Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may not be a ‘perfect’ game, but it was the ‘perfect’ game for me. It’s a game that left me awestruck with its unique setting and melodies, enthralled with its characters and world, hooked and held me with its gameplay, and has left me eagerly anticipating news of when I can return. This game is a celebration of the RPG genre made by a team whose heart and soul were poured into every aspect of the game. While some design decisions may not resonate with all players, Sandfall Interactive should be incredibly proud of their creation.

So much to say, but really Clair Obscur is good simply because it is simple.

Tight, reaction/turn based combat is the core of the game and it beautifully expands from start to finish. There was never a point where the gameplay felt boring (largely because parries make everything better. Put parries in more genres!)

The vibes ares are strong with this one on every front. Art, music, acting, it's all good stuff. Sometimes the music is a bit much, same with the sometimes stilted acting, but there's just so much of it. And the writing! And the visuals! Owowow. Good stuff. Put this all together and you end up with an alive world that fascinates.

I'd recommend playing this with French voice acting if you know it, but if you don't, stick to English, as the subtitles are nigh unreadable. Terrible font, too small, not enough options there. I suspect some of the stiltedness in the cutscenes is from the translation.

Anyways, give this a shot! I adored it, maybe you will too.

I had the fortune to play this game alongside my closest friends who live in two different countries, and we all got to the same conclusion on our own: How can this videogame make you feel so strongly? Why are we crying for this fictional characters?

The very nature of artistic production makes it difficult not to be a cynic in this day and age. Internet has burst opened the doors to see a lot of things you didn't get to see before about how the entertainment business works, and how things like trends, marketability and long-term revenue have a direct effect on the content we consume. It is important to always keep that in mind, but at the same time, stories like these almost MAKE YOU put your rose-tinted glasses and see the bright and beautiful possibilities of the medium. Clair-Obscur: Expedition 33 is an absolute masterpiece, a celebration of love and grief, an outstanding artistic achievement at all levels: music, gameplay mechanics, voice-acting, characterization, story, screenplay.

Absolutely grateful for the feelings this game brought to me. Can't wait to see what is next for Sandfall Interactive.

And btw, Clea is MY goat, love her forever.

5/5

Not a whole lot to say. It's got everything I love - turn-based, fantastic variety in character builds and synergistic abilities, characters who are flawed yet likeable, writing that is intelligent and well thought out, a story with a great balance of stakes, twists and pathos, and satisfyingly difficult combat. Well, that is a fair bit to say.

This game is smart, it's fun, it's full of creative passion. Certified banger.

Outstanding. The art, story, character writing were all phenomenal. The combat was engaging without overstaying its welcome. The end of act 2 had my jaw on the floor. Made even more impressive on learning about just how boot-strap the development of this game was.

Only real critique was the release in to the world after Act 2--the setup into complete lack of guidance left me confused. It implied needing to grind, but randomly looking for appropriate challenges was frustrating without a guide. And no grind was even needed! Heading straight from the end of Act 2 to the conclusion would have been perfectly viable!

Nitpicky in an otherwise excellent game.

An incredible experience. I'm a massive JRPG fan so I'm biased towards them in general, but this really is a superlative example of the genre, and all by a first time, small-ish developer to boot. I'm in awe!

It's not a perfect product and I'll just list some minor annoyances here to get them out of the way.

• I had one or two glitches/freezes on Game Pass for PC. Thankfully the auto save function is very generous so I didn't lose any progress.
• No loadout saves meant that if you want to try out completely different combat styles, it will take an extra amount of sorting and equipping

-The lack of mini-map is an interesting one, it didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would but a bestiary and/or checklist/better map system in Act 3 would have been appreciated.

-The UI is a bit clunky, but I got used to it.

Honestly, that's about all the bad I can muster. Everything else is just amazing.

• The French flair was refreshing. It felt like a brand new take on a style of game I've played hundreds of times. The architecture, names, music and costumes all had a distinct French feel which I loved.

-The soundtrack is wonderful. Somber, weird, majestic, silly and heartbreaking. I'll be listening to it for a long time.

