Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Reviews
Check out Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review Scores from trusted Critics below. With 46 reviews on CriticDB, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a score of:
A new RPG IP has come out of nowhere and garnered great praise so read on to find out what makes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 so special.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of those double A titles that blurs the lines between it and the industry's biggest hitters. It isn't without issues, but as a debut title for Sandfall Interactive, it's an incredibly impressive showing that's well worth checking out.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like it came out of nowhere to me. An entirely new IP from the new studio, Sandfall Interactive, based in France, we had no idea what to expect. However, as soon as I started it, I knew we had something truly special. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 manages to recapture the magic of old-school JRPGS whilst giving it a fresh Western spin, wearing all of its inspirations on its sleeve. This is easily one of the finest games since Baldur’s Gate 3.
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On the horizon, the number 34 glows on a black monolith. Beside it is the Paintress, an immense humanoid creature with long white hair that covers her face. She waves her hand at the number and it fades away, only for her to replace it with ’33’. Just as she does so, everyone in the world who is of that age turns into smoke and dies, blowing away in the wind. Gustave, is preparing for Expedition 33, the 77th expedition to venture into the fractured world and attempt to defeat the Paintress.
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When Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was announced last year, it came out of nowhere and immediately captured the attention of role-playing game enthusiasts. With traditional party-based role-playing games finding less and less representation in the AAA space, the debut game from Sandfall Interactive looked like the game that could bring the genre into the spotlight without being a nostalgia-fueled experience, as the setting, story and main cast of characters looked very unique, and far removed from those we are now used to see in similar games. In the end, the game's dark fantasy Belle Époque setting, the members of Expedition...
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You get a certain feeling when one of these special releases comes along. It hits you in stages. At first, you’re quietly enjoying the world-building, where you absorb the story and characters. Then it becomes a mad rush to get from one chapter to another because it’s so good, and then there it is… That sinking feeling that it’s all over. You have run out of road.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an amazing experience and game, especially when you consider its development. Expedition 33 provides a narrative that gives you just enough to want to experience more, and combat gameplay that forces you to engage with its systems if you want to overcome everything that gets thrown at you.
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Channeling true JRPG excellence while putting its own western twist on the genre and turn-based combat, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an absolutely belting game. It has exquisite writing and story craft, wonderfully stylish and multifaceted combat, and is a blisteringly beautiful assault on all the senses from top-notch voice acting and audio to some of the most beautiful environments I’ve seen in years. It has the scope and execution of a game built by hundreds of developers, not a few dozen, and is easily an early game of the year contender.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a addition to the turn-based RPG genre, one that boasts challenging, engaging combat mechanics and plays out in a distinct and utterly beautiful fantasy world. From start to finish, I was fascinated by the sights,sounds and tasks that lay ahead. If you love RPGs, it should be at the top of your list; I really can’t recommend it enough.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an astounding debut title from Sandfall Interactive. Its compelling and emotional narrative is backed up with one of the best turn-based combat systems around, even though it perhaps feels a bit too focused on you performing parries and dodges at times. Add in stunning visuals and a fantastic soundtrack, and you have a JRPG that's not to be missed.
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An extraordinary debut release from a French indie studio that has managed to make the best JRPG of recent years, with some of the best combat the genre has ever seen.
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Very occasionally, I'll play an RPG that makes me feel ten again. Rebirth. Cris Tales. Revisiting Suikoden. Years come, the big number ticks down, and comfortable appreciation replaces the spellbound enchantment of being told a story, of being swept off to a new world. Of playing Final Fantasy 8 in that special edition shirt that Ben Starr likes to wear that I wish I'd kept because I bet it's worth a bloody fortune now. You wait for a game to bring you back there, mostly certain you've moved passed the capacity to feel that way because you now have the...
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 brings a sumptuously stylish world, intricately woven narrative and top-notch combat to the table, and it's a winner on every level. The additions to combat make for fights that feel proactive, engaging and exciting at all times. The world is a constant revelation of incredible new regions and vistas, and the story will keep you hooked in until its emotional resolution. Sandfall Interactive's debut is a masterpiece, really, an odyssey that'll stick in your mind long after you're done, and one of the most enjoyable and fresh RPGs we've played in aeons.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's gorgeously realized world is let down by its emphasis on combat, marred by a few fatal stumbles.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a strong debut title for Sandfall Interactive, with compelling characters and an original, unsettling story that’s part allegory, part surreal fantasy. Its turn-based/real-time hybrid combat is well thought out and grows more interesting as the game progresses. Some narrative pacing issues and repetitive enemy encounters pull Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from the brink of greatness. Still, it remains a unique and engaging take on both fantasy storytelling and JRPGs.
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Despite its occasionally confounding UI and weak level design, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an essential turn-based RPG that is both a love letter to its inspirations and a potential vision of the genre's future.
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Simply put, Sandfall Interactive’s debut game is a masterclass in presentation, storytelling, and gameplay. It’s a game you need to play to experience.
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Paying homage to those that came before yet bursting with its own creativity, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a must-play title for RPG fans.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a sheer triumph in every department, evolving beyond its inspirations to present one of the most engrossing RPGs of the last decade.
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Outstanding artwork and glorious combat bring Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's bold, painterly world to life.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a competent new JRPG with which genre fans will likely be pleased. However, it does very little to iterate on the foundation laid by those that came before it. Instead, it’s content to offer its flavor of what has worked before.
