Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Sandfall Interactive’s debut game has made some significant waves in 2025 and is now positioned as one of the favorites to sweep awards season. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a gut-wrenching, grief-driven story with some elaborate mechanics and Paper Mario-style real-time elements in its battle system that make it multifaceted and rewarding. Turn-based RPGs can become pretty rote if they’re not mixing up mechanics and strategies, and Clair Obscur manages to mix in enough mechanical complexity that even a random battle here might be more demanding than the toughest fight in some other RPGs. At the end of those conflicts, you’ll find some devastating story reveals that don’t let up, even in its divisive ending. It’s wild that this is the studio’s first game. Sandfall’s future looks bright. — Kenneth Shepard

A good match for: People who like sad shit.

A bad match for: People who don’t like France.