARTE France. For Expedition 33 fans who have never tried the roguelike, now is a good moment to jump in.
To see what’s landing over the next few weeks, the Hitbox release calendar lists every date with its official source.