Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the newest and hottest RPG on the block, brought to you by the small teams at Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive. The surrealist adventurelaunched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on Thursday (April 24th), and early impressions of the game have been stellar so far.
While some players are still in the dark about what this game is, it has already taken the gaming community by storm, garnering way-too-early game-of-the-year titles and even some calling it the most breathtaking experience in a while. ThisClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the early impressions
First of all, what even is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 about? Well, according to the brief description on the game’s official website, players follow characters Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and Sciel, who all have “one year left to live” as they embark on a journey as members of Expedition 33.
To change their fate, the quartet must set out to destroy the Paintress’ cruel cycle of death as they take down a series of imaginative bosses in a world heavily influenced by French folklore and culture.
“Lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress so that she can never paint death again. Explore a world of wonders inspired by Belle Époque France and battle unique enemies in this turn-based RPG with real-time mechanics,” the official website details the game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based role-playing game and draws upon flourishes set by the greatness of Persona and the Final Fantasy games to create an entirely original experience. The combination of these beautifully crafted elements led to favorable early impressions a day before its official release. Metacritic, known to be a difficult scorer when reviewing titles, gave the game a 92—the highest score for a video game this year, toppling The Blue Prince. Additionally, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s lowest score at this time is a 9/10 with some netizens referring to it as their “game of the year early contender.”
The team who worked on Expedition 33 responded to all the love on social media. Their posts called attention to the care that Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive put into crafting such an imaginative work.
“Today, for the first time, we read the words of people who finally held our dream in their hands, in its entirety. This has been beyond our wildest imagination. Thank you all, truly. Our game was crafted by a small, passionate group of RPG fans. Writers. Artists. Musicians. It was made with love—and tomorrow, we finally get to share it with all of you. We have laid the path. Tomorrow Comes,” the message on X/Twitter read.
Yes, it is entirely too early to say whether or not Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a GOTY contender; the game is garnering quite the buzz online that mimics the hype of winners in years past. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not the game can pull off the major win at this year’s Video Game Awards.
