Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review - Evocative, Engaging and Emotional
Tragedy is the fire that forges beauty. Grief is a driving force that will change the world. Love will breed darkness when there is no light.
These are just some of the themes that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is built upon. This deeply complex and wonderful game weaves a tale fraught with grief, danger and curiosity, packed into 30 of the most amazing hours you’ll ever spend with a video game. It is a testament to what developers, artists, writers and actors can do when they have the ability to pour their heart and soul into something, and it is an experience I would urge everybody to seek out.
Clair Obscur is grounded in a wonderfully fascinating world with a perilous future. Within this realm is The Paintress, an all-powerful being who is slowly bringing about the extinction of all humans. Every year, this woman stirs from her slumber to paint a number on a monolith, and if that number corresponds to your age, your time is up. You experience the ‘gommage’ and you die. Every year, this number reduces by one, which means the age span of civilisation is getting younger and younger. Expeditions are sent out annually to try and make their way to the Paintress to stop her, but so far none have been successful… yet.
The game opens in the city of Lumiere with two of our expeditioners, Gustave and Maelle (voiced by Charlie Cox and Jennifer English). Compelling, likeable characters are flawed, they are complex, they are interesting, and every single character you meet in this game is just that. Gustave and Maelle are tremendous pillars against which to measure, but every single character in the lineup is multi-dimensional with their own flaws, quirks, and backstory – some of which we see and other parts we simply have to piece together and guess. Brought to life wonderfully by their respective actors, the characters feel relatable, grounded and real, which makes the struggle against their demise all the more heart-wrenching.
Clair Obscur does a wonderful job of getting the player to feel empathy for the people in the world, and the opening of the game gives you just enough time with some of the citizens to learn to like them… before brutally ripping them away. Within the first half an hour, we witness the aforementioned ‘gommage’; the act of death brought on by the Paintress, and though it is beautiful, it is profoundly sad.
You watch, helpless, as citizens of Lumiere begin to dissipate into flower petals and smoke. One moment, a mother is holding her daughter’s hand, a brother is hugging his sister, and in the next, that child is alone, and that brother’s arms are empty. One moment, two lovers are standing on the harbour, staring into each other’s eyes and holding hands, and the next, there is only one left. Just our man Gustave, alone on the dock, staring at the empty space where his lover used to be. Nothing was left of the people that once stood there, except for some gently floating petals and the memories of those left behind.
The gommage may look beautiful, and it may seem peaceful, but the beauty cannot mask the fact that it is death, all the same. It is this very thing that Expedition 33 hopes to stop, and thus our adventure begins.
Clair Obscur has all the elements of an RPG that people have come to know and love, but with a lot of unique aspects that truly help it stand out amongst the crowd. Unlike some RPGs where you get a journal inundated with pointless sidequests, Clair Obscur focuses on delivering meaningful content at every turn. That’s not to say there are no side quests, but even the seemingly banal ‘go here and kill these world bosses’ type tasks all offer an opportunity for deeper insight into the story and the world you’re exploring. There is also no quest log to be seen, and no mini-map either. At first, I struggled without a map, but it really did force me to play the role of an expeditioner and learn how to navigate the world around me. All I had was some visual clues and a compass, but after 40 hours in, I knew that world like the back of my hand, and had a much deeper appreciation for it too.
Another area where Clair Obscur stands out from other RPGs is its unique battle system. And yes, I know turn-based combat isn’t a groundbreaking phenomenon, but the way it’s done in this game is totally addictive. Unlike other turn-based combat that can be pretty ‘set & forget’, Clair Obscur utilises engaging skill trees, as well as dodge and parry mechanics to keep combat interesting. Learning how to master your skill-set, as well as how to time your dodges and parry enemy attacks, truly makes the difference between life & death. I lost a LOT of early battles because I couldn’t get the timing right, and instead of parrying attacks, I just copped mallets straight to my face. But as you learn each enemy’s moves, this becomes a lot easier, and soon you’ll find yourself scouring the map looking for more bad guys to kill because battle is just that fun.
Woven so beautifully into the fun battle mechanics and exploration is the true reason behind why I love this game so much: the storyline. Clair Obscur is an emotional, gut-wrenching experience that often left me feeling hollow inside (but that’s a good thing, I promise). The world is plagued by death and grief, and you are but one small group of expeditioners fighting to bring light and love back to a world so dark. Light and dark, clear vs obscure, good vs evil… the dichotomy of these two forces is ever-present throughout the game, and the more you delve into the story, the more you realise that there is no discernible winner, no obvious ‘good guys’ and no clear path towards a happy ending.
There were moments throughout the game that absolutely devastated me, and I had to stop and take a break because I was so emotionally wrecked. I felt the big moments of the game deserved more time and gravitas than simply pushing through the story would allow. The characters didn’t have this luxury, as “tomorrow comes”, but as a player, I gave myself the time needed to reflect on what had happened and feel everything the developers intended. Whether this was good for my mental health is yet to be seen, but when storymakers have the ability to make you feel something so keenly, I think it’s important to give that the attention it deserves (even if it leaves you sitting on the couch staring blankly ahead contemplating how you move past this).
Visually and aurally, this game is a work of art. Clair Obscur creates so many aesthetically stunning moments that I found myself wanting to screenshot every other scene. The soundtrack has been crafted in a way that so wonderfully complements the melancholy of the world around you, and the voice acting by all the actors was phenomenal. Jennifer English and Ben Starr, in particular, shine so brightly and really bring every inch of their vocal range into their roles. The sheer talent these actors bring is astounding; they breathe life into the characters in a way that invites you to experience their story alongside them, rather than simply controlling them through it. This is, of course, a double-edged sword, as the pain and grief they feel is so easily echoed by us as the audience, but the fact that they are able to so wholly immerse you into their story is worth the heartache it brings.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is my game of the year. I know it’s only April and we have a lot of the year left, but I’m confident nothing is going to shake this game from top spot. This is one of the best games I’ve played in years; I loved it so much that once I finished it, I restarted it the very next day. As someone with the attention span of a fly, even just finishing a game is a struggle for me sometimes, let alone finishing it and immediately wanting to play it again. It is a tragic, beautiful masterpiece of a game to behold, and I loved every single second.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was reviewed on the PS5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
