Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Release Date, Characters, Gameplay, & Story Details

The release date of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been revealed at the 2025 Xbox Developer Direct, along with additional details about its story and gameplay. Heavily inspired by classic RPGs, Clair Obscur is a turn-based, narrative focused game set in a dark fantasy version of Belle Époque France. Developed by a small team, Clair Obscur attempts to revive the high-quality, high-production value turn-based RPG, a genre that's mostly fallen by the wayside in recent years in favor of more action-oriented games. And so far, it looks to be doing a pretty good job.

First announced in June 2024, further details of Clair Obscur were revealed during a deep dive into its development provided during Xbox's 2025 Developer Direct. It was one of four games featured, alongside Ninja Gaiden, South of Midnight, and Doom: The Dark Ages, all coming to PC and/or Xbox soon. The Direct gave viewers a closer look at the gameplay, stories, and development processes of all of the above. Here's everything to know about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, based on the most recent information available.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Releases April 24, 2025

Clair Obscur's Release Date & Platforms

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be released on April 24, 2025, across all platforms where it's available. It'll cost $49.99 USD to purchase as a standalone title. At launch, it'll be playable on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Do note that Clair Obscur will be a day-one Game Pass release, meaning subscribers to the PC and Ultimate tiers can access it on launch day for no additional fee. It'll also be available for cloud streaming on devices that can access Game Pass' cloud services.

For PS5 players, or those who would rather own the game outright, Clair Obscur is currently available for pre-order through all major digital platforms. A physical edition is also available, exclusive to GameStop in the US. A Digital Deluxe Edition is also available, including a handful of in-game outfits, for $59.99; the Lumiere Edition includes that, a steelbook case, and an art book; and the Collector's Edition includes all of the above, plus a Monolith statuette.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Characters & Story

A Dark Fantasy Adventure

Again, Clair Obscur is set in a dark fantasy reimagining of Belle Époque France, centered on a city called Lumiere. It's set in a world in which humanity lives and dies by the will of the Paintress, a mysterious, godlike entity. Each year, she paints a number on her monolith in the sky, and each year, people die as soon as they reach that age. And in recent years, the numbers have been ticking down.

Humanity responds by sending out a series of expeditions, each with a single goal: to kill the Paintress and end her reign. The player controls members of Expedition 33 - named after the number on the monolith. Expedition 33 starts as a party of four. Early trailers seem to position Gustave, an engineer who seeks to protect his home city, and his younger foster sister Maelle, orphaned at age three, as the game's main protagonists. They'll be joined by Lune, a mage more interested in understanding the Paintress than killing her, and Sciel, a jovial warrior with a dark past.

Along the way, they'll make both friends and enemies. The friendly Gestral Monoco surprises the expedition with his ability to communicate with humans, and his incredible combat prowess. The omnipotent-yet-lazy Esquie, the subject of myth in Lumiere, helps them bound across oceans and soar through the skies. They'll also be tracked by Verso, a mysterious stranger, and run up against Renoir, a fiercely loyal family man.

As Expedition 33 nears its goal, bonds will form, bonds will break, and truths will be revealed. There's likely to be some great secret behind the Paintress just waiting to be revealed, but of course, all that will have to wait until the game comes out.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Trailer & Gameplay Details

Clair Obscur's Combat Explained

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features turn-based combat styled after that of classic RPGs. Each party member has a role and a unique set of abilities - Sciel might be focused on physical attack, Lune on magic and status effects, and Gustave or Maelle on healing. Actions are taken in a strict order, likely determined by a speed statistic. This means players will have time to be extra strategic with their Clair Obscur battles, creating powerful synergies between their party members to take down their enemies.

Clair Obscur's developers have compared its combat to that of Final Fantasy or Persona. That means a focus on hitting weaknesses and building up towards powerful attacks. FF and Persona may be worthy comparisons, but from what's been shown in trailers so far, it looks to draw quite a bit on games like Super Mario RPG and Like A Dragon as well. That's because Clair Obscur uses timed inputs; players may have to press a certain button within a limited time frame after launching a special attack. Hitting it with perfect timing may cause it to do extra damage, while missing it might cause it to do less - or even miss entirely.

These inputs usually add a sense of urgency to turn-based battles, and can be very satisfying when executed well. During the Developer Direct, members of Sandfall Interactive revealed that its playtesters initially found the timed inputs in Clair Obscur too hard; they've undergone a fair bit of balancing between now and then, though, and will hopefully strike a good balance between approachability and challenge.

Between battles, players will explore vast, beautiful fantasy maps, including populated towns and wide-open fields. It's unknown whether Clair Obscur will use a more old-school style of random encounters, or incorporate visible enemies on the map. It appears to employ a very much FF- and Dragon Quest-inspired world, in which players unlock new areas of the map by finding new methods of transportation; for example, a boat (or Esquie, filled with air) might help them get across an ocean, and a plane (or Esquie, filled with helium) might help them get over a mountain range.

Clair Obscur has set lofty goals for itself, and clearly wears its much-lauded inspirations on its sleeve. Fans have so far been impressed by its gorgeously evocative art style, its flashy turn-based combat, and its intriguingly grim fantasy world. Whether Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lives up to those expectations is a question that'll have to wait until after launch.

Source: Sandfall Interactive/YouTube