🔥 HOT: Id/MedicMedulla/recommended/ - High Quality

My review is quite late. I do not normally review games and I struggled to describe this one beyond saying you must play it.

Put simply, Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 re-awakened a childhood wanderlust. It is only the second game in more than 20 years that has given me the surreal urge to journey and discover the world for myself. The earliest game I recall giving me that feeling was The Legend of Zelda and, more recently, Red Dead Redemption 2. Red Dead was more about immersion while E33 delivers an otherworldly experience.

I had no performance issues on my system with an Intel Core i7-11700K and an EVGA 3080 FTW.

As I progressed through the story I found myself constantly questioning and theory crafting where it would take me. It was not predictable but it unraveled in a way that felt natural. I wondered how the characters would travel and change and what they would learn about the world and their place in it.

The art style and music form a perfect backdrop to excellent cinematography, writing and delivery. The presentation is beautiful and rarely, if ever, misses a beat.

Design influences I would relate to include Bioshock, Alice Madness Returns, Persona, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy. It feels like the best aspects of those series come together to deliver a memorable adventure.

The pacing was overall quite good. The third act tightens up and several threads feel compressed, but I did not rush through it. I deliberately completed most optional content and finished nearly all side stories, leaving only the toughest fights like Simon for a post game return where I needed to optimize my build and practice my dodges. That approach highlighted how rewarding the optional content and post game preparation can be.

Character work is a major strength. I badly wish one character who is lost early on had more screen time because his absence carried a strong emotional weight throughout the remainder of the story. Maelle is handled well. She reads as her age while showing a maturity earned by struggle. Luna and Cecile are welcome additions. Luna can be commanding and at times preachy, but she never talks down without reason and she grows into the party rather than forcing herself on it. At one point Luna expresses joy at meeting the Gestral Village, then i took a detour to the beach she sounds annoyed by us wasting time here with them, which felt slightly inconsistent and jarring. Cecile is a joyful presence with a maternal or teacherly air that does not need exposition it just feels right. Her manner made me want to learn more the way the best teachers do. Their relationship never read to me as romantic in a shallow way. They come across as sisters or best friends who may have drifted but would always have each other’s back. The two later addition characters fit perfectly. Their banter and integration with the party felt natural. One of them has a deep and interesting arc and a psyche that makes their presence meaningful without explicit explanation.

If I have to score it, I give it a 9 out of 10. Being nitpicky, I might say 8.9 out of 10 because I noticed a few odd terrain moments while exploring off the beaten path, such as waterfalls that seemed to end unnaturally on rocks and some jarring asset reuse in a few locations. These issues came up only when I deliberately explored every corner of each level, so they are minor but still present.

I really hope to see where they take this story next. I can easily imagine some characters returning in a follow up but not quite as their former selves, perhaps as figures who inspired their counterparts in that world. One scene stood out as foreshadowing the two factions. Maelle is holding a cake while Verso and Clea stand among others on her left and Gustave and Emma stand on her right with a fairly distinct split between the groups. It made me wonder if Gustave and other characters in the canvas reflect someone Verso or Maelle knew in the real world who might be a part of the Writer faction. The characters we grew to love could become antagonists or at least appear in the next story without being entirely hostile, since Maelle and possibly Verso have a connection with them.

My review is quite late. I do not normally review games and I struggled to describe this one beyond saying you must play it. Put simply, Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 re-awakened a childhood wanderlust. It is only the second game in more than 20 years that has given me the surreal urge to journey and discover the world for myself. The earliest game I recall giving me that feeling was The Legend of Zelda and, more recently, Red Dead Redemption 2. Red Dead was more about immersion while E33 delivers an otherworldly experience. I had no performance issues on my system with an Intel Core i7-11700K and an EVGA 3080 FTW. As I progressed through the story I found myself constantly questioning and theory crafting where it would take me. It was not predictable but it unraveled in a way that felt natural. I wondered how the characters would travel and change and what they would learn about the world and their place in it. The art style and music form a perfect backdrop to excellent cinematography, writing and delivery. The presentation is beautiful and rarely, if ever, misses a beat. Design influences I would relate to include Bioshock, Alice Madness Returns, Persona, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy. It feels like the best aspects of those series come together to deliver a memorable adventure. The pacing was overall quite good. The third act tightens up and several threads feel compressed, but I did not rush through it. I deliberately completed most optional content and finished nearly all side stories, leaving only the toughest fights like Simon for a post game return where I needed to optimize my build and practice my dodges. That approach highlighted how rewarding the optional content and post game preparation can be. Character work is a major strength. I badly wish one character who is lost early on had more screen time because his absence carried a strong emotional weight throughout the remainder of the story. Maelle is handled well. She reads as her age while showing a maturity earned by struggle. Luna and Cecile are welcome additions. Luna can be commanding and at times preachy, but she never talks down without reason and she grows into the party rather than forcing herself on it. At one point Luna expresses joy at meeting the Gestral Village, then i took a detour to the beach she sounds annoyed by us wasting time here with them, which felt slightly inconsistent and jarring. Cecile is a joyful presence with a maternal or teacherly air that does not need exposition it just feels right. Her manner made me want to learn more the way the best teachers do. Their relationship never read to me as romantic in a shallow way. They come across as sisters or best friends who may have drifted but would always have each other’s back. The two later addition characters fit perfectly. Their banter and integration with the party felt natural. One of them has a deep and interesting arc and a psyche that makes their presence meaningful without explicit explanation. If I have to score it, I give it a 9 out of 10. Being nitpicky, I might say 8.9 out of 10 because I noticed a few odd terrain moments while exploring off the beaten path, such as waterfalls that seemed to end unnaturally on rocks and some jarring asset reuse in a few locations. These issues came up only when I deliberately explored every corner of each level, so they are minor but still present. [spoiler] I really hope to see where they take this story next. I can easily imagine some characters returning in a follow up but not quite as their former selves, perhaps as figures who inspired their counterparts in that world. One scene stood out as foreshadowing the two factions. Maelle is holding a cake while Verso and Clea stand among others on her left and Gustave and Emma stand on her right with a fairly distinct split between the groups. It made me wonder if Gustave and other characters in the canvas reflect someone Verso or Maelle knew in the real world who might be a part of the Writer faction. The characters we grew to love could become antagonists or at least appear in the next story without being entirely hostile, since Maelle and possibly Verso have a connection with them. [/spoiler]