Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

During the Xbox Game Showcase of 2024 a plethora of games were revealed to hype players up for what next generation consoles could technically handle. A way for the company to motivate people into buying their console. A reason to buy an Xbox Series X even though we’re like five years into the current generation of consoles so far and a majority of these games would still be available on PlayStation and PC. Although I do appreciate Xbox’s effort to make their games more accessible. There was one game that stood out to me the most and I knew it had the potential to be something incredible. It being Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Developed by French indie studio Sanderfall Interactive and was heavily inspired by numerous JRPGs. This is a debut title by a team composed of thirty four developers/workers as we speak. Some of them were former Ubisoft devs, but for them to make a game of this scale and quality on their first try is stunning. It’s a test of what game developers can do even without corporate funding and publishing to help aid them. Looking at the initial reveal trailer I can see the influences. Persona, Nier, etc.

These guys love JRPGs. You know they enjoyed working on the game they made where there is no discussion of trouble within the studio. No discussion of the developers hitting a roadblock at some point and wondering if they should redo the entire thing because one aspect felt wrong. It was a game they were very confident would at least resonate with people. They weren’t hoping it blew up to mainstream success, but they were praying that their work was at least worth it. The devs have talked about the aforementioned games during developer interviews. They have also mentioned titles I forgot to bring up like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Sekiro:, in fact there’s a huge scope of Dark Souls in this game but I’m not gonna call it a soulslike. Even when the game was released you saw the team flock to social media and instead of advertising they talked about other JRPGs instead. Again, they loved JRPGs. One team member talked about another JRPG that was released around the same time, The Hundred Line. A game I completely did not even notice came out this year. Why? Despite the team at Sanderfall not expecting the game to reach mainstream appeal it skyrocketed to mainstream appeal. Critics love this game. General players love this game. This is one of those rare occasions where just about everyone agrees it's great.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the best games of 2025 and rightfully so. It has a greatly written story that’ll tug at your hug strings and deliver moments you weren’t expecting from 100 miles away. Combat that strikes a balance between turn-based tactics and realtime reaction which creates one of the most innovative turn-based combat systems I’ve seen since Octopath Traveler. Its world is visually striking and competes with other Triple A games at the moment. Remember that all of this is coming from what is essentially an indie studio, or in my opinion Double A. It is objectively the type of game more developers should be aiming for. Condensed, well thought, well made, and artistic projects that aren’t too big or small. Now there has been some discussion surrounding the game. Mainly what it represents for other JRPGs, because if it’s anything I have learned is that the internet loves to argue. People have been discussing if other JRPGs should be following in the same footsteps, and if artists should change their vision to match what is hot in the market. An action that usually leads down the wrong road because developers fail to realize what makes something good to begin with. It’s been discussed too much these last few weeks, and I don’t want to make this ignorable controversy the main focus.

Back to the main topic. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a game I knew was going to be good. It was going to be a well received title from the passion alone. I’m happy it’s getting the positive reception it has, and I guarantee you it’s going to be Game of The Year for multiple outlets. What I was not expecting was for the game to be better than everyone hoped. Clair Obscur truly is a masterpiece. My favorite JRPGs are still Octopath Traveler 1+2 and Metaphor ReFantazio, but following right behind them is Clair Obscur. There is a lot this game does amazingly well, and even though I do have some slight criticisms it doesn’t detract from it being my game of the year for 2025 alongside every person who played it. My review isn’t going to convince you to play this game, because most likely dozens of other reviewers have convinced you to play this game. I’m just here to share my admiration for Clair Obscur and why it’s working wonders. So today we’re goona be talking about why I adore Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and why it deserves your attention.

Story

Our tale begins in the French city of Lumiere. The city used to be part of a massive continent. A country we’re all familiar with, but has now separated due to an event that occurred 67 years ago called The Fractuce. Gustave, a 32 year old man, prepares for the yearly Gommage. Along with the Fracture came the Gommage. Off in the distance in the continent Lumiere used to reside lives the Paintress. A massive godlike figure who rests beneath a giant stone monolith. Painted on the monolith is a glowing number, and each year this number goes down. The number represents the age of humanity, and anybody above the number’s age disappears. Turning into petals that scatter into the wind. The current number is thirty four and it’s about to drop today. Gustave, despite having another year to live, is saddened, because the only love of his life is about to disappear. A young woman named Sophie who the islander renown as one the kindest souls of Lumiere. The hesitant Gustave doesn’t know what to do, but is given a push by his close friend Maelle. A younger girl who lost her parents years ago during an earlier Gommage, and was taken in by Gustave and his family to be her guardians. Gustave tracks Sophie down, spends the rest of the evening with her, and watches as the Paintress rises from the shadows and paints the number 33. A vast amount of Lumiere’s people disappear and Gustave weeps.

