🎮 “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a great game, but there are 8 cool details that get totally lost in translation!”
If you’re a fan of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you know it’s an incredible game with fantastic mechanics. But here’s the thing—there are 8 details that make it even more amazing, and sadly, they often get overlooked.

It’s no secret that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an incredibly French game, and it’s packed full of references to French culture that might completely go over your head if you aren’t familiar. While there are some obvious French tropes, such as baguettes, mimes, berets, and loads of other Belle Époque-themed details, there are some references in the game that many French people themselves might not even pick up on.

Clair Obscur developer Sandfall clearly has a deep-seated love for its home country and wants players to experience and appreciate these things as well. The closer you look at the game’s intricate details, the more you will learn about French culture. This might be the most French game ever created, and diving into the history of some of these references was an incredibly rewarding experience for me as a writer, a fan of Clair Obscur, and a lover of French culture in general.

Gustave & The Eiffel Tower

Gustave Eiffel Was A Legendary French Architect During The Early Belle Époque Period

You may or may not have realized that one of the first protagonists you meet in the game, Gustave, is actually named after the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed the Eiffel Tower landmark in Paris that bears his name. Gustave Eiffel was also one of the minds behind the Statue of Liberty, the Church of Notre Dame, as well as countless other iconic French marvels. Gustave Eiffel was a visionary figure during the Belle Époque period, which extends from around 1871 to 1914.

Clair Obscur’s bent and twisted Eiffel Tower inside the Canvas is an equally iconic landmark for those who have played the game. It’s an ever-present symbol on the horizon that players can reliably spot in the background as they explore the Continent, a constant reminder of the connection to the “real world” outside the Canvas. As a character, Gustave embodies this legendary architect in multiple ways, being an engineer and architect himself and working to improve the city of Lumiere.

Petanks Aren’t Just Random Puzzles In Clair Obscur

Those Pesky Petanks Are Modeled After A Real-Life French Yard Game

If you’ve played enough Clair Obscur, you’ve run into your fair share of the Petank “puzzle” enemies, which are round balls with glowing orbs in their center. These enemies require players to figure out the “trick” to defeat them based on their unique color, but are actually modeled after a real-life French yard game called Petanque, a type of “boules” game that’s widely known in both France and Italy.

It’s a yard game similar to the Italian Bocce (or Bocci/Boccie) ball, where you toss small metal balls toward a target wooden ball (called a “jack,” or “cochonnet” in French). This is an incredibly popular yard game in France, and anyone from France is sure to instantly recognize the reference when they see these tricksters zooming around various locations in-game.

Serpenphare À On: A Deep French Cut

This One Is Truly Lost In Translation

There’s no way to miss the giant Serpenphare enemy flying around in the sky over the open ocean in Clair Obscur, but there’s a seriously French reference floating around this enemy that will be entirely lost on non-French audiences. The trophy for defeating this enemy is called “À On,” with “Serpenphare À On” being a direct reference to a hilarious and unapologetically French comedy from 2002 called Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, written and directed by iconic Belgian comedian Alain Chabat and based on the classic Asterix comic series.

The joke does not translate well to English, but it’s essentially an incredibly corny joke that only French-speaking fans are going to understand. “Serpenphare à on” is a reference to a pun used in the film by a worthless Egyptian architect who relentlessly tries to win the affection of a girl over and over again, ultimately failing. It’s a little Easter Egg that shows just how far developers for Clair Obscur are willing to go with their French shout-outs.

The Grandis Elders In Monoco’s Station

Grandis Can Be Roughly Translated To “Elders” In French

When you reach Monoco’s Station in Clair Obscur, you’ll run into a unique being called Grandis. These are similar to the Gestrals you encounter throughout the game, but they have their own look, design, and attitude that’s distinct from the Gestrals. “Grandis” comes from the French word for “growing up,“ which has an interesting implication for Verso’s character development.

Seeing as the Gestrals are likely young Verso’s representation of youth, Grandis are most likely young Verso’s representation of adults. They present as wise and sage-like beings who offer up conversation and wisdom as opposed to the Gestral mentality of being eager to battle and constantly ready to fight. It’s not entirely confirmed that this is the case, but the French context for Grandis does have heavy lore implications for the young version of Verso and how he perceived and/or conceptualized adults.

Don’t Dress Like A Sakapatate

“Sac À Patate” Has Multiple Meanings In French

While it’s a little bit obvious just by the sound of the word, Sakapatate has an actual context in French culture that quite literally translates to “a sack of potatoes” or “potato sack.” It’s actually used as an idiom in French for carrying something over your shoulder, even in the hilarious context of holding your children over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The idea here is that they’re kind of dead weight, which is a very French level of sarcasm, especially in the context of carrying your kids around.

The term Sakapatate is also used in the context of fashion, as in “she looks like she’s wearing a potato sack,” for example. It’s a funny French turn of phrase that most players probably don’t fully understand, even if it’s pretty obvious phonetically that Sakapatate sounds like “sack of potatoes.” Having the full context brings it home, though, and it’s yet another great example of French nomenclature being used very casually in Clair Obscur.

Stendahl: Don’t Have An Art Attack

Stendahl Condition Is A Real Phenomenon Related To Having Visceral Reactions To Art

Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

Maybe one of my favorite French references in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is related to one of the most powerful Maelle attacks, Stendahl. This attack is in reference to a psychosomatic condition called Stendahl Syndrome, also known as Florence Syndrome, that causes a visceral human response such as increased heartbeat, disorientation, hallucination, or even fainting as a result of an overwhelming response to seeing a particularly incredible piece of art.

The term for this condition is derived from author Marie-Henri Beyle, who used the pseudonym Stendahl and once visited the Basilica of Santa Croce, supposedly having a life-changing reaction to the various artists that were buried there: Niccolò Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei. He wrote of his experience as follows:

Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty . . . I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations . . . Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call ‘nerves’. Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.

In Clair Obscur, Stendahl is easily one of the most powerful attacks, even after it was nerfed in an early patch, and it’s a fitting homage to Stendahl’s writing and the concept of Stendahl Syndrome itself. It’s a matter of debate whether this condition actually exists, and it’s worth noting that, scientifically speaking, it has never been verified as a diagnosable disorder. Nonetheless, the concept itself befits the themes and ambiance of the game, and it’s one of the coolest connections to French culture in Clair Obscur.

Esquie: A Literal Bag Of Wine

I’ve Heard The French Really Love Their Wine

Perhaps the most beloved character in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is your faithful companion Esquie, who undoubtedly has the most adorable attitude and dialogue of anyone in the game. While you’ll journey alongside Esquie throughout pretty much the entire game, it takes quite a bit before it’s revealed to players exactly what he is. One night at camp, when the party is feeling a little down, it’s revealed that Esquie has had the perfect solution inside him the entire time, and it’s quintessentially French.

It turns out that Esquie is actually a huge sack of wine, and everyone in the group is ecstatic to learn they’re able to imbibe by drinking his contents and partying all night long. It’s a hilarious French detail to have your mount be a big sack of wine that you can ride and fly around on. While it hasn’t been officially confirmed anywhere, fans have speculated that Esquie is named after the French philosopher Montesquieu, as in “Mount Esquie,” which is even more hilarious (if true).

Clair Obscur: Light, Dark, Twilight, & Chiaroscuro

The Theme Of Contrast Between Light & Dark Is Central To Clair Obscur

The literal meaning behind “Clair Obscur” is derived from an Italian art style that implements powerful contrast between light and dark shades, and this motif is essential to Clair Obscur and its themes and symbolism. The style was pivotal in the French Belle Epoque period, and it’s a recurring element in just about every aspect of the game. It also signifies the collision of light and dark in the Twilight hour, prevalent in everything from Sciel’s various Twilight attacks to the Gommage taking place at Twilight. The importance of light meeting dark permeates nearly every aspect of the game.

Clair Obscur’s French references are a true and honest representation of the culture, and those listed here are only the tip of the iceberg. I could fill a list with dozens of French references, from the mundane and obvious baguette and mime allusions to the serious and intricate themes related to characters like Renoir, Lune, Sciel, etc. One thing is certain: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 honors France and its culture in ways that no other blockbuster game has, and it’s become a defining representation of French culture itself as a result.