Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a 2025 turn-based role-playing game from Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive. It unfolds in a dark fantasy Belle Époque world where a mysterious entity called the Paintress annually wipes out everyone at or above a certain age. Players control a party of characters on a desperate mission to destroy her before the next Gommage erases them. The game blends classic turn-based combat with real-time elements, including quick time events and timed button presses, keeping battles tense and interactive. Exploration happens from a third-person perspective across painterly, crumbling landscapes.

The project started in 2019 when Guillaume Broche, then a Ubisoft employee, began sketching ideas. After leaving Ubisoft in 2020 during the pandemic, he founded Sandfall Interactive with friends, building a core team of 30 developers. Drawing inspiration from Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy and Persona, the team aimed to create a high-fidelity turn-based experience that AAA studios had largely abandoned. Development began on Unreal Engine 4 before shifting to Unreal Engine 5, which brought significant rendering improvements.

Released on 24 April 2025 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, the game launched day one on Xbox Game Pass. Critics praised its narrative, art direction, gameplay, and soundtrack. By April 2026, it had sold 8 million units. At The Game Awards 2025, it won nine of thirteen nominations, including Game of the Year, setting a record for most wins at the ceremony. It also became the second game ever, after Baldur's Gate 3, to win Game of the Year from all five major award shows: Golden Joystick Awards, The Game Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards, GDC Awards, and BAFTA Games Awards.[edit]

Combat in Expedition 33 is turn-based but demands constant input. Each attack, dodge, or block requires a timed button press, miss the window and you lose damage or take a hit. This reactive system keeps every encounter tense, even routine fights. Outside battle, the camera swings to a third-person view as you explore vast, watercolor-styled landscapes. Light platforming and environmental puzzles break up the rhythm, asking you to climb ruins or manipulate objects to progress. The game runs at 60 fps on consoles, with ray tracing and upscaling options on PC. A typical playthrough runs 30 to 40 hours.[edit]

Every year, the Paintress paints a number on a monolithic stone. Everyone who reaches that age or older vanishes, erased from existence in an event called the Gommage. The year is 1889, and the number is 33. You lead a party of characters, all of whom will be erased when the next Gommage arrives. Their journey is a one-way expedition to the Paintress's lair, a desperate bid to break the cycle. Along the way, they uncover fragments of the Paintress's past and the true cost of her ritual. The narrative unfolds through dialogue, environmental storytelling, and a haunting score by Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percier.[edit]