The game starts off on a sad and hopeful note, because immediately after this is another yearly event. Not wanting the Paintress to forever control their lives Lumiere sends a team of trained fighters to sail towards the continent. These being the expeditions and so far there have been 67 of them. Sixty seven teams have been sent and while some have gotten farther than others none have managed to get close to the Paintress and kill her. Gustave has signed up to be a part of the thirty third expedition. A choice his sister tried to convince him out of, but he went through as he does want people to suffer the same grievances and loss he does. One thing he did fight against was Maelle joining the expedition. She’s but a sixteen year old girl with more time to live than he does, and he does not want her dying in the battlefield. He fails to prevent this happening and plans to protect her no matter what happens. Expedition 33 sails towards the continent and tries to prepare for whatever dangers cross their path. Things do not go well upon landing on shore.

The expedition is approached by an old man wearing the same uniform as them. As to who this man is and how he’s lived this long is a mystery. Just when they attempt to ask him questions the old man slashes his cane. Cutting off the head of one member instantly and slashes away at the others. Explosions happen around them and the remaining members attempt to flee to safety only to be snatched away by monsters. Gustave manages to survive and wake up in the woods. He is tired and as he treks along the forest path he finds his expedition stacked atop in a bloody pile. The journey was pointless, but as he raises a gun to his head he’s stopped by another surviving expedition member, Lune. She convinces him they have to keep doing what they do. Locating the only other two surviving members Sciel and Maelle. Gustave is thankful that Maelle survived and demands they turn back to return her home safely. Maelle refuses and wants to help Gustave kill the Paintress if they dare to get close to her. Not wanting their efforts so far to be for nothing they journey forward. Making peculiar friends along the way, fighting creations of the Paintress, and learning more about this ruined land. The plot of this game goes in wild directions. I do not want to spoil too much of what happens after act one, but I will have a discussion about a writing choice they made. Where it goes and why it’s beautiful.

Gameplay

It’s a turn-based RPG with a heavy emphasis on exploration on its combat loop, but most of it is spent on the combat loop. It plays sorta like how you expect it. Each participant in a battle takes a turn to either attack or perform some move. Instead of mana you have Action Points, and these are spent to perform special skills and maneuvers. Skills can be strengthened through quicktime button presses, and if timed correctly you can increase them further. Similar to the quicktime attacks of Like A Dragon or Sea of Stars. You have items and there’s a special shooting mechanic where you can blast weak parts on enemies as long as you line the shot right and are fine with using Action Points to fire. What really makes the combat of Clair Obscur interesting is when it’s time for the enemy to attack. When they attack you have the ability to dodge or parry their blows. Dodging provides an extra second of I-frames in case you’re one second off. Parry requires you to be more precise and is less safe, but if you manage to parry an enemy perfectly you can perform a counter. Dealing a heavy blow of damage. This not only gives you the upper edge but allows you to keep up the pressure rather than just through attacking each turn. There’s even a posture bar and if you manage to break that the enemy is weakened. As you progress deeper into the game you encounter enemies with longer strings of attacks or the introduction of different counters you have to utilize. The Gradient counter for when enemies flash gray, and a jump counter for when enemies slam the ground with energy. Each is devastating as long as you master an enemy’s attack patterns. You will die a lot in this game. Enemies hit like trucks and later battles become more focused around reaction.

The ability to parry and counter is not anything new. Last year I played Sea of Stars for the first time, and while that game didn’t even have the counter system either it at least had it. The way it is implemented in Clair Obscur is done oh so well and I can’t think of another turn-based RPG that does it equally as well. The parrying system isn’t the only best part of the combat system. Every party member not just has their own unique skills, but mechanics you have to master. It plays like a fighting game at times, and I’m all in for it. Gustave has an electrical gauntlet that builds up with each hit, and when fully charged deals heavy damage. Maelle chances fighting stances depending on the skill she does, and these stances provide different pros and cons. Lune builds elemental charges, and they can be spent to perform stronger elemental casts. Sciel builds fortune cards and when balanced out correctly gives her damage boosts. Without spoiling too much of the later game, you get two more characters one of which is a Devil May Cry character and the 2nd is essentially "Gotta catch them all and by that I mean copy their powers by taking limbs."

