10 Easter Eggs You Probably Missed in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

It’s practically undeniable at this point that we’re in a unique era of modern gaming where the smallest studios are vigorously disrupting the AAA status quo by winning over communities again and again with unexpected, headline-dominating gems. One of the best examples, of course, is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive.

An exquisitely-cooked FRPG that’s earned its pedestal and laurels infinite times over by now, Clair Obscur promised from the beginning that it would be a pure-hearted love letter to the genre and all those who came before it. Now, it’s also for those who come after.

While features like its outstandingly fun turn-based gameplay and its impeccable soundtrack understandably stand out the most, true expeditioners of The Continent also relish in the incredible amount of easter eggs the game has cleverly hidden in every corner of the map.

Whether it’s simple and charming ones that pay respect to the developers, ones that honor the genre at large, or ones that can even affect your gameplay, there are plenty of easter eggs to find in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Here’s the crème de la crème.

Disclaimer: There are heavy story and character-related spoilers for the game throughout this list. Please read ahead with discretion.

10 This is Fine

The Most Fitting Meme For a Gestral

The Gestrals are absolutely one of the best aspects of the game, not just in their unique and charming design but in what they bring to the game as a whole. They serve as companions to our beloved expeditioners, and sometimes as formidable foes. They provide valuable items at critical junctures and also some of the most emotional twists in the story.

Other times, though, they’re unfettered comic relief, responsible for some of the most hilarious moments in the game. Some of them you walk right into, literally.

When you first reach the Gestral Village, you’ll quickly find that it’s a place full of oddities. Whether it’s getting jebaited into buying a useless wooden stick or getting jumped in an “alley” area by some buff Gestrals who later decide you’re cool enough to sell to if you beat them. However, the trophy goes to the Gestral sitting in a booth that’s literally on fire.

Understandably, they have no wares to sell. Since, well, they probably all burned to smithereens. Instead, the only response you get is, “This is fine”. A wholesome homage to one of the internet’s most infamous memes that befits the Gestrals perfectly.

9 The Overworld Map

An Easter Egg Full of Easter Eggs

It’s no secret by now that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took great care to integrate various classic features of beloved RPGs that many of us have played over the years. While the dynamic turn-based combat often grabs the spotlight, there’s a particular easter egg-type feature that especially stands out to me, and that I believe helped truly seal the game’s success.

I’m speaking of Clair Obscur’s impeccably detailed and fantastically immersive overworld map. For those who have played popular JRPG series such as Final Fantasy and Ni no Kuni, you’ll recall that games in those franchises allowed players to freely explore their respective worlds via an expansive overworld map.

An RPG is all about the journey your character takes through the story, and being able to literally traverse the world’s map and discover locales, landmarks, and all manner of secrets at your own pace is what can help make the game addictive in a constructive way. That drive to turn over every rock, find and defeat every possible foe, and discover every piece of treasure.

Clair Obscur hit every mark on this front with its world map, as I found myself constantly veering off the main “road” as it were. Doing so never gets you punished, only rewarded, and I absolutely adore and appreciate this game for that.

8 Monoco’s Room in The Manor

A Good Boi Gets His Own Room

The Manor is one of the most alluring and fascinating locales in Clair Obscur, not just in terms of its integral connection to the game’s lore and overarching story, but also for its subtle surprises.

You can access The Manor via the doors scattered across the Continent, and each one leads into a different part of the estate that you can explore while still being able to reach the common areas, such as the entry foyer.

Speaking of which, if you start from there and head up the stairs to the left, you can actually jump through one of the paintings on the wall and find arguably the best room in the entire building. The room itself is filled with paintings of two particularly important dogs named Monoco and Noco, along with a small dog house, bed, toys, and, conveniently, an upgrade item for your Revive Tint.

Long story short, these dogs both belonged to the Dessendre family, with Monoco being especially close to Verso. This further explains the presence of the hilariously debonair Monoco you travel with, right down to the bell on his weapon that happens to resemble the one on the dog’s collar.

However, the cherry on top of this delightful discovery is that Monoco is also actually a pet that belongs to one of the game’s developers. So, of course, it’s only fitting that they’d pay respect to such a good boi with an easter egg that actually provides lore to the story. What’s more, he even gets his own title of “Happiness Manager” on the studio’s website.

