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

This was simply a sensationally astounding game. I would have given it a perfect score if it wasn’t for some rather wonky platforming here and there. Outside of that minor gripe, this is indeed my personal GOTY thus far in addictive gameplay, atmosphere, musical score and story. The voice acting was pretty incredible too with talent such as Andy Serkis and Charlie Cox. The art style was gorgeous to boot, showcasing a fantasy surreal French setting in a painted world. The gameplay was possibly the greatest achievement of the experience though. The turn based combat was brought to life by the parry, counter and dodge mechanics which makes you feel like you’re almost in control most of the time even while on defense. Upgrading your weapons and characters is just as much fun as well, focusing on elemental damage for each weapon and active and passive pictos abilities to further beef up your party. The story too was very well fleshed out and immersive revolving around an expedition of young folks set out on a quest to find secrets within the world they live to find out a way to stop people from being sacrificed when turning the age of 33 and vanishing Thanos finger snap style, with a big reveal in the latter half of the game that really turned things upside down and you have to then choose a path in the final act as to how you want the game to end. Overall, Clair Obscur was a delight and I would happily replay it again in a heartbeat. Any fan of turn based games with a heavy emphasis on action parrying mechanics and enemy weaknesses will definitely feel right at home here.