The Turn-Based RPG That Has No Excuses to Be This Good - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review
Some games you pick up, play for a couple hours, and put down feeling fine about it. Expedition 33 is not that game. It grabs you almost immediately, and the grip does not loosen. From the moment the story starts moving, you are in it. No long warmup, no slow burn that tests your patience. It just pulls you in.
The story is where this game lives. It is genuinely close to perfect. The kind of writing where twists do not feel cheap because the groundwork was already there, you just did not see it. When something unexpected hits, and it will, multiple times, you feel it land rather than just register it. The narrative respects your intelligence and rewards your attention.
The heroes help carry that weight. Each one of them feels like someone you can actually see yourself in. Not the usual collection of gaming archetypes you tolerate to get through the plot. Real people with real weight to them. And they evolve. Gradually, honestly, in ways that feel earned rather than scripted. You notice it building over time, and when it pays off, it does so without announcement.
This game will also make you feel things. That sounds vague but it is the most accurate way to put it. It will make you laugh, then gut punch you, then make you sit and think. That range is rare. Most games pick a lane and stay in it. This one moves through all of them without fumbling any.
The music is a huge part of that. The score leans heavily into orchestral and classical arrangements, and it fits like it was built specifically for this world. It does not feel like background noise. Grand when it needs to be, quiet when that serves better. It earns every moment it takes up.
Now, the combat. It is turn-based with real-time dodge and parry mechanics layered in. Turn-by-turn is the last format most players expect to enjoy in 2025, but here it works. There is a rhythm to it. Reading the fight, planning your move, reacting when something comes at you. It creates real tension without feeling cheap. When it clicks, it clicks properly.
That said, the combat system is not without its flaws. There are moments where it does not fully deliver on what it sets up. Nothing that kills the experience, but enough to keep it from a perfect score. An 18 out of 20 is still an exceptional game, and this is one.
Play it.