-Voice acting feels professional and the writing makes dialogue and conversations feel like they're real people, not video game characters. I like how they sometimes talk over each other, stumble a bit when they're trying to think of the right word, etc. Made it feel very natural

-The character designs didn't feel cliche in the least. Esquie and Monoco in particular were bizarre to look at upon first glance, but I loved them by the end of the game.

-Combat is the star of the show. I've never played an RPG where you can dodge or parry every single attack. It means combat is never boring and you can't just button mash attack to win.

-Expanding upon that, I like how parrying is more difficult than dodging, but results in massive damage to the enemy. Proper risk/reward system. Loved it.

-Expanding even further, the Lumina/passive system means you can customize your characters in combat to the Nth degree. Addicting.

-Boss fights are a dream. Intense and rewarding.

-I've never seen this before, but if your party wipes you can send in your bench players. Usually this means I'm completely screwed in a boss fight, but after a while you start to memorize their attacks and in few instances, I took down a boss with just a single party member after the rest had died. Thrilling.

-Secrets everywhere. I really appreciated how Act 3 just completely changes up the pacing, though some may not like it. I dug it.

-Little touches like seeing the party have scrapes, bruises and blood on them after a tough fight in a cutscene made the world feel more real and detailed.

-It's funny. Laughed out loud dozens of times.

-The story is quite strong and the ending I got was absolutely haunting.

-I finished in 36 hours but it felt like 70, in a good way. This is a trim, tight experience with no fat or filler in my opinion.

-Big, emotional moments hit hard. Sandfall does not shy away from portrayals of difficult subject matter.

-I cannot believe how good the graphics are. Areas are brimming with color or strange visuals or impossible monsters, always.

-If this isn't my game of the year for 2025, I'll be shocked. What a game!

90 Hours in with NG+

I have lost the words to describe this game , all i can say for the past 20 years no other game leave this kind of impression for me other than FF7 Original (1997), FFX (2001) and Persona 4 Golden(2008).

Even Metaphor, FF7 Remake, SMT 5 etc didnt gave me this much enjoyment :D

I simply cant put the game down !
I go to work, im thinking bout the game ... I went to bed, thinking bout the game ... i leave all other games im currently playing to play this masterpiece and i dont want it too end !

All the beautfiful things bout the World of CO:E33 <3 :

• Every characters well written (which is so f rare nowdays !)
• Every characters damn handsome and beautiful
• Every cutscenes are cinematic
• Every SONGS are just too damn good , im teared up !
• Every fights are exciting (unless u do the 1 shot built but GL with simon!)
• Every parts of the worlds and dungeon are an adventure (Yeah no mini maps no problem !)
• The list will go on forever if i dont stop now ! The writing, the sound , the art design and many mores done so f right but last shoutout to ESQUIE BEST BOIII MON AMIII <3

Things can be improve on :

• Need journal to keep tracks of sidequests :(
• Due to colour shades , the items sometimes really hard to notice particularly journal and pictos. Purple one can be seen so probably need brighter colours
• Once you unlocked damage cap, gome just become to easy due too many broken pictos. Higher difficulty bosses needed like SIMON . Main story bosses are too easy, i feel bad, sometimes i just drag the fight to see their moves and enjoy the songs lol

Now , I am at Post Game Clarity and i know i will never feels this way again playing next games and after . So, im taking a break from gaming and enjoy movies/animes for now !

THANK YOU SANDFALL INTERACTIVE for such an awesome banger masterpeice of a game. Not just my GOTY but GOTDecade for me <3

Pleaseeee we need marchandises !! Snorlax size Esquie!!

"C" Game Completed!
#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

So first of all: Wow.

That this game, a turn-based, menu-driven, high-effort J'RPG (get it, cuz French) can even exist in 2025, when all the big publishers swear up and down that nobody wants games like this anymore, despite it landing and being a pretty big hit, selling out of physical copies in multiple regions? That's astonishing, and the work of the devs here to bring a labour of passion to life and actually deliver something on-par with the all-time greats of the genre? Magnifique.

