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Billboard updated its charts for the week, and the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 game soundtrack hit the number one spots in both the Classical Albums and Classical Crossover Albums categories. This is its first week in first place in both divisions. 

The Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 soundtrack released on April 24, 2025, the same day the game launched. It could be found on streaming services like Soundcloud and Spotify, as well as purchased via storefronts like Amazon, Apple, and Steam. Lorien Testard composed the entire score, with Alice Duport-Percier contributing vocals. As a whole, the album consists of 154 tracks that appear throughout the game.

The process that led to Testard composing the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 soundtrack is an unexpected one. As Sandfall shared on the game’s launch day, Director Guillaume Broche found songs Testard composed in the hopes of becoming a video game music composer on a forum and SoundCloud. After hearing the examples and talking with him, Broche offered Testard the job.

There’s also a “Behind the Music” video that explained Testard’s process and showed some recording session footage while playing samples of the game’s tracks.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC worldwide. 

The post Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Soundtrack Topped 2 Billboard Charts appeared first on Siliconera.

If I decided to judge Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 based on aesthetics, artistry, and the narrative alone, this would be a 10 out of 10 game. It’s hauntingly beautiful and left me feeling for all of the individuals I followed on the journey. While the general execution is fine and the gameplay can be quite fun, I found a few things got in the way of truly being captivated and immersed in the experience.

The Paintress is a haunting and ever-present figure for the people living in Lumiere. Each year, she wakes up and paints a number on a wall beside her. When she does, everyone who is at or over that age ceases to exist. They disappear. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 begins right as this is about to happen again. The menace is about to awake and doom everyone who is 33 or older. We watch as Gustav, a scholar and warrior destined to be part of the 33rd expedition that will leave after this event in an attempt to stop her, witnesses this brutal dismissal. Then he, alongside his much younger adopted sister Maelle and fellow squates like Lune, undergo the voyage to the Paintress’ island to face her forces and (hopefully) her in the latest attempt to end this cycle.

It’s a fascinating and touching story, to be certain. I found that I genuinely came to feel for these people and understand their desperation. All of the people we leave Lumiere with are living on borrowed time. They’re next, eventually. They know that for the last 67 years, nobody’s been successful in defeating the Paintress. So many people left and never returned. Hell, we come across the journals of those who went before us and see the often ominous or heartbreaking s of their journeys. Sandfall Interactive isn’t afraid to show actions have consequences and this is a life or death situation, and I ire that.

I adore Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s character and environmental design. This is such a beautiful game. Sandfall Interactive worked some real magic. So many cutscenes feel monumental. Whether it’s because something actually important happened, or just the cinematic direction and design of the people and places are so well-executed. Truly, it’s a masterpieces of its own in many ways.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also sounds phenomenal. The casting is impeccable. Everyone is perfectly suited for their role and completely commits to their character. It’s wonderful to watch. However, the artistry behind the soundtrack is also so impressive and expressive. The themes are so apt and accentuate the situations. This is truly a cinematic experience. 

I just wish the gameplay always felt as pitch perfect and flawless as its aesthetics and story. In many ways it is fine and a totally enjoyable turn-based RPG! But there are also some annoyances that keep coming up and getting in the way of my appreciating the actions as much as I did the overall experience. 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like a standard, turn-based RPG until you actually get into a fight. Characters can roam an overworld map to find specific locations to explore as they head toward the Paintress and learn more about her, her forces, the Gestrals living on the island, and various truths. When in a location, you might find items or the journals from past teams. When you level up at past expedition’s flags, you can rest, apply skill points earned by leveling up, learn new skills, respec if you have the right item, and fast travel. Enemies will roam on both the world map and in locations, with bosses being scripted encounters when you reach certain spots. All this is handled well, and every spot we visit feels unique.

While the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 battles are turn-based, a number of elements keep them from feeling traditional. For instance, some opponents may have visible weak spots or be flying. You need to swap to the character’s ranged weapon to exploit that or even damage them. There’s a standard attack, of course, as well as learned skills. Quick-time events are tied to assaults with skills and come up each time, though these can be automated in the options menu. Enemy attacks can be dodged or parried, in some cases even with a jump when the whole party is targeted. If you parry or jump, there can even be an option for a powerful counter either by the single individual or whole party. I appreciate how strategic it all feels, especially since hitting weaknesses feels meaningful, characters all have a unique fighting style, like how Lune can inflict “stains” to increase damage or add effects, and it felt like I had a little more influence on encounters.

