Expedition 33 Will Blow Your Mind

What if your age sealed your fate—not in a metaphorical, poetic sense—but quite literally? What if the simple fact of turning a specific number meant your name would vanish, your body would dissolve, and your existence would simply… cease? That’s the cruel premise behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, one of the most visually mesmerizing and conceptually original RPGs coming in 2025. A dreamlike world of surreal landscapes, painterly horror, and doomed destinies—this isn’t just another fantasy romp. This is a confrontation with mortality, artistry, and rebellion wrapped into one haunting package.

Let’s journey into the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, exploring the game’s fascinating development story, its gameplay mechanics and world design, what fans are hoping for, and of course, when we can finally get our hands on it.

The Development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a testament to ambition meeting artistry. The game is being developed by Sandfall Interactive, a relatively new studio founded in 2020 in Montpellier, France. At the helm is Guillaume Broche, a former Ubisoft developer who set out to create the kind of RPGs that many fans have felt were missing from the modern gaming scene—games that are story-rich, turn-based, visually imaginative, and emotionally resonant.

From the start, the team wanted to craft something different—something that fused the grandeur of classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy X and Persona 5 with the painterly whimsy and melancholy of Studio Ghibli films. Their reference board didn’t just include video games—it was filled with surrealist paintings, Belle Époque architecture, and the haunting visuals of movies like Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Originally, the project began on Unreal Engine 4. But halfway through development, the team made the ambitious leap to Unreal Engine 5. This decision wasn’t just about better graphics—it was about unlocking new tools to bring their surreal world to life with photorealistic lighting, vast draw distances, detailed facial animation, and dynamic environments. Every blade of painted grass, every crumbling gothic spire, and every face marked by dread is rendered with a level of fidelity rarely seen in indie RPGs. Their investment in narrative tools and animation pipelines suggests this game is gunning for emotional weight, not just visual spectacle.

At its core, it’s a turn-based RPG set in a grimly imaginative world where a mysterious entity known as the Paintress rises every year to paint a cursed number into the sky. Anyone matching that age immediately vanishes. This year, she paints “33.” And that’s where you come in.

You play as members of Expedition 33—a resistance group on a suicide mission to stop the Paintress before she can doom yet another generation. Your crew includes Gustave, a hardened ex-soldier haunted by loss; Maëlle, a volatile and sharp-tongued warrior with a hidden past; and Lune, a child wrapped in mystery who may be the key to understanding the Paintress herself.

Gameplay-wise, Expedition 33 offers a bold twist on traditional turn-based combat. Instead of relying solely on stats and cooldowns, it introduces real-time elements like dodging, parrying, and timed attacks—much like the mechanics seen in Paper Mario or Undertale, but evolved with the precision of modern action games. This means that combat is not just strategic, but also active. You’re not just planning your next move—you’re executing it with timing and skill.

Exploration is equally emphasized. The environments are lush, layered, and filled with secrets. Hidden chambers, puzzle-like traversal, and visual storytelling are used to create a world that feels alive. The game avoids the traditional open-world sprawl in favor of curated, handcrafted zones that each tell a piece of the larger narrative.

And then there’s the art direction. Imagine a world painted in melancholy oils—surrealist skies bleeding color, half-sunken cathedrals, machinery intertwined with roots and flesh. It’s the kind of visual world that doesn’t just want to be played—it wants to be remembered.

When the trailer dropped, fans lit up the comments with a mix of awe and disbelief. Many compared it to Final Fantasy, NieR: Automata, and Valkyrie Profile. Some were amazed that a game this beautiful wasn’t from a major AAA studio. Others were drawn in by the haunting premise and the melancholic world design. One comment put it perfectly: “It feels like playing a painting with a death sentence.” Another user wrote, “If this is the indie future of turn-based RPGs, sign me the hell up.”

There’s also a shared curiosity: Can this game truly deliver on its promise of emotionally rich storytelling and innovative combat? Will it be more than just a visual stunner? With the bar set so high, expectations are sky-high—but also cautiously optimistic.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is officially set to release on April 24, 2025. It’s launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC. Even better—it’s a Day One title on Xbox Game Pass, which means subscribers can jump in without paying full price. Pre-orders are already live on Steam and the Epic Games Store, and there’s a 10% early bird discount available.

So, whether you’re in it for the haunting story, the surrealist art, or the hope of seeing turn-based RPGs redefined for a new era—Expedition 33 is a title to watch closely.