It’s rare that I start a new RPG and feel my whole outlook on the genre shift in a single evening, but that’s exactly what happened when I fired up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on my RTX 4070-powered rig, expecting a pretty indie and some “artsy” combat. Honestly, I thought I’d play for an hour, meet my party, and decide if it was all style over substance. By midnight, I had to force myself to put down the controller. My chest felt tight from the weight of what I’d just witnessed, and my mind kept replaying one gut-punching early scene: Gustave, our main guy, losing the love of his life in a swirl of delicate, tragic petals.
I’ll come right out and say it: Expedition 33 is the first RPG since Persona 5 that instantly latched onto my heart and refused to let go. I know how hyperbolic that sounds, but I mean it-and if you’ve been let down by lifeless, by-the-numbers “modern” JRPGs lately, you owe yourself this experience.
I’m a lore hound, so when a game pitches me a world where an immortal “Paintress” arbitrarily wipes out everyone over 33 each year, I perk up. In Lumiere (the game’s melancholy, painterly city), society is shaped-broken really-by this annual gommage ritual. People grow up preparing to die young. Decay, urgency, and a sense of lost futures drip from every conversation and every corner of the art nouveau world Sandfall built here.
You play as Gustave (voiced by a surprisingly fragile, authentic Charlie Cox), leading a ragtag team who defy resignation and risk everything on a last-chance expedition to put an end to the Paintress’s rule. The mission is as much existential as heroic. From the very first hour, I genuinely wanted these characters to beat the odds—not just out of JRPG convention, but because I saw myself and my friends in their brief, bright lives.
I’ll admit, my biggest RPG pet peeve is the “quirky misfit party” trope, where personalities are reduced to sitcom punchlines. Thankfully, Expedition 33’s writing and voice direction are in a league of their own. Gustave’s arc, wracked by guilt and hope, sets the tone. But it’s the ensemble—spirited, scarred, fiercely refusing to fade away—that slowly worked its way under my skin.
It’s in the little details, like the way a party member lingers near a sunset, or jokes nervously before a boss. I hit a three-hour mark at a campfire scene and realized, “Wait—I actually care what happens to all of you.” That was the moment I knew this game stood apart. If you’ve played Persona 5, that feeling you got hanging out in Leblanc with the Phantom Thieves? That’s what Expedition 33 channels, but with a distinctly French melancholy and urgency I haven’t seen before.
The voice cast is star-studded (Andy Serkis, Jennifer English, Ben Starr), and their delivery lands far more often than not. There are a few uncanny moments—sometimes in the cutscenes, characters’ eyes go a bit glassy or stiff, especially during intense emotional beats. It’s a tiny thing, but I noticed it because otherwise the production is so meticulous. Any awkwardness melts away when the actors deliver yet another line that stabs right through you.
Here’s where things really click—or clack, if you’re like me, frantically hammering triggers to nail that critical dodge. On the surface, the battles feel classically turn-based with a topcoat reminiscent of Persona 5. But it’s the “reactive combat” system that redefines everything. Attacks don’t just play out while you tune out; you’re constantly learning enemy patterns, timing dodges, parrying, lining up on-the-fly inputs, and sometimes pulling off quick jumps or special counters with tight windows.
The first tough enemy that forced me to sweat the details—a ghoulish, paint-splattered beast in the foggy marshes—had me muttering at the screen. “Just one more try. I know your pattern now.” Three deaths and two controller drops later, I finally danced through his defenses, landing a cinematic counter and finishing with a flurry. The sense of accomplishment was real. This is the most present I’ve felt in a turn-based fight since Lost Odyssey, and it never turns into simple routine.
If you love the quick-time event feel from Legend of Dragoon, or even the most recent Paper Mario, you’ll be at home here. For those who usually click “auto-battle,” buckle up. You’re in for a ride—and you can’t sleepwalk through it. I spent the first few hours retraining myself to watch for subtle cues and actually care about each enemy’s unique attack animations. Eventually, this “reactive” system turns every grindy skirmish into a sort of improv dance, and boss fights into real tests of attention and timing.
