Review: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Embraces Its Premise

If I decided to judge Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 based on aesthetics, artistry, and the narrative alone, this would be a 10 out of 10 game. It’s hauntingly beautiful and left me feeling for all of the individuals I followed on the journey. While the general execution is fine and the gameplay can be quite fun, I found a few things got in the way of truly being captivated and immersed in the experience.

The Paintress is a haunting and ever-present figure for the people living in Lumiere. Each year, she wakes up and paints a number on a wall beside her. When she does, everyone who is at or over that age ceases to exist. They disappear. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 begins right as this is about to happen again. The menace is about to awake and doom everyone who is 33 or older. We watch as Gustav, a scholar and warrior destined to be part of the 33rd expedition that will leave after this event in an attempt to stop her, witnesses this brutal dismissal. Then he, alongside his much younger adopted sister Maelle and fellow squadmates like Lune, undergo the voyage to the Paintress’ island to face her forces and (hopefully) her in the latest attempt to end this cycle.

It’s a fascinating and touching story, to be certain. I found that I genuinely came to feel for these people and understand their desperation. All of the people we leave Lumiere with are living on borrowed time. They’re next, eventually. They know that for the last 67 years, nobody’s been successful in defeating the Paintress. So many people left and never returned. Hell, we come across the journals of those who went before us and see the often ominous or heartbreaking accounts of their journeys. Sandfall Interactive isn’t afraid to show actions have consequences and this is a life or death situation, and I admire that.

I adore Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s character and environmental design. This is such a beautiful game. Sandfall Interactive worked some real magic. So many cutscenes feel monumental. Whether it’s because something actually important happened, or just the cinematic direction and design of the people and places are so well-executed. Truly, it’s a masterpieces of its own in many ways.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also sounds phenomenal. The casting is impeccable. Everyone is perfectly suited for their role and completely commits to their character. It’s wonderful to watch. However, the artistry behind the soundtrack is also so impressive and expressive. The themes are so apt and accentuate the situations. This is truly a cinematic experience. 

I just wish the gameplay always felt as pitch perfect and flawless as its aesthetics and story. In many ways it is fine and a totally enjoyable turn-based RPG! But there are also some annoyances that keep coming up and getting in the way of my appreciating the actions as much as I did the overall experience. 

Images via Sandfall Interactive

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like a standard, turn-based RPG until you actually get into a fight. Characters can roam an overworld map to find specific locations to explore as they head toward the Paintress and learn more about her, her forces, the Gestrals living on the island, and various truths. When in a location, you might find items or the journals from past teams. When you level up at past expedition’s flags, you can rest, apply skill points earned by leveling up, learn new skills, respec if you have the right item, and fast travel. Enemies will roam on both the world map and in locations, with bosses being scripted encounters when you reach certain spots. All this is handled well, and every spot we visit feels unique.

While the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 battles are turn-based, a number of elements keep them from feeling traditional. For instance, some opponents may have visible weak spots or be flying. You need to swap to the character’s ranged weapon to exploit that or even damage them. There’s a standard attack, of course, as well as learned skills. Quick-time events are tied to assaults with skills and come up each time, though these can be automated in the options menu. Enemy attacks can be dodged or parried, in some cases even with a jump when the whole party is targeted. If you parry or jump, there can even be an option for a powerful counter either by the single individual or whole party. I appreciate how strategic it all feels, especially since hitting weaknesses feels meaningful, characters all have a unique fighting style, like how Lune can inflict “stains” to increase damage or add effects, and it felt like I had a little more influence on encounters.

However, I will admit that after about five hours, I grew a bit tired of the constant QTEs and turned them off in the accessibility options. You can do this for the attack-based ones, but can't for dodging and blocking. The issue is that the tells for attacks in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 occasionally aren’t clear, and a few notable fights could use a bit of balancing. Sometimes, the moment will last too long, which makes it difficult to tell when to parry. Others times, that window might be too short or you might not realize how many hits there will be. With general enemies you’ll face often, it isn’t an issue. By the second or third encounter, you’ll figure it out. But it may prove an issue with some bosses you only face once, especially since there can be an occasional difficulty spike at some later points. The thing with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the most effective method of dealing damage to any opponent tends to be parrying and countering an attack, so you need to catch on quick.

Images via Sandfall Interactive

Another issue I have with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 involves the fact that it doesn’t involve any maps. You can’t check and see where you are. Which struck me as a bit weird, as this is a group on an expedition. Gustav and other characters reference leaving things for those who come after them and make a point of looking for signs from past expeditions. So why couldn’t any of these people leave a map of what they’d seen so far? In most locations, it’s a rather straightforward run and easy to get from point A to point B. But a handful of spots did get me a bit turned around. I’m not asking for strict handholding, but even a vague map of the space that didn’t track our actual locations would do for the few more involved dungeons. Fortunately, spots in areas where we can camp are fast travel points and tend to be near important locations, so that helps. But again, since many locations are straightforward, it isn't the biggest deal.

Speaking of which, I noticed that while some of these places look really great and feature fun points of interest to, there’s not a lot to actually interact with along the way. We find past expedition flags where we can build our characters after gaining experience from fights. Maybe we’ll occasionally see some currency or an item to grab. We’ll happen upon a journal from a past expedition. I would have loved more reasons to poke around the places I’d go or more excuses to take things in. This isn't to say there isn't a lot to do, and I plan to poke around to take on some additional challenges now that I beat it. But it is quite straightforward and there aren't many things to do besides fight.

I absolutely recommend Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and think it’s a gorgeous game. I loved the story it told and the characters I encountered. I just feel like some design choices keep it from being absolutely perfect. I’d have loved more incentives to really explore levels and maps that would make it easier to get around and find secrets. The game is absolutely worth your time, especially if you love detailed characters and a fun story.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 24, 2025. 

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