Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

This game truly felt like a love letter made by video game fans for video game fans. They picked so many good aspect of great games before them and they just compiled it into one solid package. I think the longer your track record in video games, the more likely you will catch on to those aspects and appreciate it.

Incredible! This game is just incredible! Can’t really find the words to talk about it, I feel like keeping it very simple. I’ll compare this game with Lies of P for me personally, not because they are similar, they are not, but because as with Lies of P, I see the game being announced, all I can think is “I REALLY want to play this”. But with both games that were things I felt could prevent me from doing so. Lies of P was for being a Soulslike, a genre I never played other than the first couple of hours. And this game was turn base combat, a system I have never played in my life, not for a minute. And this, as with Lies of P, I’ll bee forever glad I stuck through it, saw it was not rocket science, and came out of it playing one of the best games of my life.

Before I cared a lot about stories in games, I thought it always needed strong stories, but lately, after a lot of games trying to be movies, I kind of change perspective. However, this does not mean that we can’t have phenomenal stories in games, quite the opposite. This game gives one of the best stories recently in any medium. Original, creative, unpredictable, emotional, and a group of characters that are incredible, and won’t be forgotten.

And what about the soundtrack? Phenomenal! Countless times I had to increase my volume just to enjoy it more. The game also thrives aesthetically. The world they built is fascinating. It feels amazing just to walk around, explore and see more of the world. And exploration is very rewarding, I maybe even overdid it. I was definitely overleveled for the last third of the game, it took me a long time to move on with the story because I was exploring and didn’t know when to stop.

The combat is great. For my first turn base, I really dig it. I heard the mechanic of parry and dodging is not very common in this type of game, but for me the whole system felt very natural. Combining skills, the weapons passives and pictos, everything is amazing to see it play out during combat. Really enjoyed this.

There’s no way this is not game of the year, even if the award doesn’t recognize it, I don’t care. This is GOTY, and I’ll have to take a look at recent games, cause this may be the best game since don’t know how long.

Just rolled credits - what a game! An absolute masterpiece, easily my GOTY and probably one of the best games I've ever played.

The story is incredible, and the art and visuals are exceptional. Every second frame is an absolute cinema.

The jRPG formula seriously benefits from the dynamic parry and dodge mechanics. I now want these mechanics in all jRPGs.

Can't wait to see what Sandfall will be cooking up next.

Super cool for Sandfall to make one (1) game that made me cry five (5) times

Amazing game all around, original story and characters you really care about, absolutely stunning visuals and the whole world, sprinkled with French charm, engaging gameplay, soundtrack that now lives in my Spotify, it has everything!

It's definitely my favorite game of 2025 (no matter what comes out in the next 6 months), such an incredible game.

Cannot wait for what's next from Sandfall! ❤️