(Video Games) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
For Ledger:
Many people have taught me that tomorrow is not necessarily guaranteed, you taught me that today is not necessarily guaranteed either. Uncle Michael loves you kiddo. You deserved so much better than you got. Rest in Peace little one.
The Prophecy Foretold
"The studio made their game because they wanted to make a game that they wanted to play themselves. They didn’t make it to increase market shares. They didn’t make it to serve a brand. They didn’t have to meet arbitrary sales targets or fear being laid off if they didn’t meet those targets.
Furthermore, the people in charge forbade them from cramming the game with anything whose only purpose was to increase revenue, and didn’t serve the game design. They didn’t treat their developers like numbers on a spreadsheet.
They didn’t treat their players as users to exploit, and they didn’t make decisions they knew were shortsighted in function of a bonus or politics. They knew that if you put the game and the team first, the revenue will follow. They were driven by idealism and wanted players to have fun. They realized that if the developers didn’t have fun, nobody was going to have any fun."
- Swen Vincke; Head of Larian Studios December 12, 2024
A Thought Experiment
I want you to imagine going out to a meal. It can either be your favorite cuisine of all time, or a meal that you just want to hold your nose and power through eating it because not only does every food critic in the city tell you it is among the best things they've ever eaten, your friends and family who have eaten there are relentlessly brow beating you in disbelief because you haven't eaten there yet. You've been promised a meal that, even if it is a form of cuisine that you actively avoid, that every other time you've tried to eat anything even remotely similar you have taken about three bites before immediately exiting the building as quickly as possible before hitting up a McDonald's drive through, because even though McDonald's is mass produced and can barely be described as food, you know what you are getting and don't absolutely hate it. So, you sit down at the table, fork and knife in hand either with sky high expectations or complete trepidation just knowing this is going to be another overrated failure to please you. You cut into the meal, take a bite and.....
It's among the greatest meals you've ever eaten.
The first few bites are kind of uncertain; you could go either way, but by the time you get through appetizers and halfway through the main course, you know, without a doubt, that this meal will forever be remembered as one of the greatest experiences of your entire life.
You are so enamored with the experience, you start looking into the restaurant staff. You learn that the executive chef's last job was an assistant manager at Wendy's. When he left he took a grill cook, a fry maker, and the only kid on the register who doesn't pick his nose in front of customers. The decor of the restaurant was laid out by a designer who just did some doodling in their spare time, the music in the place, (which absolutely makes the meal what it is in some weird way) was composed by a kid who happened to hit up the drive through blaring his mixtape. This is the cuisine equivalent of how Sandfall Interactive came to be.
There are literally hundreds of tellings of the rise of Sandfall, all of whom do so more in depth than I could ever do in this format. Perhaps the most in depth and accurate I've found will be linked to below. Whats important to know, is that these people legitimately caught lightning in a bottle with Expedition 33.
What I Like
The Soundtrack: There are no words for how good the Expedition 33 soundtrack is. It has opera, it has dub step, it has jazz, it has full blown speed metal, sometimes it even has all of them in the same song. Many people, including me, consider this soundtrack the GOAT, if for no other reason than it contains the GOAT of Video Game songs in Une vie a t'amier. I've literally spent hours just watching reaction videos to this song, my favorite of which is this one, where the girl literally is offended by how hard this track FUCKING BANGS!
This soundtrack litterally sat atop the billboard charts for months. If you can't find something to love on it, then you have to question your appreciation for all things musical.
Monoco (MOW-noh-co): Monoco rules. Monoco loves two things, fighting and feet. Every time he is on screen, he's going to do or say something hysterical. Thankfully he wastes no time in doing so
Esquie (ess-KEY-eh): On the other side of the bell curve from Monoco is Esquie. Imagine a thirty-foot tall, ten-foot wide plushie that speaks in riddles half the time and could destroy you and everything you love before you even got your pants on but is the walking embodiment of goodness and love. He also is a secret storage compartment for Verso's wine. Where Monoco is hilarious, Esquie just reminds you to make sure that for every Wooooo, there is also a Weeeeeee.
