Suggestive Gaming's What You Need to Know!
Suggestive Gaming's What You Need to Know!
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - The Complete Story (Chronological Recap)
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 completely blew up this year, and ever since, you folks have been flooding me with requests to cover it. I’ll be honest: after diving in, it didn’t exactly win me over. But hey, that’s the beauty of Suggestive Gaming: I played it, I finished it, and I put this recap together just for you.
In this video, I’ll take you through the entire story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in chronological order. If you want to understand the story better (or know what the hype’s about without getting wrecked by the Gommage yourself), this is your one-stop shop.
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Video Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:39 - The Real World
03:33 - The Fracture
07:23 - The Failed Expeditions of Lumière
10:58 - Prologue: Lumière
12:50 - Act I: Gustave
19:57 - Act II: Verso
30:49 - “Epilogue”: Alicia
31:14 - Act III: Maelle
43:00 - Epilogue: A Life to Paint (Maelle’s Ending)
43:44 - Epilogue: A Life to Love (Verso’s Ending)
45:22 - Outro
Research References/Mods Used
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Transcript
https://www.dawnborn.com/game-transcripts/clair-obscur-expedition-33-game-transcript-all-dialogues/
Optimized Tweaks COE33 (for performance and input latency, THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE GAME PLAYABLE)
https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/4
ClairObscurFix (for 60fps cutscenes)
https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/24
RenoDX (for HDR)
https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/6
All game footage captured and edited by Suggestive Gaming; please do not use without expressed permission.
#clairobscur #clairobscurexpedition33
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
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Few games have captivated the gaming landscape\h as quickly and as ferociously as this year’s\h\h
“Clair Obscur:Expedition 33”. While\h I didn’t quite get the hype myself,\h\h this is “Suggestive Gaming” after all,\h and suggestions for me to cover the story\h\h have been pouring in since the game’s\h launch. While I usually don’t cover\h\h the storylines of new releases, I guess\h it’s finally time to live up to my name. As always, this video will contain full spoilers\h for the game’s story, including its ending,\h\h so if you haven’t finished it yet and want to go\h in blind, now’s your chance to turn back. While I\h\h considered diving into Clair Obscur’s story in the\h order the game tells it, preserving any and all\h\h plot twists, an overwhelming response has led me\h to take a chronological approach. As such, this is\h\h your final spoiler warning, as the early sections\h of this video are going to ruin several of the\h\h game’s crucial story beats. If you’re here for a\h better understanding or to just re-experience the\h\h story, stick around, otherwise go watch another\h one of my videos, I could always use the views. Similarly to my other videos, I’m\h going to have to skip over a lot\h\h of the game’s side-quests to focus on\h the main narrative, but I am going to\h\h cover plenty of optional content that\h directly relates to the main storyline. Also, despite my last name being “Picard”, I don’t\h speak a lick of French, and my pronunciations are\h\h likely going to be horrendous. My sincerest\h apologies to all of my ancestors in advance. With all of that out of the way,\h let’s explore the story of Lumière. Now, without further ado, this is what you need\h to know about “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33”.\h Our story begins in an alternate\h early-20th-century version of Paris,\h\h France. There, we find the Dessendre\h family, standing at the center of a\h\h secret society of art-based magic. Renoir\h and Aline Dessendre are master “Painters”:\h\h artists who can bring the magical worlds within\h their canvases to life. They have three children,\h\h all of whom are budding Painters. Among them are\h Clea (the ambitious eldest daughter), Verso (the\h\h gentle son more interested in music than magic),\h and Alicia (the youngest and most impressionable). The Painters have long been in conflict\h with a rival group of magical artists,\h\h the “Writers”, who use words to\h build worlds instead of brushes.\h\h This war erupts in tragedy on December 33, 1905,\h when the Writers somehow gain Alicia’s trust,\h\h allowing them to start a fire within the\h Dessendre’s home. Verso saves his younger\h\h sister from the fire, but he unfortunately loses\h his life during his heroic sacrifice. Alicia is\h\h left badly burned from the flames, leaving her\h face scarred and taking her ability to speak. The remaining family is left devastated\h by Verso’s death. Unable to cope with\h\h losing her son, Aline literally retreats from\h reality; locating Verso’s childhood canvas,\h\h she uses her own powers as a Paintress to\h enter the fantasy world of her son’s creation. Within this art realm, Aline\h repaints it to erase the tragedy,\h\h bringing to life painted versions of\h her family: a Painted Renoir, Clea,\h\h Verso, and Alicia. Deciding to live in a beautiful\h illusion where Verso is still alive, Aline dwells\h\h with her Painted family within “Lumière”, the\h Canvas’s version of their real hometown, Paris.