>>FULL REVIEW
I went into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 expecting a cool-looking RPG. I did not expect it to grab me by the throat emotionally while also making turn-based combat feel fresh again.
This game has one of the best setups I have seen in a modern RPG. Every year, the Paintress wakes up and paints a number. Everyone that age dies. That is already a wild idea, but the game does not waste it. You are part of Expedition 33, a group heading out to stop her before she paints their number next. Simple enough to understand. Horrifying enough to care.
What surprised me most is how fast the game made me buy in. A lot of RPGs take forever to get interesting. They throw names, kingdoms, factions, magic systems, and 400 made-up terms at you before giving you a reason to care. This one gets to the point. People are dying. The clock is ugly. The mission feels desperate. Good luck.
The combat is the main reason this does not feel like just another pretty RPG. It is turn-based, but you are not sitting there half-asleep picking attacks from a menu. You are dodging, parrying, timing attacks, aiming shots, building combos, and trying not to get folded because you missed one input. It keeps you engaged in a way a lot of turn-based games do not. You still get the strategy, but your hands are actually involved.
That also means the game can be stressful. The parry timing is not always forgiving, and some fights will absolutely humble you. There were moments where I thought I had a fight figured out, then the boss basically told me to shut up and pay attention. I respect it, but I was not always happy about it.
The party is another huge win. The characters do not feel like random RPG archetypes taped together for dialogue scenes. They have actual chemistry, pain, flaws, and reasons to be on this journey. The game gives them enough quiet moments that the big emotional swings actually land. By the time things get heavy, it does not feel like cheap drama. It feels earned.
Visually, this game is ridiculous. Not just “good graphics” ridiculous. More like every area looks like someone painted a dream right before it turned into a nightmare. The Belle Époque-inspired world gives the whole thing a look that stands out immediately. It is beautiful, strange, elegant, and unsettling all at once. Some games look expensive. This one looks like it had a vision.
The music might be even better. It is one of those soundtracks where you notice it constantly, but not because it is annoying or begging for attention. It just keeps making scenes better. Battles feel bigger. Quiet moments feel heavier. Emotional moments hit harder. I do not usually care enough about game soundtracks to mention them this much, but this one deserves it.
This is also not some 90-hour RPG that feels proud of wasting your time. It has plenty to do, but it feels focused. That helps a lot. I would rather play a game that knows what it wants to be than one that throws in endless filler so someone can brag about the hour count on the back of the box.
My complaints are real, but they are not dealbreakers. The difficulty can spike. Some timing windows feel a little mean. A few areas are stronger than others. And if someone already hates turn-based RPGs, I do not know if this fully converts them. It makes the formula more active, but it is still built around turns, builds, weaknesses, and menu choices.
For me, though, the mix worked. It gave me the strategy I like from classic RPGs without making combat feel slow. It gave me a serious story without drowning everything in boring lore homework. It gave me big emotional moments without feeling like it was trying too hard to be deep.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like the kind of game people ask for and then act shocked when it actually shows up. It is stylish, emotional, challenging, and different enough to stand out. It is not perfect, but it has something most games would kill for.
It has a soul.
And yeah, it hurts a little.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Players who want a story-heavy RPG with stylish combat, beautiful art, great music, and characters that actually make you care before the game emotionally kicks your teeth in.
SKIP IT IF
You dislike turn-based RPGs, hate timing-based combat, or want a light relaxing game that will not sit in your head after you turn it off.