I’m picky about art direction. Expedition 33’s world looks like Okami got lost in Paris and decided to live in a dreamscape halfway between Impressionist painting and gothic fairytale. Biomes flow seamlessly from neon-soaked backstreets to haunting wildernesses, each with its own flavor and emotional tone. The Paintress’s handiwork—turning people into beautiful, tragic clouds of petals—never stopped being mesmerizing or horrifying, sometimes both at once. It’s honestly the first RPG in a decade where I found myself taking constant screenshots just to stare at the color palettes.
That said, up close, the character models edge into that “almost, but not quite” valley. Eyes don’t quite track in the most fraught moments. There are places where facial animations can’t quite keep up with the stellar voice acting. Does it break immersion? Sometimes, briefly, but the overall tapestry is so lush that I quickly forgave these small mismatches. On my 1440p display, everything else was buttery smooth.
Let me be real: if you’re going to make me cry, there needs to be a good reason. Expedition 33’s score delivers. Lorien Testard (I hadn’t heard his name before, but I’ll never forget it now) composes tracks that lurch between gentle, devastating melancholy and adrenaline-spiking battle anthems. There are stretches of exploration where a single violin line will turn a moody forest trek into a little existential crisis. Then, during big story beats, the music knows exactly when to step back or thunder forward.
It’s not just the raw emotion either; the music works in clever countermelodies, sometimes contradicting the onscreen action for max impact. In one of the sadder scenes (no spoilers, but if you get to “the bridge in autumn,” you’ll know), I literally had to pause just to take a breath. I haven’t felt that from a soundtrack since NieR: Automata.
On my build (i7-11700K, RTX 4070, 32GB RAM), the game held a steady 70+ fps at high settings, with only the very occasional hitch in some of the busier downtown hubs. I noticed a couple of bugs: rare texture pop-in and a single sound glitch that left a battle track looping over a cutscene. Neither was game-breaking, and a quick reload fixed the latter.
I can’t speak for the console versions personally, but judging by friends’ reports on PS5 and Series X, the art direction holds up even with mild resolution drops. Load times were short, saving and swapping party members was painless—a far cry from the slog of certain recent big-budget RPGs. Accessibility-wise, I wish there were even more combat timing tweaks for those with motor issues, but the existing settings do help.
If you love story-heavy RPGs, deep worldbuilding, reactive combat, or just want a game that makes you feel—seriously, don’t skip this. If hearing “artsy” makes your skin crawl, or if turn-based battles where you can’t check your phone sound like a chore, you might bounce hard. There’s a learning curve, especially if you’re rusty on timing, but Expedition 33 rewards patience and attention more than grind.
This is the type of game I’d beg my fellow fans of Persona, Lost Odyssey, or Legend of Dragoon to try. If you want your RPGs modernized and unafraid to leave you emotionally wrecked, this is it. If you just want mindless monster-stomping, go elsewhere.
I’ve played plenty of RPGs with big ideas or pretty faces that fumble the landing. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 felt like a labor of love from the smallest menu detail to its wrenching, hopeful ending (no spoilers, but trust me—it sticks with you). After 25 hours, I found myself wishing there were even more side stories to explore. I rarely replay modern games, but I’m already plotting another run just to see different dialogue options.
The game’s not flawless—those uncanny animations, a couple of repetitive puzzles—but it’s so full of heart and inventive spirit that I barely cared. I wanted to live in Lumiere longer, despite the looming threat. There’s real magic here, and I’d be shocked if it isn’t in my personal “Top 3” by the end of the year.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a must for anyone craving the golden days of RPGs, but with a sharp, modern edge. This is one of the rare games I’ll recommend to everyone chasing a story that aches—and battles that demand your head and your heart. 9.5/10, and I can’t wait to see what Sandfall does next.
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