By Since its debut, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been collecting nods from seasoned creators across the industry, and it just added another big name—Baldur’s Gate 3 performance director Greg Lidstone—to its growing list of admirers.
During a recent livestream on Larian Studios’ official Twitter account—right around 54:20 in the video below—the studio’s new animation director was quizzed over what recent releases had impressed him in terms of animation or motion capture. Almost instantly, he replied, “Expedition 33.”
Expanding on the pick, he explained: “I’d only just begun playing. My wife and daughter were away catching a Billie Eilish concert, so the house was mine. I borrowed a copy to test the opening hours, wound up devouring them, and found myself saying, ‘Wow, this is excellent.’ Now it sits on my backlog until I can carve out the time for a proper run.”
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Even without finishing it, Lidstone felt confident heaping on accolades: “The game has absolute clarity of identity and commits without flinching. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
His reaction mirrors that of another veteran. Dragon Age alumnus David Gaider also dubbed it “beautiful,” adding, “It’s to Japanese RPGs what Baldur’s Gate 3 was to classic CRPGs.”