MeinMMO editor Jasmin Beverungen shed some tears while playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This is not only due to the phenomenal story, but also the challenging battles.

As a fan of Japanese role-playing games, dark stories, and Soulslike elements, you should definitely keep Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on your radar. 

The role-playing game is the debut work of Sandfall Interactive, a team of around 30 developers. However, even though it is the developer’s first video game, they have created an outstanding story.

In the title, you take on the role of Gustave, who lives in a ruthless world. Every year, the painter decreases the life expectancy of people. She paints the new age at which people vanish into thin air on a tower. To put an end to her actions, an expedition sets out each year to reach and defeat the painter.

Gustave travels with a team of several people to the painter’s island and must face numerous enemies along the way. In turn-based battles, where parrying and dodging are crucial, Gustave and his companions use various combat techniques.

And it is this combat system that might initially confront fans of classic role-playing games with a wall. It is indeed harder than what you would expect from turn-based RPGs like the older Final Fantasy titles.

The battles are a real challenge and remind me of Soulslikes, only in a turn-based format. I have only played one Soulslike called The Surge. I never had the patience for Sekiro or Elden Ring, as I didn’t want to memorize complex enemy patterns. My experiences in the genre are therefore limited.

For the following review, I spent about 35 hours in the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and reached the credits during this time. After about 20 hours, I reached the endgame. After that, the side quests from the last act occupied me for about 15 hours.

I visited all exploreable areas, including those of the side quests, but I couldn’t always defeat the associated boss. I also scrutinized every corner of the overworld, defeated more bosses, and collected various cosmetics.

In this test, I focus primarily on the gameplay of Clair Obscur, as it surprised me as a role-player. I will tell you how I, as a Soulslike beginner, coped with the difficulty and how I made it more bearable until the end. Don’t worry: there are no spoilers regarding the story!

Fights surprisingly difficult despite being turn-based

The battles are the heart of the game. In every area, you encounter bizarre monsters that you must face in turn-based battles. The battles unfold as you might know from RPGs like Metaphor: ReFantazio or Baldur’s Gate 3.

• The speed value determines the order in which you and the enemies attack
• Each character has a specific selection of skills and can level up through combat 
• Enemies drop rewards such as equipment items that make the group members even stronger
• Through an ambush, it’s possible to get a first strike with all fighters

The special twist that sets Clair Obscur apart from many role-playing games are the quick-time events. You can decide whether to dodge or parry the attacks of the enemies.

When dodging, the character steps aside and avoids the attack. The damage incurred is 0, and there are no further consequences. 

When parrying, the time window in which you must react is much smaller. However, it has the advantage that you inflict damage on the enemy upon success. And this damage sometimes exceeds your own attacks. 

In my playthrough, I decided to fully commit to parrying. The battles were taking too long otherwise, and I was so caught up in the story that I wanted to see more of it as quickly as possible.

A soulslike that isn’t one

The difficulty in the battles is sometimes extremely high. If you fail to dodge or parry, the enemy hits you with their attack. Even at normal difficulty, it often only takes a few hits before a team member meets their end. Particularly strong foes can even “one-hit” you. Therefore, it is a MUST to learn the right timing to dodge or parry.

This felt to me like in Soulslike games, although Clair Obscur doesn’t really belong to the genre.

In contrast to many Soulslike titles, in this role-playing game, I only need to focus on parrying at the right moment. In Dark Souls and similar games, it also involves moving around the arena. Luckily, that is not the case in Clair Obscur. You are not occupied with multitasking.

As a result, the battles feel more like a rhythm game where you need to anticipate the beat. After 2 to 3 attack chains, you usually have a good sense of when the moment to parry is coming up. For some attacks, it is even enough to just listen – a thunder spell announces itself in advance.

The only annoying point: There are some battles that can drag on for several minutes. Enemies provide no indication of how many levels above you they are. When you encounter a tough opponent, it is futile to have mastered the perfect combination. Against much stronger enemies, you deal only a ridiculous fraction of the damage. And you know it – at some point, fatigue sets in and you make mistakes, which can rob you of your last nerves after fifteen minutes of fighting.

Moreover, there are fights from which you cannot escape. This led to some frustrating moments for me, especially when I realized that this fight could theoretically cost me an hour of my life. I had to awkwardly let my party die and restart from the last save point.

