Paintbrushes, death, and existential dread. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 doesn’t ease you in, and that’s exactly why we loved it. Developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, this turn-based RPG pulls no punches. At Player Opinion, we carved our way through a beautifully surreal world, dodged for our lives in active combat, and questioned the cost of survival one brushstroke at a time.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Game Review
Gameplay Experience: 20/25
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features some of the best turn-based combat we’ve seen in a while. Controls are tight, responsive, and demand your attention. Dodging and parrying aren’t optional, they’re essential, and the need to react in real time keeps you fully engaged, even deep into longer fights. That said, some of the timing windows feel a bit punishing. The difficulty curve starts sharp, then eases as you learn the flow and unlock better tools. Leveling feels smooth up to around 80, but starts to slow noticeably after that. The game gives you room to experiment with builds, and respecs are common enough to encourage trying new things. By the end, though, you’ll probably need to commit to a specialized setup—especially for some of the harder late-game encounters.
Presentation & Immersion: 24/25
The art direction in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is grounded in realism, but the world feels like imagination brought to life. Early areas are stunning—vivid, playful, and filled with light—while later zones shift into bleak, sombre spaces that reflect the story’s emotional weight. It’s a clear tonal progression, and it works. Cutscenes land hard, making characters feel human and their decisions believable. The world itself is deeply immersive, especially in the early and mid-game, though by the time you reach the end, the desire to explore starts to fade. You’ll wish there were faster ways to move around. Still, the musical score is gorgeous, and sound design plays a real role in combat, with certain audio cues helping you time dodges and parries.
Design & Technical: 18/25
There’s a lot to admire in how Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is put together, but it’s not without rough edges. The overall design is thoughtful and ambitious, with a clear vision behind it. But it’s also clear that the studio was working within a limited budget. The in-game menu system is functional, but certain quality-of-life features are missing, and it’s not always easy to tell which Pictos you’ve upgraded. Pathing is the biggest issue; characters often hit invisible walls, float in place, or get stuck where they shouldn’t. It’s not game-breaking, but it does undercut immersion. Performance is mostly stable with only occasional frame drops. We played with a controller, which felt intuitive and well mapped, though our dodge and parry buttons definitely took a beating.
The Skinny About Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Final Considerations: 23/25
We spent over 80 hours in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Steam Link), clearing every optional boss and pushing deep into the endgame. One playthrough felt like enough, though there is a New Game+ mode for those who want to test their builds or chase higher damage numbers. The endgame content is solid—beating the story around level 60 still left us with another 10 to 15 hours of meaningful challenges. Whether or not that content is necessary is debatable, but in a world this well-crafted, we were glad it was there. It’s rare to see a game so bold, emotional, and mechanically tight come from a new studio. For all its flaws, Expedition 33 sticks the landing. It’s a standout title and one we’ll be thinking about for a while. Strongly recommended.
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