by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, Andy Serkis, Jennifer English
Intro:
Slick, responsive and utterly addictive …
Video games these days are many things, but they’re rarely a surprise. The latest Call of Duty or Ubisoft sequel might be a decent time, but were you surprised by it? Did it do anything new or unexpected? One of the last big shock-to-the-system games was 2022’s Elden Ring, proving that a relatively niche company like FromSoftware could grab the world by its collective crotch and shove it into an open world fantasy RPG like no other. Surprise! The latest title that no one saw coming is from small French developers Sandfall Interactive – a studio of around thirty people; a fraction of the staff and resources of larger studios – and they’ve done the seemingly impossible: released what will almost certainly be the most striking and original RPG for ages in the form of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a dark fantasy yarn set in a dreamlike world heavily inspired by 19th Century France.
The citizens of the island of Lumière have a problem. Every year, a supernatural being known as The Paintress, paints a decreasing number on an imposing monolith and everyone older than that number disintegrates in a phenomenon known as the “gommage”. Naturally, folks aren’t super pleased about this, so each year a new expedition is sent to try and stop the Paintress, and every year it fails. When you start the game, expedition 33 is ready to be launched, and a bittersweet celebration occurs, because everyone knows that this mission is almost certainly doomed to fail. But they have to try. What else is there to do?
This poetically existential and tragically beautiful premise soon leads to a poetically existential and tragically beautiful game (how very French), which involves a team of expeditioners setting off into a wild and deadly fantasy land filled with magic and horrors. Gameplay involves exploration and combat, the latter taking place in a turn-based format, but with some caveats. See, while the turn-based caper takes place in a manner similar to something like Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll also need to either dodge or parry when your enemy has a go. Point of fact, this dodging and parrying mechanic is just as important as using the right skills and building your team correctly. Put simply, if you suck at the sort of games that require tight reflexes and good timing, you’re probably going to have a bad time with Expedition 33.
Backing up this solid, if occasionally punishing gameplay is a story like none that you’ve played before. Whereas games of this type tend to be JRPGs, Clair Obscur is a French Role Playing Game (FRPG) and is much sexier, weirder, darker and more tragic than its Pacific counterparts. This isn’t necessarily better or worse, but it’s very different and original, which is something that the genre has been crying out for. The story is dream-like but logical, grounded in trauma, loss, fear and disappointment. It’s a profoundly emotional journey that will have your jaw on the floor a number of times as the revelations mount across its 35-50 hour campaign.
The graphics are superb, the animation stunning and the voice acting featuring the likes of Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, Jennifer English and Andy Serkis is second to none. Plus, the music! Dear God, the music is amongst the best you’ll hear and so uniquely and quintessentially French.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is something of a miracle. A beautifully constructed game put together by a relatively inexperienced and small team united in their passion to make something fresh. Slick, responsive and utterly addictive, this game proves that France has a lot more to offer than toey movies, an understandable dislike of Americans and far too many mimes. Brilliant, beautiful and industry-changing, Clair Obscur is the real deal. Quelle surprise!
