Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hasn’t been out lengthy, nevertheless it’s already made fairly the title for itself. The Belle Époque turn-based RPG is one of the best-reviewed games of the year (by both critics and players) and has already flown previous 1 million gross sales–fairly the success for an indie studio’s debut challenge.

It has deserved each little bit of reward and each sale, and also you’re doing your self a disservice for those who haven’t checked it out but. Even when turn-based RPGs aren’t your jam, Clair Obscur provides nice real-time components to maintain gamers engaged. Couple that with an emotional story and glorious forged and you’ve got a Recreation of the Yr contender simply ready so that you can play it.

A Story and World That Engages From the Very Begin

Finish the Terror of the Paintress

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 does one thing video games can typically be loath to do: it trusts its gamers. The prologue–a 90-minute tearful story in and of itself–doesn’t explicitly clarify its world to you. As a substitute, by means of environmental storytelling and heartful dialogue from the soar, it doles out sufficient data for the participant to comprehend on their very own simply what sort of battle the individuals of Lumière are contending with, and the emotional stakes positioned upon Gustave and the opposite characters.

As soon as the story absolutely kicks into gear, you’re in retailer for fairly the journey. Relying on how a lot facet content material you wish to have interaction with–and I’d suggest partaking with it all–the sport will take wherever from 30 to 60 hours to finish. What begins as a journey to finish the Paintress’ wrath–the terrifying, deity-like being who erases a fraction of Lumière’s inhabitants every year–quickly blows up and turns into a story of resiliency, of camaraderie, and, in fact, loss.

It’s a ravishing story, one that may certainly make you gasp in shock, yell at your TV in anguish, and attain for a field of tissues often. The much less getting into, the higher.

Wonderful Solid of Characters

That includes the Voices of Daredevil, Shadowheart, and Extra

Though you start the sport as Gustave and management simply him at camp, each character is given an fascinating journey.

I significantly gravitated in direction of Maelle, {the teenager} who joins the expedition years earlier than her time could be up. She’s performed by Jennifer English, the voice of Baldur’s Gate 3’s Shadowheart and the lead of the in-development Tides of Annihilation. “I fell in love along with her bravery,” English instructed The Verge. And courageous Maelle is, tangling with viscous Nevrons and urgent ahead within the face of despair. She’s haunted by nightmares and visions, fantastically introduced in black & white cutscenes, and has a a lot bigger function to play than initially thought. She’s the emotional core of the sport, and English portrays her splendidly.

The forged behind all these glorious characters deserve a spherical of applause. After his starring flip in Daredevil: Born Once more, Charlie Cox continues his standout yr with a number one function as Gustave. Andy Serkis, whom primarily for his CGI characters like Golumn and Caesar, voices the antagonist Renoir.

“They don’t seem to be vacationers on this sport. They’re doing a little heavy emotional lifting, and they’re doing it with an enormous reverence to the craft,” Ben Starr, the voice of Clive in Ultimate Fantasy XVI and Verso in Clair Obscur, stated of his Hollywood costars.

The complete forged and the script they’re enacting do loads of heavy emotional lifting, making certain you’re really invested on this journey to strike down the Paintress.

Exhilarating Flip-Based mostly Gameplay

There’s No Enjoyable in Clair Obscur’s Battles

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 options an completely engrossing turn-based combat system with layers of complexity. Every character performs uniquely, from Lune’s deal with dealing elemental harm to Maelle’s stance-switching expertise. Studying not simply how one can use the characters on their very own but in addition along side each other is half the enjoyable of Clair Obscur.

With the abundance of weapons and the Pictos and Lumina system–equipable bonuses that increase your characters’ stats and grant them highly effective passives–you’ll be able to assemble some really devastating builds. Shortly after including Sciel to the get together, I discovered what appears like a damaged construct, stacking up countless foretells and utilizing her varied expertise and outfitted Pictos to leverage these foretells to deal devastating harm.

By round degree 30, Sciel’s assaults may deal 9,999 harm–the harm cap–and one-shot many enemies for me, main me to take away her from my get together lest the sport get too straightforward.

Don’t hear “turn-based” gameplay and suppose Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a snoozefest; its fight is as partaking as any real-time motion sport. Much like Sea of Stars’ emphasis on timing, Clair Obscur has a parry and dodge mechanic that requires exact timing.

The parry timing is particularly tight, and studying simply the correct second to parry is a troublesome problem, although it’s well worth the strong reward. As the sport opens up, you’re given extra defensive choices, forcing you to remain engaged throughout your enemies’ turns to forestall your expeditioners from succumbing to their blows.

Fascinating Visuals and Music

The Foremost Theme Is Nonetheless Caught in My Head

The artwork fashion and graphics of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are among the greatest present in gaming. Its world is each filled with vibrant colours and harrowing landscapes, with fractured items of land floating within the air above your get together as you traverse battlefields, crimson forests, and inexperienced meadows. While its development team is a lot larger than just 30 people, Clair Obscur was nonetheless made by a smaller studio than loads of Triple A blockbusters, and appears higher than a justifiable share of them.

The character fashions are nice too, and every expeditioner has a number of outfits and hairstyles so that you can swap between (I’m positive you’ve seen the hilarious “baguette” outfits at this level). I’m particularly impressed by how nicely animated their faces are; there’s such a depth of feelings painted on every characters’ face, and, paired with the voice appearing, they actually make Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and everybody else really feel like actual individuals.

Clair Obscur’s soundtrack, nevertheless, may be the component of the sport that sticks with me essentially the most as soon as my journey by means of its fractured lands concludes. It’s an absolute stunner of a rating, and I let the menu observe play to completion every time I open the sport.

Like in fellow Belle Époque sport Lies of P, there are collectible information strewn about Clair Obscur’s world and discovering them means that you can benefit from the tunes at camp. For lovers of bodily media, you’re in for a deal with: a vinyl version of the soundtrack is within the works.

One of many Finest Video games of This Era?

It’s Definitely An Early Recreation of the Yr Contender

2025 has seen some very robust Recreation of the Yr contenders, like Blue Prince and Cut up Fiction, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will little doubt be a part of them at yr’s finish in receiving heaps of awards. However the reward round Clair Obscur is really transcendent, and it’s making a case that it’s not simply probably the greatest video games of the yr, however probably the greatest video games of this era.

I’m not attempting to be reactionary, and acknowledge that we’d like a ways from Clair Obscur’s launch earlier than we are able to begin throwing round phrases like “basic.” Nonetheless, as soon as the brand new sport shine has worn off, I feel it’ll be spoken about in the identical breath as Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3 as the most effective video games of this era and decade.