Every “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” Area Ranked

I recently replayed “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” for the third time, and it was just as awesome as the first and second. I made an effort on this playthrough to explore every corner of every area … and some areas were definitely better than others.

I’m going to rank every “substantial” area in the game, i.e. the ones with some fighting to do. In other words, I’m not counting areas which only had music records, or ones that just had a quick puzzle or minigame, or ones with one-off bosses / boss rushes. Hopefully those rules make sense!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Every “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” Game Award Ranked By How Deserved They Were

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Main Characters Ranked

Every “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” Boss Ranked

Top 20 Best Videogame Narratives

Okay

22 – Monoco’s Station

Even though “Monoco’s Station” is a main area (i.e. you have to go through it as part of the main story), it technically doesn’t qualify for my own rules. There’s no fighting to be had apart from Monoco’s boss fight and the Stalact’s Gradiant Attack tutorial.

But, since it’s a main area, I have to include it. You walk through a small, snowy section and have the option to walk out the other side. I like the visuals of the suspended trains but that’s not enough to make this a Good area.

21 – Esquie’s Nest

Again, “Esquie’s Nest” pales in comparison to the other main areas. There’s hardly anything to do in it!

There’s at least some minor exploration, and the Francois fight is probably the funniest boss in the game. And you meet Esquie, which can only be a positive.

20 – Stone Wave Cliffs

I imagine “Monoco’s Station” and “Esquie’s Nest” would be at the bottom of most people’s main area ranking by default, but I think “Stone Wave Cliffs” – the final, climactic area of Act 1 – placing so low may raise a few eyebrows. Let me explain myself.

It’s those goddamn shield enemies which make this area such a slog. If you return to this area as a parry master, which I imagine a lot of players did on their second playthrough, it’s still not enough to destroy all the shields. Battles last three times as long as other areas, and the bleak, stony landscape isn’t the prettiest in the game by any means.

And, in terms of the main story, this is always a painful one to revisit for reasons which don’t need explaining.

19 – Endless Night Sanctuary (Optional)

My pick for the worst major optional area would be “Endless Night Sanctuary”, a gloomy re-skin of “Ancient Sanctuary”.

The maze-like design doesn’t do it for me, and you fight enemies which you’ve already faced dozens of times.

18 – Yellow Harvest (Optional)

The other optional area which underwhelmed me was “Yellow Harvest”, which is a shame because it looks so pretty.

I like how there are some unique enemies on offer, but they’re all pretty boring. It’s a fairly straight path to the end and the miniboss is very anticlimactic.

Good

17 – Endless Tower (Optional)

I toyed with whether to include “Endless Tower” as an area, because there’s nothing to explore. It’s just a series of 33 fights in a row.

I like the idea of testing your skill against a series of increasingly challenging fights … even if it gets repetitive by the end. But hey – the “Painted Love” boss at the end is almost worth the odyssey.

16 – Falling Leaves (Optional)

Again, like “Yellow Harvest” this is a gorgeous, serene area to explore and fight through. It just doesn’t have that much going on.

What bumped “Falling Leaves” up a tier was its boss fight at the end – it’s quite the spectacle atop a hill.

15 – Crimson Forest (Optional)

The eerie atmosphere in “Crimson Forest” is what made it rank higher than the others so far, because its content is hit-or-miss.

You can only fight so many of those Chevaliers before it starts to get annoying. And it took me ages to find the third statue, because it requires you to fail a parkour jump on purpose. Other than that, however, I enjoyed the blend of puzzle and combat.

14 – Visages Island

I really liked the “Visages Island” portion of the game on my first playthrough – probably because the Visages boss fight is one of the game’s great spectacles. On replay, however, it went down in my estimation.

The three emotion Vales are quite simple when it comes to presentation and level design, and there’s really not that much to explore.

13 – Forgotten Battlefield

“Forgotten Battlefield” is the first area you fight through at the start of Act 2, and it serves as a sort of wind-down after the traumatic ending of Act 1. You also learn Gradient Counters for the first time, which helps to spruce up the already stellar parring gameplay.

It’s a fairly linear, open space to trek through, but the Dualliste boss at the end caps off the area in style.

12 – Lumiere

On my first playthrough, I went straight to Lumiere once it became available (because I was desperate to see the story’s conclusion). This led to some hype moments and some genuinely challenging fights, and on the whole it was one of the best areas of the main story.

On my second and third playthroughs, however, I took a detour at the start of Act 3 and did all of the optional content first, such as Renoir’s Drafts. This makes Lumiere a complete push-over as a result. You’re far too over-levelled, and the linear design of the city did nothing to excite me.

For the sake of fairness, however, I’ll lean towards that first playthrough. You’re supposed to go to Lumiere at around Level 50, after all, and if you do it ends up being a thrilling finale to a wonderful story.

11 – Spring Meadows

It’s not an incredible area by any means, but “Spring Meadows” is a very solid start to the game.

The lush green landscape is lovely, and the enemies all have slow move-sets which ease you into the parrying mechanic.

