Expedition 33 Just SHOCKED The WORLD!

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Might Already Be Game of the Year—And It Earns That Praise In The First Hours...

This is what it's all about when it comes to the world of gaming. I'm not going to mince words either—Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is legit one of the most captivating RPGs in recent memory, and it all starts with that intro.

Before I even had time to check my phone or wonder what button opens the menu, the game drew me in with such grace and elegance that I was immediately hooked. No bloated cinematics, no spoon-fed lore dumps. Just seamless worldbuilding, effortless tutorial integration, and an overall tone that grabs you by the collar and SCREAMS, “You’re going to care about this.” Metaphorically, of course, because... in reality, it's so subtle. It's... magnificent. Oh and the wild part? It's only $50 bucks. Actually its $45 on sale on steam for the launch discount. Compare this to other new games launching at $60 or $70 or more... yeah, safe to say you'll get your money's worth out of this one.

...You will feel it.

It’s a truly rare feat in modern gaming where most intros of games I've been playing feel either like passive movie trailers or bloated exposition-fests, and have a very similar vibe to one another. But Expedition 33 nails it. It trusts the player. The onboarding process is baked into the gameplay in a way that never feels like a drag or a wall of text. You learn by doing, and because of that, you feel like you belong in this world from the jump... and you WANT to learn more.

But that doesn't even touch on the best parts. The real kicker? The music. My god, the music. This might just be some of the best I’ve ever heard in a game—period. It's haunting, hopeful, and emotionally potent in ways that are hard to describe. Hearing the strings on the guitar pluck or piano blissfully tap those keys... It's something special.

Every theme, every quiet interlude, every SINGLE ambient track feels handcrafted to stir something inside you. It elevates every moment, from introspective character scenes to pulse-pounding combat, into something unforgettable.

Speaking of combat—there’s nothing cookie-cutter about it. Sure, it looks turn-based on the surface, but once you dig in, you realize this game is a meticulously designed fusion of Final Fantasy, Persona, and even a bit of Dark Souls. Every encounter demands attention, every decision matters, and the difficulty is more than just a hurdle—it’s thematically tied into the world’s harsh beauty. The tension I felt in battle only made those triumphs the more satisfying.

Visually? Top tier. This thing is gorgeous. Not in the generic “Unreal Engine 5 tech demo” way, but in the sense that every frame looks like an animated painting. Oh and the game has a lot of attractive women in it. A detail oddly missing from... OTHER games. The art direction is perfection - rich with style and soul, blending surrealism with fantasy to create a world that feels alive, yet dreamlike. Again - Making you want to explore it. You want to know more.

But perhaps the biggest compliment I can give is this: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 respects your time. While other games out there, specifically RPGs - bloat themselves with 100+ hours of fluff, this one reportedly gives a laser-focused 30-hour campaign with another 30 hours of meaningful side content if you choose to dive deeper. Nothing feels wasted. Everything feels perfectly intentional so far. Again, I'm only about 2 hours in and I want to stop typing this and get back to the game - but I HAD to tell you guys about just how awesome an experience it really is.

We’ve seen too many games as of late launch with those jaw-dropping trailers... only to collapse under their own ambition. But Sandfall Interactive, with like 30 devs on board, pulled it off. This isn't just a love letter to classic RPGs—it's a wake-up call to the entire genre. Is anyone out there paying attention?

Expedition 33 isn’t just a contender for Game of the Year. It’s already wearing the crown—and it did it before the first boss fight.

Final Verdict: If you're even remotely interested in story-driven RPGs, this is not one to miss.

~Smash