3.5/5 ★ – Lahroo's review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Clair Obscur is an amazing action RPG. The combat keeps you engaged the entire time playing from start to finish. I played Expert and was challenged the entirety of the playthrough. I've also had to write this review 2 times now so it might end up a bit shorter than before. This review has spoilers, as I've beaten the game and want to talk about it. So beware! I think the combat is refreshing enough that I want more of it. I can't wait to come back to this game if DLC comes out, or if they make another style of this game. There's no better dopamine hit than parrying a 6+ hit combo without getting hit. The bong noise of parrying is just amazing. If it was gameplay alone, it would be a 5/5 for me. The story is why the rating is a little bit lower. I was invested the entirety of Act 1 and Act 2. I loved the characters, the world. The story was intriguing, I wanted to know everything about it. Who the mysterious old man on the beach was or why there was a big 33 in the sky. When Act 2 finishes, it answers a good amount of the questions players have. Which is kind of where I disconnected. I have a problem with them explaining it was a made up world from the start. It made me feel like every character outside of two didn't matter. The game comes to a conclusion and you have one of two choices. Go with Verso and finally close the painting, allowing the family to grieve. Or go with Maelle who wants to keep her brother, whatevers left of him alive forever. I went with Verso's ending first as I had played as solo Verso the entire game, and cared about Verso as a person way more than I cared for Maelle wanting to keep her brother alive. Verso's ending as far as I'm aware is the preferred ending. The family gets to grieve and finally move on from a terrible tragedy that happened. Amazing ending to an amazing story. Like I mentioned before. The game gets a 3.5 from me because It does away with beloved characters without a care in the world. Characters like Gustave or Lune are just made up. They don't exist in real world, just in the painting. It made me feel like the tears I shed for some of these characters didn't matter. I love this game. I welcome more like it. I think this game wins everything at the Game awards this year, and if it doesn't, we've made a mistake as a community.