Introduction
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the debut game of Sandfall Interactive and it is clearly a passion project by the team. This game evokes the spirit of turn-based RPGs like Final Fantasy and combines that with an incredibly satisfying dodge and parry system. The world itself is very unique and I found the plot to be very engaging. For those who want to go in knowing nothing about the plot, there are some story spoilers ahead for the opening of the game in the next section.
“For those who come after”
The world of Expedition 33 is a somber yet beautiful one. You start in the city of Lumiere, a French-styled city complete with a melted Eiffel Tower, on the day of an event called the Gommage (which I do not want to spoil). You play as Gustave and as you travel through the city you learn from others about the Paintress, the figure sitting in front of the ominous monolith on the horizon. Every year the Paintress wakes and paints a new number on the monolith, counting down every year. When she paints a new number, everyone of that age or above Gommages. The goal of the titular expeditions is for a group with a year left to travel across the Continent and defeat the Paintress and put a stop to the Gommages, all while leaving behind whatever they can to aid the following expeditions. As RPG openings go, Expedition 33 not only has a fascinating and impactful start, but it also gets to the point quite quickly – something not all RPGs can say. I will refrain from giving any more specifics on the story as this is something that is best experienced knowing as little as possible but it is one filled with emotion that really resonated with me.
A Cut Above
Sandfall Interactive are quite clear in their love for older turn based RPGs like Final Fantasy, and they have taken that style and absolutely run with it. Encounters in Expedition 33 are turn based and offer the player the chance to dodge and parry the enemy attacks whilst using well timed button presses to power up their own skills. Dodging has a more generous timing window than parrying, but parries give your characters more ability points to spend on skills and nailing a full set of them lets you counterattack. Perfectly parrying a full set of attacks and watching the team unleash a devastating counter is one of the most satisfying battle mechanics I’ve come across in an RPG. Each member of the expedition has their own unique skills and gimmicks – Gustave, for instance, charges his mechanical arm with attacks and parries which powers up his Overcharge skill based on the number of charges. Alongside this, you also have standard attacks and shooting attacks, which are brilliant for targeting weak spots or hitting high evasion enemies.
This system by itself is addictive enough but the character building aspect is incredibly in depth with a massive amount of customisation being possible. You will accrue gear called Lumina which boost stats and most importantly have an ability that once the gear has been used in 4 battles becomes available for all party members. These abilities range from healing when you parry, doubling the debuffs you place on enemies or giving the character a power boost when they are fighting alone. Each Lumina ability has a point cost and you get more character points through levelling up. There are many synergies you can find between abilities and I had a blast finding new combinations. This is expanded even more with the weapons you’ll find. Each one scales off a character’s stats and as you upgrade them they gain new abilities and these are worth building around. One mid-game weapon I got ended up being my favourite and I was using it in the endgame – it gave the character a free basic attack per turn which meant I could give them a lot of Lumina skills that synergise with those. The basic stats and skill trees are all point based from levelling up and the game is quite generous with the respec items so you can easily reset these and try new combinations. You can really tell that the team at Sandfall wanted to make a system with as much freedom as possible and there’s so much potential for building your characters. The only slight downside is the list of Lumina abilities steadily increases and by the endgame it is quite a job to find specific abilities without sorting them and I would recommend marking favourites for the ones that you use most to help yourself later on.
The Best Expedition
The characters of Expedition 33 are more than just their skills and abilities of course. The members of the expedition are all interesting and nuanced characters in their own ways outside of their gameplay mechanics. Despite the rather somber tone of the world, these are people who have their own quirks and support each other. At times their interactions are genuinely very funny in light of everything. I don’t want to spoil my favourite but he injects a lot of humour in his own way whenever he shows up. Whilst on the overworld (another excellent nod to the RPGs that inspired this one) you can set up camp to rest, improve your gear and talk to the other party members. The interactions here are mostly optional but they flesh out and humanise these characters even more and it really felt like they were unwinding from what they’ve gone through. The voice acting and motion capture are all a major part of this and there are some big names in the cast from gaming voices such as Ben Starr and Jennifer English to actors like Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis.
Clair Obscur
The environments in the game are wonderfully bizarre throughout the game. From underwater reefs to snowy peaks, each area has its own style which sets them apart from one another. You can see landmarks like the Monolith on the horizon and you can get a sense of scale from the overworld. There are definitely some areas that are more interesting than others but there is a good variety and this does mean the more visually appealing areas will stick with you. The term Clair-Obscur is a French term where you use contrasts between light and dark in a painting – a very thematic title indeed!
I have to mention about the music as well as the soundtrack is full of catchy eyeworms. From atmospheric overtures to powerful boss themes, Expedition 33 has all your fantasy staples. The theme from Lumiere in particular lives in my head rent-free and there’s a theme for my favourite character which is a highlight.
Conclusion
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a love letter to the turn based RPG genre and the battle system is a fantastic combination of strategic skill use and real-time dodging and countering of the enemy skills. The plot and world building is intriguing right from the outset and the characters are full of life. If you have ever played an RPG before you have to give Expedition 33 a try and even if you are not normally a fan of turn based games, you will likely find this one to be far more active than you would expect. It is going to take a lot for any game this year to dethrone this as my game of the year.
