Review – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Deep in the great expanse, gases swirl and collide. Their dance generates excitement as more and more atoms seek to join the celestial promenade. As the atmospheric energy coalesces, it bursts into a vibrant, blinding light. A star is born. Having tracked Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from its announcement trailer to game completion, I feel as though I’ve witnessed as close to that wonderment as video gaming will allow. This is truly something special.

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Review

From the moment I first saw Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I knew it was going to be something special. Seeing that combat in action gave my nostalgic Legend of Dragoon-loving heart a special kind of hug. It quickly skyrocketed to my most anticipated game of 2025. While I was beyond excited for a turn-based RPG with real-time mechanics, what the team at Sandfall Interactive delivered is beyond my wildest expectations in every way imaginable.

Let’s start with Expedition 33‘s story. Once a year, a being known only as “the Paintress” awakens to paint a number on a monolith far beyond the sea. Anyone older than that number fades away in an event known as “the Gommage” (which is French for “scrub”). Those left behind can do nothing but mourn their losses and wait for their turn. Enter the expeditions. Each year, the survivors assemble an expedition to cross the sea, find the Paintress, and put a stop to their annual (and dwindling) losses.

This year, Expedition 33 hopes to make their trip the last one humanity will have to endure. Gustave, equipped with special technology he’s been working on, leads the crew. He’s joined by the ever-curious scholar Lune, fortune-telling Sciel, and more. While most of the expeditioners are in their final year, young orphan (and Gustave’s foster sister) Maelle also joins the team. Each has experienced loss and clings to hope as they seek to end the Paintress’s ever-looming curse.

What Expedition 33‘s story lacks in…oh, who am I kidding? I don’t believe there’s a weak aspect to the game’s story or its narrative decisions. Clair Obscur, which means “chiaroscuro” in French, thematically leans into the artistic concepts of light, dark, and the essence of human art. The story, which deals heavily with themes of hope, loss, grief, and persistence, is core to the human experience. Because of that, every character, every beat, every twist – all serve the experience in a way that will sweep you up and tie your heart around its finger. The world is beautiful and filled with all the intrigue and fantastical creatures of the finest fantasy novels.

I want to make something clear here. In my 40+ years, I’ve played hundreds of games. The story Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tells is nothing short of masterful. The characters are beautifully written, each driven by their own lived experiences and motivations. The story can be raw and emotional while showing calculated twists that will leave the player slack-jawed. From awe to joy to heartbreak and beyond, each moment successfully keeps you locked in, gripping the edge of your seat. There’s never a wasted story beat. Hero and villain, monster and man – you’ll sympathize with characters from all walks. It’s not all serious, though. Some excellent moments break the pace with a well-timed comedic punch or unexpected breath of fresh air. It’s the whole human experience, and it’s so well done, we’ll be coming back to it for years to come.

With regards to gameplay, Expedition 33 continues to impress. Turn-based RPGs have been around for decades. Only a handful of games have leaned into real-time elements to enhance the experience. Here, timing is essential to success. Whether you’re dodging or parrying enemy strikes or trying to line out the perfect attack, it all banks on figuring out the timing of each enemy and their strikes. It’s fun and engaging while keeping the experience manageable.

From a combat perspective, there are several tools in your belt. Dodging grants a generous window to avoid the enemy’s attack, where parrying tightens the window but grants you a free counter-attack if you successfully execute them all. You’ll also be able to jump to avoid ground attacks and absorb and redirect special chroma attacks. There’s a load of variety in enemy design and attack patterns, so you’ll rarely find yourself bored, even once you figure all the patterns out.

As you successfully execute maneuvers and take your turns, you’ll build up points that can be spent on special attacks. Six of these can be equipped at a time, and all vary wildly based on the character. You can mix and match to find the synergies that best work for your playstyle. You can also use those built-up points to shoot enemy weak points before executing your attack. This gives you a whole variety of options for tackling different situations.

Beyond the special skills you can unlock and use in combat, you can find and equip special items called “pictos” to augment your abilities. These can do almost anything from improving healing to improving elemental abilities and more. After finishing a few battles with a picto equipped, it essentially unlocks and becomes a “lumina.” Players can use their lumina points to mix and match a wide range of unlocked picto abilities. This allows for some exceptionally potent builds. When you pair these with a whole host of weapons you can unlock and upgrade, your viable options are near-endless.

Outside of combat and level progression, there’s plenty to keep you busy. You can spend time growing bonds with your teammates in camp. When you aren’t chatting everyone up, there’s a massive world to explore. While you’ll begin by hoofing it, you’ll eventually get the means to travel the world more quickly. You’ll want to explore, too, as Expedition 33‘s story only covers a small portion of what you can experience. It’s huge and, from hidden bosses to the journals of past expeditions, it’s fun to uncover as much as you can. There’s plenty to keep players engaged long after the credits roll, too.

As a long-time RPG fan, everything about Clair Obscur‘s gameplay mechanics gives me the right amount of dopamine and variety to keep it coming. Level progression, skill trees, equipment growth, hidden outfits, and top-notch combat will provide hours of finely-executed action that will win over even the staunchest turn-based critics.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is beautiful in more ways than one. Yes, it’s visually stunning. Yes, it has gorgeous landscapes, whimsical creatures, and jaw-dropping graphical effects. Yes, the rhythm and flow of combat is complemented by the very essence of style…

But the game also features the best soundtrack the industry has seen since the height of Uematsu-sensei’s work. No other game can pivot from sweeping, haunting, orchestra-backed vocal tracks to electronic polka to heart-thumping metal while feeling emotionally appropriate and narratively impactful in each instance. When you throw all of that together with an excellent script and the voice talents of Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate III), Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI), and the esteemed Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings), you have a recipe that produces one of most enthralling, emotional pieces of media we’ve seen in years.

I can not overstate my love for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The world and its lore are deeply intriguing and well-realized. The game is beautiful, combat is expertly crafted, and the characters are well-realized and easy to identify with. When you add all of that to a narrative that emotionally engages, twists, and loves its audience without breaking its cadence, you have a rare, special experience. I don’t say this lightly: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a masterpiece and poster child for video games as art.

Review copy provided by Kepler Interactive