1 | Start

Welcome, Adventurer!

The mists of creation swirl around you, waiting to take shape…

Where would you like your journey to begin?

Perhaps a medieval fantasy realm? A cyberpunk dystopia? A haunted Victorian city? Or something entirely unique?

Tell me what world calls to you, and we shall bring it to life.

2 | The core idea of the universe This world runs on one brutal supernatural rule: • Once a year, a gigantic being called the Paintress wakes up and paints a cursed number on a giant monolith. • When she does, everyone “past that age” turns to smoke and fades away (the mass-erasure event is called the Gommage). • The number goes down every year. In the game’s opening setup, “tomorrow she’ll wake and paint ‘33’” — so the world is staring down an age cutoff of 33 and falling. That’s why the vibe is so fatalistic: the apocalypse isn’t a meteor, it’s a calendar reminder. Where it takes place • The story begins in Lumière, an island-city living under the Paintress’ shadow. • The Paintress is out on the mainland. Each year, after the Gommage, Lumière sends a volunteer expedition to try to reach her and kill her to break the cycle. • The countdown started at 100, and 67 years later it has reached the moment of Expedition 33. So “Expedition 33” isn’t just a cool title — it’s literally where the world is on the death-countdown. What that rule does to society A world with an age cutoff creates a very specific kind of civilization: • People live with a shrinking ceiling on “how long humans get to be alive.” • It pushes everyone into “last-year” thinking — which is why the game frames the journey as having only one year left to end the Paintress’ cycle. • Even character bios are built around the world’s logistics: Gustave is described as an engineer who’s spent his life on Lumière’s defense and agricultural systems, and now spends his final year on the expedition. My take: this is a killer premise because it’s a single clean rule that logically warps everything—politics, romance, career planning, how you raise kids—without needing a thousand pages of lore. What the world feels like Aesthetic-wise, it’s not generic medieval fantasy: • It’s explicitly a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France (architecture/fashion vibes, “old-world elegance”), but twisted into something surreal and ominous. • You explore distinct, almost dreamlike locations (PlayStation’s blurb name-drops places like the Island of Visages and the Forgotten Battlefield). • The writing leans hard into grief + beauty: even a mainstream review called out the game’s surreal presentation and emotional story built around the Paintress’ annual killing. Who (else) lives in it It’s not only humans vs. Paintress: • There are “creatures of legend” and recruitable companions out in the wider world. • One recruit, Monoco, is a Gestral — described as part of a friendly group that loves battle and isn’t affected by the Paintress, which immediately tells you the curse is selective (and raises questions). • There’s also Esquie, a mythic figure in Lumière’s stories — allegedly absurdly powerful (flight, deep sea), and comically lazy. Even the title is part of the universe “Clair-obscur” literally means “light-dark” and refers to the art technique known in Italian as chiaroscuro—big contrasts between light and shadow. That’s thematically on-the-nose for a world where an artist figure decides who gets to exist.

Clair Obscur: The World of the Paintress

The gas lamps of Lumière flicker against wrought-iron balconies. Tomorrow, the Paintress wakes.

Tonight, the island-city holds its breath. Street cafés overflow with those celebrating their last hours—or those young enough to survive another year. The distant monolith looms beyond the harbor, waiting for her brush.

*Tomorrow, she paints “33.”*

Expedition 33 prepares to depart after the Gommage. Volunteers, dreamers, and the desperate gather at the Grand Quay.

—-

Tell me, traveler:

  • How old are you? (This determines everything)
  • Are you joining the Expedition, or do you have other plans in Lumière tonight?

The night is yours—for now.

3 | I am Gustave

Gustave

The engineer. The builder. The man who kept Lumière alive.

Your weathered hands have repaired irrigation channels, reinforced sea walls, and maintained the mechanisms that let this island endure sixty-seven years of slow extinction.

You are 32.

Tomorrow, you survive the Gommage. But next year, when she paints “32”…

This is why you volunteered. One year. One chance. Kill the Paintress or fade like everyone you've ever looked up to.

—-

Tonight, your workshop smells of oil and copper. Your tools are packed. Through the window, Lumière glitters—beautiful and doomed.

A knock at your door.

**“Gustave? It's almost midnight. The others are gathering at the Quay.”**

You recognize the voice. A fellow expedition member, perhaps? Or someone come to say goodbye?

What do you do?

4 | Open the door to a beautiful girl

The Visitor

You unlatch the door.

She stands in the gaslight—dark curls pinned beneath a velvet beret, eyes bright with urgency. Her dress is practical yet elegant, suited for travel. She's young. Maybe 26, 27.

**“You weren't at the farewell gathering,”** she says, a hint of reproach in her voice. **“I thought you might have changed your mind.”**

She glances past you at the packed bag.

**“Good. You haven't.”**

Her name surfaces in your memory—a fellow volunteer for Expedition 33. But her reasons for joining, those you never learned.

Who is she to you, Gustave? And what do you say?

5 | She is my lover, I embrace her

Mathilde

You pull her into your arms. She melts against you, her fingers gripping the back of your coat.

**“One more night,”** Mathilde whispers against your neck. **“Then we end this. Together.”**

She's 27. Five years until her number comes. Unless you succeed.

The church bells begin tolling. Midnight approaches.

Somewhere across the water, the Paintress stirs in her ancient sleep.

Mathilde pulls back, her hands on your face.

**“The others are waiting. Luc, the Captain, that strange Gestral who joined yesterday…”** She searches your eyes. **“Are you ready, Gustave?”**

The bells grow louder. The final hour before the Gommage begins.

What do you do?

6 | Spend it in the bed

The Final Hours

The bells fade. The world outside ceases to matter.

Tonight, there are no countdowns. No expeditions. No Paintress.

Only Mathilde. Only warmth. Only the desperate tenderness of two people who refuse to say goodbye.

—-

Hours later…

Gray dawn light creeps through the shutters. Mathilde sleeps against your chest, peaceful.

Then—

A sound like the world exhaling.

Through the window, you see it. Faint trails of smoke rising from homes across Lumière. The baker three doors down. The old librarian who taught you to read. Gone.

The Gommage.

Mathilde stirs, her eyes opening. She doesn't need to ask. She knows.

A cannon fires from the Grand Quay—the expedition's departure signal.

**“It's time,”** she says quietly.

Your bag waits by the door. Somewhere out there, the Paintress has returned to her slumber, her fresh “33” still wet on the monolith.

What do you do?

7 | Depart

The Grand Quay

You dress quickly. One last look at your workshop—a lifetime of work, left behind.

The streets of Lumière are quiet. Some weep in doorways. Others sweep smoke from empty chairs where loved ones sat moments ago.

At the Quay, a weathered vessel awaits: The Dernière Chance.

Three figures stand at the gangplank:

Captain Renaud — a grizzled woman of 31, scar across her jaw. She nods curtly at you.

Luc — young, maybe 24, clutching a rifle too big for him. He looks terrified.

Monoco — the Gestral. Seven feet tall, stone-gray skin, golden eyes. He grins at you with too many teeth. “The engineer! Good. I was getting bored.”

Mathilde squeezes your hand.

Captain Renaud speaks:

**“That's everyone still breathing. We sail now, reach the mainland by nightfall. From there—the Forgotten Battlefield, then beyond.”**

She looks at each of you.

**“Any last words for Lumière?”**

What do you say—or do you simply board in silence?