Is Clair Obscur Expedition 33 open world?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is making rounds as potentially the best-reviewed RPG of all time and is certainly one of the better titles from non-established studios.

However, being a JRPG at its core (and a revolutionary one at that), many fans of the genre are wondering if Clair Obscur adheres to the common open-world formula found in such games. The answer is a tad more complicated than a straight yes or no, so here’s everything you need to know.

Is Clair Obscur Expedition 33 an open-world game?

In its very essence, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 does not qualify as a traditional open-world title. Instead, the developers have crafted several “zones” that can be explored akin to levels in the Souls titles by FromSoftware, all of which are interconnected by a massive overworld similar to systems found in more traditional JRPGs like the Final Fantasy games.

In this sense, Clair Obscur has an interconnected “open” overworld that leads the players to more linear, tailored, and streamlined zones that nevertheless have a lot of exploration to them. Even the overworld has world bosses and enemies that you can encounter during your travels between zones, with items and consumables hidden about, adding an extra layer to the otherwise more limited level design.

So, if you were worried that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 does not offer enough player freedom and exploration, rest assured that there is plenty of the game to visit, check out, and chart that a proper “open world” as we have seen in modern RPGs is by no means necessary. The game might even be as good precisely because it doesn’t have one, which could potentially dilute the experience.

Avowed, too, went for an “open zone” design, and remains a very solid RPG where player experience is carefully curated by the developers who know precisely where and when you’re going to be.