Despite Clair Obscur being driven by reactive skill it doesn’t mean good planning is rewarding from time to time. Bosses which reside at the end of each level have damage weaknesses you‘ll want to make good use of, or you want to unlock new skills for characters through skill trees. A new skill is learned through the consumption of Lumina points gained with each level up. You also can level the stat of your characters. Allowing you to customize the build of your character slightly, and some stats give better scaling depending on the tools and characters you bring. Level design is quite linear, but can be explored to find goodies and optional fights. There’s a checkpoint system similar to Souls, and while you don’t respawn at it every time you die it’s where you’ll rest, level up, and restore supplies. That’s about everything I want to cover for the gameplay section. I haven't even scratched the surface on what Clair Obscur has to offer. It’s a fun game to play, and in a short minute I’ll explain why a majority of it works so well. Let's hope for a tomorrow.

For those who come after.

Thoughts

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is as good as people say it is. What the devs managed to achieve on their first attempt is stunning, and while I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect game nor my favorite JRPG ever made it’s by all means a masterpiece and my Game of The Year for 2025. The combat is one of the biggest focuses of this game and it works not for the reason you think. Yes, the ability to counter enemy attacks back and retaliate if you manage to parry them all perfectly is genius. It serves as a way to keep the pressure up and make the player not feel like they can’t do anything while being attacked. Learning enemy attack patterns is fun despite how challenging the game can be at times, and when you finally learn how to perfect parry long flurries you feel like a god. The game introduces new mechanics very well without the game feeling too overwhelming or that it loads you with too much. Often introducing enemies with new attacks just when you learn it, and pacing you through an area with enemies that utilize said counters. Then stack them on top of each other with time so that you can be challenged in cool new ways. Enemy variety is good and despite there being a checkpoint system similar to Dark Souls the autosaves are quite forgiving and supplies aren’t strict. I forgot to mention this, but consumables refill whenever you rest at checkpoints. There’s a flask that fully restores your health outside of battles, which is nice rather than downing consumables just to keep your party alive.

I appreciate how instead of a mana bar you have Action Points. I’m so used to the management other RPGs have conditioned me to. Teaching me to keep an eye on my mana instead of burning through it, but the way Action Points work leads to less stress some players may find with other JRPGs. Forgot to mention this too, but there’s a perk system. Charms that can be equipped so each character gets certain quirks and benefits, but once you use a charm for a certain amount of time the charm can be shared amongst party members. How does this work even when it’s equipped to one singular member? Each character has these points and they can be allocated to perks your party member(s) have utilized long enough. Increasing the build variety for a game where each party member has only one specific kind of playstyle. Some of those perks include the ability to gain Action Points from perfect parries and counters, and these are the ones you will want to equip at all times. Allowing you to get the resources you need to cast skills and all sorts of healing spells as long as you play perfectly. I love how each character has their own set of mechanics to work around. Thinking of the thought put in so no character plays the same, is unique, and serves a meaningful purpose in combat is jawdropping. This isn’t your typical RPG where characters have different skills. No, these are mechanics and the mechanics are dope. They are as dope as the travelers in Octopath Traveler 2.

Now one thing I will admit about the combat is that parrying takes a bit of time to get used to. I can’t tell if it was the controller or the game, but there’s a slight delay when you press the button to counter. It’s not terrible, but it is noticeable. There are going to be a lot of moments where you press the parry button a second too early when you’re supposed to. Which isn’t good when the enemies hit hard, attack in long flurries, or like to delay their attacks. Having these animations where it looks like they’re about to hit you, but then move back a little to attack frantically half a second later. I think the last quarter of the game is too hard and a majority of people will not be able to beat the last three major bosses of the game through normal means. I was playing this on Expeditioner mode, the normal mode of Clair Obscur. The difficulty the developers intend a vast majority of players play on, and I was getting my ass handed in the latter half. Without spoiling the story, you fight the old man in the beginning twice and the second encounter is my favorite fight in the game. With a stellar song to go with it and an amazing presentation. That’s one thing I really love about battles in this game. Even when they’re really hard you can’t help but enjoy the presentation of them. It’s cinema through simply playing the game and it’s mesmerizing. It does become too much at the end, because there are attacks that zoom the camera out and don’t do a good job showing you when you’re about to get hit. Making things confusing.

