After 6 consecutive days of work, I get to rest. In the process, I’ve been having the joy of listening to the soundtrack of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 composed by Lorien Testard and by God, it’s fantastic. I’m only 7 hours into the game myself and it truly is captivating and worthy of Game of the Year, as well as Best Musical Score and Best RPG. I’ve managed to avoid as many spoilers as possible because of how amazing the game’s art, music and story is (thus far).
There is one thing I have noticed in regards to its music when listening to it before having completed the story itself — the score is telling you the game’s story in cryptic ways. It’s giving things away yet without being utter spoilers. The last time I’ve experienced something similar, it was Persona 3 Reload and 5 Royal respectively. When listening to some songs with lyrics, you legitimately feel like the singer is hinting at things to come. You won’t understand it right away but when you get to the scene where the song plays, it all makes sense and the weight of the moment just crashes over you. That’s something unique and what can add so much weight to the story it’s facilitating aura for.
I’ve also sat back to rewatch when the song Lost Voice played during the Gommage scene and I cried. Even as I rewatched my YouTube episode where it happened, I noticed how, going in blind, it hit me live. If not for my reddish lighting, you might’ve seen a tear sneak out. Then I listened to the song outside of the game’s context and…it’s simply beautiful. I’d find myself crying because of how beautiful it sounds.
I had also been fresh out of finishing the story of Final Fantasy XVI. While it wasn’t, by gameplay mechanics expectations, the most Final Fantasy of the franchise, the story most definitely was while also taking notes from George R.R. Martin. That game made me cry twice at the end while Expedition 33 moved me to tears within the first 90 minutes of the game. To know that Ben Starr, the voice actor for FF16’s Clive Rosfield, plays the voice of a pivotal character in the game, I fear that I may need to invest in boxes of Kleenex.
