“We are but a fragile dream, a singular weed, resisting, ever resisting.”
There are many themes, morals, and lessons to be gleaned from Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, GameObserver’s 2025 Game of the Year. It’s a story about resilience. It’s a story about grief. It’s a story about love.
2025 has been a triumphant year for the gaming industry, and especially for independent studios, who have reminded us that the core of making games should always be love, not money. In a year that brought us Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades II, Blue Prince, and yes, even Peak, independent studios are making their mark, challenging an industry that has long rewarded AAA dollars, buyouts, and executive boards out of touch with their audience. Sandfall Interactive, the studio behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, is famously headed by former Ubisoft developers. A team that loves games so much, they set out to make the game they wanted to make. And the result is a generational game.
Yes, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a generational game. It weaves a narrative that forces profoundly impactful questions on love and loss, it presents a world that feels balanced and alive, and it reinvents the mechanics of turn-based combat into something that feels like a combination of a warm blanket and a kick in the pants.
This is the kind of game that really shouldn’t be spoiled before you’ve had the chance to play it, but to paint the scene for you (pun intended): the story takes place in the fictional Belle-Epoque French city of Lumiére, under the dominion of a goddess-like entity that its citizens refer to as the Paintress. Every year, the citizens of Lumiére are forced to endure the Gommage, an event in which the Paintress writes a number on her monolith, and all citizens of that age or older are immediately erased. Each year the number ticks down by one, until the start of our game when the monolith hits 33. Following the Gommage, a team of trained warriors, scholars, and scientists depart on expeditions tasked with confronting the Paintress and putting an end to the yearly cycle. But each year, the expedition inevitably fails, and no one ever returns.
Inspired by JRPG epics like the Final Fantasy games, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes its players on a journey that is both for the characters and the player. Breadcrumbs of story are tossed to you as you continue to push forward for answers, always seeming to end up with more questions for every answer you work so hard to get. Even so, it feels like a rewarding balance. With each answer comes a new question and a new objective to unpack. It never feels like a slog or a rat race for answers. The game forces you to take your time and explore. The world itself is part of the story, and exploration is rewarded with plenty of additional lore and backstory to inform the world you’re in.
But what really gives the game its punch is its music. Helmed by Lorien Testard, a music teacher and previously unknown musician who had never made music for a video game before, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s music is just as much a part of the story itself. Songs like Une vie à t’aimer, an 11 minute rock opera that plays during one of the penultimate boss fights, create a truly epic combat experience. And then, when you look up the translation of the lyrics (most of the songs are in French), you realize that the song isn’t to empower; it’s to break your heart. Every piece of music in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is intentional. Electric cords during combat that pump you up, solemn hymns during cutscenes to bring you to tears, and quiet strings during exploration to amplify that sense of unease and tension. The score amplifies an already peak gaming experience, and it’ll have a place of honor in my study playlist for years to come.
Speaking of things that amplify the experience of the game, we would be remiss not to mention the incredible acting. With outstanding performances from Charlie Cox, Jennifer English, Ben Starr, Andy Serkis, and Maxence Cazorla (among many others), Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has no shortage of emotional impact. With fantastic writing guided by lead writer Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, the game’s cast is armed with enough narrative fuel to bring you to your knees. Every performance is charged with so much heart, from the most climactic moments to the small, quiet reflections. We tip our caps to the entire cast, who made Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 the impactful story that it is.
About two thirds of the way through the first act, one of the characters shares a heartbreaking monologue, voiced by Jennifer English. She says, “We are but a fragile dream, a singular weed, resisting, ever resisting.” Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a game about resistance, as much as it is about anything else. It is a love letter to grief. It is a testament to the scrappiness and resilience of being human. Good games fill our hearts, but great games remind us of our shared humanity. For ourselves, and for those who come after.
For more GameObserver Award winners, check out our full list right here.
