Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review - A French Revolution

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become something of a media darling since its announcement last year. Sandfall Interactive’s next big thing has made quite a splash with its fantasy designs and turn-based stylings.

In an age where high-profile turn-based games have become a rare item, Clair Obscur intends to shatter trends by forgoing an action-based system and creating something that evolves from tradition. This philosophy in design is something that became ever clearer the more I delved deep into the full game.

But can that type of nostalgic pull last for a full 30-hour outing? I think largely it can, and the doors it opens next will be something to keep an eye on.

Clair Obscur starts off in a fanciful way fitting of its overlong name: this is a world marked by death, but it’s not as grim as it might seem from the outset. Each year, a mysterious entity known as the Paintress wakes from her slumber and paints a number on a monolith, signaling the death of everyone who has passed that age, with more deaths set to pile up year after year as the number decreases.

This year marks the year she’ll paint 33, and it's from here that the story kicks off the titular Expedition 33 in a mission to stop the Paintress once and for all.

The members of this Expedition 33 include Gustav, an engineer; Maelle, Gustav’s foster sister; Lune, a scholar and focused mage; and Sciel, a scythe-wielding foreteller. There are some other characters the Expedition will meet along the way as well, and much of that happens naturally over the course of the story.

Clair Obscur thrives on that sort of sense of discovery. Not everything is handed to the player upfront – there’s a lot of earning to be done, and the way this applies to the story makes for some great impact. I feel the sort of slow introduction to everyone really helped build up an emotional investment that says these characters are worth spending time with.

And they are, because they’re all in this together, and each one is just as valuable as the other.

The story itself is built on tragedy, sure, but the core theme of banding together to bring hope back to the world is a strong throughline. It helps that the emotional investment is earned, and the payoff complements the setup in spades.

The gameplay of Clair Obscur centers around a turn-based battle system that calls back to classic PS2 RPGs of old, such as Final Fantasy X or Shadow Hearts. The twist is, they’ve expanded on those traditional systems with the incorporation of time attacks that happen in real time.

What that means is that it works twofold for both party members and enemies. Party members can take advantage of a mechanic known as Free Aim, which lets characters such as Gustav fire a gun and target potential weak points on opponents while consuming Action Points or AP. Main attacks come with quick time prompts that need to be hit successfully to improve the viability of each attack.

On the enemy side of things, the Expedition will be forced to manually dodge or parry incoming hits at the tap of a button, with the reward being 1 AP for the effort. Clair Obscur makes it vital to study attack patterns, or else it’s really going to hurt, and I found it especially punishing later in the game when the bosses really ramp up the difficulty.

Even some normal enemies can decimate the entire team, so it’s important to use everyone to their strengths and exploit things like elemental weaknesses when at all possible. Executing everything perfectly leads to some flashy, satisfying attacks.

To facilitate this, Clair Obscur offers up a lot of different customization options when it comes to each character and their actions in battle. In addition to the RPG-typical upgradable weapons, the Expedition can equip items known as Pictos, which increase stats and allow for passive abilities known as Lumina. Lumina abilities are then equipped using Lumina Points.

They’re pretty handy when it comes to tailoring the type of playstyle, and especially when encountering some of the tougher enemies.

Also like other RPGs, Clair Obscur relies on a Skill Tree system where each character can be assigned Attribute Points to unlock new skills as they level. Paying attention to skills will become more important as the game goes on and can be respeced if needed.

Outside of combat, the other core part of Clair Obscur centers on exploration. While there isn’t a minimap charting out where to go, there is a scaled-down world map that exists between each area. Eventually, the Expedition will be able to travel across the sea as the story progresses.

Camping is one of the activities exclusive to the world map. They’re a good place to unwind, chat with other party members, and build relationships by spending time with them. It's here where weapons can be upgraded using field items known as Chroma Catalysts.

All of this is wrapped up in some of the most gorgeous art direction and design I’ve seen in a contemporary game. Colors are plentiful, and there’s an artistic feel to each area that transcends traditional fantasy. For example, there’s an area that’s essentially a waterless sea complete with creatures floating about like they would in water.

The overall aesthetic in Clair Obscur comes together in its own original way, and the breadth of imagination here is staggering.

It’d be remiss of me to forget about the music, which is just as plentiful and full of character. There’s so much variety here, and some tracks really kick up in the middle of boss battles or important moments. The soundtrack is simply a feast for the ears.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is, without a doubt, one of the best games so far this year. It’s incredibly polished in what it sets out to do, has spectacular art direction, music, and a compelling story and characters. Whilst difficulty can ratchet up unexpectedly and getting the timing down for encounters can at times be frustrating, the ultimate payoff for getting through those challenges makes it well worth it.

On top of all that, there’s even more to do aside from the main story, so with that in mind, I see myself coming back to explore for just a little while longer.

TechRaptor reviewed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on PC with a code provided by the publisher over roughly 40 hours of gameplay - all screenshots were taken during the course of review.