Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Chapter One – “When the Paintress Calls Your Age, You Fade”

On the solemn day of the Gommage, Gustave watched the love of his life Sophie fade into nothing, erased from existence simply for turning 33. With only a year left to live himself, Gustave made the only choice that remained: join Expedition 33 and take the fight to the Paintress, the one behind it all.

But fate was merciless. Moments after reaching the mainland, the Expedition was ambushed and nearly wiped out by an old, white-haired figure leading a monstrous legion. With death stalking their every step, Gustave’s resolve will be tested and vengeance may be the only thing keeping him alive.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a 2025 turn-based role-playing game from French developer Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive. Set in a hauntingly beautiful dark fantasy world inspired by the Belle Époque, the story unfolds on the isolated island of Lumière, where each year a mysterious event known as the Gommage erases all citizens whose age matches the number painted by a spectral entity known only as The Paintress.

To stop this annual erasure, the people of Lumière send forth a group of volunteers Expedition 33 on a desperate mission to slay the Paintress before another number is marked, and more lives are lost.

Gameplay blends classic turn-based combat with real-time mechanics such as timed actions and quick-time events. Players guide a party of characters from a third-person perspective, exploring richly detailed environments rendered in Unreal Engine 5.

The concept was born during the COVID-19 pandemic by Guillaume Broche, a former Ubisoft developer, who assembled a 30-person core team and a network of subcontractors to bring the vision to life. Inspired by legendary JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Persona, Sandfall set out to craft a high-fidelity, story-rich experience a genre they felt had been overlooked by modern AAA studios.

Released on April 24, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 earned universal acclaim, selling over 3.3 million copies in just 33 days.