Guillaume Broche, creative director for the upcoming game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has stated that intentional imperfections are a key ingredient in creating more endearing and engaging video games. In a recent interview, Broche explained his theory that games which relentlessly attempt to fix every perceived flaw can often end up feeling bland.
Broche drew a humorous parallel to a well-known moment in Devil May Cry where the character Dante exclaims, "I should've been the one to fill your dark soul with light!" He finds games with noticeable imperfections to be more relatable, suggesting that these flaws contribute to a game's character, much like a person's quirks make them interesting. "You see their flaws and think to yourself, 'yeah, it's lame, but I don't care. It's part of the character's flaws, and that's what makes them'," Broche stated. "You're not looking for a perfect game. A perfect game is boring anyway."
This philosophy extends to Clair Obscur itself. Broche admitted that the development team intentionally included elements they knew might be divisive, such as certain minigames. "We knew when we were making them: it was going to be unbearable, people were going to lose it, but it's part of the fun. We thought it was funny. And, well, it's imperfect, but whatever—we're putting it in."
He also highlighted the mixed gameplay approach of Clair Obscur, which combines action elements like dodging and parrying with turn-based combat. Broche acknowledged that, from a conventional business or design perspective, such a combination might seem unconventional. "What we heard a lot before we released the game was: You're making a game that mixes the challenging aspects of an action game—with dodging and parrying—with turn-based gameplay. No-one's going to like it." Despite these external doubts, the creative director believes that embracing these potentially flawed design decisions is what makes the game unique and memorable. He posits that this approach mirrors human personality, where embracing imperfections leads to more interesting characters, and by extension, more interesting games. "My theory is that it's just like people. People who try to be perfect are boring because they have no personality. Whereas people who embrace their slightly weird side—in the end, are the interesting ones."