A masterclass in gameplay and narrative
By Paul Hunter
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands out as a best-in-class role-playing game. Created by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, this turn-based RPG raises the bar for storytelling and combat in the genre.
You enter a world where a monolith’s yearly number dictates who disappears. As a member of the thirty-third expedition, you’re tasked with breaking this unsettling cycle. But the game never rushes its story. It reveals details through authentic conversations, environmental clues, and logs, building a world that feels lived in and full of real weight. Characters don’t just talk—they live, grieve, and clash in moments that stay with you.
The turn-based combat system demands and rewards precision. Every attack and parry requires timing, and the Action Point system pushes you to think ahead. With varied heroes and adjustable difficulty, the battles deliver a rich, satisfying challenge that keeps you hooked from beginning all the way to its epic finale.
On the presentation side, it combines Belle Époque architecture with surreal design and a haunting score that includes subtle French vocals. Every detail fits the tone of a world full of decay and mystery.
Clair Obscur isn’t just another RPG. It’s one of the best of its generation, a game that challenges how stories can be told and how combat can be played. Ready to see if you’ve got what it takes? Let’s find out!
The story in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 centres on a small, fragile group sent to end a cruel ritual. You follow Gustave, Lune, Maelle and Sciel as they leave Lumiere to find the Paintress on the Main Continent. Gustave’s voice work, by Charlie Cox, is outstanding his steady, human tone that helps sell quieter moments. The game does not rush answers. Instead it hands you fragments—camp talk, old journals and subtle environmental hints—and trusts you to stitch them together.
That slow reveal pays off. The cast grows into people you recognise: stubborn, afraid, kind, and full of half-healed wounds. Their bonds form in small scenes around the campfire and during moments of rest, where conversation feels lived-in and authentic. Those gentle exchanges reveal past losses and the weight of the gommage, the monolith’s yearly decree that wipes people away by age. The Fracture from decades past has left the world in pieces, which gives each locale its own mood and secrets to find.
The writing treats grief with restraint. It avoids grand speeches and instead shows the cost of loss in pauses, in tasks left unfinished, and in the quiet ways companions hold each other up. That makes triumphs feel earned. Journals from prior expeditions add depth, giving context and a sense of history that increases stakes.
Sandfall balances the sombre with light touches. Gestrals, Monoco’s oddities and Esquie’s playful moments break the tension and let you breathe. Those interludes make the heavier beats land harder.
By the time you reach the game’s emotional peaks, you feel attached like few RPGs can deliver. The story gives answers yet keeps a few questions alive, leaving you satisfied but eager to return to Clair Obscur’s world.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 delivers a turn-based combat system built on timing and precision. Each action, from standard attacks to special moves, requires well-timed button presses. Success grants bonuses like extra damage or better openings; failure can leave your team exposed. Defending demands attention, too. You’ll need to parry, dodge, or jump based on the enemy’s attack type. Later, you gain access to the Gradient Parry, which counters stronger attacks and rewards skillful timing.
I faced a difficult mini-boss early on who used a chain of spinning attacks. Struggling to parry, I lowered the difficulty to practise the inputs. Once I became consistent, I raised the challenge and the fight changed completely. Combat became not just manageable, but deeply satisfying. Being able to consistently parry and jump a boss' attacks, receving no damage and gaining ability points is immensely satisfying. This pattern of learning enemy moves and timing inputs is at the heart of the game’s combat design.
Characters play distinct roles. Gustave’s charged strikes pack more punch, while Sciel marks enemies to increase damage from follow-ups. The game features an Action Point system: you earn points through successful defence and spend them to activate special skills, stagger foes or chain attacks. This encourages preparation and strategy rather than button mashing.
Overall, Clair Obscur’s gameplay challenges your timing and decision-making. It balances accessibility with depth and offers a fresh twist on traditional turn-based RPGs, rewarding patience and practice.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looks like a game that was given time to cook. The visuals borrow from Belle Époque France, but Sandfall folds in odd, otherworldly shapes—a bent Eiffel-like tower, floating ship skeletons and giant conch shells that dot the ground. One area, the Flying Waters, behaves like you’re underwater while you’re still walking; that kind of creative risk keeps the world surprising.
Light and dark are not just decoration. The game uses contrast to set tone, shifting from bright, lush vistas to near-total greyscale for tense scenes. That 'clair obscur' style (a word that refers to the contrast of light and dark) gives many moments real weight.
The soundtrack by Lorien Testard is a large part of why scenes land. Strings, piano and the French accordion show up at the right moments, and several tracks even include vocals that carry real emotion. I had a few moments where a theme hit so hard it chilled me; this is the kind of soundtrack you can listen to even when not playing the game.
While the game offers Quality and Performance mode, I found the latter helpful during timing-heavy fights; responsiveness made inputs feel reliable, while quality mode offered crisper visuals if I wanted a photo-friendly run. Small details like dirt, bruises and signs of strain on characters add to the sense of effort and wear.
Even the lighter beats have style. Gestral beaches bring playful music and obstacle courses, while mimes and other encounters get specific themes that suit their mood. Overall, presentation shows a consistent eye for atmosphere and detail.
Final Score: 10/10 - Masterpiece
Developer: Sandful Interactive
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Genre: Role-Playing Game
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands out as a best-in-class role-playing game. Created by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, this turn-based RPG raises the bar for storytelling and combat in the genre.