Now I finally know who truly made the game into the outstanding success story that it is.

7 Simon Or Sephiroth?

Once You See It, You Can’t Unsee It

The world of Clair Obscur is full of formidable enemies and bosses for you to test your best builds and skills against. However, the most powerful and infamous of them is undoubtedly Simon. His personal story is shrouded largely in mystery, apart from some jaw-dropping revelations like his involvement in Expedition 0 and his ties to Clea.

You can encounter Simon by traveling through the dangerous territory of Renoir’s Drafts and then finding a secondary entrance at the base of the area’s golden tree. This leads directly to a hidden area geographically far below Renoir’s Drafts, known as The Abyss. The only thing that awaits you down there is Simon himself, sitting in solitude.

Should you choose to engage him in battle, be prepared for the game’s most difficult challenge, as Simon is essentially Clair Obscur’s superboss. However, the feat of beating him is more than worth it for the achievement, his journal, a weapon for Verso, and the music that plays as you clash swords.

However, perhaps the best aspect of Simon’s encounter is an unspoken easter egg that falls into the “iykyk” category. As you reach the second phase of this unforgiving fight, you’ll notice that Simon’s long, flowing hair transitions from black to silvery white.

While this is technically related to how the Canvas has affected many of the story’s central and supporting characters, I can’t help but feel that this moment still hearkens back to a certain silver-haired swordsman in another JRPG many of us know to some degree.

By this, I refer to none other than Sephiroth, the central villain of Final Fantasy 7 (and longtime poster boy for L’Oréal), who is easily identified by his long, silver locks and an even longer sword known as the Masamune. By comparison, as Simon is resurrected and as the stage around him changes, his silhouette against the eclipse with a much larger sword eerily resembles Sephiroth in a way that’s, well, you can’t unsee it.

Of course, there’s also the comparison to Guts in Berserk, another burly swordsman who also loses an arm during an eclipse, but (nasally) that’s not an RPG.

6 Renoir In a Swimsuit

Even the Villain Has a Birthday Suit

There are many aspects that help give Clair Obscur its undeniable charm and whimsy amidst a sea of sorrow and peril. One of the best ways the game does that is with the ability to customize your party members into different outfits. They range from noble and badass glow-ups to some downright comical getups.

Some of the best in the latter category are the swimsuits you can unlock for each playable character. While clearly a play on some RPGs that also make often-skimpy swimsuits an option, Clair Obscur still keeps it classy enough with ones that fit a more 1950’s European aesthetic.

As if that wasn’t enough, the game slips in yet another easter egg related to those outfits. If you manage to unlock every single swimsuit and then have every party member wear theirs during Act 3 when you confront Renoir once more in Lumiere, Renoir will actually be shown wearing one himself during the cutscene.

This can also supposedly be done during the earlier encounters with Renoir, if you have the outfits by then as well. Either way, this shows that the devs were willing to go the extra mile to reward your curiosity when it comes to pushing for secrets like these.

5 A Pontiff Sulyvahn Cameo

Dark Souls Fans Unite

While Clair Obscur is first and foremost a love letter to the RPG genre, that didn’t stop it from paying respect to other notable IPs that could blend seamlessly into the game’s universe.

One ridiculously cool and unexpected example of that is the boss encounter(s) with the dual-wielding Dualliste. This foe first ambushes the expedition in the Forgotten Battlefield, quickly putting truth to Verso’s rumors of an unstoppable Nevron supposedly responsible for all of the dead expeditions in that region.

What ensues is what I think is one of the best and most memorable boss fights in the entire game, and a testament to its capabilities. What makes it even better, however, is who Dualliste undeniably resembles at a certain point in the fight.

When the second phase begins, Dualliste summons a second, purple-hued sword, living up to its name. If you’re a fan of the soulslike franchise, this foe wielding both an orange and a purple sword is clearly a direct reference to a boss in Dark Souls 3 named Pontiff Sulyvahn, who does the same in their respective encounter.

While Clair Obscur’s aesthetic design invokes many French baroque elements that lean into the beauty and whimsy side of things, there’s the ever-present reminder of the brutality that cuts through it as humanity fights to survive. Dualliste is an especially stark reminder of that, and a cool easter egg to boot.

