Expedition 33, a ‘Reactive Turn-Based RPG’, Was Easily One of the Most Impressive Reveals of XGS 2024

The Xbox Game Showcase 2024 didn’t have many surprises (mostly due to prior leaks and rumors), but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was arguably the best.

This Unreal Engine 5-powered game looks fantastic from both a graphics and artistic point of view. It is set in a world inspired by Belle Époque France, taking place in Lumière, an obvious reference to Paris. However, this is very much a fantasy setting. Here, an entity called the Paintress wakes up once a year and paints a cursed number upon a monolith. Then, every one of that age simply vanishes into smoke.

The title is, therefore, a reference to an expedition organized by the 33-year-olds – the ones scheduled to disappear next. Players will step into the shoes of play of Gustave, a diligent engineer who hopes to change the future for his apprentices and all of the children of Lumière. He will be joined by various companions, as this is a roleplaying game at heart.

Maelle is Gustave’s foster sister, an orphan who doesn’t trust others easily and has never felt at truly home in Lumière. The expedition allows her to venture beyond the city. Lune, a scholar and mage, is looking to continue her parents’ work and find a way to solve the mystery of the Paintress to free the people of Lumière. Finally, Sciel is a farmer-turned-teacher who has a rather fatalistic viewpoint on the expedition: they’ll either make it or they won’t.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based JRPG. However, French developer Sandfall Interactive aims to introduce major innovations to the genre’s typical combat, adding real-time elements such as dodge, parry, and counter in real time, chain combos by mastering attack rhythms and targeting enemy weak points using a free aim system.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is scheduled for a 2025 launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. It’ll be added to the Game Pass library on day one. The developers also shared minimum and recommended PC requirements: