Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur is French for “clear obscure,” which is an art technique known more widely (at least in the art world) as chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro originated during the Renaissance period but is typically associated with the Baroque period of art and refers to the use of strong contrast between light and dark to draw focus to the subject of a painting. That idea of stark contrast between light and dark is also thematically prominent in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a turn-based RPG that is nothing short of an achievement in video game artistry and storytelling.

In the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, each year a towering being known as The Paintress paints a new number on her monolith, causing everyone of that age to “gommage” (French for “erase”) into wisps of ashes and flower petals. It’s a heartbreaking occasion that the citizens of Lumiere gather each year to collectively witness, setting the stage for a collective citywide gut punch. Consequently, each year a new expedition is sent out to try and stop The Paintress from ever painting again, which is where you join the members of Expedition 33 after a rough start – on their quest to kill evil Bob Ross lady before another group of folks gommage.

From there, the world becomes increasingly available to you, though I am hesitant to call this a truly open-world RPG. There is an overworld map that is open but is full of portals that take you to what I would call semi-linear levels. Structurally it reminds me of the recent God of War games, but with loading screens between areas. Some zones warn you before entering that you are underpowered for what lies ahead, and some are not accessible at all until you acquire the requisite ability to navigate an obstruction.

No matter where you choose to go and in what order you choose to go there, one thing is certain: you will be treated to some of the most stunning artistry I’ve ever seen in a video game. At every turn, I was awestruck by surreal imagery, be it underwater cities in the sky, white-hot smelting swords left behind by titanic beings, and countless other breathtaking sights.

The art direction of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may only be outdone by its character design, which rivals some of FromSoftware’s best work, artistically speaking. Most levels and characters are inspired by art itself, and this literal, yet surreal, approach to creating art inspired by art lends itself to some very Alice in Wonderland-esque vibes. It’s beautiful, it’s brilliant, and it desperately needs a photo mode added post-launch.

As you venture around the gorgeous world, working your way closer and closer to The Paintress, you will encounter dozens of different enemies standing in your way. Combat is turn-based with active elements such as parrying and dodging, as well as skills which require quick time events (QTEs) to successfully execute.

There is also a combat timeline – a staple of turn-based RPGs – meaning that each character takes a turn, or sometimes multiple turns, depending on where they fall in the timeline. Each character has attributes which can be increased upon each level-up, including a Speed rating (initiative in other RPGs), which determines how often they get to participate in the combat timeline. They also have ratings for Vitality, Might, Defense, and Luck, which determine the amount of health, attack power, armor, and critical hit chance each party member has.

Additionally, each character has their own weapons and skill trees with dozens of skills to craft your own combat style. Creating synergies between party members is the key to success in combat, especially if you’re going to give it a go on the standard difficulty or higher. For instance, I liked to use Marking Shot with one character to allow another to deal a larger amount of burn damage when it was their turn.

You can only have three active party members at once, though anyone left on the bench will still be traveling with you for narrative purposes, and can also be called in should your A-team get wiped out, which happened to me quite often on the default difficulty before I finally dropped it down a notch around 10 hours in. I found the timing window for nearly everything – from parries to QTEs – to be too punishingly narrow by default, in addition to the enemies handing out loads more damage. The lower difficulty was far more my pace and allowed me to appreciate the game’s strengths despite my glaring weaknesses as an aging gamer.

As someone who generally prefers action RPGs to turn-based, I must say that Clair Obscur nails the blend of turn-based and active combat elements. Whether you are attacking or defending there is always something to do, be it trying to time a perfect dodge or hit a perfect attack window for maximum damage. Attacks from your expeditioners are over-the-top flashy too, adding a little Devil May Cry flavor to the mix, which makes combat feel more frenetic than it really is. It was always a thrill to build massive damage combos by using complimentary skills between expeditioners and then watch big damage numbers pop-up after doing a slick-looking flying sword attack.

Outside of combat, you can freely move around in third-person and even sprint past, or around, certain enemies if you aren’t ready for battle. Truthfully, I bypassed my fair share of combat encounters as to avoid wasting my revive or healing potions before hitting the next Expedition flag, which are checkpoints where you can save, heal up, and refill your potions. Between those checkpoints though, whatever health your party members have between encounters is all you’ve got to work with, so maybe avoid that gigantic, scary-looking enemy if your party is hanging on by a thread. 

With that said, most conflicts are not avoidable, particularly along the golden path of the story. But I still left plenty of meat on the bone in terms of optional bosses or hidden areas along the way. And there are some tough ones tucked away in each level, even on the easiest difficulty.

The structure of levels reminded me of Stellar Blade, or a Souls game, where you can see enemies standing or meandering around, only initiating combat skirmishes if you get close enough to trigger them. Honestly, I have never jived with this sort of world design, and Clair Obscur did nothing to change my mind in this instance either. Seeing a bunch of bad guys just loitering on the map feels artificial. Thankfully, Clair Obscur’s art direction is so impeccable that it keeps things fresh across its approximately 30-hour story.

When fights do break out, not only did I admire its combat systems, but the combat music is delightfully epic as well. It varies between encounters and features collections of instruments that you don’t typically hear together: hard rock electric guitars, jazzy saxophones, and classical pianos, among others. It slaps, as the kids used to say. The “walking around” musical score is no slouch either, featuring French vocals and cinematic, melancholic music. The main theme is so catchy that I found myself humming it.

Acoustically speaking, the real standout is the entire voice cast of the game, which is star-studded, to say the least. Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI), Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate III), Kirsty Rider (Sandman), and Shala Nyx (The Old Guard) all provide incredible performances that elevate Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from just-another-RPG to a truly must-play game. And for as sexy as Ben Starr’s voice is – damn I want to sound like that guy – my favorite character is a bashful giant called Esquie, who you may have seen in trailers as your mode of transportation to get around the overworld map. He brings much-needed levity to the game at just the right time and is such a charming character.

With all of that said, I despise the way every character’s mouth moves in this game. Each actor delivers a powerhouse performance and then you must have the immersion hampered by these robotic mouth movements that do not line up at all. I may be nitpicking, but for a game to look and sound this good, and then to have those mouths, it was jarring.

Ultimately, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a fantastic turn-based RPG that blends all the right elements to create a true work of video game art. Perhaps what is most impressive about it is that a team of around 30 developers (I’d like to think 33) created this epic experience, with dozens of hours of gameplay, and is only charging $50 for it. other studios might need hundreds of people and charge 50% more for it. I agree with nearly every creative decision that developer Sandfall Interactive made, apart from level design. Okay, and those dreadful mouths. But there’s no denying that they’ve delivered a bona fide hit on their very first attempt.