About the game
Lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress - so she can never paint death again. Explore a world of wonders inspired by Belle Époque France and battle unique enemies in this turn-based RPG with real-time mechanics.
“Year by year, She erases us.”
Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone past that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” And tomorrow we depart on our final mission - Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.
We are Expedition 33.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.
Reactive Turn-based Combat
In this evolution of JRPGs, real-time actions enhance the heart of turn-based combat. Craft unique builds for your Expeditioners that fit your playstyle via gear, stats, skills, and character synergies. Open an active dimension in combat - dodge, parry, and counter in real time, chain combos by mastering attack rhythms, and target enemy weak points using a free aim system.
“Tomorrow Comes”
With only one year left to live, join Gustave, Maelle, and their fellow Expeditioners as they embark upon a desperate quest to break the Paintress’ cycle of death. Follow the trail of previous expeditions and discover their fate. Get to know the members of Expedition 33 as they learn to work together against impossible odds.
A Hauntingly Beautiful World
Explore an enchanting realm populated by surreal adversaries. Wander through breathtaking landscapes, from the Island of Visages to the Forgotten Battlefield, discovering secrets and hidden quests along the way. Find allies of fortune in creatures of legend. Recruit special companions to access new travel methods and discover secret areas in the World Map.
Experience the debut game from Sandfall Interactive, fully realized in Unreal Engine 5 with stunning graphics and a heartbreaking soundtrack.
Description from the publisher’s Microsoft Store listing.
Story
AI-assisted summaryIn a dark fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France, the city of Lumière has been cut off from the mainland since a disaster called the Fracture. Each year an entity known as the Paintress marks a falling number on a huge rock called the Monolith. Anyone who has reached that age disappears in an event called the Gommage. When that number is about to become 33, volunteers depart as Expedition 33, hoping to stop her so she cannot paint death again. You follow Gustave, an engineer with a mechanical arm; his foster sister Maelle; the scholar and mage Lune; and Sciel, a farmer turned teacher. The mainland holds hostile Nevrons and other unusual creatures. Fights are turn-based, with real-time aiming, dodges, and parries, and each character can be shaped through gear, stats, and skills.
Full story (spoilers)
Gustave leaves 33-year-old Sophie on Gommage day and joins Expedition 33. On landing Renoir kills most of them. Gustave finds survivors Lune, Sciel, and Maelle; only Maelle was rescued by the Curator. They recruit Esquie; Maelle visions a masked girl. Renoir kills Gustave defending Maelle. Verso saves the rest and joins, saying he is from the first expedition, Renoir is his father, the girl is Alicia, and the Paintress gave them immortality he wishes to end. With Monoco they seek the Paintress's heart in Renoir's mansion, but he teleports it away. Axon hearts let the Curator make a barrier-breaking weapon. They beat Renoir and the Paintress and return heroes. Unknown to the others, the Curator caused the Gommage; the Paintress had stalled him. He then erases Lumière except Verso. A flashback shows the Dessendres, Paris painters of canvas worlds. Lumière is inside dead Verso's painting. A fire killed him and disfigured Alicia. Grief-struck mother Aline became the Paintress inside it. Father Renoir's clash with her caused the Fracture. Sister Clea made Nevrons and sent Alicia in; Aline's power turned her into amnesiac Maelle. Maelle revives and begs Renoir Dessendre to restore everyone. He instead means to erase the canvas. She revives the expeditioners and they fight. Aline returns; he relents and leaves with her. Maelle's ending saves the canvas, rebuilds Lumière, revives Gustave and Sophie, and forces Verso back as her health begins to decline. Verso's ending banishes her and stops the soul fragment, erasing the canvas; the real family then reconciles.
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Trailer
Official trailer · Sandfall Interactive on YouTube · Watch on YouTube ↗Loads from youtube-nocookie.com only when you press play.
Screenshots
Tap to expand · from the Microsoft Store listingAlso on Game Pass
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Game details and art come from each game’s official Microsoft Store listing (cover images are cropped from those official images, or from publisher press kits, with our title overlay; nothing is AI-generated); art © the respective publishers, used for editorial review. Game Pass membership from Microsoft’s public Game Pass catalog, checked Sep 29, 2026. Critic scores appear only where a real aggregate exists; otherwise “Not yet reported”.