Expedition 33′ Has ‘Final Fantasy’-Level Bona Fides

When Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was first revealed during Xbox Games Showcase 2024, it instantly caught the attention of role-playing game fans. Here was an RPG from a brand new IP that mixed the turn-based combat of Japanese games like Metaphor Refantazio with a more realistic aesthetic akin to Western titles like Dragon Age. Many also clocked shades of Persona 5, which shares a similar dynamic gameplay camera and user interface.

Outside of strategy games like XCOM, turn-based RPGs have somewhat fallen out of favor as a trend. While action games like 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn have sold over 20 million copies alone, Japanese RPGs like Persona 5 and its various spin-offs have only sold about half as much collectively. And although they’re from different genres with distinct audiences, the appeal of real-time action has bled into many modern RPGs — with developers like Square Enix morphing the traditionally turn-based Final Fantasy series into more real-time action games with  entries like Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to appeal to a more global audience.

For the most part, turn-based combat is now often seen as something relegated to older Japanese RPGs like Chrono Trigger, or games specifically meant to evoke a retro style of play. In recent years, there’s been a surge of non-Japanese indie developers recapturing the glory days of turn-based combat inspired by games like Dragon Quest or classic Final Fantasy, down to the charming pixel art styles reminiscent of the NES and SNES eras.

But there have been very few games that combine the Japanese RPG-inspired sensibilities of turn-based combat with more realistic art direction similar to that of Assassin’s Creed or The Elder Scrolls; most opt to stick with anime-inspired aesthetics. This is where French developer Sandfall Interactive’s debut game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, rises to the occasion. An underdog group that rebels against a god? Check. Characters who struggle to find their place in the world? Check. A banging soundtrack? Check.

This game is an ambitious journey for an indie studio that successfully brings together design ethos of both Eastern and Western game development in a dramatic tale about family and grief. Even with some conspicuous omissions of popular role-playing game features, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is easily one of the best RPGs of 2025 and punches well above its weight class for a place alongside the best franchises in the industry.

Existential crises

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes place in a dark fantasy world where a deity called the Paintress can wipe out everyone of a certain age by marking a number on her gigantic monolith, although no one seems to know why. In response, groups of expeditioners set out to stop her to no avail. Every time a new expedition fails, the number on the Paintress’s monolith drops by one. The most recent expedition, number 34, has fallen apart and consequently all 33-year-olds are erased out of existence, Thanos-style.

The premise explores the recurring theme of existentialism. When people can only make it to their early thirties, what’s the point of having kids? Is going after the Paintress even worth it if each expedition fails, thus lowering life expectancy even further? Children already have to cope with potentially never seeing their parents again when they embark on expeditions; if the number on the monolith gets low enough, there will soon only be child soldiers left.

These are issues that the members of expedition number 33 — Gustave, Maelle, Lune, Sciel, and Monoco — must face on their own journey to stop the Paintress. They have surprisingly realistic and down-to-earth temperaments compared to over-the-top ones traditionally found in more anime-styled Japanese RPGs.

Gustave is the level-headed leader, while Maelle is the youngest and most immature, often letting her emotions get the best of her. Lune acts as the caretaker of the group, documenting their adventures in notes left for future expedition groups to stumble across. Sciel has accepted their harsh reality, and her laidback attitude offers moments of levity during dark times, but rarely comes across as annoying comedic relief. Monoco is a somewhat barbaric non-human creature called a Gestral, serving as a stoic figure who only opens up when needed. Each character has a role to play and there’s a harmonious balance of personalities that never sees one overshadow another.

Esquie is a giant creature that the group rides as their mode of transportation, letting them travel quickly across land and eventually through the seas and skies. He doesn’t directly participate in battle or in many of the game’s more emotionally-charged scenes, but he’s controllable while traversing through the overworld, a map that connects all dungeons like in classic Final Fantasy games. Esquie’s whimsical demeanor and child-like curiosity makes him a lovable mascot, and his playful interactions with the group are reminiscent of the iconic and adorable Moogle creatures from Final Fantasy.

