Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might be the most fun I’ve had playing a role-playing game since 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3. Its turn-based combat is more engaging than at first blush, and defeating powerful enemies provides the same elation that taking down a boss in a FromSoftware game does. It also offers some of the more challenging gameplay I’ve encountered in some time, with dodge and parry timing that’ll leave even the most experienced soulsborne vets pulling their hair out.
Clair Obscur’s six playable heroes all have unique combat mechanics, so no two heroes play the same. This is great once you’ve mastered Gustave, Maelle, and the rest, but mastering them takes plenty of trial and error. You’re only presented each character’s tutorial once, so you’ll have to learn how to use them on the fly in battles with Nevrons. How does Sciel enter Twilight again? What exactly are Lune’s stains? How does Monoco’s Bestial Wheel move? There’s a learning curve to each character, but once they click for you — knowing how to best leverage Maelle’s stance switching, quickly overcharge with Gustave — you’re off to the races.
Using my A-team of Maelle, Lune, and Sciel makes the game almost too easy, and I barely felt in any danger during Act 2’s late-game boss fights. They bounce off one another well, and at higher levels, can easily knock off enemies before your opponents have even had a turn. Unfortunately for Clair Obscur’s other characters, the strengths of Maelle, Lune, and Sciel put the rest of the group on the sidelines.
Look, I like Verso — nice guy, great hair, plays the piano, ageless wonder. But his skills mostly rely on not taking damage, which is difficult when fighting enemies for the first time as you’ve yet to learn their attack patterns. Parrying is perhaps the greatest challenge in Clair Obscur’s combat, and trying to parry as Verso just opens the door to getting hit and therefore lowering his Perfection Rank, his own special ability. (Did I mention there’s a lot to learn in Clair Obscur? Because there’s a lot to learn.)
Monoco, too, ends up getting the short end of the stick in my party. He arrives in the game when I’ve already settled on a good rhythm with Clair Obscur’s three women leading my party, and timing his Bestial Wheel to make the most use out of it is something I’m still struggling with going into Act 3. Alas, Monoco and Verso are warming the bench as my “B-team Boys,” itching for some playing time.
Verso and Monoco gave way to my A-team trio late in Act 2. Around when I had to go fight the Axons, I finally started to get the hang of using Maelle, Lune, and Sciel as a team, synergizing their abilities in a way that I could wipe the floor with enemies before those enemies even got a turn. Once I hit that stride, I never had any use for the other playable characters (Sorry, Monoco and Verso. See you at camp?).
Clair Obcur’s battles rely on leveraging your characters’ skills and unique mechanics, like Maelle’s Stance switching or Sciel’s Foretell stacking, to pummel your foes to dust. Lune might be the toughest hero to pin down as generating and using her elemental stains at first is a confusing matter. When using Lune’s skills in battle, the element(s) between the skill name and the Action Point (AP) cost are what stains are generated. Each of her powers can consume those stains for additional effects, like enhancing damage or increasing the duration of a power.
When I fully understood how to leverage Lune’s stains, the game opened up for me. Lune can use Wildfire to burn all enemies, but I prefer positioning Maelle first and using her Rain of Fire right off the bat. Lune’s Thermal Transfer can then generate AP for her when used against the burning foe, meaning, depending on your Pictos and Luminas setup — Clair Obscur’s system for stat bonuses and passive effects — she could have the max of 9 AP by her next turn.
With foes on fire, Maelle can then use Swift Stride to put her in Virtuose Stance, and on her next turn stay in Virtuose Stance with Fleuret Furyuse. Maelle’s Virtuose Stance sees her dealing 200% damage, and using it in conjunction with her high damage-dealing skills is your path toward hitting — or exceeding in Act 3 — the damage cap. Even post-nerf, she’s still a powerhouse.
With Lune’s Chapelim weapon, I fall into a bit of a rhythm for each bout. At level 20, it generates an Earth Stain on each turn, and Thermal Transfer consumes two Earth Stains to allow Lune to play again and continue to wreak havoc. If Lune and Maelle are low on AP, no matter — Sciel’s Plentiful Harvest consumes all of an enemy’s Foretell and distributes AP among the party for each Foretell consumed. When in Twilight with 20 Foretell applied to a foe, this skill can easily top off everyone’s AP, leaving you free to continue your onslaught.
Venturing into Act 3, with even more “Danger” areas and tough Chromatic foes ahead, knowing the end is in sight, I’ll be sticking with Maelle, Lune, and Sciel for the battles to come. They’ve gotten me this far.
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