Stunned by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

If you were told that there were only a few precious decades left in this world—and you could either try the impossible and attempt to stop it, or accept your fate and enjoy your last few years here, what would you do?

- Anusha Ganapathi (This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)

Now this isn’t some sobering outlook on climate change, but actually the premise of "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33." To answer my own question, I would want to try to stop it, even if there’s only an incredibly small chance of me succeeding. And that’s probably why I love the game so much.

I’ll admit the lore of "Clair Obscur" sounds a bit ridiculous when I describe it in a few short sentences, but you’ve got to give it a shot anyway, okay? Because it has one of the most riveting plotlines I’ve seen in a video game recently. You see, a French town called Lumiere seems to be the only piece of land inhabited by humans, after a catastrophic event occurred exactly 67 years ago.

Note the date. This is important. Every year since then, a mysterious number hovers in the sky in shining light (that’s clair obscur in French), like a Lotto call out from hell. What it means is this: everyone above the age of the number would all perish during this now annual event called the “gommage.”

And so, every year, a group of expeditioners who fall under the age category go on a courageous quest, to try and attack the entity behind the fatal “gommage” before they too perish.