The cast struggles with their own individual family issues, which becomes another shared theme throughout the game. As Maelle never knew who her parents were, she looks up to Gustave as a role model and foster brother. Luna lost her parents on their failed expedition, while Sciel lost her husband in an accident. The expeditioners’ guiding principle is that when one falls, the others go on. Alongside with their personal losses, this mentality fuels the group to defeat the Paintress and end the cycle of constant death. Their personal stories and communal purpose adds emotional heft to the adventure as trial and tragedy comes in spades.

Turn-based combat is still cool

The combat involves up to three party members on the battlefield as they take turns attacking enemies. Right off the bat, Expedition 33 avoids the common pitfall of assigning moves to magic point (MP) values; In most JRPGs, special attacks typically consume MP, and running out means characters are relegated to just doing normal attacks, which can make battles feel dry or lopsided. Instead, special attacks consume a certain number of action points (AP), which can be replenished in various ways such as parrying and dodging enemy attacks. As a result, players are rewarded for playing well by earning more AP and being able to unleash flashier special attacks.

The combat draws inspiration from games like Mistwalker’s Lost Odyssey (2007). Whereas many turn-based games simply have players pick an attack to aim at enemies and sit back as the animation plays out, Expedition 33 has quick-time events (QTEs) in the middle of the animations. These are extra button presses that when timed right, can give attacks an extra boost. If it’s a supporting move, like increasing a character’s defense during battle, successfully executing QTEs applies the buff to the entire party rather than just the character who casts it. It’s an excellent mechanic to keep players engaged in turn-based combat and adds an extra layer of depth to make gameplay feel more skillful rather than merely scrolling through menus.

The QTEs not only apply to offensive play, but defensive too. Every single enemy attack in the game can either be parried or dodged. The former is harder to pull off due to its stricter timing requirements, but the payoff is much more substantial. Parrying single hits or all blows in a sequence lets your characters unleash powerful counter attacks that deal immense amounts of damage back at enemies. It’s even possible to get through the entire final boss fight completely unscathed if you’re skilled enough. Plus, an experience points boost is rewarded upon finishing a fight with no damage taken, further incentivizing players to be actively present in battle at all times.

That being said, sometimes the window for parrying and dodging feels a bit too narrow, even on normal difficulty. The wider window on easy difficulty feels perfectly fair, but those who want a challenge can amp it up to hard mode. Hard mode requires players to master the timing of dodging and parrying as enemies deal greater damage. It’s tough but not unfair, and players can adjust the difficulty at any time. It also doesn’t lock away any content, unlike last year’s Metaphor: ReFantazio, which prevented players from battling the game’s endgame super boss if played on the lowest difficulty. 

It’s also strange that there’s absolutely no way to switch out characters manually in the middle of battle, which is a common gameplay mechanic in JRPGs. This can only be done from the menu outside of combat. So, whatever party composition you enter with in-battle is what you’re stuck with for the entire duration. The only exception is that when the three characters fall, the remaining two can be called as backup to help finish the fight. In some instances, it can be frustrating being unable to swap out a character in critical health with a fresh one from the reserves.

Expedition 33 has a different take on character classes than a typical RPG. Instead of having firm roles like a wizard, knight, or archer, each character has a distinct gameplay mechanic. For example, Maelle switches between different stances depending on what special attack she uses. In her offensive stance, she deals and takes more damage, while her defensive stance lets her gain an extra AP after a successful parry or dodge. Monoco’s unique ability is a bit of a wild card called the Bestial Wheel. Depending on what spot the wheel lands on, it’ll power up certain attacks. 

Monoco is also a nod to the Blue Mage class from Final Fantasy, which focuses on magic learned from enemies. Whereas other characters have skill trees that players can invest points into, Monoco must participate in battle in order to learn new special attacks by stealing enemies’ feet after winning. Talk about a freaky fetish.

It’s important to master these different mechanics so that each character can reach their full potential and deal as much damage as possible. Take Lune’s Wildfire attack, which can inflict the burn status, which deals residual damage after every turn. Sciel’s Searing Bond is a single-target attack, but becomes a multi-hit move on burned enemies. There are so many interconnecting parts and synergies to the turn-based gameplay that elevates Expedition 33 above its peers.