I’d suggest doing this: Either explore areas and fight enemies normally, and kick the difficulty for the bosses down. Or play a vast majority of the game on normal and kick it down for the last two or three bosses. That final fight was crazy and despite playing on story mode it took a bit over twenty five minutes to beat due to how every boss after the last boss in act one has a second phase. It does the Dark Souls thing, more specifically Elden Ring and Lies of P, where once you knock one health bar down another one appears and some people might not like it. This is also a game where if you die you have to rework from phase one all the way back to phase two. Where you’ll most likely die again and redo the process. It is frustrating especially when you account for the delayed parrying time, but trust me when I say I was still having a ton of fun. Learning the attack patterns, learning to play perfectly, getting the edge, and finally cutting a foe down. A feeling I get when I play soulslikes, and it’s here too. I don’t consider Clair Obscur a soulslike, but it does evoke the feeling of one with how it handles battles, difficulty, and pacing. I love the level design even though it’s linear, because exploring off the designated path gives you supplies and rewards to make managing future encounters easier. I love how often new weapons are given out, because even though there’s an upgrade system the devs were aware how players would have to designate weapon upgrade materials among several characters. So they avoid problems every soulslike runs into even the good ones, and I appreciate that.

Both in terms of visuals and art direction, Clair Obscur is striking. I love the vistas of each area and there were moments I stopped to just stare in the distance. Gaze at what beauty lies on the horizon and wondering just where Clair Obscur would take me next. What surprises it has in store and how it would subvert my expectations. This is where we move on the story, another of the game’s main focuses. It is brilliantly paced, told, and acted out. Everyone who voice acted for this game did a damn amazing job. Giving performances that are believable but not so dull that you get bored by the experience. Cinematography is artistic, the whole game is artistic! In some ways you can say Clair Obscur is about the making of art. How the Paintress has the ability to forge life and control it. How she grieves for what she is doing. Yet, that is not the main theme of Clair Obscur. If you’ve been paying online you’d know Clair Obscur is about grief. Of how we manage grief and the loss of those close to us. How we go on this magical adventure to end the cycle of death, but if anything all we’re doing is finding a way to escape reality. The reality that is inevitably unstoppable and all we can do is try to move on. Gustave is a perfect protagonist in that everything is moving so quickly and he’s so broken down by it. He’s trying to process the fact the only woman who ever loved him is gone. That what he views as a younger sister signed up to sacrifice her life. The fear that she will die alone, or that he will die first and she will have to live without him. The hopelessness of the situation they are in, and moving on despite all that had happened. Clair Obscur is the opposite of Metaphor ReFantazion. Where Metaphor delves into how fantasy can be used to inspire and escape, Clair Obscur is about the consequences of doing so. Of the path it’ll lead us down. Both messages are good. Both are beautiful. That is until the game makes a very bold writing choice.

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to get spoiled.

Clair Obscur makes a daring choice to kill its main protagonist once act one is over and replace him with somebody else. You spend so much time attaching yourself to Gustave, playing as him, and hoping he makes it through only for him to die in front of your eyes. Then you get the new protagonist and this is where the plot takes a sharp right and becomes something else entirely. However, it still manages to work really well and be a tale about grief. You learn about the new protagonist, the main villains of the game, get hints of what is going on, and what lies beyond the world Clair Obscur takes place in. About the choices people make. To process the trauma they have been put through. In some way I like how they introduce a relationship system around this time. Connecting to the characters, hearing their burdens, and how in some way you’re all quite similar. Learning to cope with each other instead of wishing for what could’ve been or what could be done to prevent past travesties. There’s a final choice near the end similar to Nier: Automata. Where you have to decide between two character stances and the morality of them. There has been a lot of discussion around these two endings and it’s divisive. I don’t think either ending is wrong. They’re both understandable and I don’t mind what others think. You decide what is right based on the evidence you are working on, and I love it.

Okay slight spoilers are over. Continue reading here.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an amazing game. A masterpiece that is not only my favorite title of 2025, but one of my favorite games in recent memory. It took me roughly 20 hours to beat the main story, which is a perfect runtime for what it’s trying to do. I do want to address some of the discussion surrounding this game. I love what it’s doing for JRPGs, but I don’t want every JRPG to follow the same format going forward. I love having games that reward you for planning and thoughtful play. Clair Obscur still has that and mixes it with reactive action. However, it works here because the game doesn’t run on for thirty plus hours. I cannot see myself enjoying this for fifty or more. I also believe the reason other games shouldn’t follow the same formula is because every developer is their own artist. There are different ways for which people want to express themselves. Whether that be through the presentation of their game or how it plays. Saying it should follow in the same footsteps limits how they can express themselves through their art. Clair Obscur is a high point for the genre and I do not want games to copy it. However, this statement shouldn't be used to bring down the devs. I don’t think it should be used to attack others either. The devs even said this themselves via Twitter. The game industry is a wonderful place where dozens of new ideas come out each week. I don’t think it’s a place where we should hate and gatekeep. Clair Obscur is a modern mastepriece.. I strongly recommend it even if you are not a massive fan of JRPGs. In the end I give Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a 10/10.

10/10, Incredible