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I do not say this spontaneously or hyperbolically: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a generational RPG. The quality of writing is pitch-perfect at every step, vividly depicting the somber world and its tragic circumstances with glorious technique. Combat always feels rewarding when successful, but it can feel like a slog if you don't get the hang of the parry and trait systems. The linear nature of the game helps to balance out the lack of mini-map, so try and not let those factors keep you away from at least trying this brilliant game.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an ambitious take on an old genre that is just as gratifying to look at as it is to engage in. A new franchise is born.
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A quirky RPG not quite like anything you’ve played before, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of those games where the less you know going in, the better. Many of its systems, themes, and features will feel fairly familiar. However, the way first-time studio Sandfall Interactive has moulded those pieces together is unusual.
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Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 brings with it a beautiful, if haunting world, tackling heavy subjects tastefully and introducing new, somewhat risky mechanics to the turn-based combat formula. Will these changes and daunting story combination manage to make a good game? That's what this review tries to find out.
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Announced less than a year ago, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is the ambitious debut title from French studio Sandfall Interactive. Expedition 33 tells a high-concept fantasy story: in a world similar to our own, things were torn apart 67 years ago in an event called the Fracture. Physics lost meaning, the city of Paris — known here as Lumiere — was ripped out of the world and flung into the distant ocean, and deadly monsters called Nevrons sprung up worldwide.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 drops you into its melancholy world with a refreshing lack of context. While the game is undeniably a fantasy RPG (with a smattering of science fiction), it blessedly does not begin with scrolling text explaining its universe. It may be confusing at first, but the trade-off is a fantastic opening few hours that establish the stakes quickly, get you fighting right away, and immediately set up a compelling mystery. In a genre known for slow starts, Clair Obscur steps...
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It was only announced mid-last year, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like an adventure that my fellow RPG fans and I have been waiting for all our lives. A flashy debut from studio Sandfall Interactive, all about mixing up beloved combat systems, fusing turn-based with real-time, alongside a killer narrative. A fusion promised to be more meaningful than those that have given it a stab before. Not like those other ones! Now that we finally have it in our hands, how does it fare? Sandfall...
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is probably one of the most impressive $40/£40 games I’ve ever played and puts a lot of full price games to shame. Thanks to some really unique battle systems and combat variety, Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG to remember. It’s bloody gorgeous too! Oof!
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a rare triumph for such a small studio. The devs at Sandfall Interactive aimed for the stars, and they delivered a game that JRPG fans have always wanted from a Western studio. I can't recommend this game enough.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an outstanding visionary debut from Sandfall Interactive, which isn't merely a love letter to JRPGs but builds on its traditions with a distinctly French identity, making for one of the most exciting and rewarding action and turn-based hybrid battle systems ever devised, while putting you through the emotional wringer. This is an old-school feeling JRPG as dynamic as Persona but with parry-filled battles as hard-won as Sekiro.
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Those hoping for a new turn-based franchise to rival the presentational prowess of the larger studios don't have to wait any longer. Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 bursts on to the scene in a big way.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a milestone achievement for Sandfall Interactive. Fans of turn-based RPGs should be right at home with its traditional stylings tuned for a modern age, and while difficulty can ramp up without warning, the challenge of getting through each battle makes it all worthwhile.
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Remember the days when RPGs involved exploring worlds, telling a story and taking a turn in battles? Developer Sandfall Interactive remembers, and at some point the RPG genre began to go in different directions, whether that was an action RPG that took the turn-based element away or full exploratory worlds thanks to series like Fallout and Fable. Sandfall wants to take you back to the original age, and while these types of titles never truly went away, there hasn't been a major AAA release completed like this since arguably Final Fantasy X. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG...
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an outstanding debut from a team whose heart and soul come through in every aspect, delivering an exceptional RPG.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has exceeded every one of my expectations. Sandfall Interactive's debut title is one of the greatest accomplishments in gaming, delivering a well-paced, polished, and unforgettable experience. From the incredibly impactful and deeply emotional narrative to the enjoyable, challenging, and rewarding combat, Expedition 33 delivers on all fronts. I wanted an old-school RPG that sticks true to its roots while taking advantage of modern game design. I got that and so much more. Four months into the year, this is the clubhouse leader for Game of the Year, and honestly, it's not even close. Do not miss...
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Wearing its inspirations on its sleeve, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 paints itself into the pantheon of great RPGs with a brilliant combat system and a gripping, harrowing story.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a phenomenal RPG, telling a heartbreaking tale while incorporating thrilling action into its tactical turn-based combat
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Clair Obscur feels big, it feels important, it feels like a game for now, that you’ll be thinking about for years to come. Expedition 33 might be built off of the groundwork laid by decades of creatives that came before, but its impact is wholly singular and essential in its own right.
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A fascinating mix of nostalgia, experimentation, innovation, and commitment to a vision, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is a painterly stroke of genius.
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If I were a teenager still, this game would ingrain itself into my brain the same way Final Fantasy VII did in 1997. Right now, when there are numerous predictions about the death of single player games, when creativity is shackled by the sales department, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a true gem worth every praise. (translated)
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a beautifully inventive, heart-breaking experience of love, loss, and the will to survive.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels truly unique and artistic, and reminds us how moving, exhilarating, and provocative big-budget adventure games can be.
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When it begins, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an RPG about younger adults fighting to give themselves a future in a world controlled by forces that seem hellbent on taking it from them. It’s sad how relevant that feels right now.
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