Great

10 – Old Lumiere

“Old Lumiere” is the first area you go to with a full party … but then the party is immediately split into two groups. Nice trolling, Sandfall.

I love the desolate, destroyed landscape and barren streets you go through, and that first Renoir fight is fantastic. Going back to Old Lumiere afterwards also rewards you with some fun fights and excellent loot.

9 – Frozen Hearts (Optional)

I’ve seen some people online complain about “Frozen Hearts” for some reason, but I don’t understand the criticism at all. Do they not like the enemy variety? How big it is? The secrets to find? The Gargant boss at the end? Those are all positives in my book.

It’s one of the most comprehensive optional areas in the game – and I love the hot-and-cold aesthetic (something the Freezeflame Galaxy from “Super Mario Galaxy” made me fall in love with at a young age).

8 – Verso’s Drafts (Optional)

After the resounding success of the game’s release, Sandfall cooked up a huge “thank you” for fans – and I mean huge. I was shocked by how much content there was in this free DLC.

“Verso’s Drafts” is the most colourful and vibrant area in the game by far, and the bosses in it are no joke. Playing this at the end of my playthrough, after beating Simon and finishing the main story, felt like the birthday cake at the end of a party.

7 – Ancient Sanctuary / Gestral Village

I thought a hidden village with silly little monsters was a bit childish on my first playthrough, but now that I know the whole story it makes a lot of sense – and the Gestrals gave me more joy than I’d care to admit.

The forest leading up to the village, called the “Ancient Sanctuary”, was a fun foray into the make-belief. The various Sakapatates with their spindly wooden features made for some really kooky fights.

6 – Flying Manor (Optional)

“Flying Manor” is the most non-linear area in the game, which already sets it apart from the rest. You have to fight four minibosses in four distinct areas and you can do it in any order.

It’s a tough area from start to finish which culminates in one of the hardest bosses in the game – Clea’s healing ability is downright unfair, so when you finally beat her it feels like you’ve climbed a mountain.

5 – Renoir’s Drafts / The Abyss (Optional)

Until the “Verso’s Drafts” DLC came along, “Renoir’s Drafts” was the hardest area in the game by a country mile. If you’re not above Level 90 by the time you trek through this dark, nightmarish zone, you’re probably in for a tough time.

I love the shadow-themed variants of enemies, but what gives this area infamy in the gaming community is its final zone “The Abyss”. It looks ominous and imposing from the get-go, but all you have to do is fight one lone enemy. How hard can he be?

Borderline impossible, as it turns out. Simon is one of the toughest bosses I’ve faced in any game ever – if beating Clea was like climbing a mountain, then triumphing over Simon was like jogging to Mars and back. The elation I felt when I finally defeated him was a highlight of the game.

4 – Flying Waters

Of all the “less important” areas in the game, “Flying Waters” caught me most by surprise. It’s effectively a filler / transitional area while you’re collecting party members in Act 1, so it had no right to be this good.

The underwater aesthetic looks stunning, and the enemies here are far more interesting than the offerings from “Spring Meadows” (those floating bomb enemies always make me laugh!). That Goblu fight at the area’s climax, especially with its thumping soundtrack, is underrated as hell.

Amazing

3 – The Reacher (Optional)

The best optional area by far was one that shouldn’t have been optional to begin with. My theory is that “The Reacher” was cut from the main story to streamline the experience, i.e. the Expedition originally had to kill all three axons rather than just two.

You have to climb a patchwork tower en route to Painted Alicia, and I was stunned by the enemy variety and the art design. It’s one of the biggest areas in the game and it’s entirely optional!

2 – Sirene

In terms of the axon boss fights, I’d have a hard time picking a favourite between “Visages” and “Sirene”. In terms of their preceding areas, however, “Sirene” absolutely smokes “Visages” out of the water.

It’s a gorgeous, ethereal colliseum with walls of velvet and stone, and the calming music is utterly entrancing. I also really liked how there were two memorable minibosses on the way to the main boss.

The only thing holding this area back from top spot, if anything, is that the flying enemies are far too easy to kill once you realise you should be shooting them. It trivializes about 70% of the fights.

1 – The Monolith

It almost feels like cheating putting “The Monolith” at the top of the list. It has both of the best boss fights, after all, and it’s an odyssey through all the areas you’d played up until that point.

Is it a grueling journey? Yes, it might be a bit too long, but I for one was happy to revisit each area and its enemies one by one – especially as that meant the parry variety was off the scales.

And those bosses! Renoir has one of the best boss themes I’ve ever heard, and the Paintress fight is just as climactic as I ever could’ve wanted. If this had been the end of the whole game, I would’ve had no complaints.

Aaaand that’s my list! If you liked this post and want to support me, please consider giving me a one-time donation. Even a few pence (or whatever currency you use) is fantastic! I’ve never monetized this blog before, but it would be great if I could do this comfortably and not have to worry about the yearly website domain costs. Thank you so much!