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

I ended up picking this game up on a whim - I knew almost nothing about it except 10 minutes of gameplay I had seen on twitch. I was immediately enthralled and I am so glad I did. The Story Right from the beginning, this game has a fantastic, unique, and emotional story. It navigates grief and complex elements incredibly well, and the story telling remains excellent for the entire game. They have built a unique world with compelling characters, art, and excellent voice acting. It is as solid as stories get, and I absolutely loved it. The journey they are on is difficult, and the game makes an intentional decision showing the characters dirty and bloody frequently - to show the extent of their struggle and not just to be gruesome. Every character has memorable moments, and there are characters that I will remember for years to come - comparable to some standouts in my favorite games of all time. The Gameplay The turn-based combat is very well done. While I found one or two mechanics a little overwhelming initially, but they are introduced gradually until all elements are available. The way it does this great - it pauses and explains a new mechanic every time you encounter it. What might sound simple is incredibly intricate and satisfying - between adjusting your characters builds for different fights, and their power growth over time. You don't need to use every element, but you CAN. In fact, I did not parry at all until near the end of Act II, and only began regularly parrying in Act III. I played on Normal, but from what I know you have 3 difficulty options that can be adjusted at any time - if you want more challege - Expert, if you need less - Story. Every character also has their own unique mechanic that further enhances combat. If you decide for normal or expert challenge, the game rewards you heavily as your skill and understanding of the mechanics deepens, and every time I explored a corner I always felt rewarded. This implementation of turn-based combat with actions during both attack and defense is close to perfection. The Music The OST on its own deserves awards. It is outstanding - if this doesn't make you feel things, are you even alive? Listening to it throughout the entire game experience puts it on another level. The variety of the music in different areas and combat is huge - such that in 68 hours for my first "100%" playthrough, at no point did I get sick of hearing the same music. I don't think another game's music has stood out to me as this smartly implemented - if I had 3 fights in a row, they almost always used different battle music - but themed to the area they take place in. This was absolutely an intentional design decision and elevates and enhances the musical experience in the game. The Art and World I will admit, in the first 20-30 minutes - the character art style had to grow on me a little. Once I got into it, the character design and art in the world is incredible. People are calling this a "AA" game but I think the line between AA and AAA is blurry here. The sheer amount of beautiful and varied environments in the game is mind blowing. Every area is unique and intricately detailed. It's like more than one world, but 20 - I think games that have this amount of variety this well done are rare. World class world building and art. Overall This is my game of the year for 2025 - full stop. I do not see anyone else unseating this for me this year - not even something from Nintendo or FromSoft. I put 68 hours into it to get a Platinum Trophy on PS5 and it was a true joy to experience this game and I'm probably going to do NG+ and consider Expert. It hit well in every category - just outstanding. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED is an understatement.