Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Picture Perfect (Review)
- James Stephanie Sterling
- 9 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Released: April 24th, 2025
Developer: Sandfall Interactive, Sandfall SAS
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Systems: PC, PS5 (reviewed), Xbox Series
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the best pieces of media I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. It’s not just good, it’s comprehensively good - this game impresses me on every level, and those levels have their own layers of equally impressive quality. Clair Obscur is so luxurious an offering as to be downright decadent.
It’s also really French. Like, really French. J’aime ça!
The island city of Lumiére lives in the shadow of the Paintress, though living isn’t much of a prospect. Once a year, the Paintress wakes to inscribe a number on an immense Monolith, a number that ticks down by one and signals the death of everyone whose age corresponds. This is the Gommage, and the latest just capped life at a big ol’ 33.
Ever year, Lumiére sends an Expedition into the dangerous continent beyond its borders, braving a warped reality and monstrous Nevrons, in a bid to stop the entity painting their extinction. This is where we join Gustave, Maelle, and the rest of Expedition 33. There are also little wooden critters with paintbrushes for heads.
Hell of a pitch, one that had me captivated a long time before release. I’d hoped for something fascinating and I got something for which that word is only a prelude of a description. The world, the characters, the remarkable narrative twists, it’s all far more than I anticipated.
Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that raids the larders of the genre’s best games to build a veritable web of mechanics. It evokes Persona with its freely aimed projectiles and audaciously presented battle menus. Equippable items called Pictos allow the party to learn abilities in a manner reminiscent of Final Fantasy IX. Timed button hits bring about obvious Paper Mario comparisons.
It can be argued there’s some Soulslike stuff in there as well, especially in the way weapon effectiveness scales with character stats.
While these elements are evocative, the game they’ve formed is far from derivative. I’ve said this of other works, but it may be the truest instance yet when I say that Clair Obscur plays like many other games, but nothing plays like Clair Obscur.
The biggest differentiator is the sheer intensity of battles. While timed hits are nothing new, the need to dodge or parry attacks is as essential and strict as any action game. You will need to react to survive - no matter the difficulty setting, damage mitigation is a crucial part of play, and enemies aren’t screwing around.
There’s no passivity to these battles. Your party’s skills come with QTEs to maximize their potential, sleekly woven into the onscreen action. Dodging and parrying share the same timings, but parrying has a tighter window in exchange for the counterattack you’ll perform - provided you parry every attack in an enemy’s combo, that is.
Combat took me a while to get the hang of, but it was well worth doing so. As fast as fights move, as sweet as the audiovisual feedback is, defending and countering enemy offense is an utter thrill, an immediate exhilaration I’m not sure I’ve gotten out of anything turn-based before. Not to this degree.
Enemies have their own unique patterns, and freshly entered environments take some adjustment as one gets used to how the local Nevrons fight. Some feint, others misdirect, and you’ll eventually need to jump certain attacks or perform Gradient Counters against moves that can only be parried - thankfully, these mandatory parries tend to be easier.
Where combat truly shines is in its depth of character building. Clair Obscur is complex without being too complicated, offering party members with clearly defined gimmicks yet dizzying amounts of potential.
Maelle’s a fencer who switches between three unique combat stances, Sciel stacks damage multipliers with her Foretell cards, Lune is the resident mage, and Gustave gradually builds up an Overdrive meter to wreck enemy HP bars. Later on, you’ll encounter Verso, who gains ranks of damage boosts as he attacks, and Monoco, who does the classic “enemy skill” bit by transforming into previously defeated Nevrons.
Despite each expeditioner having one big trick, they command deceptive levels of versatility. Not only are there individual skill trees with diverse abilities for both offense and support, a growing arsenal of weapons provide passive bonuses that can have a truly transformative impact on play.
Using the right moves with a relevant weapon, Maelle can be sculpted to stack large amounts of burn damage, maintain a 200% attack boost with her Virtuose stance, or continuously bolster party defense with buffs and shields. I barely even use Sciel’s cards anymore, instead relying on an ability that surrenders her turn and provides extra Action Points so Maelle can keep pumping out the hurt.
Such is the variety on offer, I continue to be deeply excited about building characters even after finishing the main story. Expedition 33 only continues to open itself up - the endgame is practically an entirely new game, one that’s all about breaking the combat mechanics with builds so lethal they can slice off hit points by the literal millions.
