Clair Obscur May Have More in Common with Alan Wake Than It…

The following contains major story spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s prologue and Act 1 paint a clear portrait of a world ravaged by a god-like entity before Act 2 and Act 3 shed light on the grand artwork’s finer brush strokes. It would’ve already been an enormous story with arresting worldbuilding via previous Expeditions’ journals and every unique creature players come across in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but the reality of the Continent’s Fracture and Verso’s family unfurls a far richer mystery with philosophical dilemmas for Expedition 33 and the player to tackle.

As Act 2 ends and the game’s first epilogue ensues, players learn that everything they knew about the game’s world and inhabitants belongs solely to a Canvas reality crafted by Verso (before his death, with the last piece of his soul now stuck inside) and members of his family, who are all magical ‘Painters’ and for whom painting Canvas worlds is commonplace. It’s also touched on briefly that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Painters are warring with Writers, a rival faction. If the Writers are anything like the Painters, it wouldn’t be surprising if a sequel to Clair Obscur echoes Remedy’s Alan Wake.

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 True Antagonist

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s True Antagonist Isn’t a Character at All

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might initially lead players to believe that its antagonist is the Paintress, but there is a much darker force at work.

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By Josh Cotts

Alan Wake’s Reality-Bending Writing Scratches the Surface of Horror

Told in an episodic, television-esque format (but not quite as television-esque as Quantum Break), the original Alan Wake centers on an author whose writing (that he doesn’t remember writing) begins to manifest in reality while he and his wife, Alice, are vacationing in Bright Falls’ Cauldron Lake. Players come across collectible manuscript pages, as well as Alan Wake’s collectible Oh Deer Diner coffee thermoses, that foreshadow events or depict previous beats, depending on when players locate them.

As a horror novel, ‘Departure’ sees shadowy figures dubbed the Taken appear that Alan combats by initially burning them with light sources, such as a flashlight beam, flares, and flashbangs, and then firing at them with guns when they’re vulnerable. In Alan Wake 2’s Writer’s Room, a means of progressing through levels is introduced with Alan having to string together beats and events in a story outline, shifting reality around to the player’s will.

Clair Obscur’s Writers Could Take a Lot from Alan Wake’s Presentation

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 carefully obscures the existence of its lesser plane until right when players might think they finally have a grasp on the lore they’ve been immersed in. That lore is still incredibly important to Lumiere and its expeditioners, but knowing that it was all only possible because of the Painters having conjured that world is a huge revelation regarding the Dessendre family’s grief.

Considering that the Painters paint whole worlds, lives, and realities, the Writers are presumably akin to Alan Wake’s eponymous author, but on a preposterously larger and more fantastical scale.

In a hypothetical yet possible sequel, it’d be neat to see either the Painters and Writers interact or a story from the Writers’ perspective and, though the gimmick of the Painters’ abilities has already been wielded as a major plot twist in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developer Sandfall could have a twist or two left regarding what Writers may be capable of. Presuming that the Writers’ powers are akin to the Painters’ own, it may have turned out to be brilliant, lending the Painters a perspective rather than the Writers as it immediately makes Clair Obscur authentic, whereas a Writers-centric narrative might’ve wrought comparisons to Alan Wake.

If the Writers are anything like the Painters, it wouldn’t be surprising if a sequel to Clair Obscur echoes Remedy’s Alan Wake.

Any sequel may do just that anyhow, but Clair Obscur has the benefit of a superb first installment on its side. Seeing how unpredictable, nuanced, and rich Expedition 33 is, Clair Obscur is in a wonderful position to continue subverting expectations and Sandfall likely already has specific plans in mind for what it could achieve with the Writers.

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Turn-Based RPG

JRPG

Fantasy

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 97%

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Released: April 24, 2025
ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Developer(s): Sandfall Interactive
Publisher(s): Kepler Interactive