However, I will it that after about five hours, I grew a bit tired of the constant QTEs and turned them off in the accessibility options. You can do this for the attack-based ones, but can't for dodging and blocking. The issue is that the tells for attacks in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 occasionally aren’t clear, and a few notable fights could use a bit of balancing. Sometimes, the moment will last too long, which makes it difficult to tell when to parry. Others times, that window might be too short or you might not realize how many hits there will be. With general enemies you’ll face often, it isn’t an issue. By the second or third encounter, you’ll figure it out. But it may prove an issue with some bosses you only face once, especially since there can be an occasional difficulty spike at some later points. The thing with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the most effective method of dealing damage to any opponent tends to be parrying and countering an attack, so you need to catch on quick.

Another issue I have with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 involves the fact that it doesn’t involve any maps. You can’t check and see where you are. Which struck me as a bit weird, as this is a group on an expedition. Gustav and other characters reference leaving things for those who come after them and make a point of looking for signs from past expeditions. So why couldn’t any of these people leave a map of what they’d seen so far? In most locations, it’s a rather straightforward run and easy to get from point A to point B. But a handful of spots did get me a bit turned around. I’m not asking for strict handholding, but even a vague map of the space that didn’t track our actual locations would do for the few more involved dungeons. Fortunately, spots in areas where we can camp are fast travel points and tend to be near important locations, so that helps. But again, since many locations are straightforward, it isn't the biggest deal.

Speaking of which, I noticed that while some of these places look really great and feature fun points of interest to, there’s not a lot to actually interact with along the way. We find past expedition flags where we can build our characters after gaining experience from fights. Maybe we’ll occasionally see some currency or an item to grab. We’ll happen upon a journal from a past expedition. I would have loved more reasons to poke around the places I’d go or more excuses to take things in. This isn't to say there isn't a lot to do, and I plan to poke around to take on some additional challenges now that I beat it. But it is quite straightforward and there aren't many things to do besides fight.

I absolutely recommend Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and think it’s a gorgeous game. I loved the story it told and the characters I encountered. I just feel like some design choices keep it from being absolutely perfect. I’d have loved more incentives to really explore levels and maps that would make it easier to get around and find secrets. The game is absolutely worth your time, especially if you love detailed characters and a fun story.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 24, 2025. 

The post Review: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Embraces Its Premise appeared first on Siliconera.

The latest Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 trailer featured a look at almost all the voice actors recording for their characters in the game. In addition to offering a look at the process behind voicing their roles, each person also briefly shared their thoughts on the character. The only exception being Ben Starr, who plays Verso, as he looks at Director Broche Guillaume before stopping and and not going over his part.

This begin with of the development team watching the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 voice actors like Ben Starr recording and some motion capture segments with those performers. From there, it moves on to some folks talking about their roles. Star then meets with Maxence Cazorla, the Verso mocap actor, before not being able to actually say anything about his character. From there, we see Jennifer English talk about Maelle and her relationship with Gustav and his sister Emma. From there, we hear about the Gestral Monoco by Rich Keeble and what it is like playing a “nonhuman” individual. Shala Nyx talked about being Sciel and using the character’s grief after that, and that’s followed by Kirsty Rider discussing Lune as she follows in her parents’ footsteps. 

Here’s the full video. 

As a reminder, here are all of the revealed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 voice actors so far:

• Gustav: Charlie Cox
• Lune: Kirsty Rider
• Maelle: Jennifer English
• Monoco: Rich Keeble
• Renoir: Andy Serkis
• Sciel: Shala Nyx
• Verso: Ben Starr

There is also a full French cast, and we expect to hear about more performers after the game is released and the full roster of characters is revealed.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will come to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 24, 2025. It will also be on Xbox Game for those of us who subscribe to it at launch.

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Sandfall Interactive gradually released trailers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 characters ahead of launch, and now we can find all five spotlight videos on YouTube. Things started with one for Gustave. Ones for Maelle, Lune, and Sciel followed. Now, things wrapped up with Monoco. 

In the case of Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and Sciel, all four characters are part of an expedition from the city of Lumiere sent to find and face the Paintress to keep her from causing people at or over the age of 33 to fade from existence in one year. However, Monoco is a bit different. That’s a character who is a Gestral. This means he’s not human. Regardless, as he mentions in his spotlight trailer, he is fond of the more “ephemeral” humans and chooses to fight alongside the group.

Here’s the first Gustave trailer, which showed up in March 2025 and also acts as a bit of an explanation as to what’s happening with the Paintress. It also highlights his connection to Maelle.

The Maelle Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 character trailer came up after. Even though she’s the youngest in the group and doesn’t “need” to the expedition due to having years left before her number comes up, she ed for a chance to fight back.

Likewise, the Lune trailer came up at the end of March 2025 too. Her parents were also a part of a past expedition that failed. She acts as a mage in the game.

