Describing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ($49.99, tested on PC, also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S) is like detailing a fever dream. Imagine a turn-based RPG with a Persona-like UI, timing-based battle mechanics that recall Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and a dark fantasy twist on France's Belle Époque period. Expedition 33 is one of the year's most unique releases, with richly detailed graphics, stellar voice performances, and a distinct combat system that sets it far apart from the competition. However, its beautiful world is extremely linear and empty, and the gameplay, as rich as it may be, lives or dies by how much you can stand quick-time events (QTE) in your combat. 

Plot: A Story of Damaged People

Set against the backdrop of a dystopian France, Expedition 33's world has been brought to the brink of extinction by a being called the Paintress. Every year, she paints a number onto a monolith, counting down to 0, which triggers a "gommage" and turns everyone who has passed that age to ash. To battle this threat, the survivors gather those with a year left on the clock to set forth on expeditions to locate and destroy the Paintress.

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You control Gustave, an engineer with a mechanical arm. His crew is attacked by a mysterious old man who single-handedly decimates the group. Gustave survives, but the trauma brings him to the brink of taking his own life. He’s stopped by Lune, a mage and fellow survivor. With the reality of the situation setting in, she reminds Gustave of the expedition’s mantra, "When one falls, we continue."

A short while later, Lune and Gustave find an unsigned message explaining that Maelle, Gustave’s adopted younger sister who joined the Expedition at the last moment, might still be alive. Gustave wants to drop everything and save her, but Lune, still wracked with guilt over the failed landing she orchestrated, worries they've wandered into a trap.

(Credit: Sandfall Interactive/PCMag)

The dramatic opening sets the tone for Expedition 33. The characters, motivated by guilt, loss, and trauma, come to life thanks to excellent voice work from Hollywood big hitters like Charlie Cox (Daredevil) and Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) as well as gaming industry favorites like Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate III) and Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI). Similarly, the music enhances the atmosphere, with many melancholic strings and stirring vocals that promise to wring every bit of melodrama from every emotional beat.

Gameplay: Unique Combat and Deep RPG Mechanics

Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG, but it utilizes an active combat system in the same vein as classic RPGs like The Legend of the Dragoon or Paper Mario. Upon activating a skill, you must time your button presses to maximize your damage output. You do the same when defending, timing your dodges, jumps, and parries to survive.

(Credit: Sandfall Interactive)

Big risks equal big rewards. Dodging attacks nets attack points (AP), but nailing a parry (which has a much smaller window) nets AP and a stylish counterblow. There's great satisfaction when you successfully read an enemy's attack, which keeps the combat engaging. You can even free aim and target an enemy's weak spots with a projectile before dealing out a proper attack.

Your Expedition 33 enjoyment hinges on how well you can stomach the timing-based combat. Although there are frequent checkpoints, you will die fast if you don't press the buttons at the right time. Missing a dodge or a parry proves catastrophic in hard fights, but even low-level brawls end pretty quickly if you're clumsy on the dodge.

Each party member has a unique combat style that requires good planning to properly execute. Gustave overcharges his mechanical hand after 10 successful hits and unleashes a huge blow. Likewise, Maelle changes her fencing stance with every skill she uses. My favorite? Lune, who generates Elemental Stains with each skill use.

Some skills consume Stains, boosters that make moves more powerful. For example, you'll deal extra damage by unleashing Lune's Immolation move with a Light Stain in your holster. So, you should think ahead and use moves that create Stains that boost your abilities.

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The RPG also has passive abilities: Pictos. They function like Badges in Paper Mario, giving your character extra functionality, such as gaining extra AP after a successful dodge. After bringing a Picto into battle four times, the Pico's passive ability becomes a Lumina. It activates the power without you equipping the corresponding Picto.

Equipping Lumina requires Lumina Points, so you must decide whether to do so or keep the Picto active and spend the points on other passive traits you've unlocked. This gives you room to experiment and customize characters as the party grows, though you can't change their class. There's no explicit mage or knight roles, but the cast fits into classic RPG archetypes.

You'll quickly realize that there's not much to do outside combat. There are few towns in the traditional RPG sense, and there aren't many side missions or quests. That said, I found the occasional puzzle or combat challenge while exploring the overworld. 

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Between battles, you can camp with your party. Here's where you can interact and learn more about the cast. However, the dialogue options don't affect how conversations play out. You'll be disappointed if you expect Baldur’s Gate III-style interactions. Collectibles are strewn across the world, including notes from past expeditions that fill in the game’s backstory, playable music records, and new outfits. Aside from that, there's not much else to do.

Despite the exciting combat, I felt significant fatigue as I entered the game's back half. Enemy variety became stagnant, and late-game bosses tossed out lengthy moves that sometimes required eight consecutive dodges. It was exhausting to the point where I'd sometimes dodge fights altogether just to make it to the next checkpoint.

Graphics and Performance

Expedition 33 is easily one of the year's best-looking games. The many areas you'll visit are densely packed with wonderfully warped scenery. One is littered with long-dead corpses suspended in the air as if they were raptured. Another takes place in an area that behaves as if you’re underwater. At times, Expedition 33 feels like a twisted fairy tale, something akin to Alice in Wonderland but far more French (complete with mimes and marionettes).

(Credit: Sandfall Interactive/PCMag)

Those terrific graphics require significant resources. Developer Sandfall Interactive recommends that your gaming PC have at least an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or Intel Core i7-11700K CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and either an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB) or a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB) GPU. I came under budget with a Nvidia GeForce 3060 and Intel Core i7-10700K, but I managed just fine at a locked 60fps with a combination of Low and Medium presets at 1080p resolution. Expedition 33 supports Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, and Steam Family Sharing, but not Steam Deck.

Even at lower settings, the game is a visual showcase for Unreal Engine 5, with many particle effects, reflections, and dream-like visuals; just don’t expect to interact with any of it. The environments paint the scene and nothing more, reminding me of the pre-rendered backgrounds of old PlayStation games. While exploring a new area, you may find one or two paths that lead you to a hidden treasure, but most of the time, invisible walls and a static environment keep you moving from point A to point B, occasionally using your magical zipline to traverse a gap.

It doesn't take long for the environments to blend together, and without an in-region map, I constantly found myself getting turned around. Although some areas are vibrant and colorful, much of the game shares a similar, dimmer color palette, which robs locales of their luster.

Eventually, Expedition 33 begins to ring hollow. By the time I rolled credits at roughly the 30-hour mark, I was satisfied with my journey but had no desire to explore this Franco Fantasy any further.