The following contains spoilers forClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33perfectly encapsulates the “fantasy” of “fantasy RPG” by effectively being one of the most fantastical RPGs ever made.Clair Obscur’s world defies logic for reasons that are rooted deeply in its engrossing and emotional narrative, and every dangling plot thread eventually comes together to a major climax that many of its players likely won’t see coming. At the heart of its story, though, is an annual catastrophic event that drives its characters, known as “Expeditioners,” on their journey.
Just like theJRPGs that it was inspired by,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has an interesting, albeit weird, premise. This premise involves a phenomenon known as the “Gommage,” which is gradually explained over the course of the story, though the characters never delve into why they call it the “Gommage” in the first place. This is largely because “gommage” is actually a French word, andClair Obscur: Expedition 33, being developed by a French studio, that part might go under the radar for those who don’t do their homework. The term the game uses for that mysterious phenomenon goes much deeper than the meaning of the word, however, and it’s the driving force behind the whole story.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Gommage Is the Driving Force Behind the Story
Every Year, the Paintress Triggers a Gommage When She Paints on Her Monolith
The antagonist behindClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s story is a mysterious figure known by the world as the “Paintress.” Every year, the Paintress wakes and paints a number on her monolith. On that day, everyone who has passed the age corresponding to that number turns to smoke and fades away. According to the game’s lore, the number began at 100 and has gone down by 1 every year since then. InClair Obscur: Expedition 33, as its title suggests, that number has been whittled down to 33 —by the end of the game’s prologue, in any case.
When a Gommage happens inClair Obscur, it plays out similarly to Marvel’s Blip, and players can witness it within the game’s first hour.
The reason this annual event is called the “Gommage” is because the word “gommage” is a French word that means “erase.” Essentially, this means that people inClair Obscur’s worldare erased from existence if their age matches the number, which correlates to the figure triggering the event in the first place — the Paintress. Just as the Paintress erases the previous number on her monolith to make space for a new number, people of that age are also erased in the process. The lore goes much deeper than that, but those are major spoilers that are worth witnessing firsthand rather than being informed of ahead of time.
Expeditions Set Out Annually to Stop the Paintress From Painting Again
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33is so named on account of annual Expeditions that set out to kill the Paintress to stop her from painting again. Now that the number on the Paintress' monolith has reached 33, a new team of Expeditioners is about to embark on the 68th Expedition to stop the Paintress, which also means previous Expeditions have not been successful in their endeavors. Along their journey, players will have the opportunity to readlogs from previous Expeditions inClair Obscur: Expedition 33to learn of their exploits, contributing to the game’s worldbuilding.
The reason this annual event is called the “Gommage” is because the word “gommage” is a French word that means “erase.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33uses the Gommage as more than just a narrative hook. By drawing from the French meaning of the word, the game adds weight to every moment that passes and every year that slips away. Each Expedition becomes more desperate, and each character more aware that their days are numbered. It’s this sense of loss that givesClair Obscurits emotional core and transforms its strange, beautiful world into something unforgettable, making the Gommage an essential part of itsworldbuilding and story.
