Summary
Sandfall Interactive’sClair Obscur: Expedition 33is one of the biggest surprises of 2025, achieving such critical success that it is now one of the highest-rated games of the year. Despite being aturn-based RPG,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has garnered high praise for its combat, story, music, and much more, arguably setting a precedent for RPGs moving forward. At the heart ofClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s ongoing success, however, is player loyalty and investment. Any game can have noteworthy features, but its ability to maintain the interest of players until the credits roll can make or break it in the long run.
This is whereClair Obscur: Expedition 33succeeds more than many games have been known to — in its pacing. By and large,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33knows when to hold back and when to hit hard, and it often seems to be so in tune with the player’s interest levels that it can almost predict when that interest is beginning to wane. Just then, it throws something new at them, whether it’s a new gameplay element or an unexpected plot twist, and it manages to entrench its hooks into the player even deeper.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Knows When to Hold Back and When to Hit Hard
Clair Obscur’s Story and Systems Unfold Gradually for Maximum Player Investment
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s storyis one of the most emotionally resonant narratives in gaming, largely because it knows the power of a personal story. At its core,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33tells a story that pretty much anyone can relate to and identify with, which is largely why it has received such positive attention since it took the stage on April 24. However, it is ultimatelyClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s ability to unravel its story and systems gradually that allows it to maintain maximum player investment.
In many games, players can get the general idea of a narrative or gameplay mechanics fairly early on, and from there, they are let loose to explore, discover, and confront at their own pace.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has moments like these, but they are deceptive in nature. Just when players think they have a firm grasp on the game’s story or its variousgameplay systems,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33throws something new at them, along with tutorials to help players understand any new mechanics that are introduced.
It is ultimatelyClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s ability to unravel its story and systems gradually that allows it to maintain maximum player investment.
In a way,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s manoris a great in-game example of how it handles pacing. As players explore the game’s world, they will occasionally come across mysterious doors that transport them to a small room inside a massive manor filled with over a dozen different rooms. The thing is, until players discover a door out in the world, the room that door leads to inside the manor remains locked. In the same way,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33keeps each “room” in its story and gameplay locked until players discover it through natural progression, but it’s the time between these moments that matters.
Clair Obscur’s Pacing Is the Reason Players Want to Keep Going
It feels at times likeClair Obscur: Expedition 33knows when players are getting too comfortable. It doesn’t resolve this by simply ramping up the difficulty though. Rather, it gives players something new to learn, or it twists its narrative in a way they might never have expected. Whether it’s the introduction of a newplayable character inClair Obscur: Expedition 33with brand-new mechanics, a new ability that allows players to more extensively explore the overworld map, or a boss fight that is anything but familiar, Sandfall’s debut RPG is a masterclass in earning player loyalty.
