The emptiness that many feel after Clair Obscur Expedition 33 hits some hard. Many believe that was the pinnacle of gaming – for a long, long time.
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is not only the hottest contender for the Game of the Year 2025 but has also triggered something in many players. The captivating, emotional story with multiple meta-levels set in a fantastic world to immerse oneself in leaves many with conflicting feelings.
Worse for some, however, is the prevailing feeling that they have experienced the current pinnacle of gaming and that every other game must be measured against it and can only fail.
This is how the topic is discussed: In the Expedition 33 subreddit, the player ZeeeeBro describes his feelings after finishing the game like this:
It was such an incredible experience. The gameplay, the characters, the story, the music! It was outstanding. Easily one of the best games I’ve ever played and I really mean that. And now that it’s over, I fear I will never find a game like this again.
I almost wish I could forget it all just to play it [without knowledge] again.
Does anyone feel the same way? Or am I just a bit dramatic? This game just touched me so differently than anything else I’ve played in a long, very long time.
This is how the community responds: With this view, ZeeeeBro is obviously not alone, as many share these feelings. Some hope that Sandfall Interactive can repeat this success in the future:
“With the massive success of the game, Sandfall will at least have enough money to make their next game even better.” – nechdoesntno
Exactly this view seems wrong to some, as expecting a company to deliver a second success after a first is a “recipe for disappointment,” explains Timboron:
“Expecting them to replicate what they achieved here sounds like the perfect basis for one’s own disappointment. I hope they can create something unique that they truly believe in and don’t feel pressured to make something else just because [Expedition 33] was such a big success.”
Others view it less critically and believe that such highs and feelings of joy in gaming happen more often. Holy Symboly, for instance, names a whole series of games that triggered this for him:
“That’s exactly what I thought when I first played ‘Detroit: Become Human’, ‘The Last of Us Part 1’, ‘NieR: Automata’, and ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’.”
The most highly rated comment comes from HopefulCynic24, who repeats a quote from Esquie. For in a heavy loss in the game, the great, stone-loving creature says a sentence that everyone can take to heart:
“Losing a stone is better than never owning a stone.”
Cortyn says: I can at least relate to the feeling. After Expedition 33, every other game feels just a little bit worse. Sandfall Interactive’s RPG has set the bar so high for upcoming RPGs that it will be hard to engage with something that offers significantly less – whether in terms of music, story, or gameplay. Everything seems worse compared to Expedition 33, even if that’s not a fair assessment.
What is clear, however, is that Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has had quite a significant impact on players worldwide and secured a place in the personal favorites of millions of RPG fans. One should be glad to have had this experience and not be saddened by the fact that it also has an end. Esquie is right about that.
Currently, Expedition 33 is celebrating an extreme number of successes. Aside from the numerous positive reviews, there are also some quirky achievements. Among them is such an unlikely achievement that the developers could hardly believe this milestone when it was reached exactly 33 days after the release of the game.