\h Realizing that Aline’s mind is starting to distort\h due to her increasingly long trips into the\h\h Canvas, her husband Renoir decides to finally pull\h her out of it before it consumes her completely. Entering the Canvas himself, Renoir finds\h Aline and pleads with her to return to\h\h reality. Refusing to lose Verso again,\h however, she refuses vehemently. This\h\h leads to a physical clash between the two,\h and the eruption of their Painter powers\h\h inside the Canvas causes the world’s geography\h to shatter into floating islands and fragmented\h\h landscapes. Lumière is thrust into the ocean of\h the painted world, becoming an isolated island. This cataclysmic event is\h then known by all of those\h\h inhabiting the Canvas world as the “Fracture”. In the aftermath of their battle, Aline and\h Renoir become trapped inside the Canvas,\h\h eternally at odds with each other. Aline ends\h up imprisoned atop an ominous structure called\h\h the Monolith, surrounded by swirling energy\h and protected by a powerful Barrier. Renoir,\h\h meanwhile, is sealed at the bottom of the\h Monolith, unable to leave his prison of paint. From below, Renoir seeks to end the false world\h in order to force Aline out. He uses destructive\h\h Painter magic to initiate the “Gommage”, a deadly\h yearly erasure that wipes out anyone in the\h\h painting above a certain age. Every year following\h the Fracture, the maximum age of survival drops,\h\h causing the population to live in fear as\h their “age limit” decreases annually. Renoir\h\h essentially weaponizes the canvas’s magic\h to erase Aline’s creations bit by bit,\h\h hoping this will break her resolve,\h or destroy the canvas entirely. From above, Aline tries to preserve her sanctuary.\h Though mentally and physically deteriorating,\h\h she uses what power she has to protect\h Lumière’s inhabitants from Renoir’s\h\h full wrath. On the towering Monolith, she\h paints a number that decreases each year,\h\h warning of the shrinking age\h limit imposed by the Gommage. This act backfires, however, as the people within\h the Canvas soon associate her as the force behind\h\h the Gommage, as opposed to their only protection\h from it. This earns her the fearful title of “the\h\h Paintress” among the Canvas’s inhabitants, who\h are unaware of her identity as Aline Dessendre,\h\h simply trying to hold the world together\h for the painted version of her family. Meanwhile, the painted copies of the Dessendre\h children that Aline made, Painted Clea,\h\h Painted Verso, and Painted Alicia, survive the\h Fracture, now effectively immortal within the\h\h Canvas world. The painted siblings wander the\h broken continent, grappling with the yearly\h\h loss of the ordinary people around them as each\h Gommage erases the oldest among the population. Eventually, Painted Clea comes under the influence\h of her real-world counterpart. The real Clea never\h\h enters the canvas herself, but still somehow\h finds a way to possess or control her painted\h\h counterpart at times. Enraged by Aline’s\h“betrayal” and still bent on vengeance,\h\h real Clea uses Painted Clea as a proxy inside\h the Canvas to paint horrifying creatures called\h\h“Nevrons” into the world. These monsters devour\h“Chroma”, the lifeforce within the Canvas that\h\h gives Aline her power. Hoping this will tip the\h scales in Renoir’s favor, Clea sides with her\h\h father’s goal of ending the painted world,\h seeing it as an abomination born of grief. Curiously, Aline’s painted copy\h of Renoir (Painted Renoir),\h\h as well as the Painted replica of her lost son,\h Painted Verso also remain active in the Canvas,\h\h living within the remains of the isolated Lumière.\h Determined to save their people, the leaders\h of Lumière begin sending out Expeditions to\h\h the broken mainland continent in search\h of answers and a way to end the Gommage.\h\h This project begins with Expedition Zero,\h launching the same year of the Fracture. Expedition Zero is led by none other\h than Painted Renoir and Painted Verso,\h\h hoping to find the missing Paintress, who they\h know as Aline. However, as they reach the Barrier\h\h protecting the Monolith, they’re met by Clea.\h Clea (the real one, speaking through her Painted\h\h counterpart) reveals the entire truth of her\h family’s situation to her Painted counterparts.\h\h She attempts to stop them, wiping out the entire\h Expedition, save for the Painted Renoir and Verso\h\h(still protected by Aline’s powers, effectively\h granting them immortality within the realm). The Painted Renoir and Verso return to Lumière\h to try to warn the population about the real\h\h Renoir underneath the Monolith,\h but their cries fall on deaf ears.\h\h Lumière’s citizens instead meet\h them with skepticism and panic,\h\h leading Painted Verso and Painted\h Renoir to flee the city to never return. In the aftermath of Expedition\h Zero, Painted Renoir and Verso\h\h each cope with the curse of immortality\h in very different ways. Painted Renoir,\h\h desperate to preserve the world Aline created,\h resolves to protect his wife’s sanctuary at\h\h any cost; even if it means waging war\h against would-be saviors from Lumière. Painted Verso, on the other hand, grows\h to despise this unnatural immortality.\h\h Burdened by guilt and by the knowledge that\h he is merely a copy of his real-world self,\h\h Verso eventually decides he would rather see\h their false world end than continue living a lie.\h\h He quietly resolves to free his mother\h from the Canvas and, in doing so,\h\h allow the real Renoir to erase everything,\h gaining the freedom to finally die in peace. Meanwhile, despite the failure of the first\h Expedition, Lumière eventually picks the\h\h program back up, sending out annual Expeditions\h which, unfortunately, fail year after year.\h\h Lumière’s citizenship gets younger and younger,\h\h as those who embark on the Expeditions parish\h(either by hazards out on the Continent,\h\h or by the Gommage itself.) The phrase “When\h one falls, we continue” becomes their motto,\h\h reflecting that when one expedition fails, another\h will continue their work and carry on the mission. Over the 67 years following the Fracture,\h dozens of Expeditions fail to stop the Gommage.\h\h Each attempt, whether through innovative\h engineering or Verso’s covert assistance,\h\h is ultimately thwarted by Renoir’s interventions. In the real-world, Alicia Dessendre (the\h youngest daughter of Renoir and Aline) is\h\h instructed by her sister, Clea, to enter the\h Canvas in an attempt to free their parents\h\h from their endless feud. As she does, however,\h Aline’s unstable Chroma magic overwhelms her,\h\h and she is effectively “repainted”\h as a newborn child within the Canvas. This baby girl is given the name Maelle, and\h when her “parents” pass, she is taken into the\h\h
