Both endings of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are tragic and do not offer a satisfying happy-end feeling. According to one of the game’s authors, this is intentional, and although a sequel is already in planning, there will be no official ending.
Attention: This article contains spoilers for the story and endings of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
What is the deal with the endings of Clair Obscur? In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you follow a tragic, dark, and exciting story. In the end, players are faced with a decision that leads to two outcomes, neither of which is truly good
or bad
.
At the end, you can choose whether to control either Maelle or Verso in the fight they are having against each other. If you choose the Maelle ending
, your group survives, but they lose their free will, and Maelle suffers a harsh fate. The Verso ending
, on the other hand, feels more cathartic and emotionally liberating but results in the death of most characters.
This raises the question of which of the two endings is the right
or canon ending
.
A Schrödinger’s ending
No real
ending? IGN conducted an interview with one of the game’s authors, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, in which she said: We will not choose one. […] Never say never, but there is no canon ending. It is a Schrödinger’s ending.
There is no real happy ending
, and that is also the intention of the developers. According to Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, it has long been clear that neither option will leave players completely happy. Both endings are, according to her, valid, and it is up to the players to choose their own canon ending.
This is surprising, as Sandfall Interactive is already working on another game set in the Clair Obscur universe. Usually, when sequels are made, even if players have the option to choose different endings, there is a predefined ending from the story to continue the narrative from a fixed starting point.
However, according to the author, Sandfall Interactive does not do this, which could either indicate that the ending will have no impact on the new story or that there will be different starting points for the sequel.
It remains to be seen how and whether the sequel will connect to its predecessor. If the ending of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 left you feeling emotionally empty, you are probably not alone: Psychologists say: The emptiness you feel after gaming is real and one type makes you suffer particularly
