Expedition 33 is so far the hardest review to write for me. There is so much good and bad I want to say about this game. So many highs and lows. But in the end stands an unforgettable experience despite all of its flaws.

Off to a Rocky Start

The first few hours of Claire Obscur were rough for me. The game offers some unique visuals and builds up an interesting world. However, I simply couldn’t connect with its characters and the first story beats felt messy. What kept me playing in those first few hours were the engaging combat system and the voice acting. Especially when 2 characters talk to each other the voice actors really nail it. I would even go so far as to say it’s some of the best voice acting I’ve experienced in a game so far. One example for this is a dialogue rather early in the game. 2 Characters have an argument and really interrupt each other during it. This is something so natural yet we rarely see it in games.

Near the end of Act 1 and beginning of Act 2 the appeal of the game shifted for me. The characters became more interesting, the main story revealed a bit more and got me interested. At the same time, the gameplay started to become stale. I love to build up my parties in JRPGs but Expedition 33’s hard focus on the parry and dodge system makes building out a party feel way less important. Sure the better your party the faster you kill enemies but in the end it all comes down to the dodge system if you win or lose. In Boss Fights this system feels amazing, but with trash mobs and mini bosses it became really tiring.

Also other systems like the Picto just became too much. In theory, Pictos allow you to build out your characters in many different ways but the way it’s implemented just didn’t do it for me. Every Picto you find you first have to equip with one character, then kill x enemies with it to then unlock it for everyone. If the number of Pictos in the game would be small this could work. But in act 2 you find a new Picto in every corner and even checking them out and managing them just became way too much work for too little reward.

A strong aspect of Act 2 and the whole game in general is its world. In Act 2 the world opens up way more. Exploring the different environments and seeing all the creativity Sandfall Interactive put into this was really refreshing. Expedition 33 is a game that keeps you clicking on the screenshot button at all times.

In the later half of Act 2 I again was close to quitting the game. The main story slowed down as it started to send you on a typical chase quest and with the gameplay being as it is I really had a hard time continuing but I’m glad I pushed through this part. Because what comes after this is the part that makes this game so memorable.

What Really Matters

Let’s get the bad out of the way first. The amount of trash mobs and minibosses the game throws at you at the end of the game is way too much and slows the game down. So much so that I started to skip most of it. All that being said, the story and character development that happens in the last 5 hours of the game can only be described as epic. Many stories are good at creating interesting mysteries but only very rarely a storyteller manages to bring those mysteries to a satisfying ending. Claire Obscur does just that. It explains everything in a way that I didn’t see coming and that made so much sense. It got me on an emotional level. At the same time, the game opens up an even bigger world that sparks my creativity and hopes for another game in the future.

I also want to point out how the motivations of all characters just ended up making sense. There is no good or bad, it’s all grey. It’s a game about grief and the definition of what it means to be alive. This last Act makes all the characters just feel real and gives you something to think about even after the credits roll. I also can’t finish this review without speaking about the music. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of the way the french language sounds. But what the soundtrack does at the end was just outstanding and gave me chills.

A Rollercoaster Worth Taking

So is Claire Obscur in the end the masterpiece many make it out to be? For me personally it wasn’t. What makes this game special is its world and story and to experience that, I had to jump through a lot of hoops. It’s the type of game I would have enjoyed much more if it were only 10 hours long and fully focused on its story. There is already a movie in the works for this and honestly i think this story could become a real Masterpiece as a movie. All that said, I’m still glad I invested those 30 hours it took me to complete Expedition 33. In the end this game gave me some memories i will never forget and that is rare enough in gaming these days.

Rating: Recommended