care of two siblings in Lumière:named Gustave\h and Emma. Maelle grows up having no memories or\h\h knowledge of her previous persona. Clea informs\h the Painted Verso about the girl, and he secretly\h\h watches over her, making several covert trips\h to Lumière over the years to check in on her.\h After eighteen years pass in the real-world,\h time is literally running out within the\h\h Canvas’s Lumière. The number on the Monolith\h(the “Monolith Year”), ticks down to “34”. On the eve of the next Gommage,\h we find Gustave, now 33-years-old,\h\h
having volunteered to join the next Expedition:\h Expedition 33. While Gustave isn’t a soldier,\h\h his academic skills contribute greatly to the\h invention of the “Lumina Converter”, a device that\h\h can weaponize the world’s Chroma to hopefully give\h his Expedition the edge against the Paintress. Gustave prepares a flower for an old friend\h whom he was once romantically involved with:\h\h a 34-year-old woman named Sophie. The pair\h elect to spend her final day together. As\h\h the Gommage finally arrives, Sophie and Gustave\h acknowledge their shared love before she fades\h\h into a trail of flower petals, her existence\h erased by Renoir’s annual act of spite. Later, Lumière holds a festival to celebrate\h Expedition 33 on their final night before\h\h departing for the Continent. After Gustave mingles\h with his fellow Expeditioners (including a widow\h\h named Sciel and a Chroma researcher named Lune),\h he meets with his pupils, who implore him to\h\h journal his journey. He also meets with Maelle,\h who has volunteered to join Expedition 33 despite\h\h being only 16 years old (something her guardians\h Gustave and Emma failed to talk her out of). Emma then arrives and gives\h a heartfelt goodbye speech,\h\h thanking the Expeditioners for sacrificing\h their final year of life to keep their hope\h\h alive. Expedition 33 then board a ship and wave\h their final farewells as it embarks out to sea.\h\h Sailing toward the Monolith, the Expedition\h departs, hoping to be the last to do so.\h Unfortunately, disaster strikes immediately.\h Upon reaching the Dark Shores of the Continent,\h\h the team walks into an ambush. Expedition\h 33 are met by a white-haired Painted Renoir,\h\h accompanied by an army of monsters under his\h command. While the team have no knowledge of\h\h Painted Renoir (as the record of his participation\h in Expedition Zero has been lost to time),\h\h they immediately recognize that he’s unnaturally\h old, and should have Gommaged years ago. Painted Renoir suddenly attacks, and\h the ambush is devastating, with nearly\h\h the entirety of Expedition 33 wiped out in\h minutes. Amid explosions and chromatic fire,\h\h Gustave witnesses his comrades (Alan, Catherine,\h Tristan, Lucien, Margot and many more) being\h\h slaughtered as the team is overwhelmed. In the\h chaos, a blast separates Maelle from the rest.
Unbeknownst to Gustave, Maelle narrowly survives:\h she is secretly rescued by Painted Verso, who has\h\h been shadowing the Expedition. Verso spirits\h the unconscious girl away to the Painted Canvas\h\h version of the Old Dessendre Manor, leaving her in\h the care of a being called the Curator (a fading\h\h guide, which unbeknownst to them is manifesting\h from their real-world father’s memory). Gustave doesn’t know this, however, and loses\h hope, believing that Maelle likely died along\h\h with the others. Luckily, Gustave is met by\h another survivor, Lune, who reminds him that “when\h\h one falls, we continue.” The pair use the still\h functional Lumina Converter to fight the Nevron\h\h threats as they push inland to search for any\h other survivors as they continue their mission. Soon, the pair reach the “Flying Waters”,\h where they find a mysterious doorway that\h\h takes them to the Old Manor. Inside, Gustave\h is shocked and relieved to reunite with the\h\h surviving Maelle. The girl introduces\h her fellow Expeditioners to the Curator,\h\h who follows them back to their camp to offer\h his assistance in upgrading their gear. On their way out of the manor, the trio\h come across a small “Gestral” (a race of\h\h inhabitants within the Canvas) named Noco.\h Noco, who was a wise, old Gestral before\h\h his reincarnation a decade prior (more on that\h later), has struck up a friendship with Maelle\h\h during her time at the Manor. He advises\h the group to meet with the Gestral’s chief,\h\h Golgra, for a means to cross the vast\h sea separating them from the Paintress. On their way to the Gestral village, Maelle\h starts to have nightmares of Painted Renoir\h\h and Painted Alicia, hinting at her connection to\h them. Upon reaching the village, Gustave finds a\h\h fading memory of a young Verso (although he has\h no idea who the boy is), who speaks cryptically\h\h about his past. The group are then met by\h the Gestrals’ massive “Robust Sakapatate”,\h\h attacking them to defend the village,\h believing the expeditioners to be Nevrons. After they defeat the machine, they’re\h let into the village, where they defeat\h\h the “ULTIMATE Sakapatate”, finally earning\h them an audience with the village’s “chef”,\h\h Golgra. They ask for a way to cross the\h sea, and Golga sends them to find “Esquie”,\h\h a fabled being of immense power (who\h unbeknownst to everyone was painted\h\h into the Canvas by a young Verso,\h based on his favorite stuffed doll). In order to enter Esquie’s Nest, however,\h the group will require a secret password. To\h\h obtain it, Golgra enters them into a physical\h tournament with the password as the prize.