This article has end-game spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been a massive hit among gamers, and it is currently the highest-rated game of the year. Created by French developer Sandfall, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a landmark game for France and a great achievement for the small studio. The characters, story, gameplay, and combat are considered by many to be top-tier, and all these elements work together to create a beautiful and poignant game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes obvious inspiration from JRPGs such as the Final Fantasy and Persona series, but the game also remains very true to its country of origin by taking inspiration from French cinema. This comes through in the story's themes, the cinematography, and the heavy use of symbolism. While Clair Obscur doesn't hide its JRPG influences, techniques from different waves of French cinema also inform how its story is told.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is Clear Proof That Turn-Based Should Never Die
The legacy of turn-based combat in RPGs is not understated, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 both honors and iterates from its predecessors.
The Narrative Characteristics of French Cinema in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
French films often focus on telling personal stories that touch on themes like existentialism. While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's premise begins as an action-oriented narrative, at the game's heart is a story about a single family's grief and an exploration of how each family member navigates the aftermath of a tragedy.
The entirety of the setting, and the premise itself, is symbolic of how unresolved grief can destroy a person's world, and the game serves as an examination of the dangers of getting lost in escapism instead of facing reality. This concept is first introduced by the expeditioners, who state the thesis of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: "When one of us falls, we continue" and "tomorrow comes." Even though this message is stated outright in many different ways, including through combat mechanics, Clair Obscur never explicitly links the statement and the message of the game, instead leaving it for the player to make the connection.
Allowing players to make these types of connections for themselves when engaging with Clair Obscur's story is yet another way that French cinematic techniques are incorporated into the game, as French films often ask their viewers to interpret what they see, rather than explicitly telling them what they must think and feel. This approach is also integrated into the game's premise, which is told from the POV of the expeditioners, characters who learn about the world at the same time as the player and are left to infer the truth based on the information given to them.
French Cinematic Techniques Used in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Influences of French cinema can also be seen in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's visuals, particularly in cutscenes like those that depict Maelle's nightmares. Those nightmare scenes are characterized by a change in aspect ratio, by their very specific framing (with consideration for depth of field and mise-en-scene), by the use of tight close-ups, and by jump cuts that create anxiety and a feeling of being out-of-place. Throughout the nightmares, the aspect ratio changes from widescreen to 4:3, invoking the time period in the real world. The techniques used in the nightmare sequences reflect Maelle's state of mind for much of Clair Obscur's narrative, and they carry through in her ending.
Cutscenes include long silences, with characters being left to quietly contemplate their situation, and scenes are allowed to unfold through visuals rather than exposition. This approach isn't typical for most video games, where dialogue and action are cornerstones, particularly in RPGs where dialogue is used to give players the opportunity to roleplay. Slower scenes, using visuals for symbolism, and dreamy surrealist landscapes are all characteristics of different waves of French cinema.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- April 24, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Kepler Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
