When I previewed CLair Obscur: Campaign 33 Earlier this year, I had a feeling it was going to be something special. The time-based RPG combat was reminiscent of Super Mario RPG and felt extremely satisfying and engaging. What kernels of story were available was a strong sense of world-building. And the scenery was incredibly different, immediately caught my eye. Based on a few hours with the early part of the game, I felt like the rest of the game could match or exceed the preview content. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Had a strong chance of being my game of the year. And I was right.
Sandfall Interactive is already on a tear with awards season only just beginning. Clair Obscur Cleaned up at the Golden Joystick Awards, and I'd be surprised if there wasn't some hardware from The Game Awards next week. While games like Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksongand Death Stranding 2 Deserving of much praise and sure to attract attention, as it seems Clair Obscur There is a certain speed.
I love Claire Obscure, but it almost lost me in Act 3
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a fantastic game, but Act 3 doesn't quite land as well as the rest of the definitive development experience.
For me, the time-based combat, story, performance, music, and visuals add up to an unforgettable experience. Its gameplay is satisfying and addictive, the world is fascinating, and the cast of characters will stay with me for a long time. I have a few games in my backlog that I need to get to, but right now, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 My game of the year. I'm not surprised that it took the top spot on my personal top 10 list, but what is surprising is that the game earned the nod despite featuring two of my biggest video game pet peeves.
The first pet killed it Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Guilty of unique to RPGs, and This includes forcing you to use certain characters as part of your team or swapping characters without your control.. I know this is pretty common for RPGs, but I'm the type of gamer who likes to invest in a particular team structure and go all-in on it. I like to have my healer/mage, my damage dealer, and my utility character, and then focus on leveling and optimizing them as much as possible.
Not knowing how much friction I might run into within the course of an RPG, I'll usually grind my main team members pretty well to level/upgrade them. Maybe I overlevel, maybe I don't, but I generally like to make sure I have money to unlock new abilities, level up my weapons, and spend on useful items. But then, when the game decides I can't access a character, for story reasons or otherwise, I get frustrated because the weaker character then has to rotate. I have now lost a key member of my team comp and must try to get this new member to work.
As I mentioned, Clair Obscur This approach is not unique. Final Fantasy IV It switches very quickly with CecilChrono Cross makes very significant changes to your original characters after the first act, and Final Fantasy 12 Exchange teams frequently. This is a pet peeve of mine and I practically expect it at this point. But what difference does it make? Clair Obscur And other games how they deal with it.
i think Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 It approaches this idea by allowing all members of your party to gain XP from battles (even if less than the main members). but, If you choose not to use Maelle, or Lune, or Gustave, or whoever, they will still be close to your main team level. For the sake of spoilers, I won't go much further than that, but I appreciated that Sandfall made it easy to get those potential switches.
On top of that, the mechanical differences between each character made it so I wanted to switch characters in and out. I enjoyed learning the value of each character's mechanic compared to the enemy in front of me and experimenting with different roles. Also, I like how Sandfall addressed the collapse situation by allowing you to swap in a new campaign team if you eliminate three members. For every element of the “strong switch” that I can be disappointed with, Clair Obscur was the correct answer.
Another pet will bite it Clair Obscur The game involves platforming when there are no supporting mechanics. You can see many rage-filled forum threads about gestural beaches Campaign 33And I share that frustration. Final Fantasy 15 There was an alternate platforming segment that did the same thing, seemingly in an attempt to mix things up. Without the precision of the platforming-focused mechanics, jumping and sticking to landings can lead to some very frustrating moments, and on those beaches, it feels like you're just playing up, not an RPG.
Like Pitios ruins Final Fantasy XVIn the vast majority of platforming Clair Obscur is optional. I still felt compelled to finish those sections because I'm a masochist and a perfectionist, but for others, they can easily go away. still, That's probably my biggest knock against the game. If the mantle was more consistent or if the roll after the sprint jump wasn't harder to control, I might have felt differently. I know I'm not alone in this.
Even with those two elements that usually take the game down a peg or two on my personal review scale, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 2025 is my favorite game. As for character swapping, I think Sandfall Interactive has a handful of elegant solutions that made it a non-issue in my playthrough. Platforming, on the other hand, is a pain point, but it's mostly optional. It's hard to put it against the game as a whole.
Really, it's a credit to the game that I still think so highly of it that it includes those two pets. And if those elements affect your enjoyment of the game, I think that's fair. For me, though, everything around the game is so great that none of the “bad” affects my enjoyment.
- issued
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April 24, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and gore, strong language, suggestive themes, violence
- developer(s)
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Sandfall Interactive
- publisher(s)
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Kepler Interactive
