Claire Obscura: Expedition 33
Claire Obscura: Expedition 33
Buy and play this game. End of review.
Partially a joke but really not. This is one of the best games I have ever played. To write a review of this is almost impossible. After I completed it, I looked through multiple reviews in the press and on YouTube and still look today, and none do the game justice.
The main reason is because the game cannot be explained without ruining it. It is like giving the ending away to Bioshock or discussing Neir Automata and the relevant plot points that slowly become clearer the more you play the game or revealing the secret to a movie like Fight Club or Seven (not the Sixth Sence because, let’s be honest, that was bleeding obvious). This is not just secrets but the way the game peels back story layers and show hints and indications of what is true and then whiplashes you to different truths.
This game is not just beautifully dark, sad, haunting, joyful and full of moments that make you think or just shock you, it is also full of believable characters that are so well written and are so deep and layered that you very quickly connect with them and start to care deeply for them. It is so easy to feel their emotions and sense their drive and personal pain and joy, a feat many media struggles to convey.
I imagine by now many know the basic plot, but if you don’t here is a basic rundown. You meet Gustav and Maelle as they are heading down to the docks to experience the Gommage (derived from a French word meaning ‘to rub out’ one of many painting references in the game), a yearly event where the looming mystical figure of the Paintress, who sits by a huge monolith, stands up and reduces the number on said monolith by one and any of the inhabitants of the city of Lumiere who are that age or older dissipate in a swirl of dust and flowers. They disappear and this leaves many of their loved ones behind. The citizens see this as a joyful event touched by sadness. They show a level of respect for the people who are going to Gommage and they offer them flowers in red and white as a sign of affection and love. They try to make the most of the devastating event by turning it into a celebration similar to the Day of the Dead.
As you move through the city you speak to people and start to understand that there is a swathe of feelings about the Gommage, the Paintress and the Expeditions. Again, here is where the writing shines as even characters you meet in passing have depth to them and you can feel their history within the city and connections to the player characters and the city feels like it is full of genuine people with genuine views and feelings.
You meet Sophie who you soon discover is strongly connected to Gustov and Maelle and who, sadly, is celebrating her Gommage. You never feel like there is sadness there but rather a reminiscing of history and memories between the characters. There isn’t even sadness just comfortable companionship. The story proceeds through to its inevitable climax in a scene that I have seen repeatedly make everyone tear up and use the phrase ‘I am not crying, you are crying’. If there is any doubt in your mind and if for some obscure reason you have not played this game and you need any inspiration to drive you to play this game, just watch the first 1hr of this game and it will hook you.
During this time, you find out that both Gustov and Maelle are both part of Expedition 33, the number of which is tied to the number the Paintress painted on the monolith. Sophie was 33 and Gustov is 32. You find out Maelle is much younger than them both but has inexplicably volunteered to join the expedition. The Expedition is a group of people who leave Lumiere in order to find a way to the Paintress and discover a way to stop her yearly number reduction and thus the Gommage. That is enough of an introductory explanation as it gets to a point where it is best experienced firsthand.
The game features tight, often very difficult, combat with each playable character having unique combat systems that are simple to use but difficult to master. These once again are really better experienced through the game as it does a really good job explaining the individual systems and many are quite complex to describe without the ability to show don’t tell.
Another standout in a sea of truly amazing qualities, is the music. It has been reported everywhere that the composer was a first-time composer for games. He was found by the game devs (a team of 2-3 at the time I believe) on Soundcloud having posted on there for the first time that very day. The music is 8hrs of truly moving music of varying styles.
I played this game day one. I had it on my Wishlist on Steam from the day I first saw it on the Xbox showcase in June 2024. As soon as I saw this game I knew this would be something special for me personally. I didn’t think it would blow up like it did with people singing it’s praises from every rooftop. It tipped over to the point where journalists, YouTubers and media commentators who would normally not make content about games like this jumped on the bandwagon. I feel this is a sign that you have made it as a development team. I saw video after video with headlines like ‘Is this game that good?’, or ‘I tried Expedition 33 and man was I surprise’ and so on. Months later content is still being made of people listening to the music or starting the game for the first time and it absolutely amazes me and I hope that this means it will be remembered at the game Awards but I suspect that it will lose out to Kojima and Death Stranding 2, even though this is deserving of the award as it a game that is universally loved. I don’t think I have heard a bad word spoken about this game other than difficulty, which I can partially agree with but doesn’t distract from the game.
Like I said at the start, play this game.