Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wears its influences proudly, melding them together to create a dazzling experience

It’s a thin line that separates life and death, love and hate, inspiration and imitation. Yet, in a resplendent display of artistry, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 deftly dances over that line and back again — particularly that last one — as it tells a darkly mesmerizing story that’s both familiar and something all its own.

Clair Obscur, the debut release from French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, never once tries to hide its influences — and they are legion. At its core is a fantasy story about an isolated city, its dying residents and the lengths people will go to to save themselves from grief. By the time the credits roll about three dozen hours later, the story becomes a collage of inspiration from other games, most notably the excellent Final Fantasy X and the most recent Nier games (all of which are among my favorites).

In other titles, that imitation could fall short of its source material. In Clair Obscur, it elevates the story, adding to its palette bits and pieces from others without ever losing track of the tale it wants to tell — and what a tale it is.

Read the full review at The Seattle Times.

Five “For those who come after” stars out of five, and a critic’s pick.