Here was one game that was on everybody’s mind in 2025. It was a French revolution, per se, and no one could mention the Game Awards without this particular game coming to mind. “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” immediately became a cultural phenomenon, making waves in the game industry when it first released, introducing the Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG) genre to a mainstream audience for the first time. Both the critic reviews and public opinion agreed: this game was perfect. The story writing was incredibly deep and thoughtful, the soundtrack was ethereal, the voice acting was passionate, the motion capture was realistic and the graphics were beautiful. It left people baffled by how a small studio of 30-odd people managed to create such a masterpiece with such limited resources. It not only put the AAA studios to shame – it changed people’s perspective on games entirely; both in the type of quality they can provide as an enjoyable, interactive experience, as well as how immersive of a storytelling medium it can be. 

Clearly the judges of the award show agreed with that sentiment; Expedition 33 won 9 out of 12 awards that it was nominated for, setting both the record for most nominations as well as most awards won in a single year. This, of course, led to some controversy. Did this game really deserve to win all the awards that it did? Did it even deserve to get nominated for half of them? This game could not have possibly been so good as to overtake other amazing games in their respective categories, right? 

One of the major points of contention was whether it qualified as an “indie game”, a term commonly used to refer to a game made by a small, independent studio. Many thought “Hollow Knight: Silksong” was a slam dunk to win the title of best indie game, being the most anticipated game to release in 2025 as well as having challenging yet engaging gameplay. However, that belief was quickly dismantled when the list of nominees for this category was out, and people found out that Expedition 33 was on that list. Though still considered relatively small, the studio that made Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive) was significantly larger compared to Silksong’s trio at Team Cherry. On top of that, Sandfall was working with a budget of just under 10 million USD. Impressive, for sure. But not impressive enough for many. They argued that the fact that Expedition 33 had a publisher, Kepler Interactive, financially backing them, meant they had no right earning the nomination for that category. Truth be told, there is no real definition for the term “indie game” – it entirely depends on how we think of it. Since the game was made with no outside influence, it was probably considered, by their standards, as an indie game. I personally agree with the majority here, but that does not mean that it did not deserve to win the other awards that it was selected for.  

These are some of the major awards that it won: best narrative, best art direction, best score and music, best performance, best game direction, and of course, Game of the Year. Most who played this game would agree that in these departments, it blew every other game out of the water this year.  

To give some context to the story, “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” follows the story of a team of expeditioners trying to save their city, Lumiere (which mirrors Paris in France). Every year, the “Gommage” takes place: the number painted on the monolith counts down by one, and those above a certain age will fade away. In an attempt to prevent the complete erasure of Lumiere, they send a team of expeditioners every year to slay the “Paintress”, a god-like entity that they believe is responsible for the “Gommage”. 

The story hooked players in from the get-go, with nothing explicitly revealed to the player from the very beginning. Every morsel of lore is fed in bits through dialogues with every character, letting the player put the pieces together themselves. The premise was fantastically unique, and every word was so emotional, but only fully brought to life by the incredible performances by the voice actors. They uttered each line as if they were the characters themselves, making them feel like genuine people, not just objects in a game. The environment was immersive, plunging you into an ocean full of marine life, or a crimson forest full of friendly creatures. The rendering of the environment was truly stunning. All the while, the vibe is perfectly set by the soundtrack playing in the background, with great atmospheric tracks soothing the player during their exploration, or exciting battle themes to get the blood pumping. Some of them have even made it into my day-to-day music playlist. With all that tied together into a neat package through the stellar direction, it was almost guaranteed its spot at the top. 

I would say just for the above reasons alone, it would be worth it to play this game. However, what really made this game break out of the JRPG sphere and appeal to a mainstream audience was its satisfying gameplay loop. It is a turn-based game, which rarely attracts many fans, but one specific aspect of the battle system stood out in people’s minds above all else: the parry system. The challenge of learning the enemies attack patterns, timing your parries just right, and getting the gratifying payoff of a counterattack when done perfectly… Parrying was implemented so perfectly into the game’s battle system, that it became the game’s core identity. Tied in with interesting battle mechanics which are unique for each character, different types of skills and a tough challenge, the gameplay sucked in players of all demographics immediately, turning a great game into an all-timer.  

I know this may sound far too positive of a review for this game, and do not get me wrong, it has its flaws. Some of the systems in the game are rather overcomplicated, and certain user interface elements are not well organized. Don’t get me started on Luminas and Pictos (the game’s version of “abilities” or “skills”); I had no idea how they worked at first, and even after getting the hang of them, it was impossible to figure out which one I wanted due to the horrible categorization of their effects.  

However, besides these minor gripes, this game delivered an incredibly heartfelt story that hit every different emotion in the human spectrum, a soundtrack that sounded like it was jointly composed by Orpheus and Beethoven, and a phenomenal gameplay loop that sacrificed nothing in the way of fun. This game pushed the boundaries of the medium and fundamentally changed what a great game means to me. I implore all of you reading this – give this game a try. You might just end up as a fellow Expeditioner.