I'm a known lover of RPGs, specifically the JRPGs from which Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 derives from – so I knew I was the target audience going in. Which also meant I was expecting to go through my usual new RPG onboarding process, having to put aside a good few hours, maybe three to five across an evening, to properly settle into the game and for it to really get going. These long quests take some real investment to get immersed into the rhythm of play. But I was pleasantly surprised to find Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is actually far friendlier to short bursts than many of its peers.
Unable to find that golden evening after being sent early access code for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I was prepared to spend quite a while struggling to get into it. That wasn't the case at all. In my first session, I spent a leisurely hour playing through the prologue, which, as with all good prologues, had me hooked narratively by its end – but also proved a fine time to step away eager to return. This is a cycle that, for me, Clair Obscur – for the most part – manages to keep up. Yep, you can essentially play it like a TV show, though don't expect an episodic narrative game structure. This is battle city, baby.
