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

The premise from the game's reveal trailer intrigued me instantly and the twists and turns this game's story goes through just emotionally ruined me in the best way. Trying to think of what to put in this review has been very difficult for this game. I think it's simple to say I love this game. It's beautiful in its visuals, its music and its story. The gameplay is engaging and a spectacle in its own right and has a lot of things to master and builds to experiment with. Mastering parries always feels good. Unlocking the potential of your build and finding cool building blocks is a treat. Exploration always feels worth it, they have so much stuff hidden around each corner. Something this game does marvellously is drip feeding the information but still giving you what you want. Sometimes it's right there in front of your eyes but you wouldn't know it. Reflecting on the game by rewatching important scenes and thinking on the big set pieces, after finishing it, was rewarding as I pieced things together that suddenly made so much more sense. New game plus or watching someone else's playthrough takes on so much more meaning when things are recontextualised. I'm so very sad that I'll never be able to play this again for the first time. I think the fact that I am unable to play another game since beating it, simply for the fact it's not Clair Obscur, is telling. This is my game of the year. It's also my soundtrack of the year, with over 150 songs I just didn't feel like a single track missed in my whole playthrough. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will probably take a spot in my top games of all time and rightfully so.