WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s entire story!Please only read if you have completed the campaign.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33is one of those rare RPGs that will hook players on the premise right away. These characters live in a world where a kaiju-sized woman across the ocean, known as The Paintress, can kill off entire populations just based on age in the blink of an eye. This process iscalled The Gommage, and it happens every year, with the game taking place when she writes down a new number: 33.
There are tons and twists and turns inClair Obscur: Expedition 33, and while some players may feel like they figured things out, they will be wrong given the next curve. The game does a decent job of building up hype and friendships among the party members, but it perhaps doesn’t do the best job at answering all of its mysteries.
6How Exactly Did All Of These Expedition Teams Make It To Where They Were?
A Convenient Gameplay Gimmick
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has aninteresting save systemfor an RPG, as players can discover flags from past Expedition teams. They can also give journals to help fill out the world, which can sometimes be funny, beyond insightful. While unique, the locations where these flags are placed sometimes don’t make sense.
For example, a big twist in the game will take players back to Lumiere after Renoir insights his uprising. Players will have to go through the ruined city with Expedition Flags all over the place, and it never gets addressed how those got there unless Renoir set it up to help Maelle. That’s only one of many questions regarding the various flag placements and Expedition teams.
5Why Was Alicia Reborn As Maelle?
It’s The Most Immersive Sim Ever
Eventually, it’s set up that Maelle, or Alicia, as that’s her real name, and her family can create worlds on canvases because they are Painters. They can hop into these worlds by linking their eyes to canvases in one of the moredisturbing Isekai situationspresented in modern media. They can exist in these worlds however they want, including being born from scratch.
For the current plot ofClair Obscur: Expedition 33, Alicia entered the painting and instead of existing as an adult, she decided to be born and grow up naturally, which is how Maelle came to be. This gave her amnesia in the process, which is one of the most bizarre and perplexing things about the plot, as there didn’t seem to be a point to it. Also, it’s kind of weird that Clea isn’t doing much to help Alicia in the real world beyond somehow tending to her family’s bodies, seemingly standing up for years on end.
4Why Does Every Camp Look The Same?
Are They In A Pocket Dimension?
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33gives a lot of attention to detail with all of its locations, from early stages like Spring Meadowsto later stages like Sirene. When players enter a turn-based battle, that area will be reflected in combat instead of repeating the same generic backdrop. The developer didn’t need to do that, but it’s refreshing to see.
The one area where this detail fails is the party camp, as it’s always the same location, which doesn’t really make sense. The only way it would add up is if they entered a pocket dimension similar to how The Manor works, as there are doors all over the world to enter it. It’s that what’s happening back at camp?
3How Do The People Of Lumiere Live?
Life Outside The Gommage
The idea ofClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s world, before the revelation that it’s just a painted world, seems miserable. How much land do the people of Lumiere have to work with to grow crops or to explore? They have boats to fish so they can at least eat well, but are there other islands they can traverse without going to the Dark Shore and embracing the Nevron-filled land of The Paintress?
Do people go to the Dark Shore to explore even before Expedition teams go out after Gommages? It’s hard to imagine what people do all day, too, although that could be asked of any society before things like video games, phones, and TV. Either way, it’s good that the game didn’t spend too much time in Lumiere before letting players get intothe turn-based action, but it does leave a lot of questions on the table.
2Can Painted Creations Exit Their Canvas?
The Tron: Legacy Theory
In the original Tron, a human from the real world can go into the computer thanks to a special laser. The same thing happens in Tron: Legacy, but with the ending twist revealing that digitized humans from inside the computer can enter the real world. So, can the same thing happen inClair Obscur: Expedition 33? Cana painted creation like Luneor Monoco leave?
It doesn’t happen in the course of the game to the player’s knowledge, but it does seem possible given that the magic of the Painters is never fully divulged. What exactly can they do? Do Painters only exist in France? How many are there? The questions go on and on. It’s good that the idea of multiple Painters was left until the second half of the game, as it sets things up nicely for many potential sequels and spinoffs. That still doesn’t help players now who want to know more about these powers.
1Who Are The Writers?
The Fire That Started It All
The game opens with The Gommage, which is heartbreaking to witness but done rather well. It seems like The Paintress is an all-powerful being until players learn about other Painters. While their powers are still secret, as was previously mentioned, there is another super-powered group lightly touched on several times in the game: The Writers. So, who or what are The Writers? Is the world divided into two supernatural factions that arevying for power in Paris?
What’s happening with the rest of the world, presumably sometime in the 1900s? Again, there are too many questions left unanswered, which is exciting, as it is frustrating for players who wish to know more. The only thing they do know is that The Writers somehow burned the Dessendre family’s home down, which scarred Alicia and killed Verso. Did they “write” the fire into existence, similar to how Alan Wake in his titular series can turn words into reality? Now there’s a crossover no one would see coming.
