Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has formally been named Sport of the 12 months at The Sport Awards 2025, alongside a number of different wins. If that profitable sweep has you leaping in for the primary time (or returning for an additional playthrough), IGN has you lined with guides, explainers, and wikis that will help you get began on your journey throughout The Continent.
What Is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Ought to You Play It?
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a flip-primarily based RPG (it is sort of like Closing Fantasy VII… sort of) set on this planet of The Continent. It follows a gaggle known as Expedition 33 on a mission to destroy The Paintress, a mysterious determine who wipes out anybody over a sure age in a yearly ceremony known as the “Gommage.”
Alongside extraordinarily distinctive flip-primarily based fight, which emphasizes numerous expertise and parries to deal injury to bosses with “tells” and loads of secret weak factors, you and your social gathering discover numerous totally different areas, encountering enemies, discovering treasure, and discovering what occurred to different Expeditions that ventured out to beat the Paintress – and failed – earlier than. You can also additionally construct your crew to deal ridiculous combo-primarily based injury, one thing that hardcore gamers have come to like about Expedition 33.
Should you’re an RPG fan however haven’t got time to sink 100+ hours into them, Expedition 33 could also be excellent for you. Should you solely deal with the principle story, you possibly can count on to roll credit in round 28 hours. With aspect quests, this will increase to 45 hours. Should you’re set on finishing all the things, it will take roughly 65 hours. And if you wish to beat a bunch of optionally available bosses with loopy builds, you are able to do that, too. Oh and we gave Expedition 33 a fantastic rating in our assessment if you would like a extra in-depth take!
How Fight Works in Expedition 33
As talked about beforehand, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 options flip-primarily based fight, which implies that everybody in battle, together with enemies, assaults separately, somewhat than everybody without delay – suppose basic Closing Fantasy, Persona, or Baldur’s Gate 3.
You do not simply look ahead to enemy assaults to hit you, although. Right here, one of many primary promoting factors is the flexibility to parry, dodge, and leap to keep away from and counter assaults. When an opponent makes use of a transfer, you are capable of press a button that, when timed proper, both dodges, jumps, or parries to keep away from injury utterly or deal injury again to them.
With regards to your individual expertise, these are powered by Pictos and Luminas. Pictos are particular items of kit that you just equip to characters to grant particular advantages and improve stats. Luminas, working hand-in-hand with Pictos, are particular expertise that unlock after you have received a battle with a Picto 4 occasions, and might be carried over and used with each member of your social gathering.
Builds are a vital a part of fight in Expedition 33, and you will have to pay thoughts to not solely your Pictos and Luminas, however weapons and attributes. Regardless of the character, we have Construct Guides that will help you plan, so that you’re all the time suited up in one of the best gear and stats.
If all this sounds complicated or overwhelming to you, head to our Fight Guide that explains all the things it’s essential to find out about Expedition 33’s battle system in additional element, together with the extra intricate mechanics we have not lined right here. For extra fight and social gathering-adjoining Sport Assist, try:
Exploration and World Design Defined
After you set off in your journey to defeat the Paintress, you will arrive at The Continent, which is actually a large overworld. Not solely is that this the way you journey to new areas throughout the principle story, however there are additionally enemies that roam round, ready to be defeated (or prevented).
As well as, The Continent is dwelling to varied collectibles to seek out, Optionally available Bosses to take down, and Facet Quests to finish. Should you’re a completionist, you possibly can spend hours simply on The Continent overworld alone, monitoring down each merchandise, Secret, and Easter Egg doable.
Our Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 interactive map is the right companion device to assist you in exploring The Continent. Not solely does it lay your entire space out that will help you plan your subsequent transfer, nevertheless it additionally tracks important places, comparable to new areas, aspect quests, collectibles, and bosses, so that you all the time know the place to go to fulfill your goal.
We’ve loads of Sport Assist obtainable that will help you in exploring and amassing all the things that The Continent has to supply, together with:
The “Thank You” Replace
Launched as a due to the neighborhood, the free Expedition 33 “Thank You” replace was shock-dropped throughout The Sport Awards on December 11, 2025. It added new content material, comparable to Luminas and weapons, bosses, Picture Mode, and a brand new surroundings to discover, plus a handful of enhancements and bug fixes.
We’ll have a full walkthrough of the brand new content material quickly, which we’ll hyperlink right here when obtainable. For now, you possibly can try all the things that was added on our Replace 1.5.0 Patch Notes web page.
Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides crew, with a deal with tendencies. When she’s not working, you could find her enjoying an RPG, getting Victory Royales in Fortnite, or cuddling her corgi.