Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall’s First RPG Makes Existential Doom Feel Majestic

A Familiar Feeling, Yet Strikingly New

Rolling the credits on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 felt like finishing a mash-up of Elden Ring, Final Fantasy, and the melancholic pulse of Nier Replicant—only to realize nothing else plays quite like it. Yes, it boasts a star-studded voice cast, a haunting score, and turn-based combat spiked with real-time thrills, but what lingers is its mythic ambition. Ever since the game’s reveal at the June 2024 Xbox Showcase, its imagery has camped in my daydreams—and after 31 hours, it still refuses to leave.

A Ritual of Erasure

French indie outfit Sandfall Interactive drops us onto Lumière, a secluded island ruled by an annual ritual of dread. Each year the mysterious Paintress daubs a shrinking number—now 33—onto a sky-piercing monolith. Anyone whose age matches that numeral succumbs to Gommage, dissolving into smoke and flower petals. “We’re already dead, just catching up,” locals quip, masking dread with gallows humor. Those determined to break the cycle sign up as expeditioners, braving yearly assaults on the Paintress. Thirty-two attempts have failed. The game follows the thirty-third—and perhaps final—march.

A Living Diorama of Belle Époque Dreams

Few games court the eye like Clair Obscur. Picture Belle Époque wardrobes, art-deco skylines, and high-fantasy monsters—then view them as if Warhammer miniatures striding through a luminous diorama. Hostile Nevrons stalk the path; aloof spirits merely watch humanity’s slow parade to oblivion. The world begs for detours, and the level design rewards curiosity with combat-boosting trinkets and 60-plus journals penned by fallen expeditions. These diary-fragments read like last breaths turned into poetry, grounding the loot-loop in poignant history.

Combat: Chess at the Speed of a Parry

Sandfall fuses turn-based strategy with real-time reflexes. You queue skills, then dodge or parry incoming blows to amplify damage. Powerful “risky” abilities can backfire spectacularly—as my self-inflicted fireball taught me. Optional bosses tempt you with new Pictos (active skills) and Luminas (passives usable by anyone), encouraging constant experimentation rather than XP grinding.

Twenty hours in, my MVP trio emerged:

• Sciel – a scythe-spinning duelist who stacks damage with card-throws.
• Lune – a barefoot mage whose spells float like butterflies and sting like plasmids.
• Monoco – a hulking brawler who steals enemy powers Naruto-style.

Their abilities looped into an endless buff engine, and even their battlefield swagger—shoulder rolls, head tilts—evoked highlight-reel basketball confidence.

Kinks in the Masterpiece

Perfection is elusive. The absence of a photo mode means the pause menu photobombs Lumière’s twisted Eiffel-Tower vistas. Platforming sections feel twitchy. Yet these hiccups barely dent the momentum powered by kinetic fights and richly weird storytelling.

Voices That Carry the Weight

Despite its somber premise, the script never wallows. Campfire banter, budding romances, and quips keep things human. Charlie Cox, Jennifer English, and Ben Starr deliver chemistry that sells every joke, argument, and whispered fear.

A Finale that Stumbles, Then Soars

The closing act momentarily overdoses on high-concept twists, stapling an almost alien narrative onto an otherwise tight premise. Voice acting steadies the wobble until the final revelation snaps themes back into focus. It’s messy ambition, but ambition worth applauding.

Verdict: A Dazzling Debut Worth the Pilgrimage

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn’t just a promising debut—it’s a proof-of-concept for how turn-based RPGs can feel modern without shedding their strategic soul. Sandfall Interactive turns existential despair into a canvas of beauty, hope, and relentless experimentation. If this is only expedition one for the studio, count me in for many more.