Expedition 33 has one of the most flexible skill systems of any RPG in recent memory. Throughout the game, players can find Pictos, items that grant various effects when equipped onto a character. Each character can equip up to three Pictos at a time — and there’s a lot of them. Their effects range from healing hit points (HP) upon a successful counterattack to being able to attack twice in a row, but damage output is cut in half. 

After a character participates and wins in four battles with a Picto equipped, it turns into a Lumina. Luminas are abilities that are available to the entire party and take up a certain number of Lumina Points (LP). The stronger the effect, the more LP required. With three Pictos and as many Luminas a character’s LP allows, there are endless combinations to try out. The customization potential feels immense and is a system that other RPGs can learn from.

Western style meets Eastern design philosophy

Aesthetically, Expedition 33 looks like Final Fantasy and Marvel’s Eternals had a baby in terms of its environmental and character designs. The high-fantasy setting is filled with floating rocks and bioluminescent plants — every environment feels ethereal and otherworldly. Characters’ clothing and details maintain a sense of heightened reality that’s still somewhat grounded despite the grandeur.

Rather than having an open world filled with meaningless tasks, Expedition 33 takes the God of War Ragnarök approach of seamlessly segmented dungeons. Each dungeon is split into meticulously crafted sections, cutting down on needless bloat while leaving enough room for satisfying exploration to find Pictos and Chroma (this game’s currency) in nooks and crannies.

True to its Western roots, Expedition 33 has audio logs players can find in the form of journal entries from previous expeditions. Finding collectibles is a common gameplay mechanic to deliver bits of lore in games like The Last of Us and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. They provide crucial story context to how and why they failed, such as being caught off guard by a monster that the party will eventually face off against later on. The audio logs are just as captivating to listen to as the ones from games like Horizon Forbidden West and Returnal. They explain past events that led to the situation our main cast is currently in and how they can learn from past mistakes.

As an added touch, each save point is a mounted flag with the number of a past expedition, usually matching up with an audio log found in the dungeon from the same group. It signals that a previous expedition made it this far before falling, and that no one single expedition followed the exact same route. A save point in the middle of the game may have expedition 57’s mark on it, but one near the endgame may have expedition 70’s. It’s a subtle yet voluminous approach to worldbuilding.

Built in Unreal Engine 5, Expedition 33’s graphics have an extra shine, but sometimes there’s too much bloom effect in dungeons. The white lighting effects that pop up when traversing through bright areas are entirely too intense, causing the surrounding environment to blend together and making it easy to get lost in dungeons. To make matters worse, there’s no mini-map in the corner of the screen, which is a puzzling exclusion given that it’s such a fundamental feature of RPGs, especially Japanese ones.

There’s at least a map that can be pulled up while traveling across the overworld, but it gets tiresome having to constantly open it up to double check where the next objective is. While some players believe that overworlds are tedious and archaic game designs that only add unnecessary filler in between traveling to different destinations, Expedition 33 avoids this problem by placing optional dungeons on the overworld. It encourages exploration and rewards players with challenging bosses and rare Pictos to find. Riding on Esquie off the beaten path to discover new dungeons always feels exciting.

Out in the overworld, players can set up camps to recover their HP, but it’s also an opportunity to bond with the other characters. In yet another detail pulled from Persona, players can converse with the cast around the bonfire and learn about their backstories. Unfortunately, this mechanic feels underutilized.

Reaching the midpoint and max of each character’s relationship level unlocks two additional Gradient Attacks (their ultimate moves) for them. In other RPGs that use a similar system, there are typically smaller bonuses like additional stat boosts in between the bigger rewards, but there’s nothing like that here. As a result, the relationship system in Expedition 33 isn’t nearly as fulfilling as it could’ve been.

The influences in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are very clear, but the game manages to carve out its own approach that makes it feel fresh. It takes gameplay mechanics originating from Japanese RPGs and paints over them with a realistically stylized art direction that’ll appeal to both RPG fans and those who might be otherwise turned off by cartoony aesthetics.

With a robust combat system and an enchanting yet melancholy story, it’s an impressive first expedition for Sandfall Interactive. Despite a few blemishes on the canvas, this is as picture perfect as an RPG can be.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launches on April 24 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC.