Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

December 17, 2025

For Those Who Come After

I had heard great things about Expedition 33 since its release, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I finally got the chance to play it.

And it certainly lives up to its reputation and the many awards it has received, including GOTY 2025, although I personally still have some doubts about how well it fits within the “indie” spectrum.

A game that, while clearly drawing from classic JRPGs, manages to innovate on several fronts and feels surprisingly fresh and modern.

It evokes the classic Final Fantasy titles (up to X) through its exploration and turn-based combat, incorporates mechanics and a UI with clear Persona 5 influences, and exudes an atmosphere reminiscent of NieR: Automata, with a vocal soundtrack and a slightly dark tone.

The story is, without a doubt, one of its greatest strengths: it hooks you from the very beginning with a strong premise that remains engaging throughout the entire adventure.

I really enjoyed it: a fantastic game.

What I Liked Most

Consumable items regenerate when resting, avoiding the very common loop in other games of constantly having to visit merchants to restock them.
Most cutscenes respect the skins currently equipped by the characters.
The quick guide for understanding status effects and abilities is fantastic: straightforward, clear, and easy to consult when you need it.
The interactive timing-based combat elements are very well integrated and make the turn-based system feel agile and dynamic:
- Quick time events to enhance attacks or even penalize you if you fail.
- Dodging attacks by pressing the button at the right moment, with a fairly generous margin for error.
- Counterattacking (parry) is a key element against many enemies. Although the precision window is more demanding than dodging, successfully countering an entire sequence of attacks not only avoids damage but also deals damage to the enemy. Personally, I didn’t feel the need to use dodge at all: I relied entirely on counterattacks, refining this technique throughout the adventure.
- Some attacks require you to jump, giving you a relatively easy opportunity to counterattack.
- Finally, you can also reflect heavy attacks: these are easier than regular counterattacks, but they do not allow any mistakes, as failing will result in taking a large amount of damage.
Characters do not get tired while running.
The photo mode is another great surprise: it allows you to pause the action and capture scenes at almost any moment, whether during combat, exploration, or cutscenes. A fantastic feature.
The game does not overwhelm you with side quests or an excessively large world. It strikes a very solid balance between a contained environment and the presence of secrets that enhance characters or expand the story.
Details that make the Game Feel an absolute delight:
- The sensation of running through environments while switching characters at the press of a button.
- Combat feels like a dance between characters: very rhythmic and easy to internalize.
- Being able to move freely through environments that, despite being mostly linear, allow for some exploration and hide optional items.
- How the character Lune slides instead of running.
- As you approach a jump hook point, the controller vibrates subtly.
The music is outstanding and features a wide variety of tracks.
The story progresses at a great pace, while you learn how to play and unlock new abilities without unnecessary filler.
Although you can only select 3 characters for battles, which naturally leads you to favor or invest more in those three, the game subtly encourages you not to neglect the rest and to keep developing them.
Enemies are as imaginative and delirious as the Big Head: if you’re looking for a challenge, you’ll find it.
There are no random encounters while moving around. You can almost always decide when to fight, either by avoiding pursuing enemies or by taking alternative routes.
The different themed outfits available.

What didn’t win me over

My main complaint: not being able to place markers on the map.
I have a couple of issues with the character menu:
- You can’t reorganize party members. When entering the menu, a character is always selected by default and cannot be changed.
- Some selectable UI elements, for example, luminas, are confusing, as it’s not always clear where the cursor is or which option is currently selected.
The affinity system between characters at camp didn’t fully click with me. It feels somewhat forced, like an artificial way to unlock outfits and abilities, giving the impression it was added late in development instead of opting for something more organic.
The wall-climbing grip system, similar to Horizon Zero Dawn, feels unnecessary to me: the controls are slow, clunky, and require no real skill. I would have preferred the game to rely solely on the grappling hook system.
Not being able to strike first from the map when moving with Esquie.
Too many “Recoat” items for redistributing character attributes? I only used them once per character and still had dozens left over.

Bugs

My game froze multiple times during the fight against the enemy “Chromatic Braseleur”, forcing me to restart. This happens when I try to counterattack the orb beam and fail. It doesn’t occur when dodging. In the end, I had to defeat it using dodge, which was practically the only time I used it in the entire game.
In the weapons menu, if you have a weapon selected for one character and switch to another, the description of the previous character’s weapon remains visible until you move the cursor, which is confusing.

Curiosities

The game’s budget was below $10M, as mentioned in this New York Times interview. Despite being a much smaller investment than other AAA RPGs like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, with a $118M budget, it sold over 5 million copies in just 6 months, outperforming even titles of that caliber.
If you reach the end of the game with all characters wearing the same outfit style, you’ll get a surprise.

My favorite songs

Explore the game on the shelf