The following contains spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has proven to be one of the most artistic games in recent memory, with an art style and themes that are as captivating as its story and music. One of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's core themes and artistic expressions happens to be flowers, though not merely on account of their beauty and therefore the breathtaking imagery they often contribute to. From the prologue to the game's last breath, flowers are a core aspect of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's imagery, and that's all due to what they represent both symbolically and narratively.
During the game's prologue, players are tasked with meeting up with Sophie as Gustave, who is wearing a wreath of flowers around her neck to indicate that she is about to Gommage — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's tragedy that is central to its narrative. Once the Gommage occurs, Sophie fades away into flowers, along with a vast number of other people within Lumiere. From then on, flowers are a constant motif that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 uses to convey the frailty and beauty of death, as well as one of the story's biggest revelations.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wears Two Influences on Its Sleeve and Keeps One in Its Pocket
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may not be at all ashamed of two of its most prominent influences, but it keeps one other tucked away in its pocket.
What Flowers Really Mean in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Flowers Represent the Frailty and Beauty of Life and Death
Flowers are often used in literature and other media to convey the beauty and frailty of life and death. In essence, flowers bloom brightly but briefly, making them a perfect metaphor for the fleeting nature of life, youth, and beauty. Ultimately, they serve as a reminder that life, like a flower, is delicate and temporary. With the frailty and beauty of life and death being at the center of the game's primary themes, this is a major reason why flowers are regularly shown during Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's story.
Flowers are a constant motif that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 uses to convey the frailty and beauty of death, as well as one of the story's biggest revelations.
A flower's life — from bud to bloom to wilt — is a reflection of the human journey from birth to maturity to death. This makes flowers natural symbols for both celebrations (weddings, births) and times of mourning (funerals, memorials). A bride walking down the aisle to meet her husband is often carrying a bouquet of flowers that she later tosses into the air for one of her bridesmaids to catch as a symbol of who will be next in line to get married. On the contrary, flowers are often brought to someone's grave or funeral as a way to remember and honor their life. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 often uses flowers in this way — to symbolize when someone has passed.
Flowers Manifest in Clair Obscur's World on Account of Verso's Death
Flowers aren't just included in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a symbol, however, and are instead directly linked to one of the story's biggest reveals. As it turns out, Lumiere and the rest of the world in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an artifical world created Verso. In the real world, a group of people known as "Painters" exist who can bring entire worlds to life by painting them on a canvas. As for Lumiere and its inhabitants, they are the product of Verso's imagination. However, after Verso was claimed by a tragic fire, his mother, Aline Dessendre (the Paintress), entered his canvas and reshaped it to preserve his memory, despite it only being an artificial reflection of the true Verso.
There is also another group in Clair Obscur's real world called the "Writers," who the Painters are apparently in constant conflict with.
In a sense, then, the canvas Aline used to revive Verso's memory serves as his casket, which is witnessed during Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's "good" ending. Should players choose to end the story by destroying the canvas, they will witness the Dessendre family standing before Verso's grave, which is covered in flowers. In other words, flowers are such a constant theme in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 because they symbolize a grieving mother's memory of her son, which has inadvertently found its way into the canvas as she remains in denial about his death.
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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