You enter a world where a monolith’s yearly number dictates who disappears. As a member of the thirty-third expedition, you’re tasked with breaking this unsettling cycle. But the game never rushes its story. It reveals details through authentic conversations, environmental clues, and logs, building a world that feels lived in and full of real weight. Characters don’t just talk—they live, grieve, and clash in moments that stay with you.
The turn-based combat system demands and rewards precision. Every attack and parry requires timing, and the Action Point system pushes you to think ahead. With varied heroes and adjustable difficulty, the battles deliver a rich, satisfying challenge that keeps you hooked from beginning all the way to its epic finale.
On the presentation side, it combines Belle Époque architecture with surreal design and a haunting score that includes subtle French vocals. Every detail fits the tone of a world full of decay and mystery.
Clair Obscur isn’t just another RPG. It’s one of the best of its generation, a game that challenges how stories can be told and how combat can be played. Ready to see if you’ve got what it takes? Let’s find out!
The story in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 centres on a small, fragile group sent to end a cruel ritual. You follow Gustave, Lune, Maelle and Sciel as they leave Lumiere to find the Paintress on the Main Continent. Gustave’s voice work, by Charlie Cox, is outstanding his steady, human tone that helps sell quieter moments. The game does not rush answers. Instead it hands you fragments—camp talk, old journals and subtle environmental hints—and trusts you to stitch them together.
That slow reveal pays off. The cast grows into people you recognise: stubborn, afraid, kind, and full of half-healed wounds. Their bonds form in small scenes around the campfire and during moments of rest, where conversation feels lived-in and authentic. Those gentle exchanges reveal past losses and the weight of the gommage, the monolith’s yearly decree that wipes people away by age. The Fracture from decades past has left the world in pieces, which gives each locale its own mood and secrets to find.
The writing treats grief with restraint. It avoids grand speeches and instead shows the cost of loss in pauses, in tasks left unfinished, and in the quiet ways companions hold each other up. That makes triumphs feel earned. Journals from prior expeditions add depth, giving context and a sense of history that increases stakes.
Sandfall balances the sombre with light touches. Gestrals, Monoco’s oddities and Esquie’s playful moments break the tension and let you breathe. Those interludes make the heavier beats land harder.
By the time you reach the game’s emotional peaks, you feel attached like few RPGs can deliver. The story gives answers yet keeps a few questions alive, leaving you satisfied but eager to return to Clair Obscur’s world.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 delivers a turn-based combat system built on timing and precision. Each action, from standard attacks to special moves, requires well-timed button presses. Success grants bonuses like extra damage or better openings; failure can leave your team exposed. Defending demands attention, too. You’ll need to parry, dodge, or jump based on the enemy’s attack type. Later, you gain access to the Gradient Parry, which counters stronger attacks and rewards skillful timing.
I faced a difficult mini-boss early on who used a chain of spinning attacks. Struggling to parry, I lowered the difficulty to practise the inputs. Once I became consistent, I raised the challenge and the fight changed completely. Combat became not just manageable, but deeply satisfying. Being able to consistently parry and jump a boss' attacks, receving no damage and gaining ability points is immensely satisfying. This pattern of learning enemy moves and timing inputs is at the heart of the game’s combat design.
Characters play distinct roles. Gustave’s charged strikes pack more punch, while Sciel marks enemies to increase damage from follow-ups. The game features an Action Point system: you earn points through successful defence and spend them to activate special skills, stagger foes or chain attacks. This encourages preparation and strategy rather than button mashing.
Overall, Clair Obscur’s gameplay challenges your timing and decision-making. It balances accessibility with depth and offers a fresh twist on traditional turn-based RPGs, rewarding patience and practice.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looks like a game that was given time to cook. The visuals borrow from Belle Époque France, but Sandfall folds in odd, otherworldly shapes—a bent Eiffel-like tower, floating ship skeletons and giant conch shells that dot the ground. One area, the Flying Waters, behaves like you’re underwater while you’re still walking; that kind of creative risk keeps the world surprising.
Light and dark are not just decoration. The game uses contrast to set tone, shifting from bright, lush vistas to near-total greyscale for tense scenes. That 'clair obscur' style (a word that refers to the contrast of light and dark) gives many moments real weight.
The soundtrack by Lorien Testard is a large part of why scenes land. Strings, piano and the French accordion show up at the right moments, and several tracks even include vocals that carry real emotion. I had a few moments where a theme hit so hard it chilled me; this is the kind of soundtrack you can listen to even when not playing the game.
While the game offers Quality and Performance mode, I found the latter helpful during timing-heavy fights; responsiveness made inputs feel reliable, while quality mode offered crisper visuals if I wanted a photo-friendly run. Small details like dirt, bruises and signs of strain on characters add to the sense of effort and wear.
Even the lighter beats have style. Gestral beaches bring playful music and obstacle courses, while mimes and other encounters get specific themes that suit their mood. Overall, presentation shows a consistent eye for atmosphere and detail.
The Verdict
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 raises the RPG standard with its inventive world and thoughtful story. The blend of Belle Époque style and surreal environments creates a striking visual identity. Combat is strategic and rewarding, while voice acting and music bring an emotional depth we rarely see in RPGs. Presentation shines in every detail—from dynamic lighting to memorable locations—making the world feel real. This game challenges you, deeply impacts you, and leaves a lasting impression. It’s a rare achievement that stands out this generation.Final Score: 10/10 - Masterpiece
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: Sandful Interactive
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Genre: Role-Playing Game
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.