MeinMMO editor Jasmin Beverungen had the chance to immerse herself in the role-playing game Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 for 3 hours. She is a big fan of classic Japanese RPGs, but with this role-playing game from a French developer, she has probably found her GOTY.
When I’m not busy watching my favorite anime, I spend my free time in all kinds of role-playing games. JRPGs have particularly captured my heart: whether it’s games like Final Fantasy 16, where you engage in action-packed battles, or classic old-school gems like Fantasian: Neo Dimension, I’m a huge fan of all titles from Japan.
Furthermore, I just love abstract stories, ominous settings, and enemies that seem straight out of an art museum. Death Stranding or Persona 5 Royal are good examples of titles where art is more than just portraits of artists with severed ears or fruit baskets.
Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 certainly fits perfectly into my radar. It is a role-playing game that showed in its very first trailer how artistically the world and enemies were designed. A major theme in the game itself is even art, as enemies and items are named in that style.
I was able to test a section of the game for 3 hours and convince myself whether engaging gameplay lies behind the brilliant optics. And what can I say: The game even has a feature that made something I have always found tedious in JRPGs much more exciting.
In the video, you can see the look I am talking about:
Clair Obscure is like a JRPG, just without the J
While playing, I discovered surprisingly many similarities with classic Japanese role-playing games. Therefore, I felt “at home” in Clair Obscure right away.
- There are turn-based battles like in Persona. An indicator on the left side of the screen shows which character can perform an action in which order. You can choose between melee attacks, ranged attacks, or special skills.
- There are individual areas connected by an overworld like in Tales of Symphonia. I was able to travel around in this, encounter enemies, and find hidden items.
- Encounters with enemies are not randomly triggered, but like in Dragon Quest 7 by touching the enemy. If I hit the enemy first in the demo before he noticed me, my characters were allowed to perform an action before the enemies.
After spending a lot of time last year with Metaphor: ReFantazio and Persona 3: Reload, many elements from Clair Obscure felt very familiar to me. However, there was a particular twist in the battles that makes the game from the French developer so special.
Clair Obscure indeed features Quick-Time Events, as I remember from the days of Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64. In these, I had to press a button at the right moment while I was attacking or while the enemy was attacking me. This can have different consequences:
- With attacks, you deal more damage or inflict a status effect on the enemy if you press the button at the right moment.
- If you want to strengthen your group, it might happen that not all members get buffed if you do not press the button at the right time.
- As soon as the enemy attacks us, I was able to dodge his attack. The time window is generous, allowing me to easily avoid damage.
- For the ultimate counter, I tried to parry every time. Here, the time window for the right button is smaller. However, if I succeeded, I not only avoided damage but also dealt damage back.
And that is exactly why it was important for me to observe the enemies closely. In every battle, I first had to figure out when the right moment to parry is. I had some trouble with certain enemies that charged a spell for a long time. Eventually, I resigned and just dodged. But against boss enemies, it made a gigantic difference.
The last boss fight in the demo had to be tackled a second time. The first time, I didn’t quite comprehend when I had to parry. As a result, my characters died faster than I could revive them.
During the second attempt, I was actually only hit once, because I got distracted. Otherwise, every parry action was on point.
After the battle, I realized how much fun these Quick-Time Events are. In most JRPGs like Persona, I somewhat miss the ability to control how much damage you deal or receive. The battles always follow the same pattern and can put me to sleep if they last longer than 5 minutes.
I know there are exceptions like Lost Odyssey or Sea of Stars – but such a battle system is unfortunately still underrepresented.
These short Quick-Time interactions kept me wide awake and gave me something to do even between the menus – without losing track, as sometimes happens in action-heavy battles.
Moreover, players can choose whether they prefer to parry or dodge depending on their skill. Parrying carries a greater risk because the time window to press the button is much smaller. However, when dodging, one must consider that the battle may take longer since no additional damage is dealt.
What I also loved about the battles was the background music. Each boss fight brings a new banger to the ears. It’s not quite at the level of Metaphor and Persona, but it’s definitely catchy.
Picturesque worlds from the dark palette
In Clair Obscure, colors and art play a very important role. The painter determines each year from what age people dissolve. She also paints many enemies that you encounter in the game world. Many of the items are named after terms from the art field, including Chroma and Pictos.
These artistic aspects are also reflected in the game’s world. The individual areas are full of details and have nothing in common with the dull tube levels that I often expect from JRPGs. In one level, for example, it felt like I was underwater and the fish could swim right through me.
The levels invite exploration, both in terms of layout and setting. There are varied thematic areas that go beyond the dull “a snow area, a lava area, and a desert area” that you usually find in many role-playing games. In a peaceful forest level, for instance, I encountered a cave piled high with corpses.
The only critique I noticed was the characters’ facial expressions. They sometimes look unnatural and could use a bit more movement. But aside from that, I had an immense amount of fun with Clair Obscure and can’t wait for the game to be released on April 24, 2025.
If you’re into action-packed real-time battles, Final Fantasy 15 might be something for you. Especially the DLCs feature great enemies and boss battles, one of which has particularly pleased me as an MMORPG player: In the DLC of Final Fantasy 16, the battles were my highlight, one of which I was particularly excited about as a player of Final Fantasy 14
