Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sets forth in April

thesixthaxis.com:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is now confirmed to launch on 24th April 2025. This gorgeous looking RPG is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, with a day one release into Xbox Game Pass.

We visited French studio Sandfall Interactive during the Xbox Developer_Direct showcase to get this latest look at their game. While not strictly speaking a JRPG – because it’s not Japanese, obviously – Clair Obscur has taken inspiration from this subgenre, blending it with a Belle Epoque France fantasy world to create the turn-based RPG experience.

The game sees you follow yet another doomed expedition as they venture out to try and stop the Paintress from literally just ending the lives of people of a certain age. The Paintress appeared 67 years ago alongside a monolith, each year waking to paint a new number that wipes away everyone of that age. So each year sees an expedition set forth to overcome the existential threat – all while dealing with the loss and grief they’ve already had to face.

There’s a crew of four in the Expdition. Gustave and Lune deeply invested in the mission, though constantly fight and bicker. Sciel has already faced her darkest days, while Miel cares most about finding meaning to her life.

There’s also some rather strange looking Gestral NPC called Monoco that will join your Expedition, who has a monkey-like body and a flat rectangular face. Esquie is a playful, ancient character who can act as your mount to reach new regions.

Connecting them is a 3D overworld map, a callback to classic JRPGs like early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games.

Clair Obscur will lean in on the tried and true turn-based RPG combat, with a few invigorating twists mixed in, such as an active QTE element, both through your attacks and timed blocks and counters, and Persona-like menus fanning out from characters. If you’re not good at timed blocks, you can instead rely on items and character builds to get by.

There’s a huge depth to the character builds with all of them having 20 active