As the release date drew nearer, more Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 character trailers appeared more frequently. So we saw the Sciel one at the beginning of April 2025 and learned what the farmer’s personality is like.

Finally, here’s the Monoco trailer that explains how things seem from a Gestral mindset. Part of it begins with his thoughts on humans. It’s then that we learned his fondness is such that he traveled with multiple expeditions before Expedition 33. 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 24, 2025. 

The post All Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Character Trailers Shared appeared first on Siliconera.

At a glance, it’s not hard to recognize some of the popular JRPG titles that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is drawing from and paying homage to. While many developers have attempted to recreate the nostalgia of the genre during the 90s and early aughts, it’s unusual for a game to catch my attention with such strength. And after roughly 4 hours playing an early build of the game, my interest has only grown.

The main conceit in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is simple. The Paintress is an entity with the ability to kill any person below a given age when painting a number in the sky. After decades of trying to fight back, it is the turn of Expedition 33 (named after the number in the sky) to embark on a journey to kill the Paintress. This build of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that I played skipped past the introduction in the city of Lumière and jumps straight to the action. It showed a summary of the events leading up to it, which involved an old man attacking the Expedition and causing protagonists Gustave, Lune, and Maelle to disband. I was immediately invested and hooked by the mystery. How come an old man is here, considering there are no people over the age of 33 alive?

After the intro, I jumped into the thick of it. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that takes inspiration from many classic and modern RPG and JRPG games. From what I played, navigating and exploring the environments is simple. There are some very light platforming elements and many detours that lead to powerful enemies guarding useful equipment and items. The two environments I could explore in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for this preview were considerably big, but I never felt fatigued exploring. The two main areas I explored are stunning and the art direction is fantastic. The first one looked a ravine set atop a mountain or hill, with ruined buildings straight out of early 20th century stranded in between rock formations. The second area, aptly called the Flying Waters, looked like a coral reef sitting at the bottom of the sea, with fish and marine creatures roaming around. Except the entire area was in the surface of the continent, in what looked like a mountain .

In between these two zones, I was allowed to traverse a small version of the world map which was featured in a recent trailer. I was immediately reminded of how uncommon it is to see a good ol’ world map in an RPG nowadays, and I loved every second I spent exploring it. While the main areas are visually breathtaking, the world map had a different beauty all on its own, with all the bizarre constructions and ruins inspired by the French Belle Époque floating around the continent, reminiscent of a diorama. The combination of French architecture and impossible fantastic elements is captivating and results in a unique looking game.

It was on the world map where I was able to set up camp to rest and save my progress, and got a cutscene between Gustave and Lune, my only party at the time. While there were other cutscenes before that point, it was during this event and the one preceding it that I was sold on the performances. Charlie Cox lends a theatrical quality to Gustave that clicks with the atmosphere of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but Kirsty Rider as Lune was the standout performance for me. The duo’s dynamic and clash on how to proceed after a harrowing experience was delivered succinctly, and the dialogue was punctuated with the characters talking over each other, overcome with bouts of anger and anguish. Jennifer English as Maelle also does a great job and I have a soft spot for her character already. What also complements the aesthetic and performances is the music. The various songs in the demo were beautiful, and I was particularly surprised at the battle music changing between areas, with the battle theme in the Flying Waters being a highlight.

However, the main focus of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is in its combat, which puts great emphasis in creating combo opportunities between characters in the party. The max party size seems to be 3 which felt perfectly balanced. As part of the demo, I was able to play as Gustave, Lune, and eventually Maelle. Gustave is a frontliner that fights with a sword and pistol. He has a mechanical arm that can store energy and unleash it with an ability that scales off of it, dealing massive amounts of damage. Almost every action that Gustave takes gives him a charge of his arm. Meanwhile, Luna is a magic adept character that can store up to 4 elemental “stains” obtained from the skills she casts. Each skill can in turn be powered or have its effects changed with stains, making for a very flexible casting system that rewards smart use of skills, but never punishes you for not being the most optimal.

Maelle s on the later part of the demo, and she is a duelist that changes between 3 different stances with the use of her skills, capable of linking them in order to deliver powerful combos. In my experience, Maelle was the character with the most consistent high damage, and setting up combos to make her deliver devastating damage was incredibly fun and rewarding. However, I could say the same about Gustave’s more straightforward overcharge mechanic, or Lune’s stains.