\h\h The three reach the final fight, and are\h shocked to find that their opponent is\h\h none other than a surviving Sciel. The\h Expeditioners’ reunion is cut short as\h\h the Gestral crowd demand a fight, and\h Sciel draws her scythe to initiate it. After a quick spar, the reunited group get the\h password to Esquie’s Nest: “get outta my way!” Using it, they find Esquie in his nest, and\h the gentle giant (who recognizes Sciel from\h\h long ago) agrees to help them cross the\h waters so long as they retrieve “Florrie”,\h\h a special rock that gives him the power to\h swim. Florrie was stolen by his grumpy neighbor,\h\h François. The group finds François, who\h turns out to be a stationary, turtle-shaped,\h\h rock-like talking curmudgeon. They battle\h François in a fierce, grueling battle,\h\h but emerge victorious only to learn that the rock\h he stole from Esquie wasn’t actually Florrie.\h\h Regardless, Esquie agrees to go with them to the\h“Stone Wave Cliffs” to retrieve the real rock. As they reach Stone Wave Cliffs, they find\h that Esquie is in fact extremely powerful,\h\h just also extremely lazy. The group fights\h through the powerful Nevron forces to\h\h finally find the real Florrie. Just as Esquie\h retrieves it, returning his ability to swim,\h\h the group’s celebration is quickly cut\h short by an arriving Painted Renoir. At this point, Painted Verso watches his\h father prepare to strike down Gustave and,\h\h believing that losing her\h attachment to her brother would\h\h ultimately allow Maelle to destroy\h the Canvas, he doesn’t intervene.\h\h Maelle is then stunned to silence as an instant,\h surprise attack strikes Gustave through the chest,\h\h splattering her brother’s blood on her chest.\h With his final words, Gustave tells Maelle to run,\h\h using his last bits of strength in a final\h stand against Renoir to protect his sister. His efforts prove to be futile,\h however, as Gustave quickly falls\h\h to Painted Renoir’s overwhelming power. The\h man then pushes Maelle into another nightmare,\h\h again flooding her with unfamiliar memories of\h her true origins. When Maelle comes back to,\h\h Verso finally intervenes and steps between his\h father and sister. Renoir states that he wants his\h\h family back, while Verso reminds him that it was\h never his family in the first place. Meanwhile,\h\h Maelle is still left overwhelmed with emotion,\h grieving over her brother’s body. Verso then\h\h gestures to a nearby Painted Alicia, who’s\h also been watching the events unfold from afar. Verso helps Maelle up and sends her off to\h regroup with her friends. Painted Renoir then\h\h departs with a final warning to his son, who\h proclaims that Aline will “never paint again”. Back at camp, the survivors of Expedition\h 33 regroup with Esquie, and they all mourn\h\h Gustave’s death. They’re surprisingly met by\h Verso, who arrives and apologizes for being\h\h“unable” to save their friend. They notice\h his expedition uniform, and he reveals that\h\h he was part of the very first one, along with his\h Commander, Renoir (keeping their relationship to\h\h each other close to the vest). Furthermore,\h he reveals their shared immortality thanks\h\h to the Paintress’s protection. The group\h allows Verso to join them on their mission,\h\h and Maelle determines that now they’ve got\h two targets: the Paintress, then Renoir.\h Now led by Verso, reunited with his old\h friend, Esquie, the group continue towards\h\h the Paintress. On their way, they stop in the\h“Forgotten Battlefield”, where scores of fallen\h\h Expeditioners remain. They find a peaceful spot\h under a tree and hold a makeshift funeral for\h\h Gustave, creating a memorial using his final\h remains: his mechanical, prosthetic arm. Later, at camp, Verso determines that the\h only way they can reach the Paintress is\h\h to weaken her by destroying her heart,\h which is somewhere within the remains\h\h of “Old Lumière,” which broke off from the\h city during the Fracture. First, however,\h\h Verso elects to go to “Monoco’s Station”, in\h order to recruit its namesake, a Gestral who\h\h has been Verso’s longest friend. Before they\h head out, Maelle accepts Verso into the team,\h\h giving him Gustave’s Expedition 33 armband,\h welcoming him to the “Disaster Expedition.” The group soon reach the station, where they\h meet Monoco, who quickly challenges them to a\h\h duel. They spar with him, learning of his unique\h ability to transform into Nevrons to borrow their\h\h attacks by defeating them and collecting their\h feet (a power that even Verso doesn’t understand).\h\h Verso speaks with Monoco in secret, convincing\h him to join them, as Maelle is his last chance\h\h to bring an end to Aline’s reign over the Canvas\h world. Seeing a lot of fights in his future,\h\h Monoco agrees to come along, bringing Noco\h with him (who was actually Monoco’s guardian\h\h before his resurrection, which Monoco was\h integral to (still more on that later). When Expedition 33 reaches Old Lumière, Monoco\h attempts to clear a path for them to reach the\h\h center of the city. However, in his excitement to\h show off to his new friends, the Gestral causes\h\h the ground to collapse beneath them, separating\h Gustave, Noco, and Maelle from the rest of the\h\h group. While on their own, Sciel, Luna, and\h Monoco find another one of Esquie’s lost stones. Maelle and Verso soon reach the Old Dessendre\h Manor, where the door opens to reveal Aline in\h\h her Paintress form. Verso moves to strike, but is\h immediately stopped by an arriving Painted Renoir.