All of this is done with some of the flashiest visuals I’ve ever seen. Any screenshot can show you how gorgeous Clair Obscur is, but to see it in motion is to bless one’s eyes. Even the little things, like the way each character swishes into a battle as it begins, are stylish and full of personality.
I could watch Maelle’s Rain of Fire move all day. I love the way cards flutter around Sciel. I revel in the extravagance of Lune’s elemental attacks. It’s not just combat either - there isn’t a single aspect of this game that comes without flare.
It’s such a tiny detail, but I adore how the button to exit the battle results screen is labeled “We Continue.” It demonstrates how committed the production is to flavoring every part of itself, and this is before finding out “We Continue” references France’s biggest labor union. Outstanding.
I have but one criticism of all this snazz - sometimes, style takes a little too much priority over function. It’s mainly seen in the menu layouts, especially with the growing list of Pictos and their unlockable skills. While you can tag favorite abilities and sort the lists, navigating long columns of skills with stylized visuals and sometimes unindicative names can be more stressful than parrying an angry Nevron.
Environment layouts are deep to a sometimes dizzying degree, and it’s usually worth exploring each place more than once just to find all the items and side paths you’ll almost certainly have missed the first time. Like everything else in the game, the map design is wholly extravagant.
Progressing through Clair Obscur’s story is handled in the nostalgic fashion of a classical RPG, with locations spread across a navigable overworld. There’s a stunning amount of stuff to discover here, with a ton of fully optional areas. The map’s littered with all manner of extra bosses, minigames, and story extensions, with nothing skimped on just because it’s nonessential. In fact, some of the best story moments are off the beaten track.
Ah yes… the story.
I say this as a videogame writer - every videogame writer would do well to study Clair Obscur’s narrative, because it will teach you a thing or two. Not since Nier: Automata have I been so thoroughly enamored with a game’s script. Mature in all the right ways, exploring multiple themes from multiple angles, packed with truly lovable characters, and poignantly relatable, Expedition 33 is a narrative masterpiece, and I mean that with all sincerity.
While it takes itself seriously when required and explores some heavy concepts of death, grief, and trauma, the story is brightened with comedy and good natured moments. There’s a palpable warmth to Clair Obscur, a genuine sweetness to the party’s friendship dynamics that never gets too saccharine.
The way Verso and Monoco bicker like an old married couple is endearing. The silly dialogue of the brushlike Gestrals makes me smile a lot. Gustave is just a wonderfully likable guy. Each cast member is strongly written and amazingly performed - the voice actors are so natural, so believable, all the way through.
Expedition 33 doesn’t skimp on the cosmetic extras. A giant assortment of outfits and hairstyles can be found for everyone, ranging from fashionable to hilarious. The moment I defeated a killer Mime and earned an overtly stereotypical French costume complete with a baguette accessory, I knew I’d hit peak videogames.
Seriously though, the outfits look cool. The weapons look cool. The Nevrons look cool. The everything looks cool.
I can’t praise the graphics enough. Clair Obscur’s fanciful world is evocative in every way, with tons of visual references to the concept of artistic expression. Strong color palettes define each environment, often drenched in the kind of deep saturation I’ve always adored. Sandfall’s visual artists have gone to town with the surreal nature of the setting, conjuring implausible architecture and terrain that’s both beautiful and baffling.
Then there’s the soundtrack. It’s amazing. I already mentioned just how extra they went with the music, but I cannot emphasize enough how beautiful it is.
There are games created by studios of over 500 people that couldn’t hope to be as pretty, detailed, and memorable as this. Sandfall’s core team amounts to a fraction of a mainstream studio. This isn’t a massively backed “AAA” game, but it puts to shame a market full of titles that cost more to both make and buy.
Being so multifaceted, and having each facet boast such exceptional quality, is a feat of truly rare proportions. I’m aware that I may sound hyperbolic, but I have considered my words carefully here and I still can’t fully express my sheer joy over the existence of this game. It easily stands next to Silent Hill 2 and Bloodborne among my favorite games of all time - what once was a battle in my brain between two games has become a three-way dance.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the epitome of an instant classic. Its premise alone had something special to it, but no elevator pitch could have prepared me for how the thing blossoms and blossoms and blossoms. Exciting battles and beautiful writing unfold in a world that looks and sounds sublime, all of it pulled off with unbelievable style. I’m in genuine awe of the accomplishment.
I fucking love this game.
10/10
