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Part of what I'm enjoying so much with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is that it's about fundamentally flawed, hurt people who are grieving in their own ways - some of which can't co-exist together. This is where the conflict that drives the story comes from. And it culminates exactly as I'd expect it to, with endings that are all tragedies. There can be no "perfect" ending that saves everyone.

Yes, you, the player, the audience, may be able to pick apart the flaws of each of these characters and come to a compromise. But the characters themselves have flaws that blind them to your perspective, and they can't make those choices. They won't.

(More indepth spoilers + a rant under the cut.)

Renoir will not stop attacking the canvas and allow Aline to process her grief in her own way because he is projecting his own lived experience of being in a Canvas onto her, because he loves her and refuses to lose her. If he didn't attack her only safe space in her grief, she wouldn't double down - but he always will attack it, because he is scared of losing her, of losing his family.

Aline will always refuse to leave the Canvas, at first because she cannot bear the life outside of it and then because if she leaves, the last memoir of her son, his soul, will be destroyed. And she cannot bear the last thing she has of him to be broken. She will always double down on her decisions (she is just as stubborn and stern as Clea, as we can infer from Clea's comments about her), and she will always find herself making her own inescapable cage. Renoir, inadvertently, will always push her into a position where she cannot win.

Similarly, Alicia will also fall into this trap. She believes she has no life outside of the Canvas, no prospects, and doing her Axon quest shows just how deep her self-blame lies. She cannot, will not, forgive herself. And here, she does not need to bear that burden. She asks Renoir to trust her, and she is lying to herself. If she leaves, Verso will be destroyed, along with half of her lived life in the Canvas, her family in Lumière - the life without blame. If she stays, she will always fall into that same addiction and find herself unable to leave. But her empathy will refuse to let her abandon those she loves within the Canvas.

The endings don't comment on what is morally right. Is it right to murder all of Lumière for the Dessendres to live in reality? Is it right for Alicia to sacrifice her life for Lumière and the Canvas? I've seen so many people say they aren't satisfied with the endings because it feels like they're saying that the lives within the Canvas mean nothing, and I can see that view, but it feels like that's missing the point because you're looking for an answer to an impossible question. The game can't answer that one for you, you have to come to that decision yourself.

The endings only comment on the dangerous addiction of escapism, and how it can prevent you from moving on and living. The Dessendre's grief stops Verso from moving on, it traps him. It traps Aline, it traps Renoir while he futilely tries to help Aline who does not want his help. It traps Alicia. The only one it does not trap is Clea, whose grief manifests itself destructively outside of the Canvas.

It's messy and wonderful and it feels human. This game feels like it was put together with the stories of those who fundamentally understand both escapism and grief - and this is only focusing on the Dessendres and not the stories within the Canvas!! There is so much more. And I love that all of these characters are distinct, and I wish that more people engaged with the characters as characters instead of trying to insert themselves into the story and judging them for actions they would have never taken. But in a way, we're invited to by the story itself, so I can't be that sad about it.

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Gustave 🌹

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Really wondering where people get that Maelle erasing Alicia was 'cold' or 'brutal' like am I insane...that entire scene from when they find her feels so intimate and emotional. I read it as Maelle doing something Verso clearly doesn't like okay...but Alicia established feeling kinship with Maelle before, she wants to help her and like idk? Not a particularly cheerful scene but I really don't see this cruelty?

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Happy yuri day

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resting

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this games got me in a chokehold

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Expedition 33

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An extra Lune and Sciel sketch!

Went with the Verso and Sciel romance not knowing Lune was a possibility, thinking about it i would've loved to have an option for those two, their scenes under the stars were really sweet !

I wish we could've seen more or them together.

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Clea wip!

Experimenting with painting outside of my comfort zone this time. Clea is such an interesting character and i'm so curious about her part of the story, her relationship with her family and her role in the painters-writers war!

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Verso Dessendre: I painted funny paintbrush guys because I was a kid and wanted to have fun

Aline Dessendre: I painted Paris and humans as a facsimile of real life

Clea:

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some scielunes for the women likers

if you like scielune come join our discord server...we love them here...

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CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 (2025) dev. Sandfall Interactive

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so exactly how many people has she killed???

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A gentle breeze as she looks towards the wind…

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Hi all! This took me over 100 hours to complete. Stay tuned for a behind the scenes look!!

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some aloys ⚔️🌹✨

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at least the colour green exists

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ahh…who could resist the yurified siren call of a stressed, emotionally repressed hyper competent woman and whatever the fck she’s got going on with her warm, empathetic golden retriever of a teammate? not ME