Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sets itself apart with immersive reactive turn-based battles, a mature and moving narrative and a stunning, evocative art style inspired by French and Parisienne art and architecture. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 promises players a beautiful story-driven experience and an emotional cast of characters that will stay with them long after the credits roll.

Once a year, the Paintress wakes to paint a cursed number upon her monolith and everyone of that age instantly turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” Join Gustave, and his fellow Expeditioners as they embark on a desperate quest to break the Paintress’ cycle of death once and for all. Retracing the steps of dozens of failed Expeditions before them, players will overcome powerful enemies and fight to save the future of their world. Set in a dreamlike world, the story unfolds as fantasy and art converge, backed by an enchanting soundtrack to create a breathtaking story unlike any other. 

Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, or ‘Expedition 33,’ is an innovative reactive turn-based RPG with immersive real-time offensive and defensive commands to enhance combat, making battles more engaging than ever. Players will master their offensive skills and magical abilities, dodge, parry and counter enemy assaults in real time, and target enemy weak points using a ranged free-aim system to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds. Furthermore, players will be able to customize each character’s unique stat growth, skill tree and gear alongside a wide range of learnable passive traits, offering endless opportunities to fine-tune their preferred strategies. 

With turn-based combat enhanced by real-time mechanics, you’ll face the Paintress to end her cursed countdown and save the future of Lumière.

Explore a Belle Époque-inspired fantasy world using the expansive World Map, uncovering secrets, side quests, and challenges. Set up camp to reinforce weapons, bond with your Expedition teammates, and plan your next steps.

In today’s presentation, Sandfall Interactive shared details about Expedition 33’s development origins, plus several new gameplay features sure to intrigue fans looking forward to the game’s upcoming release. Filmed on location at Sandfall Interactive’s studio in Montpellier, France, several members of the development team shared more detail on the game’s emotional story, stunning art direction inspired by Belle Epoque France, and its innovative reactive turn-based combat gameplay, which infuses traditional RPG mechanics with real-time defensive and offensive abilities. 

Additionally, the team revealed brand-new characters players will encounter during their adventure: the friendly, yet bloodthirsty, Monoco (voiced by Rich Keeble) and the larger-than-life Esquie (voiced by Maxence Cazorla). Monoco the Gestral joins the Expedition as a fully playable character, bringing his own unique playstyle to battles by transforming himself into the enemies the party encounters and using their abilities against them, while Esquie is an altogether more unusual character that players will befriend and use to discover the game’s explorable world. Throughout the game, players will unlock more abilities with Esquie, letting the Expedition climb aboard and traverse, swim, and soar across the game’s newly revealed overworld map. 

Reminiscent of classic RPGs that inspired Expedition 33’s turn-based gameplay, the world map gives players freedom to explore various new locations and secrets on their path to destroy the Paintress. Outside of rich level-based environments like Ancient Sanctuary and the Gestral Village, the overworld has unique discoverable caves and bespoke locations hosting challenging optional battles and side quests, providing extensive opportunities for players to test their mettle and master the game’s deep and rewarding character building mechanics. Players will also be able to set up camp on the overworld, taking time to reinforce their character weapons and builds, listen to the game’s stunning original score via an in-game record player, and have conversations with their teammates to learn more about their stories and motivations on their path to destroy the Paintress.

Alongside the physical Standard Edition of the game, fans can also pre-order the premium Collector’s Edition of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for PlayStation 5 from today, which includes: 

• The base game 
• A 20.3cm hand-painted Monolith music box 
• A collectible Steelbook® case featuring Gustave, Maelle, and the Paintress 
• The Expeditioner’s Journal 48-page hardcover artbook 
• The “Flowers” Collection (six outfits and hairstyles inspired by the flowers of Lumière (DLC), plus six Gommage outfit variations (DLC)) 
• A "Clair” custom outfit for Maelle (DLC) 
• An “Obscur” custom outfit for Gustave (DLC)*.

Fans in North America can pre-order and learn more about the physical editions of Expedition 33 exclusively via GameStop, while fans in Europe and select global markets can visit Laced Records.

Additionally, fans can pre-order the digital Deluxe Edition of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from today, which includes: 

• The base game 
• The “Flowers” Collection (six outfits and hairstyles inspired by the flowers of Lumière (DLC), plus six Gommage outfit variations (DLC)) 
• A "Clair” custom outfit for Maelle (DLC) 
• An “Obscur” custom outfit for Gustave (DLC)*. 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is coming to Xbox Series X|S (available day one with Xbox Game Pass), PS5 and PC (Steam / Epic Games Store) pn April 24, 2025.