Over the past few years, video games have been growing in size and complexity, featuring so much content that completing everything a game has to offer can take over 100 hours. More, however, isn't always better, as including a lot of content in games can lead to lower overall quality. Sandfall Interactive, the developer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, appears to be well aware of this issue, offering some key advice to another independent developer launching their game next year.
Interviewed by GamesRadar+ during this year's The Game Awards, Phantom Blade Zero director Soulframe Liang talked with members of Sandfall Interactive, who provided simple, to-the-point advice.
"One of the most important and interesting things they told us was that for the last nine months, the most important thing is to delete things. To cut things [from the game] and to polish the rest," said Soulframe Liang, adding that it was not what was expected to hear.
While the advice to cut things down and polish what remains may sound surprising in the current age of video gaming, it isn't entirely unexpected, coming from the developer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Playing through the Game of the Year 2025, it's clear how some things were cut as some areas in the game feel a little too empty. This, however, doesn't impact the quality of the game at all. On the contrary, limiting the amount of content made what was left more polished and engaging, letting the developers add some engaging mechanics to the game which some players have exploited to perform some incredible feats.
Will the Phantom Blade Zero developer follow Sandfall Interactive's advice and keep things contained for a better experience? While it is difficult to say with the game still months away from release, there's no denying that S-Game already has a good understanding of polishing and refining gameplay.
The jump in quality from the Gamescom 2024 demo to the Gamescom 2025 build was so big that it was impossible for me not to notice, so if this advice only serves to reinforce the direction the studio is already taking, there's a very good chance Phantom Blade Zero will be able to leave a mark as much as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 did this year.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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