Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a new turn-based RPG and the debut game from Sandfall Interactive. Set in a Belle Epoque-inspired fantasy world infused with French stylings, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become one of the most sought-after RPGs of 2025. The game's premise immediately caught gamers' attention when it was unveiled last year, as its story follows an expedition to take down the Paintress, who eliminates all citizens of a certain age every year.
Many gamers fell head-over-heels in love with the game's music when Clair: Obscur: Expedition 33 was first revealed last Summer, and Sandfall has been releasing some of the game's tracks in the lead-up to its release. The Best War Games talked with the game's composer, Lorien Testard, about what helped inspire Clair Obscur's character themes and how those themes will connect with one another as players embark on their expedition to end the Paintress' cruelty.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a rare RPG that feels mechanically bold, emotionally grounded, and unforgettable long after the credits roll.
Expedition 33's Character Themes Are Inspired by the Game's Own Concept Art
Since Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is Testard's first major video game project as a music composer, it must have been a challenge to find the right inspiration for the soundtrack. Luckily, Testard was able to draw inspiration from the game's very own concept art. Testard spoke on how the art came into play when creating themes for each of Expedition 33's playable characters:
"The character concept art was helpful...I can feel the emotions that naturally emerge from the character or the landscape. Sometimes a single look or posture can say so much about the invisible emotions a character is carrying.
That’s what I try to capture when composing their themes. Having that visual support early on was a great way to start sharing a feeling and building a musical identity around the character’s heart."
Some of Clair Obscur's Character Themes Reference Each Other
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows the story of four main expeditionists named Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and Sciel. As the game's story trailers have shown, this is a close-knit group of skilled warriors, each with their own backgrounds, beliefs, fears, and outlooks on their journey. As such, depending on the narrative situation, there may be some tension and disagreements between them, but trailers have briefly indicated some moments of bonding as well. As Testard explains, Expedition 33's character themes will reflect their relationships with connecting motifs that well-trained listeners should keep an ear out for. Testard says:
"...there’s a lot of meaning and connection between the character themes. I had a lot of fun transforming certain motifs and melody so they could echo and respond to each other across the soundtrack.
For example, Gustave’s theme includes a motif from the Lumière theme — his hometown, which means a lot to him.
It’s hard to go into too much detail without spoiling parts of the story, but each character theme is telling a story, tied to their journey and the relationships they have with others.
Attentive listeners will be able to pick up on many details throughout the game’s music!"
It's nice to know that some of Clair Obscur' s character themes won't only feature connective motifs with each other, but, as Testard mentioned, they'll also connect with themes of particular areas or locations of importance, as per his example of Gustave and his hometown, Lumiere. Clair Obscur is home to several other characters who aren't a part of the game's group of core expeditioners, like Renoir and Verso, as well as two mythical beings players will discover and befriend: Monaco and Esquie. It'll surely be interesting for players to discover how the themes of these other characters may or may not connect to the themes of the core four expeditioners.
Testard's passion for his work on Clair Obscur's soundtrack is more than apparent. Despite this, when asked about which character theme was his favorite to compose, Testard wasn't able to answer. Instead, he mentioned how each one of the tracks is so unique, expressing his adoration of all of them equally and his gratitude for having the opportunity to work on Clair Obscur's soundtrack.
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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
