PLATFORM
RELEASE YEAR
LENGTH TO FINISH
HOW IT PLAYS
BEST WAY TO PLAY
Why Play It
TL;DR:
- Engaging story, memorable music, stylish visuals, and deeply satisfying combat mechanics.
- A focused length — not overly drawn out when sticking to the main story and objectives.
- An overall cohesive experience.
What makes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a standout must-play (and, at the time of writing, a genuine Game of the Year contender) is how it delivers the entire package as a modern game. Its story and world are rich and engaging without ever feeling overextended, its art direction strikingly beautiful, and its combat mechanics stylish as they are addictive.
Clair Obscur puts you in a Belle Époque–inspired world living under the Gommage: each year, a mysterious Paintress paints the next lower number on the Monolith in a countdown, and everyone at or above that age vanishes. With every stroke, the age ceiling drops, pushing society toward eventual annihilation. You join Expedition 33 on their journey to end the cycle before the next number is painted.
It's clear that Clair Obscur draws inspiration from many notable franchises, but to me it feels most reminiscent of Final Fantasy X. That comes through not only in its narrative weight, themes, and turn-based combat, but also in the way its music lingers with you. That sense of lasting resonance is something I felt later Final Fantasy entries couldn’t quite capture. In those ways, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 plays like a modern reinterpretation of Final Fantasy X, reimagined through French surrealism instead of Japanese mythology.
I strongly encourage you to check out Michael Higham’s thoughtful IGN review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It captures the heart of the game and echoes much of what I felt while playing.
I believe Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has raised the bar for modern turn-based combat, proving the format can be crisp, expressive, and inviting to play. It respects veteran JRPG players and welcomes those who usually bounce off the genre, widening the appeal far beyond the faithful.
PC Optimized Settings
For PC users, the following are Digital Foundry’s recommended settings, adapted from the performance mode used on consoles to achieve the best balance of visual quality and smoothness.
If 30 fps and letterboxed cutscenes bother you, you can try Lyall's ClairObscurFix. I used it myself and it worked great, though I once ran into a cutscene that wouldn’t progress. Removing the mod solved it. That might have been due to an earlier build of the game or the mod itself, so if you hit a similar issue, try disabling it.
Watch Digital Foundry's full PC tech review for a deeper look at performance and settings.
