Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an oddly named French Final Fantasy-inspired JRPG that shows us the genre doesn’t need to be restricted to Japan
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has to be one of the oddest names for a video game; it is so unmarketable. What it lacks in clickbait value, it more than makes up for in gameplay. It is as polished as any JRPG you will see from a veteran Japanese company like Square Enix, except it is made by a relatively unknown and small French company called Sandfall Interactive. This is their first game, and it is beyond insane how they managed to pull this off.
The story is set in this alternate world where everyone above a certain age perishes when a human-like creature changes the number on a structure located on a distant island called the Paintress. The whole thing has been happening for 67 years at the start of the game. You get to witness the Paintress changing the date from 34 to 33, and watch as people around you disintegrate into petals and ash. It’s a sombre premise and fits the overall horror-like aesthetic of the game. However, people of Lumiere are not just going to let this fly without taking some action. So, every year, an expedition is sent to reach the island where the Paintress lives, in an attempt to kill her and stop the culling. However, no one in the past decades has completed their mission. You play characters from the 33rd mission, and your objective is obviously to end the Paintress and save the world.
When I initially started playing the game, I was a bit annoyed with its art style and cheap tactic of replicating the same people repeatedly to build a crowd. It was annoying and very obvious. I also didn’t like the haziness around all the objects, including people, sort of like a hazy glow. I have seen it in the past, but not so much in modern games. It is reminiscent of some of the Final Fantasy games as well.
Things really picked up once the tutorial and prologue portion of the game was over and we moved on to the continent where the Paintress lived. The action and the storyline went from boring to exciting pretty instantaneously. The narrative changed, and there were enough twists and turns to keep me on edge as I fought my way through the game.
The combat is pretty interesting in the game; it is a full Japanese RPG-style, turn-based combat, and rather than relying on the individual skills of the people on your team, you can weaken the monsters in a particular way and have the rest of your team take advantage of that weakness. The weapons loadout, element-based attacks, and skills, all make a difference when you fight, especially against boss monsters. Timing also plays a huge role in the combat, and things like avoiding the attack, parrying or gradient parry require you to time these just right.
One particularly awful but optional boss is the Chromatic Lustre; yes, the most powerful bosses are optional. This nasty fellow regains health if it manages to land any attacks on your crew. The more attacks it manages to land, the more it gains in health, several times restoring its health to 100 per cent. I did manage to defeat him on the second try, but it took effort and impeccable timing. The optional bosses also have significant drops, so it makes sense to attack them.
The team has also done a great job with the soundtrack; it is every bit as beautiful as anything you will see on an epic JRPG as well, and would easily stand alone like any good videogame music.
For a game made by an indie studio, this one is no less than a triple-A title, and despite some of the obvious shortcuts that a team this small would have had to take — and a terrible name — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stands out. Kudos to the Sandfall Interactive team. I recommend buying this even if you aren’t that into Japanese-style role-playing games or turn-based combat. The game is that good. It is available on all major platforms and at a reasonable price on Steam.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Rating: 4.5/5
Developer: Sandfall Interactive
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Platform: PC, XBS, PS5
Price: Rs 2999
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