Death is everywhere in videogames, but rarely do we dwell on it. True, some games force it in our face (Dark Souls’ “You Died” comes to mind), but even then many of us don’t think of death as more than a temporary inconvenience. That’s bound to happen when it’s treated as a gameplay element and we can just reload our last save. Most of the time, our heroes don’t have to process death either, as in our main save file they overcome every obstacle and survive to the end. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 , however, meditates on death right from the get-go. In a post-catastrophe land inspired by France, the world as we know it has been seemingly spliced with a fantastic other dimension. Across the sea from quasi-Paris Lumiere, there is a giant entity known as the Paintress. Each year she paints a new number on a monolith, and those above that age are erased from existence. For 67 years, Lumiere has sent expeditions to defeat her, in hopes of ending this gommage. None have succeeded. Now, it’s Expedition 33’s turn. 

Clair Obscur is a turn-based RPG with time-based mechanics, where attacks are bolstered or incoming damage is negated if you time your button presses right. I love me a good timing-mechanic in a turn-based RPG – I loved it in Mario + Luigi: Superstar Saga, and I loved it in my first review for the site, Sea of Stars. While the timing of attacks is more satisfying in those games (Clair Obscur’s feels more like a QTE), the timing of dodging and parrying here more than compensates for its less engaging offense. The amount of times I pumped my fist and told the enemy to get wrecked simply because I countered all the enemy’s attacks is…too many to count. 

Due to the way parrying works, where all damage is negated if you time your dodges and parries perfectly, it is technically possible to beat every fight in this game without taking any damage. To address this, the developers made every fight deadly.  The story does a great job establishing that this isn’t a fun adventure – this is a fight for the expedition’s life. No enemy feels like a jobber in this, and that threat is appreciated. It makes the turns where you counter an enemy and kill them instead feel so good. There is a difficulty option for this game where incoming damage is decreased, but it still requires precise timing to survive many battles. Having switched to it for some of the final act of the game, I can confirm it is still a challenge. 

Each character has their own additional mechanics in combat, which will change how you approach each battle. For example, Gustave has overcharge – the more hits he lands on an enemy, the more his mechanical arm charges up. You can use overcharge whenever, but to maximize impact you’ll want to make sure you get some attacks in first. Maelle’s abilities change her stance, which provide various buffs to herself – you’ll want to keep these juggling so that she doesn’t lose her stance. The various mechanics each character has all dovetail well with each other, though their strengths and synergies aren’t always immediately obvious. Given time to acclimate and level up, there are some really creative and awesome builds for every character.

Exploration both in maps and in the overworld is a lot of fun. The sense of danger pervades the whole world – in fact, some sections of the map explicitly say “danger!”, indicating difficult optional bosses. In certain locations the critical path isn’t entirely clear, which can lead to backtracking. I saw a tip that apparently the critical path always has subtle lanterns along its way, but I have not been able to confirm that. Either way, the backtracking isn’t too onerous. You’ll never miss anything crucial by not exploring, but there are some genuine quality-of-life items called Pictos that increase the stats and abilities of your party. (For example, they might double the burns you give an enemy, or give you a second turn if certain conditions are met.) If you have a picto equipped for 4 battles, the whole party can then equip it as a secondary ability – equipped secondarily, it won’t boost your stats, but will still grant its ability. The stacking of picto abilities is what leads to some truly insane builds. There is a lot of customization in this system, and it feels broken that they just let you do whatever you can think of. This is exactly why they make each fight so dangerous; with a mechanic this generous, they have to even the playing field somehow.

The world isn’t entirely open at first, but as abilities are unlocked, more and more is revealed to you. I was staggered by the amount of exploration that remained after I unlocked my final ability. It felt just like when you unlock the Highwind in Final Fantasy 7 and the whole world is unveiled. It’s one of my favorite feelings in video games, when you realize how much bigger the world really is. And boy do they pack it full of content – while it doesn’t waste your time (the average run of this game is 55 hours – brisk for an RPG), it’s still jam packed with plenty to do. I did quite a few optional bosses, but some of them are very clearly for those dedicated to reaching max level or to finding builds tailor made for the boss. None of them are required for getting a good ending – if you don’t feel like doing those challenges, there’s no obligation to.

This is the debut game for French developer Sandfall Interactive. To come out of the gate with a game this good is highly impressive! And who would have guessed the French would drop the best JRPG of the year? (or “J’Rpg”, as the internet has wittily dubbed.) This is a fantastic first outing for Sandfall –  Clair Obscur is surreal, beautiful, challenging, sad, and surprisingly funny when it wants to be. Its lore, while unexplained at first, has a sense of mystery that RPG fans will love to dig into. (And it does have satisfying and coherent answers, as time goes on. The only thing worse than an unsolved mystery is a poorly resolved one. I’m looking at you, Squeenix.) The writers trust their audience, and we are rewarded with satisfying answers and world-building. If only more writers trusted their audience!

The name Clair Obscur itself derives from a baroque artistic concept more famously known as chiaroscuro – directly translated, this means “light-dark”. When you look up paintings utilizing chiaroscuro, you’ll be struck by the strong contrast between light and dark, often intended to invoke the power of God and the fallenness of Man. Expedition 33 manages to switch between those same tones without whiplash or confusion. It maximizes impact with its emphasis of opposites – What is art in light of reality? What is love in light of grief? What is life in light of death? 

Themes of death propound heavily throughout the game. Ultimately, the entire cycle of grief is examined, and you are left asking how one ought to grieve. Delving too deeply there will lead to spoilers, however, there is one thing I can analyze without going into spoilers. After decades of running expeditions, Lumiere has developed mottos with the purpose of framing the expeditions and motivating expeditioners, while also being starkly honest. For those who come after. Tomorrow comes. When one dies, we continue. You are already dead. The mottos are bleak; rather than being inspirational, they are aspirational – we see these ends as noble, and that motivates us to see the task through even if the larger goal is a hopeless for one person. But incremental progress is still progress, and what you do could lay the groundwork for a future expedition’s success. Despite the overwhelming weight of despair, these mottos remind us that death is inevitable – so what are we doing with our lives?

That is a primary aspect of Memento Mori. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, in full it is Tempus Fugit; Memento Mori. Time flies; remember your death. This philosophy is a stark reminder that our time on Earth is temporary – don’t waste your time on the superficial, but consider everything you do in light of eternity.  When it comes to accomplishing what duty requires, a certain detachment from life is necessary: as G.K. Chesterton so wittily summarized, “[Courage] means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”

For those who come after , the most prominent motto, is ultimately a message of stewardship – the idea that we do not own creation, but we are given stewardship over it to tend for the future. Our hope lies there, and so we must do our best to protect and cultivate it. It’s an encouraging message to hear, especially when so many are willing to shirk this responsibility for temporary benefit. Ultimately, opportunists will reap what they sow. 

The endings to Clair Obscur merits further analysis. However, it’s so rife with details I can comment on that I’ll have to dive into it in a separate spoiler-filled article. Stay tuned! 

About Matt "PBnJ" Palardy