Ikimasho,mes amis.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: the game that made me walk over to my office neigbor, an expert in French history, and ask: when exactly was the "Belle Epoque"?
Effectively the period just prior to World War I, incidentally. Certainly not the wretched years in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. I asked if they used the term at the time or if it was a post-WWI "ah, those were the days" type of thing. The answer was... maybe?
We could have followed up but ambiguity has been a big part of Expedition 33 (everyone else seems to shorten it to Clair Obscur but this feels right to me) so far so it feels right we left it there. There is a lot of talk of a broken world, and it certainly seems that whatever happened 67 years or so ago happened to early twentieth century Paris, but it's not terribly clear. The characters all know each other quite well, as one might expect of members of a small community bonded by the Logan's Run existence of disappearing once you hit thirty or so years of age. The game is happy to let us learn more about those relationships as we go, through dialogue. It does not seem in a huge rush to do that though, which I like - though it's true that the early moments of the game do feature the kind of exposition you might expect.
I am about twelve hours in. I finally switched to story mode by the way. You might have heard that the battle system has been a bit of a barrier for some. It wasn't for me for about nine hours of gameplay. I really liked it, and it helped boss battles in particular feel meaningful, just the latest way that From Software have left their imprint on all games made this decade. Ultimately though... well, I'm old. And maybe it's my ancient-ness, but story mode still feels fun. It helps that I lost my video game ego a very, very long time ago. All hail baby mode, says I. Parent mode, more like.
I digress. Which Expedition 33 kind of also does, or threatens to do. Again, more From Software influences; there are side quests but they are not glaringly obvious. They are also not terribly plentiful. The game is an odd mixture of that Dark Souls like navigation and a very (VERY) guided, linear experience. So far I like it, if only because it helps me feel like I am making significant progress in relatively brief gaming sessions. When moving around specific areas, which is what you spend most of the game doing, there is no map. It can be a little frustrating but I see why they've done it. Things are different when you come back up a level to the overland map where you navigate from area to area, one of many moments when Expedition 33 really, really feels like a JRPG.
I mean, it is, to be fair. Specifically, a Final Fantasy game. You have intentional, sometimes quite broad choices in visual style. You have a persistent, almost intrusive soundtrack. There is lots of drama, and a lot of it is affective. But instead of Japanese (or in some cases intentionally hyper-Japanese) tropes and motifs, you have French tropes and motifs. The characters say "merde!" sometimes but it does go deeper than that. It feels French but also not terribly French in the way that Final Fantasy can feel very Japanese but also not terribly Japanese.
It also surprises, which I like. I hope this continues to happen. In a recent boss fight I paused before attacking to cock my head, listen for a moment, and say out loud: "is that JAZZ?" I've just watched a cut-scene involving a new addition to the team - sorry to be vague, but I do want to avoid spoilers here - where a piece of dialogue made me laugh out loud. It was funny. Not "funny for a video game" funny. Actually funny, in the way you often see in film: snappy dialogue that is a little surprising, well acted. I don't want to make people grumpy, but that's rare in games.
Video games can be funny of course, and can do things films can't really do. Promise Mascot Agency is riotously funny, for example. But Expedition 33 swings pretty hard and goes for those kind of AAA/cinematic moments. I have to say that by and large it's worked.
The story has taken a couple of turns and I am really enjoying it. And I desperately hope I'm not going to be disappointed. I have a theory which will either prove to have been blindingly obvious all along or just flat out wrong. Probably the most interesting thing for me though is that palette switch from Japanese to French. This game does a lot of mechanical and narrative things - mixing up the turn-based battles; making deliberate choices with the overworld map; focusing excessively on young people being emotional with each other - that you would expect to see in a Final Fantasy game. But the music and visual style switching genuinely makes it feel different. Like a fun spin off that accidentally starts something new and exciting.
I'm not sure where the story will take us and how much the "Belle Epoque" idea will really factor into the larger themes and narrative beats as the game goes on. The JRPG-ness of the game is entirely by design and was a central objective of the developers from the very start. I am curious to see where we end up. As things have gone on the plot appears to be leaning further into its science fiction, which has worked a treat. So, as an historian, I find myself wondering if we've seen all we're going to see of the historical inflections. Perhaps they will live on, every time an attractive young person who knows magic says "merde!"