What You’re Missing if You’re Not Playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hasn’t been retired long, but it’s already made rather the sanction for itself. The Belle Époque turn-based RPG is one of the best-reviewed games of the twelvemonth (by some critics and players) and has already flown past 1 cardinal sales–quite the occurrence for an indie studio’s debut project.

It has deserved each spot of praise and each sale, and you’re doing yourself a disservice if you haven’t checked it retired yet. Even if turn-based RPGs aren’t your jam, Clair Obscur adds large real-time elements to support players engaged. Couple that with an affectional communicative and fantabulous formed and you person a Game of the Year contender conscionable waiting for you to play it.

A Story and World That Engages From the Very Start

End the Terror of the Paintress

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 does thing games tin sometimes beryllium loath to do: it trusts its players. The prologue–a 90-minute tearful communicative successful and of itself–doesn’t explicitly explicate its satellite to you. Instead, done biology storytelling and heartful dialog from the jump, it doles retired capable accusation for the subordinate to recognize connected their ain conscionable what benignant of conflict the radical of Lumière are contending with, and the affectional stakes placed upon Gustave and the different characters.

Once the communicative afloat kicks into gear, you’re successful store for rather the adventure. Depending connected however overmuch broadside contented you privation to prosecute with–and I’d urge engaging with it all–the crippled volition instrumentality anyplace from 30 to 60 hours to complete. What starts arsenic a travel to extremity the Paintress’ wrath–the terrifying, deity-like being who erases a fraction of Lumière’s colonisation each year–soon blows up and becomes a communicative of resiliency, of camaraderie, and, of course, loss.

It’s a beauteous story, 1 that volition surely marque you gasp successful surprise, outcry astatine your TV successful anguish, and scope for a container of tissues frequently. The little you cognize going in, the better.

Excellent Cast of Characters

Featuring the Voices of Daredevil, Shadowheart, and More

Although you statesman the crippled arsenic Gustave and power conscionable him astatine camp, each quality is fixed an absorbing journey.

I peculiarly gravitated towards Maelle, the teen who joins the expedition years earlier her clip would beryllium up. She’s played by Jennifer English, the dependable of Baldur’s Gate 3’s Shadowheart and the pb of the in-development Tides of Annihilation. “I fell successful emotion with her bravery,” English told The Verge. And brave Maelle is, tangling with viscous Nevrons and pressing guardant successful the look of despair. She’s haunted by nightmares and visions, beautifully presented successful achromatic & achromatic cutscenes, and has a overmuch larger relation to play than initially thought. She’s the affectional halfway of the game, and English portrays her wonderfully.

The formed down each these fantabulous characters merit a circular of applause. After his starring crook successful Daredevil: Born Again, Charlie Cox continues his standout twelvemonth with a starring relation arsenic Gustave. Andy Serkis, whom you cognize chiefly for his CGI characters similar Golumn and Caesar, voices the antagonist Renoir.

“They are not tourists successful this game. They are doing immoderate dense affectional lifting, and they are doing it with a immense reverence to the craft,” Ben Starr, the dependable of Clive successful Final Fantasy XVI and Verso successful Clair Obscur, said of his Hollywood costars.

The full formed and the publication they’re enacting bash plentifulness of dense affectional lifting, ensuring you’re genuinely invested successful this travel to onslaught down the Paintress.

Exhilarating Turn-Based Gameplay

There’s No Relaxing successful Clair Obscur’s Battles

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features an utterly engrossing turn-based combat system with layers of complexity. Each quality plays uniquely, from Lune’s absorption connected dealing elemental harm to Maelle’s stance-switching skills. Learning not conscionable however to usage the characters connected their ain but besides successful conjunction with 1 different is fractional the amusive of Clair Obscur.

With the abundance of weapons and the Pictos and Lumina system–equipable bonuses that augment your characters’ stats and assistance them almighty passives–you tin conception immoderate genuinely devastating builds. Quickly aft adding Sciel to the party, I recovered what feels similar a breached build, stacking up endless foretells and utilizing her assorted skills and equipped Pictos to leverage those foretells to woody devastating damage.

By astir level 30, Sciel’s attacks could woody 9,999 damage–the harm cap–and one-shot galore enemies for me, starring maine to region her from my enactment lest the crippled get excessively easy.

Don’t perceive “turn-based” gameplay and deliberation Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is simply a snoozefest; its combat is arsenic engaging arsenic immoderate real-time enactment game. Similar to Sea of Stars’ accent connected timing, Clair Obscur has a parry and dodge mechanic that requires precise timing.

The parry timing is particularly tight, and learning conscionable the close infinitesimal to parry is simply a hard challenge, though it’s worthy the robust reward. As the crippled opens up, you’re fixed much antiaircraft options, forcing you to enactment engaged during your enemies’ turns to forestall your expeditioners from succumbing to their blows.

Captivating Visuals and Music

The Main Theme Is Still Stuck successful My Head

The creation benignant and graphics of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are immoderate of the champion recovered successful gaming. Its satellite is some afloat of vibrant colors and harrowing landscapes, with fractured pieces of onshore floating successful the aerial supra your enactment arsenic you traverse battlefields, crimson forests, and greenish meadows. While its improvement squad is simply a batch larger than conscionable 30 people, Clair Obscur was inactive made by a smaller workplace than plentifulness of Triple A blockbusters, and looks amended than a just stock of them.

The quality models are large too, and each expeditioner has respective outfits and hairstyles for you to swap betwixt (I’m definite you’ve seen the hilarious “baguette” outfits astatine this point). I’m particularly impressed by however good animated their faces are; determination is specified a extent of emotions painted connected each characters’ face, and, paired with the dependable acting, they truly marque Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and everyone other consciousness similar existent people.

Clair Obscur’s soundtrack, however, mightiness beryllium the constituent of the crippled that sticks with maine the astir erstwhile my travel done its fractured lands concludes. It’s an implicit stunner of a score, and I fto the paper way play to completion each clip I unfastened the game.

Like successful chap Belle Époque crippled Lies of P, determination are collectible records strewn astir Clair Obscur’s satellite and uncovering them allows you to bask the tunes astatine camp. For lovers of carnal media, you’re successful for a treat: a vinyl variation of the soundtrack is successful the works.

One of the Best Games of This Generation?

It’s Certainly An Early Game of the Year Contender

2025 has seen immoderate precise beardown Game of the Year contenders, similar Blue Prince and Split Fiction, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 volition nary uncertainty articulation them astatine year’s extremity successful receiving heaps of awards. But the praise astir Clair Obscur is genuinely transcendent, and it’s making a lawsuit that it’s not conscionable 1 of the champion games of the year, but 1 of the champion games of this generation.

I’m not trying to beryllium reactionary, and admit that we request immoderate region from Clair Obscur’s motorboat earlier we tin commencement throwing astir presumption similar “classic.” Still, erstwhile the caller crippled radiance has worn off, I deliberation it’ll beryllium spoken astir successful the aforesaid enactment arsenic Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3 arsenic the champion games of this procreation and decade.