At a glance, it’s not hard to recognize some of the popular JRPG titles that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is drawing from and paying homage to. While many developers have attempted to recreate the nostalgia of the genre during the 90s and early aughts, it’s unusual for a game to catch my attention with such strength. And after roughly 4 hours playing an early build of the game, my interest has only grown.
The main conceit in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is simple. The Paintress is an entity with the ability to kill any person below a given age when painting a number in the sky. After decades of trying to fight back, it is the turn of Expedition 33 (named after the number in the sky) to embark on a journey to kill the Paintress. This build of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that I played skipped past the introduction in the city of Lumière and jumps straight to the action. It showed a summary of the events leading up to it, which involved an old man attacking the Expedition and causing protagonists Gustave, Lune, and Maelle to disband. I was immediately invested and hooked by the mystery. How come an old man is here, considering there are no people over the age of 33 alive?
After the intro, I jumped into the thick of it. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that takes inspiration from many classic and modern RPG and JRPG games. From what I played, navigating and exploring the environments is simple. There are some very light platforming elements and many detours that lead to powerful enemies guarding useful equipment and items. The two environments I could explore in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for this preview were considerably big, but I never felt fatigued exploring. The two main areas I explored are stunning and the art direction is fantastic. The first one looked a ravine set atop a mountain or hill, with ruined buildings straight out of early 20th century France stranded in between rock formations. The second area, aptly called the Flying Waters, looked like a coral reef sitting at the bottom of the sea, with fish and marine creatures roaming around. Except the entire area was in the surface of the continent, in what looked like a mountain pass.
In between these two zones, I was allowed to traverse a small version of the world map which was featured in a recent trailer. I was immediately reminded of how uncommon it is to see a good ol’ world map in an RPG nowadays, and I loved every second I spent exploring it. While the main areas are visually breathtaking, the world map had a different beauty all on its own, with all the bizarre constructions and ruins inspired by the French Belle Époque floating around the continent, reminiscent of a diorama. The combination of French architecture and impossible fantastic elements is captivating and results in a unique looking game.
It was on the world map where I was able to set up camp to rest and save my progress, and got a cutscene between Gustave and Lune, my only party members at the time. While there were other cutscenes before that point, it was during this event and the one preceding it that I was sold on the performances. Charlie Cox lends a theatrical quality to Gustave that clicks with the atmosphere of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but Kirsty Rider as Lune was the standout performance for me. The duo’s dynamic and clash on how to proceed after a harrowing experience was delivered succinctly, and the dialogue was punctuated with the characters talking over each other, overcome with bouts of anger and anguish. Jennifer English as Maelle also does a great job and I have a soft spot for her character already. What also complements the aesthetic and performances is the music. The various songs in the demo were beautiful, and I was particularly surprised at the battle music changing between areas, with the battle theme in the Flying Waters being a highlight.
However, the main focus of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is in its combat, which puts great emphasis in creating combo opportunities between characters in the party. The max party size seems to be 3 which felt perfectly balanced. As part of the demo, I was able to play as Gustave, Lune, and eventually Maelle. Gustave is a frontliner that fights with a sword and pistol. He has a mechanical arm that can store energy and unleash it with an ability that scales off of it, dealing massive amounts of damage. Almost every action that Gustave takes gives him a charge of his arm. Meanwhile, Luna is a magic adept character that can store up to 4 elemental “stains” obtained from the skills she casts. Each skill can in turn be powered or have its effects changed with stains, making for a very flexible casting system that rewards smart use of skills, but never punishes you for not being the most optimal.
Maelle joins on the later part of the demo, and she is a duelist that changes between 3 different stances with the use of her skills, capable of linking them in order to deliver powerful combos. In my experience, Maelle was the character with the most consistent high damage, and setting up combos to make her deliver devastating damage was incredibly fun and rewarding. However, I could say the same about Gustave’s more straightforward overcharge mechanic, or Lune’s stains.
Beating enemies will grant experience, which in turn gives players stats points to freely allocate, and skill points to use on each character’s upgrade tree. The game lets you fully customize your characters in many different ways, and it seems like the final version will allow to respect to try other builds. Different weapons scale off of different attributes, like vitality or agility, and leveling them up will unlock different passive effects. While I couldn’t try these passives in the demo, it looks like flexibility and free-form customization will be a big focus in the final version. Even with what was available in this version of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I was reminded of so many JRPG and RPG classics with crunchy systems that allow for some ridiculously fun set ups, and with only four hours I was capable of getting some impressive combos that got my blood pumping.
One of these upgrade systems were the Pictos, a type of equipment that grant stats as well as substantial passive upgrades. Each character can equip up to 3 Pictos, and after completing 4 battles with a new Picto equipped, characters can freely equip the passive upgrade if they have enough Lumina points. With these, I was able to set up some really fun combos, such as gaining extra Action Points (or AP, used to cast skills) per enemy kill. I would then use the free aim projectile every character has (which spend AP charges without ending my turn) to hit enemies in their weak spot for massive damage, finish them off with one or two more shots, regain my AP, and continue onto the next enemy, wiping them all in quick succession.
Unlike other RPGs and JRPG games, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 doesn’t seem to have normal consumables, instead having only three types of items you can use in combat; a healing potion, an item to replenish your Action Points (used to cast skills,) and a reviving potion. At first, I chafed against this system, but as I started getting shards that expand the uses of each consumable, I started to really appreciate the idea. The flags of previous Expeditions are set around the various environments in the game, which lets you upgrade your characters or rest to recover all your HP and resources, which also makes enemies respawn. Being able to use items in combat knowing I could easily replenish them put me in a different mindset than having to purchase them or getting drops. Merchants exist in the world of Clair Obscur. The one I encountered sold really useful upgrade materials, as well as a secret Picto that I had to gain the right to see by challenging the merchant do a 1vs1 duel.
So far, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is shaping up to be a memorable time. The game feels old school and brand new at the same time. Despite all the recognizable inspirations, the demo left me with a very strong impression, with the different gameplay systems involved harmonizing to make a very crunchy and flexible experience. The mystery of the Paintress and the fate of Lumière are enticing hooks, and I am eager to see where it goes. All of this is supported by a wonderful artistic department that blend fantasy with a uniquely French aesthetic.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will come out on April 24, 2025 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.
Published: Mar 3, 2025 09:00 am