The Voice Actors: Not one, not two, but THREE of Expedition 33's voice actors were nominated for Best Performance at the game awards. Charlie Cox (of Daredevil Fame) for Gustave (GOO-stahv), Ben Starr (known for voicing Clive in Final Fantasy XVI) for Verso, and Jennifer English (known for voicing Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate 3) for Maelle (my-ELL). How good were these performances? Probably the greatest voice actor of our generation, Andy FUCKING Serkis (too many accolades to list) didn't even get nominated for his brilliant portrayal of Renoir (REN-waher). Every spoken syllable has a purpose and is delivered brilliantly. This leads to one of the common compliments the writing gets, the dialogue feeling realistic and natural. These characters have real conversations, like actual people would, But don't take my word for it....
The Community/Fanbase: Just search any content creation platform for Expedition 33, and you will find some of the most brilliant and inspired content on the web. YouTube is especially fun as it is very easy to get lost in lots of reaction videos, and of course right after The Game Awards, there were a ton of "I'm finally playing Expedition 33" and "Let's find out if Expedition 33 is really that good" videos. The undisputed champions of Expedition 33 content creation are Carbot Animations who now are getting their own "making of" videos about their brilliant E33 content.
And while we are on the subject of Carbot.....
Expedition 60: Obviously, given the importance of the expeditions, every previous expedition has a unique feature or approach to how they want to try and take down the Paintress, During our campaign, we find journals from previous expeditions, and why all of them have their own legacies and stories, Expedition 60 far and away is the single greatest Expedition force in history.
Two things to know about the above video.
1. It is included in the "Expedition 33 Snyder Cut" I linked to earlier. It's just so good that I'm sharing it again.
2. Literally every word of that video is the actual journal you find. Carbot did the animations, but once William starts talking, that's 100% from the game audio files. (The same is true of most of what they use for Monoco in the long form video as well, he's just that goddamn hilarious,)
What really makes Expedition 60 so awesome is when you remember that the expeditions are primarily made up of people who will be Gommaged the following year, meaning most, if not all, of Expedition 60 was made up of 59-year-old men who just decided to get absolutely JAKKED and run all over the continent bare assed. What we also learn about Expedition 60 is that they had zero casualties during the expedition, they only ran out of time while confronting the real threat.
If Sandfall is not actively in the process of making a stand-alone side scrolling beat-em-up game based around Expedition 60 right now, then it truly is one of the great missed opportunities in life. If it ever sees the light of day....
What I'm Not Sure About
The Sophie and Emma Dilemma: I get there are only so many facial animations you can use in graphic design and video game development, but did they REALLY have to make Gustave's girlfriend and his sister look so much alike?
Maybe it's just me, but even with the very different hair style and hats, these two look just a LITTLE too similar for me to be okay with.
Cosmetics: I've never been one for cosmetic changes in gaming. The options I do like I love. The baguette outfits are obviously top shelf, but the swimsuits or the Gesteral outfits are a little much. Overall, I would prefer to see this element used considerably less often.
No Mini Map: The game is called Expedition 33, narratively it does not make sense for there not to be some sort of map to reference of each area (ala, how FF7 Remake does it, the map fills in as you explore the area). This is especially true given how studious and serious Lune is in the process. She absolutely would be charting the area as the party moves about.
The End of Act 1: I categorize this here because I don't hate it enough to list below, and I sure as shit don't love it, but it is far too significant narratively to just not mention. It is an absolutely seminal moment for gaming, especially for those who missed out on the original FF7, but that doesn't make it any less of a total nut punch every time it happens. And while we're on the subject...
Verso: Specifically, how easily he is accepted into the party and given the leadership role. Verso is a fascinating character, and Ben Starr plays him brilliantly, but him just showing up and being like "Cool, I'm rolling with you guys now, and I actually know this place a bit so I'm in charge" feels like cheating, especially given the events that immediately proceed his arrival
Save Slot Management: I really would like the option to scum save as I move through the universe, if for no other reason than whenever I feel like starting a new campaign, I could use a save file that already has the prologue knocked out and I can get into the game proper.
