Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has quite a meta theme as it tries to be a modern-day RPG. Competitors like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Baldur’s Gate might have similar gameplay loops, but their worlds have a vintage feel and Sandfall’s latest title is a breath of fresh air.
Alongside a dynamic world and a star-studded voice acting cast, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 offers a compelling story and to be fair, the ending is like the cherry on top. There are two different situations you can end up in, and here’s a rundown of both the endings and which one’s right.
WARNING: The article below will completely spoil the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 endings for you. Avoid reading if you plan to play the game and reach the endings yourself.
- Both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 endings explained
- What is the right ending in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?
Both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 endings explained
Before jumping to the exact endings, there’s some context you’d need to know. Paintress, the boss you approach throughout the game, isn’t the actual enemy. She was only protecting the rest from Renoir who’s painted the current reality you’re a part of.
You learn about Renoir’s reason behind painting a world as well. To cope from the loss of his son (Verso), and his daughter (Maelle / Alica) getting deeply injured in a fire, he created a new world where both these tragedies didn’t exist.
At this point, Alicia and Verso are on a crossroad. Verso, who realizes he’s dead in reality, and alive just in the painting, wants it to end as he wishes to embrace the truth.
Alicia, on the other end, has found comfort in her parents’ painting. Despite being a Painter herself, she wishes to continue this life.
This is where you make the final choice in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. One has you back Verso’s decision to end the painting and beat Alicia. The other has you backing Alicia by keeping the painting but you’ll have to then beat Verso in a battle.
None of these battles are tough as you’ve already done enough. The real difference lies in the epilogues that come after.
Epilogue “Life to Love”
This epilogue begins after you’ve defeated Alicia and backed Verso’s decision to end the painting. At the end, you’ll see Renoir, his wife, and Alicia standing at Verso’s grave. Clea joins them temporarily, but then leaves the frame.
Alicia gets quite a sad ending here, although it is as real as it gets. She’s left to see her family turn into petals and she must finally accept the path life chose for her.
Epilogue “A Life to Paint”
This epilogue begins if you pick Alicia’s decision to keep the painting as is and defeat Verso in the final battle. The ghost of the brother is now trapped in a world that he knows is fiction and despite frequent requests, he’s bound here.
The final scene with this ending features all the characters who lost their lives in the game, including Gustave. A piano performance by Verso takes place while in the background, Alicia starts feeling the effects of being in a painting for this long.
What is the right ending in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?
Honestly, there is no right ending is an abstract theme like the one this game is based on. It comes down to what intrigues you more; living a beautiful lie or accepting a brutal truth.
Both Verso and Alicia present good enough reasons to convince you why they deserve to be supported. Based on how you’ve felt about these characters throughout the campaign and the ideas you generally support in life, you can make the final choice.
I, personally, would always side with Alicia as even fictionally, she lets her brother live and experience life. This is better than entering a void of nothingness that follows after death.
This is not to say that Verso’s demands were unfair, though. For him, gaining knowledge of his baseless existence was a curse that I personally think he should’ve let go because he gets to exist and feel in the painting.
