Dear reader, I'm fresh off a week's holiday—and while I wish I could tell you that I spent it tidying my apartment, getting back into drawing, or socialising with my friends, I instead spent around 50-odd hours glued to my screen playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game I had no idea was going to be such a banger. Which is why I'm delighted to also report that it's done very, very well.
As announced by , Expedition 33 sold over 1 million copies in the span of 3 days—a little slower than something like , mind, but still—even being in the same weight class as an Atlus game is impressive, given they made Persona, and all.
Before you rush to the comments to ask me why "I" scored it a 70 (I didn't) I'd like to remind you that PC Gamer is not a hivemind, and that we're all individual people with rich internal lives and varying tastes. Also, we're not ready to roll out our Borg cube for another year—budget cuts, you understand.
I'm among the raving masses. While the game has its occasional (typically charming) jank, I've found it to be otherwise laser-focused on all the good bits of an RPG with none of the chaff. I've enjoyed the fact I can nullify damage with good timing and muscle memory—which has allowed me, someone who is usually a little exhausted by high-difficulty JRPGs (or should I say, Je-RPGs) to enjoy its toughest challenges.
It's also just a breath of fresh air. Its unapologetically French stylings are combo'd with a complete scrapping of typical JRPG hallmarks like MP or inventory management. Also, its soundtrack is absolutely absurd—Expedition 33 might not always feel AAA, but its OST is both an all-timer and obscenely long. I cannot begin to fathom how tired its composers are, and I hope they have a long, well-earned nap.
I'm also not alone—if we look at Metacritic, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 currently has a . Meanwhile over on Steam, it's garnered 92% positive reviews at the time of writing. As someone who has finished it, and is currently in the clutches of its endgame? I can confirm this isn't just early-days hype. If anything, my opinion of the game only improved during my playthrough: If you like RPGs, if you can stomach parrying, and if you want something different, you owe it to yourself to play this thing.