What I Don't Like
Lapses in Continuity: Narratively, there are a few gaps in the storytelling. For example, the Gommage Barrier that encompasses the Paintress literally is never mentioned until Verso says they need to go Axon hunting to create a weapon to puncture it. Up until this point, our only blockade as far as we know is the barrier reef that prevents us from going north from the continent proper. The barrier is touched upon in a journal entry, but it's very easy to miss out on or just completely overlook.
Streamers/Let's Play videos: This isn't really the game's fault per say, but I've watched a LOT of other people playing the game over the year, and the only thing more frustrating than the player running past missable items and events is the constant people in the chat screaming at them that they are about to run past a missable item and/or spoiling events as they come along. New players need to understand that it's a game built upon exploring the unknown, there's going to be a lot of hidden events and items to explore. Old players need to let new players figure this out on their own. I can't imagine how annoying the 30-40 hours of streaming a Twitch creator had to undergo with all the E33 fans blowing up the chat.
I know that E33 is great content and probably does baller stream numbers but play the game alone before you play it with people watching. It's better for all involved.
Act 3: The narrative issues I discuss above are prevalent throughout Act 3. We're coming off a huge reveal, setting up a massive world event (which happens offscreen BTW), and setting up for an epic, ass-kicking finale (which is both epic and kicks lots of ass). However, as a player we run into some tough choices.
1. Do we rush headlong into the finale as soon as we can, as the situation is dire and lives are at stake?
or
2. Do we dick around exploring side content and areas we've not been to yet to make sure we experience everything this world has to offer?
This choice directly affects not only the difficulty of the end game, but the amount of lore and story elements that the player takes with them into the rolling credits. The world does become a sandbox of course and you can explore at your leisure, but this was a rare oversight from the game design team.
Dialogue Tree Choices: Specifically, how they make absolutely zero difference 99% of the time. The narrative has to go to a certain place, and all roads lead to Rome no matter what you decide to make the person say.
Gestral Beaches: The next person who says doing the optional Gestral Beach area missions add anything to the experience except frustration will be the first. All of these areas suck, and other than letting your squad run around vanquishing evil in swim wear and bragging rights, they add nothing to the story.
The Curse of Expectations: There is absolutely, positively, no chance in hell that whatever Sandfall puts out next is going to live up to expectations. You can't come out of the gate, create a game that shows up on many gamers (including my own) Mount Rushmore of games and hope to create something as good or better in your next offering. By definition, whatever comes out of the studio next is going to feel underwhelming and disappointing, and that just sucks all around.
Pepperidge Farm Remembers: Literally it is impossible to go full eternal sunshine on my memories of this game and play it for the first time again, and again, and again, and again.....
The Bottom Line
I'm not sure I can summarize this game better than the Carbot Animation guys did at the end of their Act 1 video:
Gustave: "Remember Maelle, that this is peak gaming and to finish the game and tell everyone to play it. For those who come after."
Renoir: 
It turns "absolute cinema" actually is a thing. Loosely it refers to the brilliance of storytelling outside of dialogue. There is an old saying in media creation, "Show, don't tell." It is this idea taken to its logical conclusion that creates absolute cinema in its intended use. So, how has a video game, made by a studio of 30ish French junior developers become the textbook definition of the concept in the video game medium?
The best answer I can give is that you don't so much as play Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 as you experience it. This story, these characters, this universe; they all affect you. As mentioned above, a player can roll credits on the main playthrough and still load up the save file afterwords and spend hours, days, weeks and months just going from side quest to side quest exploring this universe. You find yourself continually drawn to it. You consume every bit of it and it consumes you right back. It changes you in a way that those who know it can't explain and those who aren't there will never understand. I hope I've come close with this write-up.
For those who come after......
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