Expedition 33

Sandfall

I’ve lost track of how many turn-based RPGs I’ve bounced off of over time, even some GOTY contenders, or winners, that I won’t name here for risk of embarrassment. So when once again, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was recommended as a “must-play,” my gut instinct was “here we go again.”

Nope. Not this time.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an epic work of art that fixed my turn-based issues and allowed me to experience what may in fact be one of the best RPG storylines in genre history. Possibly even in video game history, given how beautiful, sad and moving it is. But that’s just one aspect in addition the acting, the atmosphere, the music and yes, the combat. It’s hard to find practically any faults here. You don’t need to skip to the end, this could not have been a more obvious 10/10 and it’s easily my frontrunner for GOTY, even just a couple weeks after Blue Prince had that title on lock for me (don’t get me wrong, I still love Blue Prince).

Expedition 33 tells the story of Gustave, a man living in a badly broken version of Paris that has been devastated by a calamity that continues unfolding every year. Citizens only live to their 30s before being erased by a mysterious, giant figure in the horizon, The Paintress, who puts up a new number on a huge pillar as a countdown from 100. We’re at 33.

Expedition 33

Sandfall

That’s the expedition number, as citizens are routinely sent out to attempt to kill The Paintress and stop this cycle. They’ve failed 67 times, but this time will work, right? Well, that’s what you’re going to find out, but things quickly go sideways and you’re left with a core party of Gustave, his de-facto daughter Maelle, element-wielder Lune and then others you will pick up along the way, as is RPG tradition.

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Charlie Cox, Daredevil himself, stands out in his first video game role, but the voice cast goes on to include legends like Andy Serkis and Ben Starr as characters I won’t detail here. But the entire cast is excellent and between the voicework and the motion capture, convey emotion in a way we don’t often see in the genre.

RPG storylines are often a bit…over the top for my tastes, depending on the game, and while this wild world does require some brain-breaking processing, it’s still a coherent tale and features some of the biggest, most stunning twists I’ve come across in gaming, ones that I was genuinely not expecting, and that the playerbase has been kind enough not to spoil. All you can say is…wait for Act 2. Wait for Act 3. Wait for the Epilogue. You’ll understand when you get to each of them.

The environment design here is out of this world. I’ve taken so many screenshots I’ve lost count, and just when you think you’ve seen the coolest area, there’s another one around the corner. All of this is bolstered by an incredible score that is immediately something you’ll want to add to your Spotify, if it doesn’t give you PTSD from the emotional moments of the game or the most exhausting boss fights.

Expedition 33

Sandfall

That brings us to combat, the thing that allowed me to push forward through the game due to its mix of turn-based strategy and real-time reactions, namely dodging and parrying with the necessary accompanying timing and reflexes. It’s not the first game to do this, but it’s the best, and for 30+ hours now, it has maintained its appeal, though perhaps even better is the “Pico” build system to create some truly interesting and fun characters, be they DPS, tanks or support, with no one specific character locked into one of those roles, and enough flexibility to experiment.

Even a 10 won’t have nothing wrong with it. At some point, if you find a build that works, your rotations can get a little dull, and there are only a handful of encounters that really make you switch up your strategies dramatically (a guy who could only take damage from parry counters, for instance. And these damn Mimes. You’ll see). And in some encounters, attempting to dodge or parry eight-hit combos every other turn or one-hit KO moves can be a little exhausting.

I’m also not the biggest fan of navigation, especially in the open worlds when you want to get back to certain zones. I enjoy flying and swimming around on our personal Baymax, but it’s pretty easy to waste time getting lost rather than zapping to a place you’ve already been.

They’re minor annoyances. It’s a stunning game that only gets more and more stunning the further you get. It’s an easy recommend to anyone, even people like me who have previously been allergic to turn-based combat. You may have to get used to it, but push past and learn the systems to experience once of the best games you may play in years.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.