😍 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a gaming MASTERPIECE—but should it EVER get a sequel? 🚫

This RPG is being called too perfect to touch. A story so complete, a world so breathtaking… why risk ruining it? 🎨

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has performed absolutely incredibly, far exceeding the expectations of both its developer and its now burgeoning fanbase, who are still discussing it months after its release. It is impressive for a once seemingly obscure JRPG-inspired turn-based game with a French setting to do extremely well in the currently oversaturated gaming market. Fortunately, its success will mean that its developer, Sandfall Interactive, will get to continue making incredible games just like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

However, especially considering Expedition 33 is one of 2025’s highest-rated games, many understandably want a sequel to it. More Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, at least on paper, seems like a good thing, especially if it means we get to spend more time with everyone’s favorite wine-carrying mode of transport, Esquie. However, I find myself feeling a lot less wheee and a lot more whooo about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 getting a sequel, especially as it is frankly far too perfect to need one.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Doesn’t Need A Sequel

It Is A Complete Narrative

I can absolutely understand the desire for a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sequel, especially as there are plenty of confusing story moments that would benefit from additional worldbuilding and character moments. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s world is also oozing with charm and a unique magic that a lot of JRPGs, especially, have just lost. I’ve not been so immersed in a world as enthralling as this in quite some time, and so, I, too, absolutely would love to return in some capacity. However, making a sequel would ruin, at least in my opinion, the perfect experience already available.

Not every game needs a sequel, especially those that wrap up so perfectly, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The experience is so wonderfully curated to give you all the answers you need and leave enough questions for the community to ponder over that don’t need explicit answers. The plethora of amazing Clair Obscur side content, which may seem optional, actually delves into all of the many facets of its world and its characters in such a way that completionists will leave satisfied, and those who missed it can read a Reddit thread to be caught up.

There is also the fact that much of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s success is thanks to the novelty of its many innovations, all of which would lose their magic touch were they taken out of retirement for a sequel.

Sandfall Interactive has said there’s room for new Expedition 33 story content, but I’m not convinced there’s enough here to warrant an entire sequel. There is also the fact that much of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s success is thanks to the novelty of its many innovations, all of which would lose their magic touch were they taken out of retirement for a sequel. As much as I love its combat model, I’m not sure, within this specific framework, Sandfall Interactive has anything new to show players.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Ending Is Perfect

It Wraps Everything Up Beautifully

Crucially, though, and this is the real reason I’m certain Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 doesn’t need a sequel, the game’s ending is utterly perfect. Without spoiling anything, Clair Obscur’s multiple endings both wrap up every story beat and character arc in a succinct and breathtakingly heartbreaking way. To do a follow-up game that focuses on these characters again, or even the factions of which they are a member, would be a disservice to the experience and narrative Sandfall Interactive delivered with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Of course, the first game will always exist and be just as brilliant with or without a sequel. However, Sandfall Interactive would have to figure out how to bring these characters or the world back for a sequel. It would need to navigate wrenching them from the grief and loss they came to terms with throughout the experience, and ultimately force them to embark on another adventure. Considering both of the game’s endings heavily imply that it would not be a good idea, it seems like a waste of time.

That is why Clair Obscur DLC, which focuses on the events preceding the game, perhaps even revolving around those aforementioned warring factions, would make more sense. It would give Sandfall Interactive the space to build upon its engrossing world more, deliver a smaller slice of content to players hungry for more, and leave the legacy of the game’s core narrative untarnished. It would also take substantially less development time than a full-blown sequel, which would enable Sandfall Interactive to explore other genres and stories.

Sandfall Interactive Should Explore Other Genres

It So Masterfully Innovated On The JRPG Genre

Naturally, there are potential ideas for a Clair Obscur sequel, some of which could be interesting, and I’m sure Sandfall Interactive would do them justice. However, I would much rather see the developer tackle another genre or world in an attempt to infuse it with the same level of creativity and experimental ambition it gave to the JRPG genre. Importantly, this is coming from someone who loves JRPGs more than anything, and would much rather every game released from now until my death were a JRPG.

However, Sandfall Interactive is clearly incredibly talented and capable of thinking outside of the box. While it didn’t necessarily save turn-based combat as many have implied, it absolutely made it more mechanically complex and certainly more stylish, thus making it more palatable to those who didn’t grow up with the original Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games. Turn-based games had stagnated a little, with few entries in the genre doing much to differentiate themselves, and Sandfall Interactive changed that with Expedition 33.

So, it would be interesting to see how it would approach an FPS or an open-world RPG like Skyrim. It has proven itself more than adept at creating fascinating worlds, at improving simplistic combat models, and delivering mature stories, all of which would benefit the aforementioned genres and more. So, before we get the inevitable sequel to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – the first game made too much money not to make one, after all – I hope Sandfall Interactive takes the time to explore other experiences, and lets the adventures of the 33rd Expedition sit with fans for some time.