isocano Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Review

When I saw the first trailer for this game, I immediately added it to my watchlist—it already showed a ton of promise. As more content was released, I got even more excited, especially after watching the behind-the-scenes video of the soundtrack on PlayStation’s channel. This is without a doubt one of the best games in recent years—not just in its genre, but overall. What stands out most to me is how well-rounded it is. It features a phenomenal, deep story with excellent character development, told at a perfect pace. The amount of “side content” is impressive, but in truth, none of it feels secondary—everything feels like part of the main story. You won’t find any meaningless fetch quests here. The soundtrack is unforgettable. I lost count of how many times I returned to the camp just to listen to certain tracks. The main theme is easily my favorite—absolutely incredible. The prologue might be one of the best ever made. Definitely not for those who skip dialogue. But if you're someone who explores every corner, talks to every NPC, and doesn’t miss a single trash can (wink), this is a masterpiece. The combat is turn-based... with a twist: skill plays a huge role thanks to a fairly demanding parry system. It’s layered and complex, which might scare off more casual players, but if you’re experienced with RPGs, you’ll love it. Best of all, it adapts to different playstyles—you don’t have to parry; you can even beat the toughest bosses through pure turn-based strategy and pull off million-damage combos. Exploration is a joy. I literally spent hours wandering the world map and environments just to listen to the soundtrack. Does it have flaws? Sure—some technical details give away that it’s not a AAA game. But I don’t think that takes anything away from it, since the art direction makes up for everything beautifully. The story is incredible. The only real drawback is that, by splitting the content into "main" and "optional" branches, players who just want combat or don’t invest as much time may miss out on the ideal narrative flow that a purely linear structure could have provided. The only true negatives are technical features that could’ve added to the experience: a photo mode, more intuitive UI (though I personally found it fine), a quest log, or a minimap. An absolute masterpiece that ranks among my favorite games in the genre of all time.