I am rating this game 4 stars. Why? Because I have major complaints about the story. I'll get into WHY that is exactly, but I want to preface by saying that did not ruin the experience for me. The gameplay systems? Amazing. Visuals? Amazing. The dev stories - how former Ubisoft people formed their own studio to make the games Ubisoft wouldn't? Amazing. But in all the discourse about this game, I HAVE to talk about my thoughts on the story. And it will be in spoiler text below. Scroll past it if you want a more fulsome review of the nuts and bolts of the game.

The story starts off amazing, but ultimately did not deliver for me. I was right there along with the story, completely absorbed in Expedition 33 and their mission, loving this story about how they're exploring these completely unknown lands, fighting impossible odds, and slowly making headway. Then Gustave died, and I think that's when the game started to fall apart. Gustave wasn't necessarily my favourite character, but his drive and his uncertainty gave the story a lot of depth. When he was unceremoniously killed off, only to be replaced with Verso, a character I REALLY did not like, out of goddamn nowhere... It's almost like that marked a point where two different scripts were staples together. I didn't find the family drama stuff to be interesting, at all. I thought that finding out this whole world was just a magic painting, not some twisted future of our world, was kind of a cop-out. I was really, really not happy with how this story shifted gears from an "us against the world" narrative to one about grief and family drama. Does that make it BAD? No. I thought the story, for what it was, was very well told. I just didn't like where it went. Not to mention all the loose ends it never really wrapped up... What did Gustave's Lumina Converter really accomplish beyond a game mechanic? What was that flower monster all about, and why did it seem familiar to the party? Why bring Maelle to the mansion and not back to Lumiere where the party would not go to find her? Who the fuck are The Writers and why are they warring with The Painters? What was all this lore about Lumiere's Council potentially working against the goals of the Expedition? Is this stuff all answered in the disparate side content? Maybe! And I'll get to that down below.

The other major complaint I have about the game is the three-act structure. I feel like for the first two acts, it's really well-paced with lots of hidden areas and reasons to explore. But in the 3rd Act, it does something similar to FF6's World of Ruin, where a ton of previously inaccessible areas are unlocked all at once, and many of them are far beyond your current level. A lot of these areas are really well-made, but they don't really come together very well. I feel like a majority of these areas should have been written into the story in a more organized way, instead of shoving super bosses in them and calling it a day. It really feels like a lot of these areas were perhaps meant to be part of the main game, but the story just didn't have enough legs to carry them. It's really weird. Capping the damage at 9,999 until the late game was an odd choice too; I felt like scaling could have been handled a lot better on general. My sense is that a decision was made during development to cut the scope of the main story to get it out to market in a reasonable time frame. And for a studio's first game? Probably the right call.

The sound design, in general, is excellent. I do think the soundtrack relies WAY too heavily on the one singer singing in essentially the same range without much variety, but on the whole, really great music - appropriately gloomy, and strikes a mood that matches the art direction. (Could have done without the lyrics that, FYI for non-French speakers, LITERALLY SING ABOUT THE EVENTS OF THE GAME, which I thought was a little goofy and on-the-nose). The voice acting is some of the best I've ever seen, with everyone here really knocking their performance out of the park. Would not be shocked one bit to see one or more performer get an award. Like honestly, you could give François's actor an award and I wouldn't even bat an eye.

The cast, with the exception of Verso? Excellent. Love them. Even some of the side characters from the start that you never see again. I can't emphasize though how much I did NOT like Verso though. I think my favorites overall were Sciel and Monoco. Sciel in particular was really great, because you think she's gonna be like your bog standard sexy femme fatale character, but she has a lot of depth. I was quite surprised. Monoco's lines were few, but they all seemed to hit really well.

I'm kinda rambling at this point, but I am also trying to avoid repeating a lot of the same talking points others have already made... So I'll end it here.

Expedition 33 is a really, really great game; full of passion and creativity and really smart decisions all around. The story didn't quite come together for me, but there's so much to love here that I think the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Definitely an all-timer, and I'm super excited to see what this studio is cooking up next... And I got my fingers crossed that other studios see this game's success and start making high-effort, ambitious, menu-driven, turn-based RPGs again. 🤞🤞🤞 Games that aren't just a cheap imitation chasing nostalgia (Sea of Stars, Octopath, etc.), but the real McCoy.