A trick to make it easier for Soulslike newcomers

A trick that helped me make the fights in Clair Obscur more bearable was lowering the difficulty level. In story mode, some failures are forgiven before characters die. 

At first, I simply played on normal difficulty until I realized that I was dying often against enemies. Soulslike experts could find their ultimate challenge here. But since I wanted to experience the story further, it took too long for me – and I switched to story mode.

In this easy variant, the battles still present a decent challenge, as there are still status effects or special attacks from enemies that can quickly cost you your life. One status effect, for example, halves your HP – and it can be stacked down to one hit point. It doesn’t matter which difficulty level you play on. You must master dodging or parrying.

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The story mode was the perfect entry point for me as a Soulslike newcomer to master a difficult game with enough patience. And it is worth staying on top of it.

A dark post-apocalyptic atmosphere occupies the characters

At its core, Clair Obscur remains a story game. The world, which has a unique post-apocalyptic atmosphere, is credibly designed. There are unpredictable twists that have brought me to tears more than once. Over time, I also built a strong bond with the cast, as each character has their own motives and background story.

The premise brings dark thoughts that you must confront in a world where the maximum age is reduced each year: Should no more children be born? Or should one hurry to have children as early as possible to spend as much time together as possible? How does one deal with death? How does one say goodbye to loved ones who will soon die? All these are themes that Clair Obscur addresses.

Despite the oppressive themes, humor does not fall short. Every now and then, there are joyful and funny moments. Especially Esquie has stuck in my memory, as he is a nice contrast to the dark world. Plus, there are special cosmetics, including an outfit where you carry a baguette on your back – the developers are French, it fits.

To understand everything from the story, you need to listen closely. There are some scenes that leave some room for interpretation and do not directly explain what is going on. However, it is exactly this story and the profound characters that helped me stay engaged.

Additionally, both the battles and story sequences are underscored by beautiful music. Sometimes a deep male choir resounds, other times a gentle orchestra sound. There were occasionally sound dropouts during my playthrough, but that is nothing that can’t be fixed with a patch. The music fits the game world, which is beautifully designed. My personal highlight is an underwater world at the beginning, as it feels like you are below the sea surface.

Conclusion: A great success for the development studio

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has set the bar high for what my personal game of the year is concerned. Logical stories with lots of emotions and unpredictable twists are particularly important to me in role-playing games. And that is exactly what the RPG from Sandfall Interactive combines. 

The characters grew so close to my heart over time that I empathized with them. Together with the visual presentation and the orchestral soundtrack, the overall package is right except for a few minor flaws. You should definitely keep an eye on the development studio.

However, I fear that many players might be put off by the design and the fact that it is the first game from the development studio. Yet, it offers a fresh opportunity, especially for fans and newcomers to the Soulslike genre, to experience challenging battles that can be drastically simplified if needed.

Who is Clair Obscur suitable for?

You should play Clair Obscur if you…

• Like games that focus on the story
• Can handle dark and serious themes
• Are not afraid of challenging battles
• Have never played a Soulslike but wanted to take the first step into the genre
• Are a fan of orchestral soundtracks
• Want to play a really good role-playing game with turn-based combat and an overworld

You should rather stay away if you…

• Lack patience for lengthy battles and an extensive story
• Prefer real-time battles like in Elden Ring, which are more action-oriented

For further impressions, you can read the tests from our sister sites:

• GameStar (Paywall): Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in review – A story masterpiece you will never forget
• GamePro: Clair Obscur Expedition 33 in review: The best RPG story in years, the best combat system in decades

Is Clair Obscur also worth it for players who don’t like Soulslikes? Clair Obscur is actually not a Soulslike, but some elements from the genre are included (for example, enemies respawn after resting) and integrated into the turn-based combat system.

Newcomers who have always wanted to take a peek into the genre, like I did, have an optimal entry point here. They can first focus on whether they enjoy memorizing enemy attack patterns. As the additional movement like in Elden Ring is removed here, players can first practice in turn-based battles.

Those who have significant difficulties in figuring out the timing in quick-time events might also face their limits in Clair Obscur at times. The story mode forgives some mistakes, but you should still dodge or parry occasionally.

Experts will surely have fun with it unless they prefer real-time battles. On the highest difficulty level, the battles are so hard that you will end up being the one-hit casualty while dealing little damage yourself. 

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