Sandfall Interactive, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s developer, has broken the silence after quite some time to announce that a major update is coming to the game. It will be free and will include things like new content, dialogue, and costumes. This has fans buzzing about the possibilities, but beyond that, most fans are still locked into thinking about a potential sequel as well.
Mysteries Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Update Could Answer
From ancient battles to strolls through the park, these are what fans want to see in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s update.
They want to know if a sequel would take as long to release as Hollow Knight: Silksong did. Would the sequel be directly connected to the previous game, follow a different plot (like the Writers at war with the Dessendre family), or be an original game from Sandfall Interactive instead? Focusing on a direct sequel, let’s go over some things that would most build upon what Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 started.
Spoilers Ahead for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Getting The Party Together Sooner
The Longer You Wait, The Less Time Players Have With The Characters
One of the worst tropes an RPG can follow is introducing party members late into the game. This gives players less of a chance to get to know these characters and learn how to use them in battle.
Monoco is a good example in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. He’s the last party member to join the group, and it feels like too little too late. Hopefully, the sequel will introduce the main cast a lot soon and give players an opportunity to play around with their party makeup more before the tougher fights show up in the late-game.
A Map
My Kingdom For Guidance
RPGs, and most games, give players maps to scour, whether they are exploring a world map, an open-world environment, or a dungeon. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 did not have dungeon maps at launch, making it easy to get lost in the vast, twisting world.
There was a map for exploring the overworld map, which was appreciated and very helpful, but the dungeon maps were more critical, as it was easy to get lost. Hopefully, a sequel includes a dungeon map and mini-map options for those who struggle to navigate in games.
Screen Upgrades
From Black Bars To Photo Mode
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a very pretty game, but on a technical level, it's not anything revolutionary. It stands out because the art style is striking, but just think how much better it could look if it achieved a graphical quality akin to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth while still presenting the same painterly style?
8 Strongest Characters In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ranked
From NPCs to party members, these Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 characters can demolish small cities if they want.
That would be a huge upgrade for the sequel, and some other screen-related modes would be killer. An option to remove the black bars in cutscenes would be nice, along with a photo mode, which is a pretty basic mechanic in most modern games.
Better End-Game Pacing
Don’t Tease The Ending Halfway Through
The feeling of finishing a long journey, especially in an RPG, is a great one. However, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 misleads players once they finally make it to The Paintress, because it seems like she is the final boss before the game's end.
However, upon defeating her, there is at least a third of the game yet to explore, and the overworld opens up even more thanks to Esquie unlocking his flying ability. On the one hand, it’s a nice surprise to have so much game still to go, but on the other, players could have leveled up a lot before The Paintress fight, only to find out they didn’t need to. In short, the pacing could be better in a sequel.
Switching Between Action And Turn-Based
And Switching Characters In Battle
Metaphor: ReFantazio was a big upgrade on the Persona formula that Atlus helped create. There were classes, and players could fight monsters in the field or in turn-based combat, depending on their level. Allowing players to switch between these gameplay modes helped combat feel more dynamic, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s sequel should try this combo as well.
If Sandfall sticks to turn-based combat, introducing a class system would be an interesting way to expand the battle system, along with a way to switch out party members mid-battle like Final Fantasy 10.
One Arena, Not Multiple
And More Mini-Games
There are plenty of side quests in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but not a lot of side activities. The mini-games range from okay (like the casino) to indescribably hard (like the platforming challenges). Arenas are a fun distraction in a lot of RPGs, but there is usually only one to visit and it changes over the course of the game.
Most Overpowered Skills In Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Ranked
Party members in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be more than just well armed with these downright overpowered skills.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has several arenas, each with multiple difficulty levels that makes revisiting them necessary to complete every fight. A sequel could reduce that number to one and make that arena evolve over time instead. Wackier mini-games would also be a plus, as Sandfall Interactive could learn even more from Final Fantasy, a series that is legendary for its mini-games.
Diversifying Skill Sets
Spreading Elements Around
One of the best things about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s party system is that each character plays differently. They all have unique skill trees, but those come as a double-edged sword.
For example, having one character be the master of a particular element, like Sciel with Dark, restricted strategies and forced players to use characters they might be less comfortable controlling in battle. It would be great to see a sequel give party members a more diverse elemental skillsets, which could be achieved with a class system.
Save Upgrades
A Reasonable Request
Besides the map, the save game situation in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also baffling. There are multiple save slots that players can choose when starting a game. However, they cannot manually save a file on these slots after starting. They can’t even copy their save files to another area.
Players are allowed to go back to previous autosaves, of which there are a lot, but they will erase with time, and sifting through them all is not easy. The ability to manually save would be a huge upgrade for a sequel.
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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
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
