Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the debut game from the new studio, Sandfall Interactive, available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Since its release, Expedition 33 has garnered significant acclaim, and it’s easy to see why. Even for those players who don’t normally enjoy turn-based RPGs, Expedition 33 is remarkably hard to put down, thanks to its likable characters, dramatic story, and well-designed combat system. Through smart use of genre tropes and a refined focus that prevents common RPG bloat, it’s a game that respects the player’s time and makes each minute worthwhile. While I usually find it easy to pop an RPG into my backlog and play it whenever possible, Expedition 33 is a game that I highly recommend playing this year, as it’s exactly what the genre needed in 2025.
A Serious First Story from Sandfall
Sandfall Interactive was founded in 2020 by a few seasoned developers, who left behind major companies like Ubisoft to strike out on their own. While not truly indie, considering the substantial financial support that the company has received from publisher Kepler Interactive and other investors, Sandfall still puts forth the passion usually found in a small-scale team. Removed from particularly pesky executive oversight, they’re able to embrace some cool narrative ideas and take plenty of risks, immediately evidenced by the unusual plot of the game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is set in a dark fantasy world that’s been disheveled for decades following an event called the Fracture. Living on the small island of Lumiere, the citizens deal with a yearly “Gommage”: an event that causes everyone of a certain age to perish instantly. This horrifying annual purge is due to an otherworldly being called The Paintress, and so, yearly expeditions to the Paintress’ island are organized to fell the beast. In the game, you control the members of the eponymous Expedition 33, who head into the unknown wilds beyond Lumiere in hopes of ending The Paintress’ plague.
Full of twists and turns, Expedition 33 presents a plot that’s notably bleak, taking its subject matter seriously while also maintaining an air of whimsical mystery. Best of all, the main quest can be wrapped up in roughly 30 hours. In an era where modern RPG greats like Metaphor ReFantazio, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Baldur’s Gate 3 all take upwards of 100 hours to complete, it’s nice to have a serious story that doesn’t require months of dedication.
Choose Your Own Combat
The combat system is the bread and butter of Expedition 33, and it’s as deep as it is accessible. The basics follow your standard RPG formula: use “Action Points” to trigger special skills, otherwise attack and defend as needed. However, each character in the game has a self-contained system, which when used in tandem with others, creates some crazy combos.
For example, Gustave builds electric charges with each attack, then unleashes it with one explosive ability. The caster Lune creates elemental “stains” with each skill, which can then be used to empower others. Maelle, the glass cannon damage character, has various stances with differing effects. These unique systems offer tons of variety with build crafting, used in combination with passive effects gained from special Picto and Lumina items to create some truly overpowered classes.
It’s a lot to take in and can be overwhelming at first, but that’s where the other half of Expedition 33‘s combat magic saves the day. Similar to RPGs like Paper Mario, Expedition 33 lets you dodge or parry enemy attacks with a well-timed button press, negating damage in the process. As long as you have learned the attack patterns and are quick to dodge, you never really need to worry about optimized builds, as you can survive long enough to deal plenty of damage. This makes Expedition 33 especially attractive to fans of parry-heavy games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as you’ll already have an upper hand in combat.
The Perfect RPG for 2025
All of these elements combined make Expedition 33 an outstanding RPG to enjoy this year. If you’ve felt suffocated by the overwhelming amount of game releases, including the likes of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Elden Ring Nightreign, and the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, Expedition 33 is a quick and refined experience that won’t demand a ton of your time. You can reasonably wrap up the main story after a few dedicated sessions, with plenty of end-game content left for you to enjoy. Even if you decide to call it quits once the credits have rolled, you’ll still get a deeply fulfilling story, one of the best the genre has seen in a while. Expedition 33 also doesn’t demand mastery of its nuanced turn-based battles, though the systems exist for those interested, offering multiple avenues of success in combat. In short, Sandfall Interactive has whipped up a surprisingly stellar RPG for their first outing and it’s good enough to warrant your immediate attention.
