Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review (su1s (inactive))
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 instantly caught my eye when I saw the reveal trailer during the Xbox Games Showcase, the world, the music, it all just looked insanely beautiful. Fast forward to the release, and man, I’m absolutely in love with this game. I haven’t even finished it yet, but honestly, I already think it’s a strong GOTY 2025 contender, might even take GOTY 2025 if GTA 6 doesn’t drop.
I legit can’t believe this is a French turn-based RPG. It feels like a JRPG through and through. The gameplay even has some souls-like elements, you got rest points, parry/dodge/jump mechanics it’s wild. It’s like playing a rhythm game sometimes, kinda like how Sekiro made every fight feel like a do-or-die dance. The way they mix turn-based combat with those hardcore action vibes feels super fresh, way different from stuff like Metaphor or FF7 Remake. It's like Megaten meets Soulsborne, and it’s freaking awesome.
The story concept of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 just completely owns my heart. The tragedy happening in that world? Hit me hard. The visuals, the soundtrack, the dialogue, all top-notch. Not even gonna lie, I legit cried when the prologue ended. It just hurts in the best way possible. The story unfolds bit by bit as you play, and it hooks you in so bad you need to keep going to find out what’s really going on.
The voice actors? Killed it. They became their characters, made them stick with me long after I stopped playing. And the music, oh man... like I said earlier, it’s just straight-up beautiful, easily top-tier stuff. I could feel every good and bad moment through the tracks, and it blows my mind that this is their debut soundtrack in gaming.
Besides the eye-candy visuals, the beautiful sound design and music, the story, the characters, the art style, the game also runs buttery smooth. No bugs, no jank, no crazy performance issues, and it’s even built on UE5! Totally mind-blowing considering how messy some games have been lately.
A freaking AAA-quality game made by just 30 ex-Ubisoft devs?? Like, what the hell was Ubisoft doing all this time if these guys could cook up this masterpiece?? The Paintress literally painted this world with their whole soul. Sandfall Interactive’s debut is pure cinema, honestly, even Square Enix couldn’t pull this off with Final Fantasy lately. I seriously can’t wait to see what they make next.
I 100% recommend this game, even at full price. It’s SO worth it.
WE ARE EXPEDITION 33!!!