If you were told that there were only a few precious decades left in this world — and you could either try the impossible and attempt to stop it, or accept your fate and enjoy your last few years here, what would you do? Now this isn’t some sobering outlook on climate change, but the actual premise of ‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’. To answer my own question, I would want to try to stop it, even if there’s only an incredibly small chance of my succeeding. And that’s probably why I love the game so much.
I’ll admit the lore of ‘Clair Obscur’ sounds a bit ridiculous when I describe it in a few short sentences, but you’ve got to give it a shot anyway, ok? Because it has one of the most riveting plotlines I’ve seen in a video game recently. You see, a French town called Lumiere seems to be the only piece of land inhabited by humans, after a catastrophic event occurred exactly 67 years ago. Note the date. This is important. Every year since then, a mysterious number hovers in the sky in shining light (that’s clair obscur in French), like a Lotto call out from hell. What it means is this: everyone above the age of the number would all perish during this now annual event called the “gommage”. And so, every year, a group of expeditioners who fall under the age category go on a courageous quest, to try and attack the entity behind the fatal “gommage” before they too perish. They haven’t succeeded yet. In the game, we follow “Expedition 33”. Which is actually the 67th expedition. Will they make it? Will they be the expedition that defeats the evil “paintress” that slowly eats up the only humans left? Well, it’s in your hands now.
The actual gameplay has little to do with the story, and I’ve never played anything quite like it. I’ve played turn-based games, and I’ve tried souls-like games. This game is a combination of both. It combines real-time elements within the turn-based gameplay. Imagine Pokémon, but without the cute monsters. It’s much darker. No, darker than what you’re imagining — think Cthulhu and Dark Souls-inspired graphics. That’s more like it. Now imagine that the enemy you face has five arms, two swords, and is a gigantic faceless beast with spikes and thorns for skin. It comes at you with a flaming sword, swinging it. Act fast! You have to avoid its killing blows — dodge, or if you are confident, parry. Too late now, you missed your chance. You are now burned and stunned. You lose 50 HP and can’t attack in the next turn. You might as well read more about the game.
Since we follow an Expedition, the game involves playing as a small team of people. The team grows in skill as the Expedition makes it deeper into the mainland where the “Paintress” lives. Skills can be modified in checkpoints and the character menus. They consist of actions, “Lumina” (or special skill upgrades), passive “Pictos”, weapons with elemental abilities, and the character’s own unique strengths. Gustave is undoubtedly the most powerful character when the game starts, but you eventually add new members to the team, and different play styles may persuade you to pick other characters. Let me know when you meet Monoco — he’s my favourite playable character. Every time he plays an action, an arbitrary wheel turns, which decides which of his skills will be more powerful during the next turn. The skill and combat mechanics are sort of congealed in a messy way, and it makes it feel more like a deck-building strategy board game than anything else.
Character interactions, story, and combat aside, this game is mostly about the vibes. The vibes are excellent. It’s gritty, it’s gloomy, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The music is a constant operatic undertone throughout the entire game, and it deserves an analysis of its own.
But the game isn’t without its setbacks. One of the more annoying parts of it is the menu; the skill menu isn’t super intuitive to use, and I struggled a bit with it initially. But there aren’t too many moving parts, and I did get used to it. On occasion, I was also confronted with some strange bugs with optional side bosses. The most irritating gameplay mechanic that I struggled with was movement. The game isn’t built for running, turning, and jumping. And it was an absolute struggle to do some of the traversal-based side missions — you’ll know what I mean if you encounter these islands called the “Gestral beaches”. I admit these aren’t important, and you should try the game anyway! The game is best played with a controller; don’t bother going at it with a keyboard and mouse. It is currently available on Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation. I played this game for free as it comes as part of the Xbox PC Game Pass.