4 The Sandfall Portrait

The True Family of Clair Obscur

As mentioned earlier, the Manor is one of the most fascinating places in the game to explore. On top of its connection to the story at large, it holds a surprising number of secrets, if you know how and where to look.

One especially charming easter egg can be found in another of the Manor’s hidden rooms, which you can access via the library (the door to that is found on an island south of Blades’ Graveyard). Inside the room is an assortment of seemingly forgotten items, but among them is something truly special.

A painting sitting on the floor depicts a dense crowd of people celebrating, with a dog noticeable in the front. As if easter eggs in this game couldn’t get any more charming and downright smile-inducing, it turns out that this painting is of the development team at Sandfall Interactive, complete with the four-legged “Happiness Manager”, Monoco, right in front.

As a bonus, there’s also an open chest of pétanque balls nearby, which is likely a reference to the various Petank enemies in the game.

3 Secret Baguette Weapon

Baguette in Slot?

There’s no shortage of unique and powerful weapons to earn for each party member in Clair Obscur. However, there’s one series of weapons in particular that definitely stands out from the rest – the Baguettes.

Undoubtedly, it’s hard to say that without a chuckle or two, followed by “seriously?”. Yeah, I’m serious. It may seem like the closest you could get to this dream-come-true is the special Mime-inspired outfits. However, the developers were clearly one step ahead, and granted my wish – to literally get this bread.

To obtain this extra-French easter egg, you first need to get all three tokens from the Expedition Festival during the game’s prologue. Once you do, make sure you do NOT spend any of them. Play through the game, finish the story, and proceed to New Game Plus. Once you’re back in Lumiere the second time around, after you first meet up with Sophie, head for the Boulangerie shop around the corner.

There will be a table in front of the shop that’s full of various breads. With your tokens in hand, switch to the character you want a Baguette weapon for and interact with the table. You can get up to three of these weapons for each NG+ run, so you will need to do this twice if you want to deck out your entire expedition with some truly lethal (and crunchy) weaponry.

2 Lorieniso the Guitar-Playing Gestral

Salute to a Legendary Composer

The Gestral Village is a truly entertaining locale in Clair Obscur, with something unexpected (and often hilarious) around every corner. However, there’s one charming little easter egg that’s probably the most wholesome one you’ll find there.

As you circle around the village, you’ll soon come across an amphitheatre-type area with a stage and chairs lined up in front. Sitting on the edge of that stage, strumming one of the game’s main themes on a guitar, is a gestral named Lorieniso. This name and setting are particularly special, as it’s a clear nod to the game’s composer, Lorien Testard.

Among Clair Obscur’s many accolades, Lorien Testard has since been lauded as one of the most talented soundtrack composers in modern gaming, thanks to his extensive and exceptional work on this new IP. Despite having no previous experience in the field, many of his tracks on Clair Obscur topped various Billboard charts soon after the game’s debut.

It goes without saying that the game’s musical element was one of many reasons for its well-deserved success, and that a great artist can come from anywhere (totally relevant Ratatouille reference). After all, who actually expected that incredible jazz drop during Monoco’s introduction?

1 Trash-Can Man

Did He Actually Survive?

While many of the easter eggs in Clair Obscur hold poignant meanings and heartfelt messages, there are a select few that are just, well, there. A particularly hilarious example of this can be found right in the game’s prologue, before the situation at large takes its dramatic turn.

As you make your way through the plazas and flower market that lead to the city’s docks, it’s generally a good idea to interact with as many things as possible. Not only do you get a sense of the mood and the setting as a whole, sometimes you can stumble across some truly bizarre surprises. Case in point, this trash can.

Keep interacting with said trash can, and you’ll notice that the dialogue changes each time. Then, at a certain point, you’ll discover that someone has chosen to hide in that trash can. The game identifies them simply as “Trash-Can Man”, and they’re particularly stubborn about staying in their smelly hiding place, believing it’ll protect them from the Paintress and the imminent Gommage.

It seems an innocent-enough idea, but then they also disclose that they’ve been in there for six months. Six. Months.

While it’s totally fair to question how they’ve managed to stay alive otherwise for that long in a trash can, the true mystery remains – did the plan work?