\h\h The Painted Alicia then arrives as well,\h and the door to the Manor closes once\h\h again as Verso looks at his sister, silently\h noting her connection to the nearby Maelle. Suddenly, Lune, Sciel, and Monoco arrive with\h chilling news for Maelle. Having found the\h\h journal of one of the previous expeditions Verso\h accompanied, Expedition 58, the two expeditioners\h\h have learned (with Monoco’s confirmation) that\h Renoir is actually their new friend’s father.\h\h Unfortunately, Verso doesn’t have\h time to detail the history of his\h\h family drama, as another battle with Renoir\h immediately kicks off on his Manor’s lawn. While Expedition 33 defeats Renoir in\h a battle, a final blast of his energy\h\h unfortunately strikes an unwitting participant.\h In the wake of the attack, Verso turns to see\h\h Monoco holding the lifeless body of his former\h mentor: Noco, once again returned to the Gestral\h\h river of souls to await reincarnation (I\h swear, there’s still more on this later). As Verso and Renoir fight, time suddenly comes to\h a stop around Maelle. Suddenly, the door to the\h\h Manor opens again, and Painted Alicia walks out,\h staring at Maelle as she takes off her white mask,\h\h revealing the burns underneath. Maelle then has\h flashes of her buried memories of the inferno,\h\h before Painted Alicia disappears back\h into the Manor, which is now aflame. Suddenly, the Manor vanishes;\h Alicia and Renoir along with it. Back at camp, Sciel gives the stone she found\h to Esquie, who reveals that it will help them\h\h smash through certain obstacles on the Continent,\h allowing them to continue their journey toward\h\h the Paintress. While the team are disappointed in\h Verso hiding the truth from them, they agree that\h\h“family is complicated”, and allow him to remain\h with them. Monoco then holds what remains of Noco,\h\h noting that even when Noco is reincarnated, it’ll\h be a new Noco, mourning the loss of his friend. Without the Paintress’s heart, the group\h decides to follow Expedition 58’s journal\h\h once again. Lune then asks the Curator to make\h them a weapon that can pierce the magic barrier\h\h surrounding the Monolith. To make this,\h however, the Curator requires the hearts\h\h of three “Axons”, monumental enemy constructs,\h each embodying aspects of the Dessendre family. It turns out Renoir painted these Axons\h as guardians of the Monolith barrier. The\h\h Axon Sirène, for example, is a dancer related to\h Aline’s essence (who plays with the Expeditioner’s\h\h minds by showing them their lost loved ones),\h while the Axon Visages (and it’s “Mask Keeper”)\h\h draws power from the emotions of Verso.\h According to Verso, destroying two of the four\h\h Axons should give them enough Chroma to weaken\h the Monolith’s Barrier enough to penetrate it. The party then engages in tough battles to\h reach and neutralize the two Axons. During their\h\h travels, Verso finds more fading memories, this\h time unknowingly of his father and sister, Clea. After defeating the first Axon, Maelle gives\h the Chroma left in its wake to the Curator,\h\h catching a glimpse of his true identity\h as Renoir as they touch. Later at camp,\h\h Maelle plays piano with Verso, reflecting\h a memory of himself and his sister. When the second Axon is defeated,\h Maelle gives the Chroma to the Curator,\h\h this time seeing the Paintress in a vision. When\h she’s broken out of it, the Curator presents them\h\h
with the weapon he’s created from the Chroma:\h the “Barrier Breaker”, which Maelle can use to…\h\h break the barrier. Verso reveals that Esquie\h is holding his private stash of wine, and the\h\h group (except for Maelle) toast to celebrate\h finally being able to reach the Paintress. Later, in secret, the Painted Alicia appears\h before Verso, handing him a sealed letter before\h\h he takes off her mask, telling his sister\h that she doesn’t need it. Verso hugs her,\h\h just as Painted Renoir appears to question why\h he’d condemn his sister to death if he loves her.\h\h Renoir states that he isn’t there to fight,\h but rather to question whether Verso is able to\h\h erase his new friends along\h with the rest of the Canvas. Sometime later, the group finally reach the\h barrier, where Maelle uses the breaker to\h\h open the pathway, finally allowing them to\h reach the Paintress. Expedition 33 remember\h\h Gustave, and all who came before him, as they\h approach the Monolith to initiate the battle. Fighting with all of the strength\h they’ve gathered up to this point,\h\h the team fights the Paintress, but finds\h that their attacks don’t phase her. Suddenly,\h\h the group are transported by the Paintress to the\h inside of the Monolith. They climb to the top,\h\h seeing visions of Aline, Renoir,\h and their children on the way. Painted Renoir tries to stop\h Painted Verso one last time,\h\h attempting to reason with him to no avail yet\h again. Renoir tries to physically stop them,\h\h but they are able to team up to fight him in a\h grueling battle, eventually incapacitating him. Painted Renoir then sarcastically celebrates\h the “second destruction of the Dessendre Family”\h\h before he’s suddenly interrupted by an arriving\h Curator. Painted Renoir recognizes the figure as\h\h the essence of the Real Renoir, finally meeting\h him face-to-face. The Curator then takes Maelle’s\h\h hand, and the pair place their hands on Painted\h Renoir. He proclaims his love for his family,\h\h before Maelle and the Curator destroy\h the Painted Renoir Dessendre for good. The Curator disappears, and Maelle\h successfully avenges Gustave’s slaying.