Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 is near perfection

It’s not often that I have played a game that has stuck in my mind the way Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 has. In fact, the last time I did was with Final Fantasy 8. And this is superior in most ways. It’s far more adult, hits hard with its themes of trauma and loss. And is possible the best voice acted game I’ve ever played.

Oh, and the music, good god the music is near perfection. The fact the composer is a 25 year old makes me question my life’s choices.

This game comes from the small team of Sandfall Interactive, some breakaway developers who left Ubisoft to develop their own project. And what a project this is.

It’s recently just sold 5m copies, which is and incredible, testament, not to mention middle finger, to AAA developers. It proves a small team can create a game with more heart than teams of hundreds. Because this game is made from passion. Not one of money, but of art.

The title ‘Clair Obscure’ refers to clear and obscure, or ‘white and black. Or in art, chiaroscuro. Makes sense, it is French! And the colour palate reflects that choice, as does the story.

It’s gorgeous and features characters that aren’t half nude like most gratuitous RPGs seem to be. They feel real. Hells, they look real too. And that is down to design and the voice actors doing a perfect job. Here are some of the larger characters:

Main Cast

Andy Serkis – Renoir
Charlie Cox – Gustave
Ben Starr – Verso / Additional Voices
Jennifer English – Maelle
Kirsty Rider – Lune / Additional Voices
Shala Nyx – Sciel / Additional Voices
Rich Keeble – Monoco, François, Mask Keeper, Simon, and several additional voices
Maxence Cazorla – Esquie, Gustave, Verso, Renoir
Billie Fulford-Brown – Sophie

So what’s it about? Here’s a quick overview.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 unfolds in a surreal, world of painting where humanity is locked in a cycle of survival.

Each year, a mysterious entity known as the Paintress awakens and paints a number. Those who are that age and older, die.

The story follows the Expedition 33 as they journey to confront the Paintress and end the cycle once and for all.

Blending psychological depth with fantastical elements, the narrative explores themes of mortality, memory, and resistance in a society shaped by fear and ritual.

The combat weaves in turn-based systems with reflex reactions. So, when an enemy throws a punch, you can avoid it be either dodging, or countering.

You learn ‘skills’ called Pictos from items called Luminas, and there are dozens of them. This kindda reminded me of Final Fantasy 9. Where you wear an item of clothing to learn a skill, then you can remove said clothing and keep the skill. These range from skills like ‘do 50% extra damage for your first attack’ to ‘On the start of your turn, die’, they all have a part to play in creating chains of action.

This game made me feel the way I did when I was 15 and finished Final Fantasy 8 for the first time

Each character also has their own skills. Lune is adept at using fire, ice and earth spells. While Sciel will remind you of X-Mens Bandit, who flings cards at her enemies. All of it looks great, but it also comes with some serious depth.

Skills

On the surface you might be able to booster your character’s hit points to over 9999, but is that smart? Perhaps making one character die is better. Because you can then also line up a bunch of other reactions that happen when they do! Like ‘die, and on death buff the other team with shields’. This is incredibly addictive.

The only major negatives I have with the game is the sticky controls when you are in roaming mode. Particularly the jumping, which is garbage. It would be fine if you weren’t expect to do much of it, but when there are side quest that are all about the jumping, it will frustrate even the most forgiving gamer.

I finished the game a few days ago, and bested the hardest character, too. That took me 66 hours. But I am a weirdo who wanted to be level 99 when I did finish it.

That said, I want to start it again.