I did not expect to care about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 this much. When I first saw the announcement, I thought it looked interesting but figured it would be another pretty indie RPG with good ideas and rough execution. I was wrong. Spectacularly, embarrassingly wrong. Sixty hours later, I sat through the credits with a lump in my throat and immediately started a New Game Plus run. That almost never happens to me. I have played thousands of games, and the ones that make me want to experience them again immediately can be counted on one hand. Expedition 33 is on that hand now, and it earned its spot there through a combination of factors that I am still unpacking weeks later.
The Combat That Hooks You Immediately
Let me get the obvious thing out of the way first. The combat in this game is phenomenal. I have played a lot of turn-based RPGs, and I have played a lot of action games, and I have never played anything that combines the two this effectively. The parry system, clearly inspired by Sekiro, makes every enemy encounter feel like a skill check. You queue up your attacks during the turn-based phase, then execute real-time dodges and parries when enemies strike back. That cycle never gets old. Even in hour forty, I was still leaning forward in my chair during boss fights, hands gripping the controller, heart rate elevated like I was playing a pure action game.
The Break system adds a strategic layer that keeps you thinking during both phases. Do you focus on breaking enemy defenses for a stun window, or do you go for raw damage while you have the opportunity? Gradient Attacks reward precise timing with increased damage, giving skilled players a reason to keep improving even against weaker enemies. I have seen people compare the combat to Chrono Trigger meets Sekiro, and that is not far off. It takes the best ideas from both traditions and fuses them into something that feels entirely new.
Characters That Feel Like Real People
Voice acting in games has gotten better over the years, but Expedition 33 operates on a different level entirely. Charlie Cox as Gustave, Jennifer English as Maelle, Ben Starr as Verso, Andy Serkis as Scally, Kirsty Rider as Lune. That is a roster that would be impressive for a AAA blockbuster, and every single one of them delivers career-best work here. The six hours of voiced dialogue never feel like filler. Every conversation reveals something about the characters or the world, and the quieter moments between action sequences are where the performances really shine.
What separates these characters from typical RPG party members is specificity. Gustave is not just a determined hero. He is a specific person with specific grief and specific ways of coping that the game explores in detail. Maelle is not just a plucky sidekick. She has a complicated relationship with her family's legacy that the game treats with genuine nuance. Verso is not just the mysterious amnesiac. His memory loss has consequences that affect his personality and his relationships in ways that feel authentic rather than convenient for the plot. These are characters you spend time with, not characters you observe from a distance, and that distinction changes how much you invest in their journey.
A World You Do Not Want to Leave
Lumiere is one of the best-designed hub worlds I have ever explored in an RPG. Walking through its Belle Epoque streets, past Art Deco storefronts and surrealist public art installations, I kept stopping just to look at things. Not because the game forced me to, but because the world was interesting enough to make me want to. That is a rare quality. Most game worlds are backgrounds. Lumiere is a place. It has a history, a culture, a visual identity that is completely its own. The game won Best Art Direction at The Game Awards, and you can see why within the first hour.
The Fracture zones take that visual identity in a darker direction, and the contrast between the beauty of the painted world and the horror of its broken regions makes both feel more impactful. Sandfall's artists, many of whom came from Ubisoft, clearly brought years of AAA environmental design experience with them, and the result is a game that looks like nothing else on the market. The painterly aesthetic is not a gimmick. It is the foundation of the entire experience, and every piece of the game's design reinforces the premise that you are inside a work of art that has gone terribly wrong.
Why Word of Mouth Made It a Phenomenon
Expedition 33 did not become the highest-rated RPG of 2025 through marketing alone. It became a phenomenon because people who played it could not stop talking about it. I recommended it to six friends within my first week. Three of them bought it the same day. Two of them finished it within two weeks and recommended it to their own friends. That chain reaction is how a thirty-person studio wins nine Game Awards including Game of the Year. The game earned every bit of its success by being genuinely excellent in ways that are easy to communicate. The combat is fun. The story is emotional. The world is beautiful. The characters are memorable. Those are simple statements, but executing all of them at this level is extraordinarily difficult.
If you have not played Expedition 33 yet, I genuinely envy you. Getting to experience this game for the first time is a gift, and I wish I could erase my memory and do it all over again. Play it on Game Pass if you want to try before you buy. Play it on your platform of choice if you already know you want in. Just play it. The industry does not produce games like this very often, and when it does, the least we can do as players is pay attention.
Wear Your Fandom
Full disclosure, one gamer to another: we run this shop because games like Expedition 33 remind us why we fell in love with the medium in the first place. Our Ghost of Yotei hoodies are premium streetwear for story-driven players, $44 each with flat $10 shipping to more than 100 countries. The Dark Gray Hoodie is the one sitting on the back of my chair right now, and the Atsu & Mount Yotei print still gets comments every time I wear it.