Also I love Esquie.

I need to begin that I am not a fan of turn-based RPGs. That is probably the most important thing to mention because while I did hate my time playing this, it was more of an "I know people who think it is the best thing ever and I have GamePass so why not?".

Well, I tried!

I was annoyed every battle and it only worsened as they added systems. Narrative-wise, there is something that happens between Act 1 and 2 that I thought was pretty goofy.

At this point, I only hated the game mechanically but now the story was bugging me too. I started a boss fight and was suddenly hit with overwhelming clarity. Why?

I was not losing or winning, it was just the start of my first try, but I was annoyed at having to... play the video game. So I quit.

Another thing is I hear a lot about the soundtrack and while the cutscene music is nice enough all the battle music seems to consist of an annoying short loop that does not help with my "I do not want to be here" attitude.

I put in probably 5-7 hours so I still want to log it and write a review. But I realize it is a very pointless review. It is like someone who hates pickles judging Bubbies versus Grillos.

(Bubbies by the way)

Its been a while since i've uploaded a review here (oct 2024 to be precise). Ever since after getting a JOB, it has been impossible for me to get into gaming. I've tried starting games i wanted to finish like God of war Ragnarok for example. Its been around 3 months and i still haven't finished that game....i play around 1-2 hours but then i stop, all exhausted...there isn't a pulling force that makes me wanna play more.

I thought all these short form contents like Reels and stuff had fried my brain and i could never enjoy story games anymore.

Until....

What a legendary story....its been a while since i've seen this good story writing , not only in games , but any medium recently. The story had me hooked so hard , not only was i eager to come back and play the game after work, but also i merely did any side quests in the game. The story doesn't bore u for 1 second by giving u more questions and mysteries with no answer....i could keep raving about the story but y'all get it....its one of the best in gaming history.

Coming to other things...the art is f***ing phenomenal.....each island i entered had my jaws dropped....again ..you all could just watch a few gameplay videos and already get what im saying.....

The combat ...well....i am not a huge fan of turn based combat and i think i haven't played a single turn based combat game in my life. That being said the combat was still super fun ...the parry and dodge kept me on edge like a souls game learning all the attack pattern....i cant speak much about it and critic it since , like i said , i dont play turn based combat games...All i can say is i had alot of fun in combat.

The boss fights were all super memorable and fun...the enemy variety was also decent....literally there's nothing i can say negative about this game.

A MUST TRY IF U LIKE STORY GAMES...PERIOD

I was impressed overall with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It’s a fun blend of turn-based, yet reactive combat and FromSoft-style dungeon design. The story is moving (with a final act that will likely be divisive), and I enjoyed tinkering with the copious tools provided for party building. Voice acting is top-notch across the board, including fantastic performances from Jennifer English (Maelle) and Andy Serkis (Renoir). However, what’s stuck with me the most from Expedition 33 is Lorien Testard’s excellent, varied, and expansive soundtrack.

Critics and players alike have been gushing about the music, but even if part of it doesn’t click with you, there likely will be another that will. E33’s soundtrack clocks in around eight hours (for comparison, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is around 12 hours, at roughly twice the game length). Each dungeon along the story path has its own battle music, with more than one track in some areas, all in addition to a unique boss theme. Multiple side areas even get the unique treatment. For someone like me that grew up with JRPGs that had one battle theme, one boss theme, and one final boss theme, the variety on offer here is staggering.

Music style varies from opera to EDM to rock, quiet to entrancing to soaring. Act 2 overworld theme “Déchire la Toile” is a perfect accompaniment to the traveling mood, one of the best map themes I’ve heard. Meanwhile, you’ll also find whimsical battle themes such as “Gestral Summer Party.”

What’s especially mind-blowing is that this is Testard’s first video game soundtrack. He was discovered by Sandfall head Guillaume Broche on a message board, of all places.

I can’t get this soundtrack out of my head–I’m listening to it as I write this post. I think there is a lot to like about Expedition 33 for JRPG fans, but in my estimation, the soundtrack alone is worth the investment.