4.5/5 ★ – Gibbs's review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Ridiculously good. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 excels at nearly everything it sets out to achieve, all while pushing the boundaries of its genre. It’s bold and innovative—not just in gameplay, but in every single aspect of its design. The opening two hours alone are packed with more emotion than 99% of other games. The themes are immediately clear: we begin in a celebration of death and life, a loving farewell followed by brutal slaughter, and soon after, an attempted suicide. From the outset, the game is purposeful, intelligent, and tactful in its exploration of grief and mortality—and that’s just the start. The story is always engaging, always brilliantly paced, and it never lost my attention. Every answer raised new questions. Every reveal pulled me deeper. When I wasn’t playing, I was thinking about it, theorising where the narrative might go next. For me, this is one of the best—if not the best—video game story I’ve ever experienced. And it’s told so beautifully. The direction is phenomenal: the voice acting, the shot composition, the environments. The game plays with perspective, filters, and aspect ratios to convey meaning without words. The cast is not only brought to life by some of the best performances I’ve seen in a game—they’re also deeply human. So likeable, so flawed, so full of soul you practically drown in their emotion. It feels like every thing I felt was so sorely missing from Baldurs Gate 3 was just made exactly how I wanted in this game. The writing is just leagues above industry standard. The dialogue is packed with sentiment and nuance, and the actors deliver every line with precision and authenticity. At times, conversations between characters felt so natural and grounded that I genuinely forgot I was playing a game. Best of all, the game trusts the player—there’s no heavy exposition. The complex worldbuilding and lore are delivered entirely through dialogue and interaction, and you just get it. I was completely captivated—and at several times in complete tears. There’s plenty to love in the late game, and the game only gets stronger as it progresses. But I keep thinking back to one early conversation between Lune and Gustave, before I had even formed an opinion of the game, that moved me to tears. After finishing it, I went back to rewatch my favourite scenes and still marvelled at the talent in presentation, dialogue writing and performance. Martin Scorsese Absolute Cinema. Of course it has to be said that the emotional power wouldn’t hit nearly as hard without the quality of this soundtrack. The music isn’t. It elevates every moment, from emotionally charged scenes to quiet reflections and even combat too. Easily one of the greatest game soundtracks of all time. Combat is excellent. Turn-based systems are already fun, but Clair Obscur adds agency—you can dodge, jump, parry, and power up moves in real time. It’s a genius mechanic that adds immediacy and excitement. One thing I usually dislike in JRPGs is hitting level walls—taking too much damage from enemies unless you grind. Here, the game says: “If you’re good enough to parry, go for it.” That sense of control is just so rewarding. What makes the combat stay fresh, though, is the variety between characters. Each playable character has their own very distinct mechanics. It’s takes a bit of practice to understand how they work, without being overly complicated, and that’s exactly what I wanted. And once you get the basics, building them out with pictos, weapons, and skills kept the entire journey engaging. My only real criticism is the level design. While the environments are gorgeous and dripping with atmosphere, actually moving through them felt uninspired. Many areas boil down to large, empty rooms with scattered enemies—a beautiful coat of paint over shallow traversal. I rarely felt curious about where I was going; I just wanted to move from A to B. Some more interaction, platforming variety, or character moments might have gone a long way in making these spaces feel alive. As it stands, they’re nice to look at, but not much fun to explore. But even with that flaw, Clair Obscur stands tall. Its story, characters, direction, and dialogue are among the best in the medium. This is a monumental achievement for a small, talented development team.