Summary
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success lies in player loyalty and investment.
- The game excels in pacing by knowing when to introduce new elements.
- Its gradual unfolding of story and systems keeps players engaged for the long run.
Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the biggest surprises of 2025, achieving such critical success that it is now one of the highest-rated games of the year. Despite being a turn-based RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has garnered high praise for its combat, story, music, and much more, arguably setting a precedent for RPGs moving forward. At the heart of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's ongoing success, however, is player loyalty and investment. Any game can have noteworthy features, but its ability to maintain the interest of players until the credits roll can make or break it in the long run.
This is where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 succeeds more than many games have been known to — in its pacing. By and large, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 knows when to hold back and when to hit hard, and it often seems to be so in tune with the player's interest levels that it can almost predict when that interest is beginning to wane. Just then, it throws something new at them, whether it's a new gameplay element or an unexpected plot twist, and it manages to entrench its hooks into the player even deeper.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Could Easily Follow in Stellar Blade's Post-Launch Footsteps
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 already has what it takes to follow in Stellar Blade's foosteps for its post-launch roadmap, and it arguably should.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Knows When to Hold Back and When to Hit Hard
Clair Obscur’s Story and Systems Unfold Gradually for Maximum Player Investment
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's story is one of the most emotionally resonant narratives in gaming, largely because it knows the power of a personal story. At its core, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tells a story that pretty much anyone can relate to and identify with, which is largely why it has received such positive attention since it took the stage on April 24. However, it is ultimately Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's ability to unravel its story and systems gradually that allows it to maintain maximum player investment.
In many games, players can get the general idea of a narrative or gameplay mechanics fairly early on, and from there, they are let loose to explore, discover, and confront at their own pace. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has moments like these, but they are deceptive in nature. Just when players think they have a firm grasp on the game's story or its various gameplay systems, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 throws something new at them, along with tutorials to help players understand any new mechanics that are introduced.
It is ultimately Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's ability to unravel its story and systems gradually that allows it to maintain maximum player investment.
In a way, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's manor is a great in-game example of how it handles pacing. As players explore the game's world, they will occasionally come across mysterious doors that transport them to a small room inside a massive manor filled with over a dozen different rooms. The thing is, until players discover a door out in the world, the room that door leads to inside the manor remains locked. In the same way, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 keeps each "room" in its story and gameplay locked until players discover it through natural progression, but it's the time between these moments that matters.
Clair Obscur's Pacing Is the Reason Players Want to Keep Going
It feels at times like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 knows when players are getting too comfortable. It doesn't resolve this by simply ramping up the difficulty though. Rather, it gives players something new to learn, or it twists its narrative in a way they might never have expected. Whether it's the introduction of a new playable character in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with brand-new mechanics, a new ability that allows players to more extensively explore the overworld map, or a boss fight that is anything but familiar, Sandfall's debut RPG is a masterclass in earning player loyalty.
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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
