Have you experienced true loss? How far did you go to maintain control over your world after the loss made you realize how little control you had?
Grief is a powerful thing that can cause a multitude of reactions based on its severity. It can reshape someone on an individual level or even have an effect on an entire society. When you think about it, grief is one of the most complex emotions humans have because the feelings and actions it stirs in us can range so wildly, from person to person and situation to situation, that it can be one of our brightest angels or one of our darkest demons.
Visually, it could be represented by the Italian art style known as chiaroscuro, which utilizes light and shadow to form paintings of intense depth and emotion. It's a very popular art style around the globe, but recently it's been known better by the French translation of the word.
Clair Obscure.
The sudden popularity of the French phrase arose this year thanks to a groundbreaking video game that took the Western World by storm and shattered the expectations of gamers everywhere with its gameplay, its art style, but also its beautifully tragic story.
The light and darkness that come with grief take center stage in the 2025 game, "Clair Obscure: Expedition 33," released by Sandfall Interactive, an indie studio out of France. It was a game that was in development for nearly a decade, and didn't garner much attention until its release in April. When it was finally given to the public, people were so wowed that word spread like wildfire, and before you could blink, it had sold millions of copies worldwide.
After diving into it myself, I can say that this is easily my game of the year, and I want to tell you about it, not just to promote it, but to highlight the fact that it proves the Western World hasn't run out of ideas and that when passion, time, and effort are put into something, you can create something that goes beyond just being a masterpiece.
But what makes this game so good?
Where do I start?
The game takes place in a surreal Belle Époque French world, starting in a city known as "Lumiere." The Eiffel Tower stands over the city, looking like it began bending and crumbling and then stopped mid-way. In fact, you'll notice a lot of that. The world seemed like it began to crumble due to some great cataclysm and then just froze. Rocks as big as mountains, lanterns, and even water seem to hang in mid-air, lazily floating in place as if waiting for the day when the world can continue its desolation.
You're introduced to two characters, Gustave and Maelle, who seem to be preparing for what, at first, sounds like an annual ceremony called the "Gommage," but soon you learn that this event is an incredibly tragic farewell event. Every year, a giant entity known as "The Paintress," a woman so tall she can be seen clear across the ocean and over landmasses, stands up from her place below a stone pillar and paints a number on it. Whichever number is painted on the pillar, the people of that age die, dissolving into nothing but ash and leaves.
She's now reached the number 33, and friends, lovers, and children have to watch as their loved ones die well before their time.
But the people of Lumiere aren't idle. Nearly every year, an expedition is sent out with one purpose: to find The Paintress and kill her, stop the Gommage, and end the suffering. This year, the expedition is being led by Gustave, and accompanying him is Maelle, who is actually taking part well before her time.
As soon as they cross the sea to the mainland, the expedition goes sideways. The vast majority of its members are wiped out upon landing on the beach by many monstrous creatures and a mysterious man.
It’s up to Gustave to reunite the surviving members of the expedition, find Maelle, and lead the survivors to The Paintress and accomplish the mission.
It sounds like your standard adventure fare in a unique world, but as you uncover more of the mystery surrounding the characters, the land, and the mission, the story’s deeper themes of grief and persistence start to emerge, and you find you’re taking part in a struggle far greater than the one in Lumiere, yet far more personal.
I can’t tell you more without spoiling the story, but I really wish I could, because the plot twists are so good and the lore so deep that I want to go over them at some point to highlight just how brilliant the writing is. The moment I finished the game, I couldn't describe the entirety of the story and could only suffice to say to my non-gamer friends and family, "I hope they make this into a television show or movie."
As it turns out, there are talks for that very thing to happen.
What also makes this game so incredible is the fact that everything weaves into the narrative so beautifully and seamlessly that you'll be discovering new things about the game all the time. The art style, for instance, is a clash of two different art styles. Art Nouveau, with its long, free-flowing lines and natural beauty, contrasts with a persistent Art Deco style, with its hard edges and geometric symmetry. These two styles give the game a very unique aesthetic, but it's also representing two overarching styles at war with one another, and you'll soon find this theme of two conflicting styles again and again.
Even the music is special. The score was composed by a man named Lorien Testard, a simple guitar teacher who posted original music on SoundCloud in his free time. He got the attention of Sandfall, and Testard created 154 brilliant pieces of music for the game, with each song representing something or someone within the story. Testard's music doesn't just tell the story all by itself; he wrote it in such a way that even French-speaking people cannot decipher that the story is even being told before the mystery is unfolded due to the medieval way he structured the lyrics.
The music is just as brilliant as the game itself. As one YouTube commenter said, "Nice of them to include a game with this soundtrack."
I'm going to post this video for those of you who have already played it (I know a few of my readers already have, as they rave about it in the comments), and watch this video about just how brilliantly the music is woven into the story.
But even all of this, as brilliant as it is, wouldn't be worth it if the game wasn't fun, but it is. It's very, very fun.
Sandfall took clear inspiration from Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) like Final Fantasy, with its world exploration and turn-based combat system, but Sandfall took it even further. While the beauty of the world is really something to behold, and exploring it is a real treat to the eyes, it's the combat that shines in my opinion.
Sandfall took your standard JPRG combat system from yore and added elements that make it a rhythm game, puzzle, and visual masterclass in animation all at once. Some of the bosses are frustratingly difficult until you learn their patterns, and some are so visually stunning and grand that you have to stop yourself from getting distracted just watching their animations. Even during these combat moments, a story is often being told if you're paying enough attention.
This is a game that you don't just play through once. You beat it, then go back and play it again to truly see the grandeur and depth of the experience you just had, and trust me, you'll want to.
If you're looking for a gift for someone this Christmas who plays games, "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" is a surefire hit, but make sure they don't already own it. Chances are good that they very well might.
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