Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Should be the Next Multi-Media Gaming Franchise

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has enough back story and character development to flush out into multiple mediums.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was released on April 24th, 2025, across the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms. Developed by Sandfall Entertainment and published by Kepler Entertainment, the game is set in the Belle Époque era of French history and features dark fantasy elements. Gamers are put into the boots of multiple protagonists as they attempt to stop an entity known as “The Paintress,” who causes the yearly Gommage. The Goomage takes away all people at or above an ever-decreasing age that is painted on a monolith viewable from Lumière, where the protagonists reside.

The game has sold over 3 million copies and has received acclaim from critics and gamers alike. With video game plot lines and characters being flushed out other media such as anime (CyberPunk, Witcher, Castlevania), comic books (Horizon Zero Dawn, Bloodborne, Tomb Raider), live action television (Fallout, The Last of Us, Halo), and even trading card games (Final Fantasy, Pokemon) Expedition 33 could very well be the next franchise to be expanded on. Story Kitchen, the media company behind the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies, has already begun to work with Sandfall Entertainment on a live-action film based on the game. Let’s dive into some reasons that Expedition 33 could be the next crossover hit.

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SPOILER ALERT - HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE STORYLINE OF EXPEDITION 33 BELOW - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: Media Spin-Offs?

Expeditions Prior to 33

In the build-up to the 33rd Expedition made by the residents of Lumière that takes up most of the game’s campaign, it is revealed that the Expeditions have taken place for the last 67 years. The Expeditions were not successful in defeating the Paintress, but there are other story elements that play into those Expeditions.

For example, towards the end of the campaign, it is revealed that Lune, who is one of the main playable characters, had parents who took part in Expedition 46. She talks to fellow main playable character Verso about it during one of the final campfire chat sessions, and he offers to take her to the area they explored. Their story is further fleshed out in the Sirene’s Dress side quest.

There are collectible journals from previous Expeditions that can be picked up throughout the campaign. These all give gamers a slight insight into what the last 67 Expeditions encountered. The stories and characters from those Expeditions are a great source material for an anime, comic book, or live-action spin-off.

Other Canvases

The end of Act 2 of the campaign shows the protagonists back at Lumière, celebrating the defeat of The Paintress. The celebration is short-lived as gamers learn the true nature of The Paintress and the yearly Gommage.

The citizens of Lumière are all part of a “Canvas” - a world inside of a painting made by mages known as “Painters” in the “Real World”. The reality that all of the protagonists have lived is a false reality created by the “Painters”, mainly to hold onto a memory of the real Verso, who was killed by a fire in the real world. The Verso that has been part of the campaign was created by The Paintress to ease her grief.

A war between a rival faction of mages known as “Writers” is also alluded to in Act 3 of the campaign. The other canvases created by the Painters are never explored, and the war between the two factions is hardly explored. Characters such as Renoir, Aline (The Painters), Clea, Verso, and Alicia creating and exploring other canvases while fighting the Writers is more than enough of a start for a spin-off.

The “Real World”

As Act 2 wraps up and Act 3 begins, we learn that one of the main playable characters, Maelle, is actually a reborn version of the Paintress’s daughter, Alicia. Alicia survived the fire that killed Verso, but it left her mute and with severe facial scars. Alicia is the “Real World” version of Maelle. Although there is plenty of material revolving around the canvases that can be expanded on, there is a lot of backstory about Alicia and her family to uncover.

We learn that Verso is killed in a fire, but not much is known about the family from before that event. The source of their magic and why they became Painters is left untouched. There are a lot of family dynamics that can be built upon as Renoir, Aline, Clea, and Alicia handle the loss of Verso very differently as seen in the campaign.

The “Real World” itself is barely touched upon in the campaign of Expedition 33. What is everyday life like? Is the war between the Writers and Painters spilling into everyday life? What was life like for the family before the fire? There is more than enough meat on this bone to be built upon in other media.

Character Arcs

We are introduced to the Expeditioners Gustave, Maelle, Lune, and Sciel as the main characters in the campaign. Down the road, Verso, Esquie, and Monoco are introduced as well.

While we learn bits about each character, such as Gustave losing his former lover Sophia to the Gommage at the start of the campaign, Sciel losing her husband before his Gommage, and Esquie and Monoco being part of the real Verso’s canvas creation, there is much that we don’t know.

Verso’s childhood and creation of Esquie, Monoco, and the other Expeditioners’ lives before Expedition 33 are all great starting points for a comic book, anime, or television show. Other plot points like Gustave and Sophia’s relationships, as well as Sciel and her husband’s relationship, are also great small side stories that don’t necessarily need a video game to dig into.

Expedition 33: A Trading Card Game?

This might seem like a stretch, but the combat system, characters, and story would lend themselves well to a trading card game.

The combat and skill attacks that make up the in-game battles rely heavily on attacks based on elements such as fire, ice, earth, darkness, and light. The combat in the game is also all turn-based and has quick time events built in. Swap out the QTEs for a coin flip or dice roll, and you have the basis for TCG dueling based on the in-game combat.

This formula has worked well for the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. Although there is not 16 games’ worth of characters and enemies to start with, between 67 years of expeditioners, Axons, Gestrals, and the other creatures that are encountered in the game, there are more than enough creatures to create a variety of 50-card decks to distribute. The settings, lore, and characters are a perfect starting point for a fantasy TCG.

Have you played Expedition 33? Would you like to see the story spin off into other media? Sound off in the comments below.

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