Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33  is a 2025 role-playing video game developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive. Set in a dark fantasy Belle Époque setting, the game follows the members of Expedition 33 as they set out to destroy the Paintress, a being causing the yearly Gommage, where those at or above an ever-decreasing age are erased from existence. In the game, the player controls a party of characters from a third-person perspective, exploring areas and engaging in combat. Its turn-based mechanics feature real-time aspects such as quick time events and timed actions in combat.

The project originated in 2019 as Guillaume Broche, a Ubisoft employee who would leave the company in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to form Sandfall Interactive with friends and contacts, began establishing a core team of 30 developers that came to be supported by various production partners. Inspired by Japanese RPGs that shaped their youth such as the Final Fantasy and Persona series, the developers at Sandfall sought to create a high-fidelity turn-based role-playing game, a genre they felt AAA studios had neglected. Development began with Unreal Engine 4 and later switched to Unreal Engine 5, providing rendering improvements.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S on 24 April 2025, and was available day one on Xbox Game Pass. The game received universal acclaim from critics for its narrative and themes, art direction, game direction, original soundtrack, gameplay and performances. By October 2025, it had sold over 5 million units. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received numerous accolades. It became the most awarded title in The Game Awards history, winning nine of the record thirteen nominations it received at The Game Awards 2025, including the paramount Game of the Year recognition. The game also received Game of the Year from both the Golden Joystick Awards 2025 and the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards in addition to other awards, and topped various publications' lists of best games of 2025.

Gameplay

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a third-person turn-based role-playing game with real-time elements. The player controls a party of Expeditioners exploring a fantasy world. On their turns, players select whether to use an item, perform a melee attack to gain Ability Points, or spend accumulated Ability Points to use ranged attacks or Skills. Ranged attacks are aimed freely, similar to a third-person shooter. When using a Skill, a quick time event can be completed for improved effects. During enemy turns, the player can dodge, parry, or jump over attacks in real time to avoid damage. Parrying requires more precise timing than dodging but provides Ability Points and the opportunity to counterattack. A stamina system allows players to "Break" enemies, temporarily stunning them. As players progress, the game introduces new attacks and parries, including Gradient Attacks, Gradient Counters, and Gradient Skills, all of which deal significant damage. The use of gradient attacks is monitored by the party using a shared gauge. It will slowly fill up when the party uses skills in combat. The Expeditioners and enemies can also apply various status effects on each other, boosting or impairing either side's combat efficiency. Some enemies have weak points that can be targeted, or may be vulnerable to certain elemental attacks. If the combat party is defeated, reserve characters may be called in to continue fighting. Combat ends when either side has no remaining combatants, or when the player decides to flee the battlefield when they are facing minor enemies.

The game features six playable characters, with each having unique skill trees, weapons and gameplay mechanics. The mage Lune's Skills generate elemental "Stains", which can be spent to enhance her Skills. The fencer Maelle switches between Stances which alter her Skills, damage and defense. The scythe-wielding warrior Sciel can use a set of magical cards to apply and stack "Foretell" to enemies, and then consume them to inflict maximum damage on enemies. Gustave and Verso deal more damage to enemies the more they attack them. Gustave in particular gains charge based on the amount of attacks he's done, which can be expelled, doing increased damage depending on the number of charges. Verso, on the other hand, gains "Perfection" ranks upon landing hits, parries, and how little he gets damaged; which will increase his damage output the higher his Perfection rank becomes. The Gestral Monoco can transform into enemies and use their abilities against them. Some of his abilities are further enhanced by his "Bestial Wheel", which spins whenever Monoco uses his abilities. When the party is not exploring or fighting enemies, they can rest at a camp. While playing as Verso, players can converse with other members of Expedition 33 and raise their relationship levels, unlocking new cinematics, skills and quests.

Combat encounters reward experience points, currency, and upgrades. Each time a character levels up, they gain three attribute points, which can be spent on increasing five core character stats: Vitality (maximum health), Might (attack power), Agility (frequency of attack), Defense (damage reduction), and Luck (critical rate). The abilities of the Expeditioners are further customized with equipable "Pictos" which add a variety of perks and further improve a character's stats. There are a total of 210 unique Pictos items. Each character can equip three Pictos at a time. Players can 'master' the use of Pictos after using it in combat four times, unlocking its passive bonuses (known as Luminas) for other Expeditioners to use. Each character also has Lumina Points, which dictate how many Luminas they can equip at a time. As players level up, their maximum Lumina Points will increase, and players can also find additional Lumina Points as collectibles during exploration. As players explore, they will also collect "Chroma Catalysts", which can be used to upgrade weapons to higher levels at the camp. Higher-level weapons deal more base damage to enemies and offer additional gameplay perks.

While the game is set in linear levels, players can explore off the beaten path where they will find hidden resources, side quests, collectibles, character outfits, Gestral merchants, and optional bosses. Each level also has several Expedition Flags, where players can heal their party, fast travel, restock items, and allocate attribute and skill points. Resting at an Expedition Flag respawns most enemies. Levels in the game are connected by an overworld map known as "The Continent". Eventually, the Expeditioners meet Esquie, a mythical creature who helps the party to travel across The Continent. Esquie acquires new traversal abilities as players progress, granting the ability to swim, fly, and dive underwater. These new traversal abilities are essential for players to advance the story and access optional zones. The game has multiple difficulty options and a New Game Plus mode, allowing the player to replay the game with increased difficulty while retaining all character progression from their first playthrough.

Synopsis

Setting

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes place in a dark fantasy Belle Époque setting. 67 years prior to the events of the game, a disaster known as the "Fracture" occurred, isolating the city of Lumière from the rest of the continent. The people of Lumière have since suffered from an annual event called the "Gommage", where an entity known as "the Paintress" (Tracy Wiles), paints an ever-decreasing number on an enormous rock formation across the continent known as the Monolith, and all humans with an age equal to or above that number disappear. After the yearly Gommage, Lumière sends an expedition of volunteers to head to the mainland in an effort to slay the Paintress before she can paint a new number. Expedition 33 is the latest to set out. The fractured continent is populated by hostile monsters called "Nevrons", who are the primary cause of failed past expeditions, as well as the "Gestrals" and "Grandis", mostly friendly creatures who have settled across the mainland.

Members of Expedition 33 include: Gustave (Charlie Cox), a resourceful engineer with a mechanical arm; Maelle (Jennifer English), the youngest member of the Expedition and Gustave's foster sister; Lune (Kirsty Rider), a brilliant scholar and mage; and Sciel (Shala Nyx), a calm and cheerful farmer turned teacher. As the expedition traverses the mainland, they encounter various individuals, including: Renoir (Andy Serkis), a mysterious elderly man who ruthlessly hunts them upon making landfall; Verso (Ben Starr), a stranger who keeps watch over them from afar; Monoco (Rich Keeble), a Gestral associated with Verso; and Esquie (Maxence Cazorla), a mythical creature who serves as their transportation across the mainland.

Plot

On the day of the Gommage, Gustave bids farewell to his 33-year-old former lover, Sophie. With only a year left to live, he joins Expedition 33. However, upon making landfall, most expeditioners are killed by Renoir. Gustave survives and locates three other survivors: Lune, Sciel, and Maelle, the last of whom was rescued by a mysterious entity known as the Curator, which aids the expeditioners. Continuing their expedition, they enlist Esquie's help while Maelle begins seeing visions of a masked girl. Renoir attacks again, and Gustave dies defending Maelle. Fortunately, Verso intervenes and helps the other expeditioners escape.