5/5 ★ – ROOK116's review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

When this game was first revealed to me at the Xbox Game Showcase 2024, I couldn't help but feel an instant connection to the game. There was something about the premise and presentation that resonated with me. I followed every bit of info out of the game fervently, and it deepened my investment with every word. The inspirations, the plot, the music, etc...it just checked every box. This game would stand amongst one of my most anticipated games of 2025, alongside the likes of Avowed and Death Stranding 2. The game doesn't take too long to give you the sitrep of the state of the world as you know it: The Paintress is this ever beyond being that is in eyeshot of every person living in Lumiere (basically, Paris). She is perceived to perform a yearly cut off event called the Gommage, where those whose age is counted down from by her will soon turn into dust, petals, and echoes. In the aftermath of Gommage #67, those who were 33 have met this fate, leaving behind our cast of characters, notably Gustave, his adopted sister Maelle, and few others, with one year of life left (except Maelle, who volunteered at the age of 16) to make it count. Humanity during this time had sent out Expeditions in an effort to stop the Paintress, crossing over to the continent where their side of Lumiere was split away from. They will either achieve this goal or die trying "for those who come after," one of many mantras chanted by Expeditioners to represent their willingness to be martyrs for the cause. Many twists and turns would come for Expedition 33. This game is a love letter to the type of games played by the developers of Sandfall Interactive, notably Final Fantasy, Persona, Sekiro, and Lost Odyssey to name a few. It's a turn based J'RPG (as many clever fans have designated this game to respect the French origins and Japanese inspiration) that incorporates elements of deck building and real time dodging/parrying/quick timing prompts. You will spend a lot of time interchanging units of bonuses, called Pictos that can be fathered into another unit of bonus called Lumina, weapons, and abilities of each character to play their roles in different capacities and scenarios. There is also a plethora of customization for each character that you can find and apply freely, even a setting prompt allowing it to reflect in most cutscenes. To make a long story short, I was immediately engrossed by all there was to offer. It took little time to make me tear up, provide me the suspense of a hyper lethal world, and give me some of the greatest satisfaction when my preparedness meets reflexes to survive a combat encounter. The story is daunting but it is not without slices of humanity in the form of comedic or heartful moments. You will spend a lot of time with cast members, taking a page out of Persona to provide relationship building events that come with gameplay incentives. This allowed me to love every single cast member due to the care of detail they were each given. This game will have multiple skill checks, even on the normal difficulty, so it comes down to trust in your abilities, your teammates, and how you assembled their collective power. I implore everyone to play this game. It has already served to be a wall breaker for those who have never played a turn based game like this before, such as the case with my wife who out of love of this game, wants to follow suit with Metaphor Refantazio, to my absolute glee. You will come away with a modern masterpiece that stands between the long established IPs and carries a remnant of the soul left in this industry that has been slowly losing its way. Sandfall being our own Expedition 33 (33 people made this game, by the way) in reminding us that passion can still deliver art we can look forward to seeing. This is a game that was meant for someone like me in this stage of life and I couldn't be more blessed by the Lord to have a new all-time favorite to cherish and gush over.