Clair Obscur’s Expedition 33 wasn’t a surprisingly good game. We could could actually tell just how good it was from the initial announcement trailer and what ended up being surprising was how much better it actually it is than what we saw. This game is that good and I was finally able to finish the game and get to end game and play NG+ and I personally feel like now is the right time to drop this late but necessary review of what is arguably as it stands right as GOTY. This review is really just an overview and what I learned playing Expedition 33 and it’s not a traditional review. This game has so many intricacies within it that the best way to talk about it was this way.
STORY
The story of Expedition 33 is one of the most unique stories within in a game that I’ve ever experienced. I’ll try to explain as best II can without giving much away because despite the fact that the game has been out there for awhile and sure, you can find every type of video on YouTube that will show you every part of the game. You won’t get that here.
The short version of this story is similar to the movie In Time if you’ve ever seen it. Basically, in that movie everyone is born to live up until they’re 25th year of life and what ultimately keeps you alive is working for time to keep living andd if you’ve earned enough time to keep living well then, you’re rich.
This game uses a somewhat similar premise. The Paintress as she’s known counts down the year every year and depending on how “old” you are determines whether you’ll keep living or ultimately go through an event called the gommage where you disappear Thanos style.
Every year an expedition crew goes out to try and stop the Paintress and the Gommage and this year it’s year 33 and the Expedition crew is Expedition 33 and this is the crux of the story and although I won’t reveal anything else. All I’ll say is there are so many twists and turns and whatever you think this game is about is kinda correct but mostly, it isn’t. It’s a riveting story and it sucks you in and you’ll find you can’t stop playing.
PICTOS, LUMINA AND ATTRIBUTES
Pictos and Lumina are the core component of the characters in the game and I won’t lie, it took me awhile, damn near until Act 3 to fully understand them I was quite confused about how they work together and benefit my character and team, mind you, you basically spend the entire game collecting Pictos and Lumina. Yes, sometimes you gotta walk me there slowly.
Lumina helps you to master the said skill of a Pictos so it becomes a Lumina and with that knowledge I was able to create better character builds. Like I said, for me, understanding the relationship between Pictos and Lumina was confusing at first.
Attributes was also something I had to learn how to use properly because it was also a bit un-conventional . I was using it to balance out each character only to realize later that the methodology I thought was the smartest was the most detrimental to my character.
Each character has an affinity for certain skills and combined with your weapon which also has a weakness burn and an affinity for which you’ll get the most out of character. For my playthrough, learning to use Sciel and Monoco gave me the best understanding of attributes and what were my weakest characters in my Expedition 33 at first ended up being super powerful once I set out my attributes the right way coupled with skills and lumina. Once I learned this, everything changed
ACT 3
After a big boss battle the game opens up entirely. No spoilers but we learn that there is actually a war going on and navigating the game going forward is so much different. In fact, in my opinion the game doesn’t really begin until Act 3.
Once you solidify your relationships with your crew and Esquie this is where I personally took the time and searched the map in its entirety. I could’ve gone straight to end game but I knew I would cheating myself out of all this game offers.
So much of the game is packed into Act 3. I don’t want to make this review a tutorial but I would say DO NOT rush to end game. Act 3 is a free for all to learn the continent and really build out and overpower your character so that way end game is light work. Don’t be hasty. There are dungeons, enemies, flying objects, things underwater and so on that were not available right away. Play this game out completely as much as you can and get to level 99 if you wish. I took the time to retrace my steps and get those rare Pictos and farm my ass off to be ready for not just end game but NG+.
DODGING AND PARRYING
I don’t intend to elaborate too much on dodging and parrying because it’s pretty straightforward. I’ll say this. You will NOT ever beat this game unless you have some mastery of one or both skills, preferably both. Mastering that timing to either dodge or parry is one thing, knowing when to use either or is another. In my playthrough I realized that while parrying can lead to super powerful damaging counterattacks it isn’t always the best option, some attacks really force you to dodge despite the fact that basically every attack can be parried. Discernment is the way to win battles.
ESQUIE
Esquie pronounced Es-ski-yay is easily or at least in my opinion the best and most important character in the game. As much as this game relies on the characters that you’re engaging in battles with, nothing happens without Esquie. He is the one that changes this game and opens up the entire map completely once you help him find his powers and capabilities.
He’s a gentle giant with a child like candor that you can’t help but love. Even what seems like child like intelligence with Esquie underlies the wisdom of a being that’s been around longer than we realize in the game and more powerful than we realize as well. Making sure that your bond with Esquie is complete is essential to end game. Once you get into Act 3 (no spoilers) Esquie is EVERYTHING
EXPEDITION 33 MIGHT BE GOTY
Expedition 33 takes the best of what we love about a good RPG and turned it into probably the best RPG that we’ve seen in quite some time.
This game felt like such a throwback and an homage to some of the greatest RPG’s ever made.
The story was intriguing and encapsulating and the more you play Expedition 33, the more the story unravels and you realize that the initial premise of the story isn’t at all what it seemed. The writing was some of the best and coupled with the one of the best scores I’ve heard in a game it felt like you were playing a movie.
The best part? Rolling credits on the game doesn’t end the game, there is so much to do afterwards in NG+. Forget about the change in difficulty. There are things in this game you can’t do until you complete the story and when you replay the game again, the game feels different so in essence you haven’t really played Expedition 33 unless you’ve played it twice and that’s not hyperbole
Whether this is GOTY of the year or not is subjective but if someone says that it is I would be inclined to agree. What Sandfall Interactive was able to create with this game has made me a diehard fan with one game under its belt. I don’t know if it’ll make sense but I hope there’s some DLC for this game and if not there better be a sequel. Kudos to Sandfall Interactive and continued success to them. You can play this game on ALL platforms and if you have an XBOX and Game Pass you can just download it. ENJOY!
