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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

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"Expedition 33" redirects here. For the space expedition, see Expedition 33 (ISS).
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Cover art, depicting warriors in front of the large building. Text on the top reads "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33"
DeveloperSandfall Interactive
PublisherKepler Interactive
DirectorGuillaume Broche
ProducerFrançois Meurisse
Designers
  • Guillaume Broche
  • Michel Nohra
ProgrammerTom Guillermin
ArtistNicholas Maxson-Francombe
Writers
  • Jennifer Svedberg-Yen
  • Guillaume Broche
  • Victor Deleard
Composers
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platforms
Release24 April 2025
GenreRole-playing
ModeSingle-player

Clair Obscur: [b] Expedition 33 is a 2025 role-playing video game developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive. Set in a dark fantasy Belle Époque setting, the game follows the volunteers of Expedition 33 as they set out to destroy the Paintress, a being causing the yearly Gommage, which erases those at or above an ever-decreasing age. In the game, the player controls a party of characters from a third-person perspective, exploring areas and engaging in combat. Its turn-based mechanics feature real-time aspects such as quick time events and timed actions in combat.

The project originated in 2019 as Guillaume Broche, a Ubisoft employee who would leave the company in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to form Sandfall Interactive with friends and contacts, began establishing a core team of 30 developers that came to be supported by various production partners. Inspired by Japanese RPGs that shaped their youth such as the Final Fantasy and Persona series, the developers at Sandfall sought to create a high-fidelity turn-based role-playing game, a genre they felt AAA studios had neglected. Development began with Unreal Engine 4 and later switched to Unreal Engine 5, providing rendering improvements.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S on 24 April 2025, and was available day one on Xbox Game Pass. The game received universal acclaim from critics for its narrative and themes, art direction, game direction, original soundtrack, gameplay and performances. By October 2025, it had sold over 5 million units. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received numerous accolades. It became the most awarded title in The Game Awards history, winning nine of the record thirteen nominations it received at The Game Awards 2025, including the paramount Game of the Year recognition. Additionally, it won the Game of the Year award as well as five other accolades at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025, and topped various publications' lists of best games of 2025. In January 2025, a live-action adaptation of the game was confirmed to be in development.

Gameplay

[edit]
In this screenshot, Lune, Gustave, and Maelle are fighting against an enemy. On each turn, players can perform a basic melee attack, consume an item, use action points to shoot an enemy or use a skill.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a third-person turn-based role-playing game with real-time elements. The player controls a party of Expeditioners exploring a fantasy world. On their turns, players select whether to use an item, perform a melee attack to gain Ability Points, or spend accumulated Ability Points to use ranged attacks or Skills.[3] Ranged attacks are aimed freely, similar to a third-person shooter. When using a Skill, a quick time event can be completed for improved effects.[4] During enemy turns, the player can dodge, parry, or jump over attacks in real time to avoid damage.[5] Parrying requires more precise timing than dodging but provides Ability Points and the opportunity to counterattack.[6] A stamina system allows players to "Break" enemies, temporarily stunning them.[7] As players progress, the game introduces new attacks and parries, including Gradient Attacks, Gradient Counters, and Gradient Skills, all of which deal significant damage. The use of gradient attacks is monitored by the party using a shared gauge. It will slowly fill up when the party uses skills in combat.[8] The Expeditioners and enemies can also apply various status effects on each other, boosting or impairing either side's combat efficiency. Some enemies have weak points that can be targeted, or may be vulnerable to certain elemental attacks.[9] If the combat party is defeated, reserve characters may be called in to continue fighting. Combat ends when either side has no remaining combatants,[6] or when the player decides to flee the battlefield when they are facing minor enemies.[10]

The game features six playable characters, with each having unique skill trees, weapons and gameplay mechanics. The mage Lune's Skills generate elemental "Stains", which can be spent to enhance her Skills. The fencer Maelle switches between Stances which alter her Skills, damage and defense. The scythe-wielding warrior Sciel can use a set of magical cards to apply and stack "Foretell" to enemies, and then consume them to inflict maximum damage on enemies. Gustave and Verso deal more damage to enemies the more they attack them. Gustave in particular gains charge based on the amount of attacks he's done, which can be expelled, doing increased damage depending on the number of charges. Verso, on the other hand, gains "Perfection" ranks upon landing hits, parries, and how little he gets damaged; which will increase his damage output the higher his Perfection rank becomes. The Gestral Monoco can transform into enemies and use their abilities against them. Some of his abilities are further enhanced by his "Bestial Wheel", which spins whenever Monoco uses his abilities.[11] When the party is not exploring or fighting enemies, they can rest at a camp. While playing as Verso, players can converse with other members of Expedition 33 and raise their relationship levels, unlocking new cinematics, skills and quests.[12]

Combat encounters reward experience points, currency, and upgrades. Each time a character levels up, they gain three attribute points, which can be spent on increasing five core character stats: Vitality (maximum health), Might (attack power), Agility (frequency of attack), Defense (damage reduction), and Luck (critical rate).[13] The abilities of the Expeditioners are further customized with equipable "Pictos" which add a variety of perks and further improve a character's stats. There are a total of 210 unique Pictos items.[14] Each character can equip three Pictos at a time. Players can 'master' the use of Pictos after using it in combat four times, unlocking its passive bonuses (known as Luminas) for other Expeditioners to use.[15] Each character also has Lumina Points, which dictate how many Luminas they can equip at a time. As players level up, their maximum Lumina Points will increase, and players can also find additional Lumina Points as collectibles during exploration.[16] As players explore, they will also collect "Chroma Catalysts", which can be used to upgrade weapons to higher levels at the camp.[17] Higher-level weapons deal more base damage to enemies and offer additional gameplay perks.[18]

While the game is set in linear levels, players can explore off the beaten path where they will find hidden resources, side quests, collectibles, character outfits, Gestral merchants, and optional bosses.[19] Each level also has several Expedition Flags, where players can heal their party, fast travel, restock items, and allocate attribute and skill points. Resting at an Expedition Flag respawns most enemies.[15] Levels in the game are connected by an overworld map known as "The Continent".[20] There are a total of 14 mandatory story levels[21] and 20+ optional ones. Eventually, the Expeditioners meet Esquie, a mythical creature who helps the party to travel across The Continent. Esquie acquires new traversal abilities as players progress, granting the ability to swim, fly, and dive underwater.[19] These new traversal abilities are essential for players to advance the story and access optional zones. The game has multiple difficulty options[22] and a New Game Plus mode, allowing the player to replay the game with increased difficulty while retaining all character progression from their first playthrough.[23]

In December 2025, the game received a free content update commemorating its recent accolades. The update includes a new level containing new activities, bosses, weapons, and cosmetics.[24]

Synopsis

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Setting

[edit]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes place in a dark fantasy Belle Époque setting. 67 years prior to the events of the game, a disaster known as the "Fracture" occurred, isolating the city of Lumière from the rest of the continent. The people of Lumière have since suffered from an annual event called the "Gommage",[c] where an entity known as "the Paintress" (Tracy Wiles), paints an ever-decreasing number on an enormous rock formation across the continent known as the Monolith, and all humans with an age equal to or above that number disappear. After the yearly Gommage, Lumière sends an expedition of volunteers to head to the mainland in an effort to slay the Paintress before she can paint a new number. Expedition 33 is the latest to set out. The fractured continent is populated by hostile monsters called "Nevrons", who are the primary cause of failed past expeditions, as well as the "Gestrals" and "Grandis", mostly friendly creatures who have settled across the mainland.[26][27]

Members of Expedition 33 include: Gustave (Charlie Cox), a resourceful engineer with a mechanical arm; Maelle (Jennifer English), the youngest member of the Expedition and Gustave's foster sister; Lune (Kirsty Rider), a brilliant scholar and mage; and Sciel (Shala Nyx), a calm and cheerful farmer turned teacher.[28] As the expedition traverses the mainland, they encounter various individuals, including: Renoir (Andy Serkis), a mysterious elderly man who ruthlessly hunts them upon making landfall; Verso (Ben Starr), a stranger who keeps watch over them from afar; Monoco (Rich Keeble), a Gestral associated with Verso; and Esquie (Maxence Cazorla), a mythical creature who serves as their transportation across the mainland.[29][30][31][32][33]

Plot

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On the day of the Gommage, Gustave bids farewell to his 33-year-old former lover, Sophie. With only a year left to live, he joins Expedition 33. However, upon making landfall, most of the expedition is killed by Renoir. Gustave survives and locates three other survivors: Lune, Sciel, and Maelle, the last of whom was rescued by a mysterious entity known as the Curator, which aids the expedition. Continuing their journey, they enlist Esquie's help while Maelle starts having visions of a masked girl. Renoir attacks again, and Gustave dies defending Maelle. Fortunately, Verso intervenes and helps the rest of the expedition to escape.

Joining the expedition, Verso reveals that Renoir is his father and that they were members of the first expedition; furthermore, the masked girl is his sister, Alicia. They all received immortality from the Paintress, thus Renoir guards her to protect his family, but Verso is tired of eternal life and wishes to kill her to end it. After recruiting Monoco, the expedition reaches Renoir's mansion to find and destroy the Paintress' heart, a being bearing a striking resemblance to the Curator, which will disable a barrier protecting her. Unfortunately, the plan fails when Renoir teleports the mansion and the heart away. Lune devises a new plan: have the Curator forge a weapon to pierce the barrier from the hearts of powerful beings called Axons.

After destroying the barrier, the expedition is confronted by the Paintress' heart and taken inside the Monolith, where they defeat Renoir and the Paintress herself. Afterward, the expedition returns to Lumière as heroes. However, unbeknownst to anyone but Verso, the Curator was the true culprit behind the Gommage, and the Paintress was actually stalling him. With her protection gone, the Curator then proceeds to kill Lumière's entire population, except the still-immortal Verso.

The story then flashes back to the Dessendre family in early 20th-century Paris; mother Aline, father Renoir, son Verso, eldest daughter Clea, and youngest daughter Alicia. They are artists capable of creating worlds within magical paintings; Lumière resides within one such canvas, created by Verso Dessendre. However, a rival faction set fire to their mansion, resulting in Verso Dessendre dying whilst saving Alicia, who was left disfigured. Overcome with grief, Aline entered her son's canvas and created copies of her family, becoming the paintress. Renoir Dessendre attempted to force her out, since extended stays inside a canvas are deadly, and their clash caused the Fracture. To shift the stalemate in her father's favor, Clea created the Nevrons and tasked Alicia with aiding him. However, upon entering the canvas, Alicia got overwhelmed by Aline's power and reincarnated as Maelle without her memories.

Back in the present, following her "death", Maelle regains her memories and revives herself. Reuniting with Verso, he comes clean about tricking the expedition to expel Aline from the canvas. She then approaches the Curator, revealed to be Renoir Dessendre, hoping that he would revive everyone. However, he instead intends to erase the canvas, especially upon seeing that his daughter has chosen her life as Maelle over her true identity as Alicia. Disagreeing, Maelle revives the other expedition members, and a battle ensues for control of the canvas. In the end, with Aline's reentering the canvas, Renoir Dessendre is defeated and relents before leaving with his wife.

Realizing that, just like Aline, Maelle intends to stay inside the canvas indefinitely, Verso approaches the last fragment of Verso Dessendre's soul, which maintains the world. Verso wants it to pass on, which would erase the canvas and force Maelle out, while she tries to stop him.[34]

  • If the player sides with Maelle, the Canvas is saved, and she rebuilds Lumière and revives its people, including Gustave. However, she also recreates Verso against his will, and her health gradually declines.
  • If the player sides with Verso, he banishes Maelle and erases the canvas, along with himself and the other expedition members in the process. Back in reality, the Dessendre family reconciles.

Development

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Guillaume Broche
Nicholas Maxson-Francombe
The game's director Guillaume Broche (left) and art director Nicholas Maxson-Francombe (right)

The ideas behind Expedition 33 originated in 2019 with Guillaume Broche, an employee of Ubisoft, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic began;[35] it soon grew into a passion project inspired by his childhood favorites, most notably the Final Fantasy series.[36] He sent out some requests for help to craft a demo to a group of other developers he knew, along with requests on Reddit in April 2020 looking for voice actors for said demo. In order to focus on his project full-time, Broche would leave Ubisoft that year and form Sandfall Interactive, alongside François Meurisse, an old friend, and fellow Ubisoft developer Tom Guillermin. The three co-founders would soon be joined by Lorien Testard, Nicholas Maxson-Francombe and Jennifer Svedberg-Yen; the six forming the kick-off team.[36][35] Lorien Testard, the composer, was discovered by Broche through a post on a French indie video game forum where he linked a track from his SoundCloud page.[37][36][38] Maxson-Francombe, the game's art director, was discovered and recruited off ArtStation by Broche. Svedberg-Yen, one of the voice actors who had stumbled upon Broche's Reddit post and was cast for the original demo, gained a more prominent role as development progressed, becoming the game's lead writer.[36]

After inking a partnership with Kepler Interactive, which was officially announced in early 2023, and securing funding from said publisher, Sandfall grew into a studio of about thirty developers, three of whom—including Broche and Guillermin—were former Ubisoft employees.[39][40] The funding also allowed Sandfall to expand the manpower contributing to the project beyond this core team, having outsourced gameplay combat animation to a team of eight South Korean freelance animators and quality assurance (QA) to a few dozen QA testers from the firm QLOC, as well as receiving assistance from a half-dozen developers from Ebb Software to port the game to consoles. The studio also hired a couple of performance capture artists; brought in musicians for the soundtrack recording sessions; contracted with translators from Riotloc for language localization; and partnered with Side UK and Studio Anatole as to voice casting and production in English and French respectively.[40][41] Finally, the partnership with Kepler Interactive enabled Sandfall to pay for noted professional voice actors, including Charlie Cox, Andy Serkis and Ben Starr.[36][38] Cox has jokingly stated he was in the studio for barely four hours to record his lines and felt like a fraud over being lauded for his performance; though Svedberg-Yen clarified on her Instagram account that the task had taken around 8 hours, and praised his professionalism and efficiency.[42]

Broche stated that the purpose of Expedition 33 was to create a high fidelity turn-based RPG, which he felt had been neglected by AAA game developers.[26] Besides Final Fantasy, Expedition 33 took inspiration from other Japanese role-playing games, including the Persona series;[43] Broche notably praised Persona 5 for its user interface and use of camera work during battles, "making it feel like you're watching a movie".[44] Broche also considered Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, JRPGs developed for Microsoft's drive to help market the Xbox consoles in Japan, as an influence, particularly their use of quick time events during combat.[45] According to producer François Meurisse, the game drew inspiration from SquareSoft's Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X in particular, while the dodge and parry mechanics were influenced by FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.[46]

Screenshot of a demo trailer, released via a Reddit post by Broche in 2020, for We Lost, which would later become Expedition 33. The game's setting originally took inspiration from the steampunk subgenre.

Development initially began under the codename "Project W",[47] and was first known as We Lost around the time that Broche sought help on Reddit. The initial demo showcased a steampunk setting inspired by Victorian era England, with more science fiction elements, including zombies and aliens. About six months into this approach, potential investors suggested that Broche should "think bigger" and ponder what he would want to do if they weren't restricted by their limited resources. This led him to reset the entire story, opting for the Belle Époque—a period the French team was naturally well acquainted with and which they deemed to be a more distinctive setting—as well as taking inspiration from the Art Deco movement often associated with the era for the visual world design.[48] The new narrative was based on a painting Broche admired, which led him to think of a giantess and a doomsday clock, while also taking some inspiration from the French fantasy novel La Horde du Contrevent by Alain Damasio. The latter featured a horde of men, trained since childhood, undertaking an odyssey to reach the mythical "Extrême-Amont", the source of all winds.[49] Broche's premise was then associated with a short story unrelated to the project Svedberg-Yen had written on her own for fun, in which a painter capable of traveling through her own works got lost in one, prompting her daughter's endeavor to save her.[50][51]

Svedberg-Yen stated one of the game's core themes, the loss of loved ones, originates with Broche's mother and represented the "final piece". As the two were stuck on the draft, Broche asked his mother what would be the worst thing that could happen to her; she answered the loss of any of her children. This notably became the foundation for Aline's character and became the catalyst for her decision to dwell in what Svedberg-Yen and Broche subsequently conceived as her departed son's canvas.[50][52] While other aspects of the narrative were crafted as the game progressed, Svedberg-Yen asserted that the ending of Act I, featuring the death of Gustave, was something she and Broche had set early on, as part of the emotional journey they wanted for the characters.[52] The team kept some of the characters they had envisioned for We Lost, such as Maelle and Lune, but their design and characterization were reimagined for Expedition 33. The characters Noco and Monoco derive their names from the Swedish energy drink Nocco. Broche and Guillermin met during their stint at a subsidiary of Ubisoft in Malmö, Sweden, where a refrigerator was reportedly filled with the beverage. The studio's dog, Monoco, who's credited as Sandfall's "Happiness Manager" on the studio's website, is named after the character;[50] meanwhile, Svedberg-Yen's own dog, Trunks, was an inspiration for the latter's character design, notably his mop-like hair style.[53]

Development began with Unreal Engine 4, switching to Unreal Engine 5 due to its improvements in rendering and animation.[27][31] The engine's Nanite and Lumen features allowed for higher-fidelity assets and more-realistic lighting, respectively.[54] The adoption of Lumen necessitated reworking the lighting for most environments.[54] Additionally, UE5 had more support for character creation—an advantage over Reallusion's Character Creator, previously being used in this regard.[54] Sandfall relied on ready-made assets for background objects such as rocks, enabling them to focus on creating "hero assets", i.e., large-scale assets that make an impression on the viewer.[54] Broche credits the development of the game to the simplicity of modern engines.[36] The total budget was less than $10 million.[55]

Music

[edit]
Main article: Music of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Lorien Testard
Alice Duport-Percier
Lorien Testard (left) led composition of the game's music, joined by Alice Duport-Percier (right), who was also the primary vocalist.[56]

Composition of the game's music and lyric writing were undertaken by Lorien Testard; he was later joined by Alice Duport-Percier, who composed the vocal lines and was the primary vocalist during recording. Testard used a variety of leitmotifs through the score for various character themes, and wrote towards a range of musical genres.[56] The music was released on music streaming platforms along with a multi-vinyl record limited edition.

The game's soundtrack reached the top spot on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart as well as Classical Crossover Albums Chart during the first week of May 2025, maintaining the No. 1 position for six consecutive weeks.[57][58][59] In early October 2025, it was announced that within the 5 months since the game's release, the soundtrack had amassed over 333 million track streams across digital music platforms; had spent over 10 weeks at No. 1 on the two Billboard charts aforementioned; and had reached No. 1 on iTunes Top 100 Albums Chart in nine countries.[60][61][62]

Release

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The game went gold on 22 March 2025, coincidentally 33 days before the game's release.[63] The physical version of the game was distributed by Maximum Entertainment in North America and Bandai Namco Entertainment in Europe as well as Asia, with the exception of Japan where distribution was handled by Sega.[64][65] Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sold 500,000 copies within 24 hours after its release on 24 April 2025, 1 million copies within 3 days,[66] 2 million copies within 12 days[67] and 3.3 million copies within 33 days.[68] By October 2025, the game had sold over 5 million copies worldwide. To mark the milestone, the developers announced a free content update featuring a new location, additional late-game bosses, new character costumes, and expanded language support. The update was released after the game won the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2025.[69] In December 2025, Xbox Wire reported the game was the biggest third-party title launch on Xbox Game Pass that year.[70]

Broche has expressed the studio aims to develop sequels or games similar in spirit, confirming Clair Obscur is the name of an intended franchise and Expedition 33 one of its titles; though he was unsure whether these would narratively continue from Expedition 33.[71] In January 2025, a live-action adaptation of the game was announced to be in development by Story Kitchen in collaboration with Sandfall.[72]

Reception

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Critical response

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received "universal acclaim" from critics according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[74][73][75] This sentiment was also echoed by the users, with the game attaining the highest Metacritic userscore rating of all time.[94][95] Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic reported that 97% of critics recommended the game.[76] On Steam, it reached an "Overwhelmingly positive" review score, with 95% of the more than 100,000 users leaving favorable feedback.[96] In Japan, four critics from Famitsu each awarded the game a score of 9 out of 10, for a total score of 36 out of 40.[80]

Expedition 33's art direction and visual world design were praised by reviewers.[79][85][97] Edge described them as "dreamily intoxicating",[78] a sentiment echoed by Richard Wakeling of GameSpot, who nonetheless criticized the world for being "mechanically uninteresting [...] to explore".[82] Additional criticism was directed at the absence of a mini-map, which can lead to occasional disorientation.[81][79][87][83]

The story received critical acclaim, with particular praise for the voice acting, which was noted for bringing the characters to life and effectively supporting the narrative.[82][93][87] IGN's Michael Higham commended the game for the way it "frames mortality, grief, and the small moments of joy we find".[85] Liam Croft of Push Square noted that "every cutscene remains gripping, with an already intriguing plot heightened by [...] excellent voice acting".[88]

Reviewers were impressed by the soundtrack and particularly praised its adaptability.[82][79][85] Game Informer's Kyle Hilliard highlighted the contrast between the "somber piano music and haunting vocals", which underscore the characters' emotional experiences, and the combat themes that "bring the energy back up at precisely the right moment".[81] Edge described the score as immense and "operatic".[78]

Critics also noted the game's modern approach to traditional Japanese-style turn-based combat.[82][81][93] Malindy Hetfeld of The Guardian noted that "a successful counter felt deeply satisfying every time".[92] Ed Nightingale of Eurogamer further highlighted the variety in character fighting styles, each one introducing "a new system to learn", and the extensive options for character customization.[79] Josh Brown for PCGamesN described the game as a "hyper-stimulating take on a genre once deemed too slow and stale for the HD era".[87]

Expedition 33 was thus regarded as a major success by reviewers despite the minor shortcomings highlighted. Edge underlined that the ability to undertake side quests could lead to the player being overleveled and cause subsequent boss fights to be much less challenging and gratifying, but asserted it was "imprudent" to suggest an alteration to what they felt was a "masterpiece".[78] Wakeling criticized the underwhelming exploration and small quality-of-life issues, but concluded that "these missteps aren't enough to significantly detract from a game with all the makings of an RPG classic".[82]

On reaching the 1 million sales milestone, the French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated the studio on the achievement and highlighted the game's success as "a shining example of French audacity and creativity".[98] Macron later congratulated Sandfall on its multiple accolades at the Game Awards in December 2025, stating: "A historic first for a French title! [...] Great pride for Montpellier and for France. Congratulations to the Sandfall Interactive team. For future generations and those that follow!".[99] Michaël Delafosse, the mayor of Montpellier, where the studio is based, also commended the team for their accomplishment in late May in a LinkedIn post, stating it will be "a reference in the international history of video games".[100]

High-profile developers, including Hideo Kojima, Neil Druckmann, Ken Levine have voiced praise for Expedition 33, whether for the flexibility demonstrated by the small development team, the game's story, or the ability to achieve a product of great quality while avoiding the pitfalls of excessive monetization that can plague games developed and/or published by established AAA companies.[101][102][103][104] Ari Gibson believed that it would win Game of the Year over his own game, which was a fellow nominee for this accolade at The Game Awards 2025.[104] Both Phil Spencer and Todd Howard picked Expedition 33 as their personal Game of the Year for 2025.[105][106]

Accolades

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Among its accolades, Expedition 33 was nominated for thirteen awards and won nine (including Game of the Year) at the Game Awards 2025, the highest number of nominations and wins for a single title in the event's history to date, surpassing the record previously held by The Last of Us Part II in 2020.[107][108] The game and its development studio, Sandfall, also won all seven of the awards they were nominated for at the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards, including the 2025 Ultimate Game of the Year award.

The game is currently the second game with the most "Game of The Year" wins in videogame history, behind Elden Ring.[109]

The game has been ranked No. 1 on multiple publications' year-end lists of 2025, including Associated Press,[110] Rolling Stone,[111] Empire,[112] Time,[113] IGN,[114] GameSpot,[115] Game Informer,[116] GamesRadar+,[117] Esquire,[118] TechRadar[119] and Destructoid.[120]

At the IGN Community Awards, the game was voted "Best Game of 2025" and won several over accolades.[121] At the PlayStation Blog Game of the Year awards, it emerged victorious in the "Best Story", "Best Soundtrack" and "Best Independent Game" categories.[122]

The game was also voted "Game of the Year" by over 190 Japanese developers and celebrities, on Famitsu's yearly poll.[123]

The game initially won the "Indie Game of the Year" and "Indie Debut Game" awards at the 2025 Indie Game Awards. However, it was disqualified after being found to have released with placeholder graphical textures made with generative artificial intelligence. While the textures were patched out five days after release, their initial inclusion was enough for the Indie Game Awards to rescind their awards.[124]

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2025 World Soundtrack Awards Game Music Award (Lorien Testard) Won [125][126][127]
TIGA Awards Action and Adventure Nominated [128][129]
Narrative/Storytelling Won
Japan Game Awards Breakthrough Award Won [130]
Thailand Game Awards Game of the Year Won [131]
Best RPG Game Won
Best PC/Console Game Won
Popular Vote Won
Golden Joystick Awards Ultimate Game of the Year Won [132][133]
Best Storytelling Won
Best Visual Design Won
Best Soundtrack Won
Best Lead Performer (Jennifer English) Won
Best Supporting Performer (Ben Starr) Won
PlayStation Partner Awards 2025 Japan/Asia User's Choice Award Won [134]
The Game Awards 2025 Game of the Year Won [135]
Best Game Direction Won
Best Narrative Won
Best Art Direction Won
Best Score & Music (Lorien Testard) Won
Best Audio Design Nominated
Best Performance (Jennifer English) Won
Best Performance (Ben Starr) Nominated
Best Performance (Charlie Cox) Nominated
Best Role Playing Game Won
Best Independent Game Won
Best Debut Indie Game Won
Players' Voice Nominated
The Steam Awards Game of the Year Nominated [136]
Best Soundtrack Won
The Streamer Awards Stream Game of the Year Nominated [137]
2026 15th New York Game Awards Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year Pending [138]
Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game (Jennifer English) Pending
Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game Pending
29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year Pending [139]
Role-Playing Game of the Year Pending
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction Pending
Outstanding Achievement in Character (Esquie) Pending
Outstanding Achievement in Character (Maelle) Pending
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Pending
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Pending
Outstanding Achievement in Story Pending
24th Game Audio Network Guild Awards Audio of the Year Pending [140]
Best Cinematic & Cutscene Audio Pending
Best Ensemble Cast Performance Pending
Best Main Theme Pending
Best New Original IP Audio Pending
Best Original Song ("Lumière" by Lorien Testard & Alice Duport-Percier) Pending
Best Original Soundtrack Album Pending
Dialogue of the Year Pending
Music of the Year Pending
Sound Design of the Year Pending
Game Developers Choice Awards Best Audio Pending [141]
Best Debut Pending
Best Design Pending
Innovation Award Pending
Best Narrative Pending
Best Technology Pending
Best Visual Art Pending
Audience Award Pending
Game of the Year Pending
22nd British Academy Games Awards Best Game Longlisted [142]
Animation Longlisted
Artistic Achievement Longlisted
Audio Achievement Longlisted
Debut Game Longlisted
Game Beyond Entertainment Longlisted
Game Design Longlisted
Music Longlisted
Narrative Longlisted
New Intellectual Property Longlisted
Technical Achievement Longlisted
Performer in a Leading Role (Ben Starr) Longlisted
Performer in a Leading Role (Jennifer English) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (Andy Serkis) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (Charlie Cox) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (Kirsty Rider) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (Rich Keeble) Longlisted

Notes

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  1. ^ Singer and vocal composer[1]
  2. ^ Clair obscur is the French translation of the Italian word chiaroscuro, an art style that emphasises the differences between light and dark.[2]
  3. ^ "Gommage" is French for erasing.[25]
  4. ^ Based on 86 reviews
  5. ^ Based on 60 reviews
  6. ^ Based on 21 reviews

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fuller, Alex (19 February 2025). "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Featurette Examines Its Music". RPGamer. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
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