This article has end-game spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has been a massive hit among gamers, and it is currently the highest-rated game of the year. Created by French developer Sandfall,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33is a landmark game for France and a great achievement for the small studio. The characters, story, gameplay, and combat are considered by many to be top-tier, and all these elements work together to create a beautiful and poignant game.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33takes obvious inspiration from JRPGssuch as theFinal FantasyandPersonaseries, but the game also remains very true to its country of origin by taking inspiration from French cinema. This comes through in the story’s themes, the cinematography, and the heavy use of symbolism. WhileClair Obscurdoesn’t hide its JRPG influences, techniques from different waves of French cinema also inform how its story is told.
The Narrative Characteristics of French Cinema in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
French films often focus on telling personal stories that touch on themes like existentialism. WhileClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s premisebegins as an action-oriented narrative, at the game’s heart is a story about a single family’s grief and an exploration of how each family member navigates the aftermath of a tragedy.
The entirety of the setting, and the premise itself, is symbolic of how unresolved grief can destroy a person’s world, and the game serves as an examination of the dangers of getting lost in escapism instead of facing reality. This concept is first introduced by the expeditioners, who state thethesis ofClair Obscur: Expedition 33: “When one of us falls, we continue” and “tomorrow comes.” Even though this message is stated outright in many different ways, including through combat mechanics,Clair Obscurnever explicitly links the statement and the message of the game, instead leaving it for the player to make the connection.
Allowing players to make these types of connections for themselves when engaging withClair Obscur’s storyis yet another way that French cinematic techniques are incorporated into the game, as French films often ask their viewers to interpret what they see, rather than explicitly telling them what they must think and feel. This approach is also integrated into the game’s premise, which is told from the POV of the expeditioners, characters who learn about the world at the same time as the player and are left to infer the truth based on the information given to them.
French Cinematic Techniques Used in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Influences of French cinema can also be seen inClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s visuals, particularly in cutscenes like those that depict Maelle’s nightmares. Those nightmare scenes are characterized by a change in aspect ratio, by their very specific framing (with consideration for depth of field and mise-en-scene), by the use of tight close-ups, and by jump cuts that create anxiety and a feeling of being out-of-place. Throughout the nightmares, the aspect ratio changes from widescreen to 4:3, invoking the time period in the real world. The techniques used in the nightmare sequences reflectMaelle’s state of mind for much ofClair Obscur’s narrative, and they carry through in her ending.
Cutscenes include long silences, with characters being left to quietly contemplate their situation, and scenes are allowed to unfold through visuals rather than exposition. This approach isn’t typical for most video games, where dialogue and action are cornerstones, particularly in RPGs where dialogue is used to give players the opportunity to roleplay. Slower scenes, using visuals for symbolism, and dreamy surrealist landscapes are all characteristics of different waves of French cinema.
