Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Clair Obscur is a game that clearly pulls from various influences. The game director's favourite games - Persona 3, Devil May Cry, Demon's Souls, Journey, Final Fantasy VIII - reads more like a recipe than it does a font of inspiration. Despite this list of top tier games, it's the Final Fantasy of it all that really struck a chord for me.
I'm one of those millenials that was enraptured by the FF7-10 suite of games, with 7 being my introduction to RPGs in general and blowing my clueless teenage mind. It's a rare thing for me to develop a reverence for media properties but Final Fantasy is about the closest I get to that (though the Souls+ games are my modern equivalent).
Having played some absolutely magical JRPGs since, as well as some Pretty Good ones mixed in, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 felt like the first game since Final Fantasy X where I was truly playing a worthy follow-up to that particular golden age of games.
That's not to cheapen the game's strengths by suggesting it's merely some fan sequel, though. The game has that magic, that juice, that je ne sais quoi because it takes what made those games so fascinating, so fantastic, and provides a refreshingly original fantasy world unapologetically steeped in French cultural touchstones that were, until now, unseen in the genre.
Also impressive is the balance of the game's presentation. It is incredibly easy on the eyes, the soundtrack is great, the sound design is satisfying, and the more exploratory-minded players will discover an embarrassment of riches. It's weirdly comforting, though, that it's also evident where the game shows restraint in its visuals, systems and quantities.
The character models and platforming can feel a bit "default Unreal Engine 5", sometimes bringing to mind a game like Only Up. Thankfully this is deftly handled with some surprisingly natural cutscene animations and emoting which really sells the characters. Not to mention, some platforming challenges that feel like a brazen acknowledgement from the developers that they know exactly what they've got on their hands.
It usually takes a lot for me to continue playing a game after the credits roll. In Clair Obscur's case, I went absolutely everywhere in this game's fascinating, painterly and mysterious world and did almost everything there is to do because it was just. so. fun!
Now at the end of my time with the members of Expedition 33, it's feeling like I have some alternate universe "Final Fantasy XI" that makes me so grateful for this wonderful work of art.