Beating enemies will grant experience, which in turn gives players stats points to freely allocate, and skill points to use on each character’s upgrade tree. The game lets you fully customize your characters in many different ways, and it seems like the final version will allow to respect to try other builds. Different weapons scale off of different attributes, like vitality or agility, and leveling them up will unlock different ive effects. While I couldn’t try these ives in the demo, it looks like flexibility and free-form customization will be a big focus in the final version. Even with what was available in this version of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I was reminded of so many JRPG and RPG classics with crunchy systems that allow for some ridiculously fun set ups, and with only four hours I was capable of getting some impressive combos that got my blood pumping.

One of these upgrade systems were the Pictos, a type of equipment that grant stats as well as substantial ive upgrades. Each character can equip up to 3 Pictos, and after completing 4 battles with a new Picto equipped, characters can freely equip the ive upgrade if they have enough Lumina points. With these, I was able to set up some really fun combos, such as gaining extra Action Points (or AP, used to cast skills) per enemy kill. I would then use the free aim projectile every character has (which spend AP charges without ending my turn) to hit enemies in their weak spot for massive damage, finish them off with one or two more shots, regain my AP, and continue onto the next enemy, wiping them all in quick succession.

Unlike other RPGs and JRPG games, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 doesn’t seem to have normal consumables, instead having only three types of items you can use in combat; a healing potion, an item to replenish your Action Points (used to cast skills,) and a reviving potion. At first, I chafed against this system, but as I started getting shards that expand the uses of each consumable, I started to really appreciate the idea. The flags of previous Expeditions are set around the various environments in the game, which lets you upgrade your characters or rest to recover all your HP and resources, which also makes enemies respawn. Being able to use items in combat knowing I could easily replenish them put me in a different mindset than having to purchase them or getting drops. Merchants exist in the world of Clair Obscur. The one I encountered sold really useful upgrade materials, as well as a secret Picto that I had to gain the right to see by challenging the merchant do a 1vs1 duel.

So far, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is shaping up to be a memorable time. The game feels old school and brand new at the same time. Despite all the recognizable inspirations, the demo left me with a very strong impression, with the different gameplay systems involved harmonizing to make a very crunchy and flexible experience. The mystery of the Paintress and the fate of Lumière are enticing hooks, and I am eager to see where it goes. All of this is ed by a wonderful artistic department that blend fantasy with a uniquely French aesthetic.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will come out on April 24, 2025 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.

The post Preview: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Paints a Promising Picture appeared first on Siliconera.

As part of the January 23, 2025 Xbox Developer Direct 2025, developer Sandfall Interactive offered new information and revealed the release date for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game will come out on April 24, 2025 for both the Xbox Series X and PS5, as well as the PC. It will also be a part of Xbox Game when it debuts.

The new footage of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 showcased the world of the game, new playable characters and areas, the skill system, and features. One of the things that came up was a fully explorable 3D world map in the style of classic RPGs.

You can check out the release date trailer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 here:

You can also see the segment dedicated to it in the full Xbox Developer Direct 2025 below:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was revealed on June 9, 2024 at the Xbox Games Showcase. An interview also appeared on the Playstation Blog where Creative Director Guillaume Broche talked about the influences of the game, as well as the meaning of the title and some of its story elements.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is coming out on April 24, 2025 for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.

The post Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Release Date Set for April appeared first on Siliconera.

In an interview on the Playstation Blog, Creative Director Guillaume Broche discussed the influences of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the meaning of the game's double-barreled title. There is no firm release date for it yet, but it is expected to release sometime in 2025.

Broche began by explaining the meaning behind the title Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. "Expedition 33" straightforwardly refers to the protagonists belonging to the 33rd expedition to destroy the Paintress, the game's antagonist who can destroy generations of people by painting a number.

The first part is more interesting, referring to a French artistic movement that Broche said helped form the "overarching world of the game." He went on to cite some of developer Sandfall Interactive's favorite games. He noted the Tales of series, Persona, and Lost Odyssey influencing the game's RPG elements, while the combat takes cues from Devil May Cry, NieR, and the Souls series.

In case you missed it, here's the reveal trailer that offered a first look at the title's gameplay:

We got to see the title for the first time at the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, with the announcement being accompanied by a trailer and a 2025 release window.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will release sometime in 2025 for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Director Explains Title Meaning, Influences appeared first on Siliconera.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase. It's a new turn-based RPG from developers Sandfall Interactive, set for release in 2025.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is set in a world cursed by someone known as the Paintress. Every year she paints a number on a monolith, and everyone of that age instantly turns to dust and dies. The game stars Gustave, an Expeditioner who is determined to put a stop to the Paintress's curse.

The game features turn-based combat with timed combo attacks. Parries, dodges and counters can also be input in real time. The game also features an art style inspired by French art and architecture. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is being developed by Sandfall Interactive, a new team founded by veterans from Ubisoft.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is set to release in 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

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