Witcher Legend Doug Cockle Crowns Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 This Year’s Standout for Its Gorgeous Writing and Vision
Everyone's saying it—but does it hold up? Our reporting separates hype from hard facts.
Yes, I know this is a movie and TV site, but stay with me: when a game becomes pop culture homework, we talk about it. And Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is that game.
This year was stacked with oddball gems and DLC detours - House Flipper 2 got a Scooby-Doo pack, we had Cheese Rolling, CheeseCatToe, and Cheese Racer - and somewhere in that dairy aisle, Clair Obscur quietly turned into the thing you could not avoid. Doug Cockle, aka the voice of Geralt in The Witcher, noticed too.
'I lean towards Clair Obscur as just a highlight of the year.'
'It's such a beautifully written game.'
Cockle told GamesRadar+ he thinks it could clean up at year-end shows, and honestly, the momentum backs him up. Sandfall Interactive - a French studio making a very JRPG-flavored, turn-based adventure - rode a tidal wave of praise big enough that people joked it revived turn-based combat and invented the so-called AA lane. Overstated, sure, but not by much.
The scoreboard so far
- Golden Joystick Awards 2025: Clair Obscur won Ultimate Game of the Year.
- More Golden Joystick wins: Best Soundtrack.
- Golden Joystick acting honors: Jennifer English took Best Lead Performer for Maelle; Ben Starr won Best Supporting Performer for Verso.
- The Game Awards: Clair Obscur has a record-breaking number of nominations this year.
- What's next: The Game Awards air December 11, where we see if it runs the table.
Clair Obscur was everywhere this year. If you listened to the chatter, you'd think it single-handedly brought back turn-based battles and defined mid-budget swagger. And before anyone gets defensive: yes, there were plenty of other good games. Hopefully Bongo Cat isn't getting erased from history here. But the hardware is piling up where it matters, and if Cockle's right, the show on December 11 might just be a victory lap.