As a general rule, I don't replay games. Not because they don't interest me, but because the game developer doesn't create the game with the love and care required to craft an artwork that is worth looking at more than once. Sometimes I barely give games more than a second glance after watching a trailer or reading the premise behind the story of the game. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (E33) is one of more than a few exceptions. Built by Sandfall Interactive, it sits in my library as one of those games that I will play for a long time; rubbing elbows with such giants as TESV: Skyrim, Fallout 4, Assassin's Creed, any of the Burnout series, and oddly enough simlife games such as Paralives or Sims 4. The moment I finished E33, I sat back and thought to myself, "I need to do this again!" And I have not been disappointed.
Let's start with the obvious: this game is gorgeous. The Belle Epoque-inspired art style is unlike anything else in the genre, a world that looks like a painting. Every area has it's own identity from sun-drenched ruins to landscapes that feel like floating in a dream. It is the kind of game where you stop walking just to look at things, and the second playthrough only makes that worse because now you notice the details tucked into the backgrounds and cutscenes that you blew right past the first time through. Nothing in the world feels like filler. Someone cared about every corner of it.
And then there is the music. I'm not exaggerating when I say I sat in the main menu for a good 15 minutes listening to the theme before I ever pressed start. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but again like several of the other giants that this game rubs elbows with the soundtrack is not just background noise. It is a character in the game in its own right, carrying emotional weight through scenes that dialogue alone could not.
I think what surprised me the most about E33, besides how good it is for an indie game dev, is how open the world feels for a game that was deliberately designed to be somewhat linear in its story-telling. E33 knows exactly where it wants to take you but lets you figure out where that path is on your own. Side quests, secrets, and optional (and HARD) encounters tucked away everywhere not only encourage, but reward exploration. It threads a needle that a lot of bigger studios fail: A focused narrative that still rewards curiosity.
Because the game is built on Unreal Engine 5, the modding community is able to step in and tweak the game to give it that final coat of polish. QOL things like a minimap or the ability to turn off some of the heavier visual effects means that the experience can be enjoyed by everyone, not just those who are good at gaming or with a powerful rig. It's a small thing, but it matters.
For a debut title from a small studio, this review is well-earned. E33 is about loss, memory, and what people leave behind. Play it once for the experience and then play it again to see what you missed. It earns both.
11/10 would play again because there's probably something in there that I'm missing right now in the middle of my 2nd playthrough.