\h\h With one final obstacle in their way, the\h group confront the Paintress one last time. Standing atop the Monolith, the group finds the\h Paintress. She immediately turns to recognize\h\h Verso, but is surprised to see Maelle, believing\h Renoir to be playing another trick on her by using\h\h their daughter’s face. Refusing to lose her son’s\h Canvas, the Paintress erupts into a final battle. The group summons their strength to defeat\h her, but their victory is short-lived.\h\h In the wake of their first battle, the\h Paintress brings forth the giant figure\h\h that painted the number on the Monolith,\h using it in another fight to the death. Expedition 33 uses all of the skills\h they’ve gathered to this point to\h\h complete their generations-long mission, finally\h defeating the Paintress in battle. As she falls,\h\h the Paintress realizes that the creations she’s\h fighting aren’t Renoir’s, they’re her own.\h\h She uses her last bit of strength to protect\h the Expeditioners instead of harming them,\h\h knowing that without her, Renoir will destroy\h them (along with the rest of the Canvas). The Paintress then dies, fading away while\h calling Maelle by her real name: Alicia. With the Paintress finally gone, the\h number disappears from the Monolith.\h\h Maelle plants Expedition 33’s flag atop the\h structure, finally declaring their victory;\h\h Lumière’s mission a success after countless tries. Esquie then flies the group back\h to Lumière, where the survivors\h\h of the “Disaster Expedition” return\h to a homecoming celebration. Maelle\h\h delivers the unfortunate news of Gustave’s\h passing to his pupils and his sister, Emma. Painted Verso, meanwhile, finally opens\h the letter his sister wrote to him. In it,\h\h Painted Alicia writes that with the loss of the\h Paintress, nothing will protect the creations\h\h within the Canvas from Renoir’s Gommage. She\h then ends the letter with a message to Maelle,\h\h who she sees as who Alicia was “meant to\h be,” without the physical or emotional scars. Verso decides not to give Maelle the letter,\h instead electing for her to learn the truth\h\h for herself. As he drops it into the waters, a\h blast suddenly erupts from beneath the Monolith. Renoir’s final Gommage immediately sweeps through\h Lumière, and Maelle is forced to helplessly watch\h\h all of the friends and neighbors she had\h just fought so hard to protect vanish from\h\h existence before her eyes. Left alone,\h Maelle falls to her knees as she herself\h\h disappears into a cloud of flower pedals. Sometime later, Alicia (now exited from the\h\h Canvas), hides it so her mother cannot re-enter\h it. Clea meets her in the hiding place, but states\h\h that this is only a temporary solution, as Aline\h will search endlessly until she finds it again.\h\h Clea urges Alicia to destroy the Canvas to put\h an end to their mother’s suffering, but she can’t\h\h help but remember the life she lived inside of it. Alicia re-enters the Canvas instead, finding the\h\h
sole survivor of Renoir’s final Gommage:the\h Painted copy of her brother, Verso. Alicia,\h\h her hair now turned white, approaches her brother,\h expressing her desire to go by “Maelle” from now\h\h on. Having the combined memories of both her\h original persona and her repainted alter,\h\h Maelle acknowledges that while Verso may look\h and sound like her brother, he’s his own person;\h\h and while it’s unfortunate her mother\h created a lie, she’s happy this Verso exists. The real Renoir soon arrives, transforming\h from his Curator form back into his own\h\h appearance before addressing Maelle as Alicia\h and expressing relief she’s safe. He praises\h\h her for getting Aline out of the Canvas\h and offers what he sees as a final mercy:\h\h to destroy the Canvas and finally end everything. Maelle is blindsided by his offer, revealing\h that she hid the Canvas to ensure its protection,\h\h but Renoir (like Clea) insists that\h Aline will always find a way back,\h\h and now is their only chance to destroy\h it while she’s too weak to return. Maelle pleads with him, arguing that the\h Canvas is all that remains of her brother,\h\h but Renoir refuses, insisting that he won’t lose\h his daughter to the Canvas like he did her mother. As he prepares to send her home by\h calling forth forces of enemies,\h\h the tensions are broken as Esquie and\h Monoco arrive, calling the others to\h\h board their ship. Maelle protects Verso from\h Renoir’s Gommage as the pair rush to join them. Afterward, back at camp, Maelle struggles to paint\h things into existence, frustrated that she can’t\h\h do it as easily as her father. Monoco reminds her\h that she only recently awakened her abilities,\h\h and Verso offers encouragement, telling her that\h painting is about capturing essence, not accuracy. With the power of a Paintress reawakened,\h\h Maelle determines that she’ll need Chroma to\h resurrect those who have been erased. With\h\h Renoir controlling all of the remaining Chroma\h in the world, Lune remembers that Gustave had\h\h noticed the fallen Expeditioners they came\h across still retained all of their Chroma. The group then embark on the “Greatest Expedition\h in History”, revisiting the locations of all of\h\h the previous Expeditions to collect the\h Chroma from those who came before them. Once complete, they return to camp to\h reflect on the nature of the Axons,\h\h which were manifestations of Aline and Verso’s\h emotional essence, painted by Renoir. The\h\h group begins to understand just how personal\h and broken the world they’ve inherited is. Lune and Sciel begin to process everything.\h Lune confronts Maelle about her true nature\h\h and lashes out at Verso for betraying\h the Expedition. Sciel, though furious,\h\h chooses to focus on the hope that\h death may no longer be permanent. Verso has private conversations with both\h women. Sciel tells him she’ll forgive him if\h\h he helps bring back her husband, Pierre.