- By Ambrose Man
Photo: Vince Zampella, Shutterstock
If you had to summarise The Game Awards 2025 with a single number, many would say 33. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn’t just win the Game of the Year; it dominated the whole ceremony by claiming a record-breaking number of awards. While its achievement was historic, the scale of its success also sparked heated debates across the gaming community.
From my experience with the game, Expedition 33 absolutely deserves its Game of the Year title. Its emotional storytelling, diverse gameplay mechanics, and artistic direction make it one of the most memorable games of recent years. However, its dominance across so many award categories felt excessive, especially when other major titles excelled in specific areas that went unrecognised.
The TGA 2025 controversy
Expedition 33 received a record 12 nominations and eventually won nine, making it the most decorated game in The Game Awards history. The game even earned congratulations from French President Emmanuel Macron, marking a significant cultural milestone for France’s gaming industry.
Yet not everyone was celebrating the outcome. Many viewers felt the game was overrated and questioned why so many categories went to a single title. Before the ceremony, most players expected Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to win the Game of the Year, but few predicted it would sweep nearly every major award.
One of the biggest controversies came from the Best RPG (Role-Playing Game) category. Expedition 33 defeated Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, a game praised for its historical accuracy and traditional RPG mechanics. Many fans called it “the biggest snub in TGA history”.
Even more debate came from the Best Independent Game category. Although Expedition 33 was developed by the studio Sandfall with 33 workers, it was supported by Kepler Interactive, a major publisher. Thus, it blurred the definition of what qualifies as an “indie” game, especially when other smaller studios with fewer resources were competing.
A world defined by loss and time
Set in a post-catastrophe world, the story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began 67 years ago, when a mysterious disaster shattered civilisation. Since then, a power being known as The Paintress has engraved numbers on a distant monolith; anyone older than the number disappears into ash.
Each year, the number continues to decrease. More lives were taken away.
With extinction approaching, humanity sends out expeditions to stop The Paintress. The game follows Maelle and her companions as they venture into a world filled with brutal monsters and fading time.
Art direction inspired by French history
As a French-produced game, it draws heavily on the Belle Époque period, a time before World War I when European culture, art, and literature flourished. With Claude Monet as the leading French Impressionist landscape painter, which emphasis the expression of light and shadow on drawings.
This influence is reflected in the game’s visuals and atmospheric environment, from meadows that give a fresh, wild look to redwoods that remind one of cosy autumn.
A game that marks history
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 represents a milestone in gaming history. It proves that ambitious storytelling, artistic vision and diverse mechanics can compete with high-profile video games developed by large studios.
It deserves its place and recognition, but it does not deserve to define an entire year of gaming alone.
The debate it sparked about fairness, recognition, and what truly makes a game award-worthy is what people should also remember after the curtain call of TGA 2025.
Score: 9/10