The 2024 showcases gave us a lot of upcoming games to look forward to. From The Death: Dark Ages to The Perfect Darkness and Like the Dragon: Yakuza Pirates in Hawaii, there are plenty of new entries for beloved franchises on the way. However, nothing gets us more excited than a new game set in a mysterious world we haven’t seen before. Claire Obscure: Expedition 33 comes from a new developer but promises to be one of the best games in a already stacked year. With plenty to uncover, join us on our journey to learn all about Claire Obscure: Expedition 33.
Release Window
As of now, Claire Obscure: Expedition 33 only has an approximate release window in spring 2025. It could be early in March but it could also be in April or May if there are no delays.
Platforms
Claire Obscure: Expedition 33 will be available on all current-gen platforms including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
Trailers
We got a teaser for Claire Obscure during the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024. The trailer shows a twisted, broken world with a massive tower emitting a glow at distance 34. The narrator, later revealed to be Gustave, explains that a mysterious artist diminishes the number by 1 every year. Anyone at this age will vanish into thin air, eventually leading to human extinction. However, an expedition is sent every year to try to stop it. Our journey will be undertaken a day before number 33 is drawn in a final attempt to break the cycle of death.
We don’t know the details of what this expedition will entail or the challenges that lie ahead, though part of it will involve uncovering the fates of some of the previous 32 expeditions and why they failed to stop the artist.
The game and world are said to be inspired by the art of the Belle Époque in France, evident in the numerous nods to French architectural designs. The trailer showcases a variety of environments we will traverse, including distorted cities, snowy mountains, and even the ocean floor.
Our roster of characters on this expedition includes a strange figure named Verso, Renoir fighting for his family, the engineer Gustave, the mage Lune, the warrior Sciel, and the young orphan Maelle.
Gameplay
Claire Obscure is a role-playing game with real-time elements. Most commands will be menu-based depending on your speed, but button prompts will appear for extra damage, evasions, or dodges requiring quick reactions to keep players engaged. On the other hand, missing a button or reaction opportunity will result in less damage dealt or more received. Gear plays a role, as expected in an RPG, along with various status effects and elemental attacks.
The first look at gameplay gives us a great slice of the game to see how everything works. We can see how we will control one character while roaming in an environment, though the whole group is implicitly present there. Enemies will appear in the world and allow you to engage them for a combat advantage, meaning the opposite could also happen.
In addition to your usual choices regarding items, skills, and attacks, there’s also the targeting option where you can freely target an enemy with a ranged attack.
The turn order is displayed on the left side of the screen so you know exactly when the enemy will come, but it seems that some actions may affect the order.
There are also bonuses you can achieve for more experience points after combat, such as a 20% increase in experience points when winning without taking damage.
Pre-order Information
We only know that the expedition will start sometime in spring 2025 at the moment, so pre-orders are not available yet. If you’re excited, you can still wishlist the game on any platform to be notified when pre-orders go live. Of course, we will also keep this post updated with the latest information when it becomes available.