\h Lune isn’t so forgiving, calling him a\h\h coward and accusing him of withholding the\h truth when they could’ve worked together. Maelle asserts that they must now stop Renoir from\h\h erasing the Canvas. Verso warns that the real\h cycle they need to break isn’t just the Gommage,\h\h but instead the Dessendre family’s cycle\h of grief: Aline wanting her son back,\h\h Renoir wanting Aline and Maelle back,\h and now Maelle wanting Gustave back. Later, Maelle writes in Gustave’s journal,\h recording everything that’s happened. She\h\h wants to preserve the truth for the\h apprentices she hopes to bring back,\h\h honoring Gustave’s memory,\h“for those who come after.” Sciel and Lune reaffirm their support for\h Maelle, recognizing her as one of their own\h\h despite her true origins. Maelle reflects on her\h dual identity and admits that despite the pain,\h\h
she’s finally found her family:both\h the one she lost and the one she chose. As they prepare to return to Lumière\h to face Renoir for a final time,\h\h the group carry a renewed sense of\h hope. Before the battle, however,\h\h each member has their own moments to\h share with Verso if he so chooses. One of these moments sees Maelle\h confronting Verso after finding\h\h Alicia’s letter. She tells him she wants\h to see Painted Alicia, to understand her,\h\h and their mother. Despite Verso’s\h resistance, Maelle insists,\h\h arguing she might be able to finally help\h the Painted Alicia in a way Verso can’t. Verso reluctantly tells her that Alicia\h likely resides near the third Axon,\h\h in a giant atop the mountain.\h The party climbs the tower,\h\h which symbolically represents “hope,”\h painted by Renoir much like the others. On the way up, they reflect on Renoir’s\h habit of embedding parables in his art,\h\h and Maelle opens up about her insecurities\h as the youngest sibling. Verso counters,\h\h saying she’s always been Renoir’s “hidden\h star,” his real favorite; she just never saw it. Maelle finds Alicia at the top, and speaks\h to her Painted “sister” with compassion,\h\h and Alicia asks Maelle to send her\h to their family. Verso protests,\h\h but Maelle fulfills Alicia’s\h wish, letting her go in peace. Back at camp, Verso is heartbroken, accusing\h Maelle of acting too quickly, taking his chance\h\h to say goodbye away from him. Though Maelle tries\h to explain, Verso lashes out, accusing her of\h\h erasing the last of his family. Still, through\h the pain, they reconcile, both acknowledging\h\h that while Alicia made her own choice, Maelle\h should’ve given Verso a moment to say farewell. The pair then repaint the Monolith.\h This time, instead of a number warning\h\h the citizens of Lumière, they instead leave\h one to their father. In his native tongue,\h\h they write “Papa, YOU go home,” on\h the side of the massive structure. Monoco, meanwhile, convinces\h Verso to help him bring Noco\h\h back… again. He hopes to help his\h mentor again skip to the front of\h\h the line immediately, despite the\h usual rules of the Sacred River. Golgra tries to stop them,\h annoyed that Monoco is trying\h\h to skip the queue again. Monoco instead\h challenges Golgra to a trial by combat. After a humorous scuffle (interrupted by\h leg day), Golgra relents and allows them\h\h to revive Noco. Noco wakes up confused, not\h remembering anyone, and is taken back to the\h\h Gestral village to recover with his fellow\h Gestrals. Monoco is devastated by how Noco\h\h always comes back changed, mourning the\h version of his friend that’s now lost. Back at camp, Monoco opens up to Verso about why\h he rushed Noco’s revival: because he wants to\h\h protect the one who raised him, just as Noco once\h did for him. Despite the pain and uncertainty,\h\h Monoco affirms his commitment to helping\h Verso; for both Verso’s sake and the real\h\h Verso who gave them all new beginnings. (I told\h you all the Noco stuff would come back later!) Verso also leads the group to the trail of\h Expedition 46, Lune’s parents’ expedition,\h\h sealed behind a locked gate. Lune unlocks\h the gate by playing a song on her guitar,\h\h opening the way forward with a haunting melody. Inside, she finds the corpses of friends of\h her family. They recover a journal and head\h\h back to camp, where Lune is visibly shaken.\h Verso comforts her, and Lune unloads years\h\h of pressure and expectation, how even in death,\h her parents’ voices haunt her. Verso encourages\h\h her to reclaim her own identity and remember\h that the only voice that matters is her own. Sciel, meanwhile, has a realization of\h how she knows Esquie; he saved her once,\h\h long ago when she tried to swim out\h to sea after losing her husband.\h\h Verso helps her overcome her fear of\h swimming, helping strengthen their bond. After tying up all of their loose ends and\h defeating as many of the Nevrons Clea created\h\h as the player’s attention span can handle,\h Expedition 33 prepares for the final push\h\h into Lumière to confront Renoir and stop him from\h erasing the Canvas. Along the way, the group finds\h\h the ruined city under siege, now flooded with\h Axon Nevrons of Renoir’s creation, not Clea’s. Fighting through waves of Renoir’s creations,\h the group soon reach him standing alone. Maelle\h\h pleads with Renoir not to erase Verso’s Canvas\h(and with it, the last remnant of her brother). Renoir responds with pained\h understanding. He knows all\h\h too well of the temptation of the Canvas\h and how grief warps intentions. However,\h\h he insists that this is the only way to\h protect Maelle from wasting away like Aline. Each member of the party speaks out. Sciel\h reminds Renoir how grief leads to irreversible\h\h mistakes. Lune condemns parental control\h masquerading as love. Maelle breaks down,\h\h saying she tried to find joy again but\h couldn’t; Verso’s death crushed her. Seeing no other choice, Renoir prompts a battle\h with his daughter and her Painted partners.\h\h He re-emerges as his Curator\h form, attacking in a fight that\h\h tests all of the Expedition’s abilities.\h Unfortunately, the Axon Sirène appears\h\h and continuously regenerates Renoir’s\h health, effectively stopping the battle. Just as the group begins to lose hope, Aline\h discovers the Canvas in the outside world\h\h and re-enters it, much to Renoir’s dismay. Aline\h looks at her husband face-to-face and summons the\h\h massive Paintress once again, using it to distract\h Sirène in a groundshattering kaiju-like battle. After a final, furious fight, Maelle is able\h to deliver the final strike to the Curator\h\h form of her father, finally bringing\h an end to his control over the Canvas. In the wake of the battle, Renoir returns to\h his human form and reveals that since the fire,\h\h he’s also lived in torment, forced to watch his\h family clinging to the past. He confesses that he\h\h can’t watch his family die again. Maelle begs him\h to let her stay just a little longer. Not forever,\h\h just long enough to keep her friends and\h memories alive. Eventually, Renoir relents,\h\h promising to “keep the light on”\h for her return. Wishing her luck,\h\h he then disappears, finally\h exiting the Canvas world. After the confrontation, Maelle and Verso\h enter the Dessendre family Canvas, where the\h\h latter finds the fading memory of his young self,\h finally recognizing him. Verso confronts Maelle,\h\h revealing that he knows she lied; she has no\h intention of returning to the outside world.\h\h Like her father, Verso knows that remaining\h in the Canvas is slowly killing Alicia. Maelle admits that outside\h the Canvas she’s voiceless,\h\h hopeless, and alone. Here, at least,\h she feels alive. She refuses to let go. Verso, heartbroken, tells his younger self that\h it’s time to stop painting. Maelle pushes back,\h\h reminding him of Renoir’s own\h words: Hold onto each other. At this point, the fate of Verso’s Canvas,\h including all of the inhabitants within it,\h\h comes down to whomever is\h the victor of one final duel.\h If Maelle stands tall, defeating Verso in\h their battle, the man accepts his fate,\h\h tearfully pleading for his sister to “unpaint”\h him. Maelle refuses, hoping to regain the\h\h lifetime with her brother that was stolen\h from her in the fire. Verso repeatedly tells\h\h Maelle that he doesn’t want this life, but she\h nonetheless returns him, and all of her friends\h\h(including all those who were lost, like Sciel’s\h husband Pierre as well as Gustave and Sophie). Maelle brings everyone to Lumière’s\h concert hall to watch Verso perform\h\h a piano concert. As he prepares\h to play, he looks to his sister,\h\h seeing the Paint take over her\h face like it once did his mother.\h If Verso instead wins the faceoff against\h Maelle, she begins to fade away instead,\h\h begging her brother not to leave her again.\h He assures her that everything will be okay,\h\h and as he holds Maelle in his arms she\h vanishes, once again forced out of the Canvas. Verso then looks to his eldest\h friends, Monoco and Esquie,\h\h telling them that he’ll miss them as they\h vanish as well. Sciel follows not long after,\h\h as does Lune. Verso looks to the fading\h memory of his younger self, telling him\h\h that it’s finally over. Verso grabs his younger\h self’s hand, stopping him from painting for good. Sometime later, in the real world, the Dessendre\h family reunites outside their home. Renoir, Aline,\h\h Alicia (holding the stuffed Esquie doll), and\h Clea all pay their respects to the late Verso,\h\h quietly remembering his sacrifice.\h Renoir and Aline then hold each other,\h\h finally reconciling outside of their son’s world. As Clea walks off, likely to continue her\h solitary vengeful war against the Writers,\h\h her parents follow shortly after. Alicia is then\h left alone by her brother’s grave. She looks up to\h\h
see the memories of her Expedition 33 teammates:\h Lune, Gustave, Monoco, Esquie, Verso, Sciel,\h\h
and finally:Maelle. They all wave goodbye to\h Alicia as their memories fade into flower pedals.\h This brings us to the end of the story of\h“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.” Time will\h\h only tell if developers Sandfall Interactive\h will continue to tell us stories in the world\h\h of Clair Obscur but regardless of whether or\h not we see another entry, what Clair Obscur:\h\h Expedition 33 gave us is something special. A\h deeply personal story about grief, identity, and\h\h legacy, all told through the lens of a magical,\h beautifully painted world. And even if the combat\h\h didn’t quite hook me, the world, its characters,\h and the emotional payoff absolutely did. Hey everybody! If you stuck with me through\h this entire breakdown, thank you. As always,\h\h I do my best to cover every major beat in these\h stories, but if I missed anything you thought was\h\h important, please do let me know in the comments.\h If you enjoyed this video, please consider giving\h\h it a like, subscribing if you haven’t already, and\h maybe checking out some of the other videos on the\h\h channel. I cover the full storylines of video\h games: old, new, obscure, and everything in\h\h between. So if that sounds like your thing,\h there’s plenty more where this came from, and you\h\h can help support like the awesome folks on screen\h by becoming a Patreon Supporter or Channel Member.\h\h They get early access to videos and behind the\h scenes insight into my madness while making them. Thanks again for watching. I’ve been\h Suggestive Gaming, and now, you’re in the know.
