Clair Obscur is heavily based on narrative and world building, so I will do my best not to spoil anything for those who want to see and experience the whole thing. What I do want to say though, is how well narrated and put together the story is. It is so subtle, so serene and yet, not as straightforward as one might think.

You start the game with the inventor of the Lumina Converter, Gustave. Gazing towards the suppressing monolith that’s been haunting Lumiere, the only sanction and hometown of survivors after the Fracture. On the monolith, a glowing “34”, with The Paintress sitting at its base, She who paints death. How, you may ask?

The number she paints on that monolith marks the age group of people who will die. People of Lumiere “celebrate” this yearly occasion and call it The Gommage. People fading, dissipating into multiple beautiful red petals. Only this year, it will be taking somebody you care about, your
old love, Sophie.

Poetically put, Gustave is a year younger than Sophie, so he will Gommage next year.

Each year, expeditioners sail out with only one goal in mind. Stop that Paintress from ever painting death again, or die laying the trail for those who come after. Together with other fellow 32-year-olds and your younger daughter-like figure, Maelle, you journey outside Lumiere towards a more hopeful future.

What awaits you ashore? Are you ready to face reality?

Well, at least not for everyone. What will end up bothering many players and render them unlikely to even try this masterpiece out is the fact that it is a turn-based game. Most players nowadays seem to enjoy immediate action and all. But worry not, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has twisted and shaped the format of turn-based games forever.

Taking inspiration from games such as Final Fantasy, Persona and FromSoftware titles, they have managed to bring a refreshing experience to our beloved “boomer” genre. Even players who like a challenge will be entranced by its expert mode. In it, enemies deal significantly more damage and you are required to master dodging or parrying. Yup, you read correctly.

Each individual enemy has a specific moveset that you need to get acquainted with in order to dodge or parry. By successfully parrying an enemy’s full combo, you counterattack for some extra damage! In addition to all this, you need to succeed a QTE for your attacks, otherwise they may not cast at all. If you are not a fan of QTEs, you can disable it.

The game gets increasingly more difficult as it goes, and depending on where you set your foot to, you may stumble upon early Hell. While there is a big variety of skills for each character as well as weapons, people tend to go for some “broken” builds. I would highly recommend avoiding guides and play the game your way.

Though there will come a time some “secret” bosses force you to do so. No shame in that, trust me.

Moving away from all those horrifying and terrible monstrosities, you will find solace by pleasantly staring into this beautifully crafted world of Expedition 33. Each area and level is so delicately put together that words falter to explain it. I think I spent most of my time in the game simply taking in the scenery and its small details. 

It is only fair to indulge a bit into what others say about its environment. Some call it an exaggerated “objects dump” for the sole purpose of creating an overstimulation with no environmental narrative whatsoever, but
I dare to disagree. While it may hold some truth, for a world thrown into Fracture, such chaos is only logical to me.

The world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 would not be the same without its soundtrack. Created from a modest SoundCloud creator named Lorien Testard. He was discovered by the CEO of Sandfall Interactives who was looking for somebody to compose the full OST. Lorien was admittedly determined to create music that would bring a universe to life, and he did just that.

Together with his “Sirene”, Alice Duport-Percier and many other talented musicians, they rightfully snatched the Game Music Award at WSA2025! Her voice is in almost every track, applying that melancholic, sad and yet jolly vibe to it all. If you are into orchestral opera and epic music, I highly recommend you listen to it on Spotify,
unless you are playing the game!