A quirky RPG not quite like anything you’ve played before, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of those games where the less you know going in, the better. Many of its systems, themes, and features will feel fairly familiar. However, the way first-time studio Sandfall Interactive has moulded those pieces together is unusual.

This is a good thing, for after so many formulaic efforts over recent years, the title feels like a breath of fresh air. If you’re willing to let it take you on its ride, then Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 represents one of the most bizarrely excellent experiences on PS5.

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Using the traditions of the turn-based RPG genre to craft equal parts combat and exploration, you’ll journey across The Continent to try and put a stop to The Paintress and her quest to count down to zero.

Every year, she inscribes a number onto her Monolith, and every person of that age is left with 12 months to live before they turn to dust. Each year, the city of Lumiere sends a battalion of warriors and mages of the age she paints to try and take her down. All have failed.

You join Expedition 33, which must now bear the weight of humanity’s eventual extinction on its own shoulders and succeed where others have not. The group meets immediate disaster after arriving on the shores of The Paintress, but as a small group of fighters band together in the aftermath, there’s still a glimmer of hope things might be different this time.

What follows is a roughly 35-hour adventure featuring some of the most engrossing storytelling on PS5. Gustave is generally seen as the leader of the pack that rises from the ashes, though as you recruit more party members, the story develops in depth and emotion to make every character a critical part. With twists and turns on top, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 marks an impressive debut for Sandfall Interactive.

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There’s a real sense of quality coursing through the script and the cutscenes bringing it to life. The voice cast features stars like Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars), Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI), and Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate 3), and their on-screen personas are enhanced through skilful and surprising cinematography techniques.

While the lip-sync doesn’t always quite line up correctly, every cutscene remains gripping, with an already intriguing plot heightened by distinctive camera angles and excellent voice acting. It’s proof you don’t need the biggest budget in the world to produce something special. With a chain of events that dares to take risks and refuses to pull any punches, the RPG builds on its compelling setup to deliver the most absorbing of narratives.

Linking all those story sequences together are plentiful bursts of turn-based battles and exploration that follow an interesting structure. The plot is told linearly and requires you reach specific locations to continue its tale. These places are spread across an overworld map called The Continent, which you’re given free access to traverse. You can choose to go straight for the main objective off in the distance or take some time out to explore optional areas that flesh out the world with new settings and challenges.

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Fully exploring these regions is how your playtime could comfortably balloon to 60 hours or more, but they’re also where you’ll encounter some of the more peculiar and comical facets of the game.

From off-the-wall dialogue to minigames that emulate other video game concepts, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a truly bizarre experience at times. It can go from an emotional, intense cutscene to its version of Only Up! within a few minutes, or surprise you with a comedic scene that allows the voice cast to thrive in their roles.

The contrast feels uncanny at first and can present a bit of tonal whiplash. However, the more common it becomes, the more you start to enjoy it. You can never correctly guess what’s going to happen next, or what you might find in a new area. It gives the game a sense of mystique, which, when coupled with the serious story, makes for something that’ll make you cry and then laugh through the tears. Sandfall Interactive finds a nice balance, though, allowing each emotion its place and enough time to come to terms with it before moving on.

What remains a constant is the combat, which expands the classic turn-based structure with dodges and parries that turn enemy attacks into another chance to deal damage. You form a party of three for every battle, and every member brings with them their own mechanic and forms of attack.

Gustave, for example, is repeatedly working to build an Overcharge meter that delivers a lightning blast. He gains charges from using other abilities, and the more it’s powered up, the more damage it deals. Maelle, meanwhile, switches between three stances that adjust her stats based on what attacks you use, and Lune produces and consumes Stains to boost her elemental skills.

The party members who join Expedition 33 after the starting three also have their own means of engagement, providing a different way to think about combat and how you approach it.

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Where the title goes above and beyond, however, is by morphing enemy turns into the opportunity to become your own. All of their attacks can be either dodged or parried, and special moves can be jumped over or prevented with a Gradient Attack. If you successfully parry every strike, you’ll retaliate with an attack of your own that often deals more damage than your standard abilities — the same goes for jumping and Gradient Attacks.

This mechanic gives the battle system its depth and style, turning an enemy’s sequence of attacks into a theatrical performance you must match your button presses to. It’s especially satisfying to counterattack after parrying a difficult sequence of blows, and once you’ve mastered everything they have to offer, you’ll start to welcome their attacks more than your own.

Away from the battlefield, you can customise your loadout through a series of Pictos and Luminas. These two interlocking features prove confusing at first, and the menu they’re found on does little to clear things up.

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Essentially, the Pictos are perks you can equip to your three party members. After using them for four battles, their effect turns into a Lumina. These Luminas can then be equipped onto your other characters in exchange for a currency, effectively spreading the benefits of the Pictos to everyone in your party instead of just a single person.

You’ll wrap your head around the functions eventually, but in the early game, their implementation is puzzling. Thankfully, other sources of customisation like weapon upgrades and outfit changes are a lot more straightforward.

With such a stylish battle system of turn-taking and counterattacks accompanying fun exploration, various customisation elements, and the superb story, there’s never a moment where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 falters. Its narrative-rich content and stellar battles shine most, but Sandfall Interactive has created a game so charming and engaging that every element oozes quality.

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The same goes for how it looks and runs — at least on PS5 Pro. Our playthrough was mostly conducted in Performance Mode, where the title ran at a rock-solid 60 frames-per-second. The visuals match with beautiful scenery both in and out of cutscenes, while most locations bring their own vibe and colour palette with them. The underwater sequences of Flying Waters and the icy mountain housing Monoco’s Station look like they should be worlds apart, yet the overworld map of The Continent can put them under one roof.

A fair bit of texture pop-in will cause distraction as you venture from one landmark to the next, but the game ran flawlessly for us besides that. Then, if you’d rather bump up the resolution, Quality Mode will let you appreciate the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a little bit more. If anything, it deserves to be. With a fantastic soundtrack boasting more than 150 tracks on top, it's a true delight for all the senses.

Conclusion

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the most refreshing and original RPGs in years, even if it’s not immediately obvious from the outside looking in. The intriguing setup expands to provide an engrossing, excellent narrative with lovable and charismatic characters. The exemplary combat goes above and beyond its turn-based traditions with flashy fights and new ways to damage. This is the kind of experience that proves there’s still so much potential and creativity in the bigger-budget video game space — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is simply sublime.

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