The Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a medium difficulty trophy hunt rated 3/10, you can expect a quest for platinum trophies to take 50-70 hours in total. This system of trophies includes a platinum trophy, two gold trophies, five silver trophies, and 48 bronze trophies for a total of 56 trophies.
Players needn’t worry about needing a specific connection or being online as the complete trophy collection is all offline. In the game, you can miss five trophies if you’re not paying attention at certain moments: Follow the Trail, Maelle, Connoisseur, Professional, and A Peculiar Encounter. Players should be aware that a glitch involving picking up a record twice may cause the Connoisseur trophy to unlock earlier than intended.
The difficulty settings will not affect your trophies. You can change how much damage your enemies deal and their timing strictness. The auto Quick Time Events accessibility option will deal less damage than a manual one but will still allow you to obtain the trophies. Peace At Last is the hardest trophy to earn in the game while both collections can be earned in one playthrough of the game.
The game is not available on PlayStation 4 and there’s no way to transfer saves. After players defeat the final boss, loading from the final save file will place them at the last Expedition Flag before the final boss. All areas are open for investigation and collectible hunting activities. New Game Plus keeps character levels and enhancements but resets the majority of collectibles, making the collection during the first playthrough vital for effective trophy collection.
Game Mechanics and Core Features
Sophisticated turn-based game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 comes from Sandfall Interactive. As it features turn-based play along with combat, it is a nice mix. The system of battle allows the players to dodge and parry attacks of the enemy actively. This happens while you execute a Quick Time Event sequence during the offensive move to optimise damage output. Through precise defensive actions and timing, skilled players can now avoid all enemy damage with this new approach.
The game does not allow manual saving. Instead of this, it has 21 rotating autosave slots. In the menu, choose the return to title screen option or change any outfit item to force an autosave to be created for the player. Players must have strategy in mind when trying to fix a mistake or replay an encounter.
New Game Plus mode retains your characters’ level and upgrades, unfortunately, it removes most trophies and collectibles. That means players will have to collect everything on the first playthrough itself. Otherwise, you’ll have to recollect everything in New Game Plus for the trophies. The New Game Plus mode is mainly for players that want to level 99 their character development, or players that miss collectibles on their first time.
The game was released on April 24, 2025, only for PlayStation 5. All areas of the game can be accessed after completing the game. However, if you load your save file after beating the last boss, you cannot access areas that are meant to be explored only after completion – like in-game level selection. The New Game Plus can be started by players from any Expedition Flag in the game world
Comprehensive Step-by-Step Trophy Acquisition Strategy
Stage One: Expert in the Prologue and Key Item Getter
The prologue is the first check that is needed for a missable trophy which also introduces you to some basic combat mechanics. You’ll need to pay close attention here. There are two items that you’re going to absolutely need. There are no other ways to acquire them later. Players must be fully aware of what happens if you miss this section of the game.
In order to collect all trophies, you’ll need to follow this detailed guide to collectibles since the game won’t track region collectibles for you. In the prologue, there are two important missable items: the Old Key. This item is mandatory for the follow the trail trophy as well as full collection of the Journal. Failure to obtain this key will cause a permanent lockout that will be unable to be fixed in the rest of the playthrough.
The prologue has two parts, and you will see a confirmation dialogue after each part that you have to accept. In the first prologue section, players will find an optional Mime enemy at the very far end of the area, specifically on the right side of the stairs with the progression dialogue. You must defeat this specific Mime to earn the A Peculiar Encounter trophy as this trophy requires this specific Mime fight. If you attempt to complete it with any other Mime left in the game, you will not earn this trophy.
Mime enemies generally reward outfit and hairstyle pieces that are not needed for other trophy requirements. But beating this prologue Mime also gives a Record item. Players can obtain a duplicate of this Record later during the game. If you miss this Mime encounter, you’ll either need to play New Game Plus or start a new save to get the trophy.
Players will find themselves at a Festival for the 2nd prologue. You will be able to interact with many characters. The festival has a token trading system that lets you get your hands on three unique items that can’t be received anywhere else in the game. To the left of the initial stall, gamers will find the third one. Players can redeem their tokens here for the Old Key which is a requirement for the Journal to be obtained later. If you miss this Old Key you will lock yourself out of the Follow the Trail trophy for the playthrough since there is no way to get it.
Players can quickly buy safety by trading for the key when found. However, the section does offer chances for two more tokens so players can buy everything available. It’s essential to obtain the Old Key item while completing the prologue section but make sure not to finish it.
Phase Two: Acts One and Two Progression and Strategic Considerations
The main story takes up “Acts One and Two”, and half of the game’s side exploration areas are open at this time. In Act Two, there’s one interaction opportunity that could be missed. Plus, players worried about getting the Professional trophy for beating a boss without taking damage will want to follow these tactics regarding the Chromatic Lancelier optional boss in the first Spring Meadows story area.
Chromatic enemies are stronger versions of normal enemies. They offer much more health and damage, but otherwise will have the same attacks as normal enemies. When players first meet the Chromatic Lancelier, the battle is tougher than their character’s present progression level. Still, with a good bit of effort and planning, victory is attainable.
To get the Professional trophy quickly, players can skip this boss and return to it at the end of the game for an easier time. Players that defeat the Lancelier as part of normal progression will also fight Chromatic enemies early on, and the tips apply equally to them.
Starting Act One, Nevron Quests become available involving white Nevron monster enemies who request certain tasks for quest completion. To get the Aiding the Enemy trophy you need to complete all Nevron quest objectives. After finishing each Nevron quest, there are dialogue options that let players kill the creature. Strong recommendations against this.
The last Nevron quest at the end of the game rewards a lot if the players maintained a non-lethal approach with all previous quest encounters. Opting for lethal options sets players up for extremely tough boss fights that net significantly lower rewards than peaceful resolution options. During Act Three, there is a Nevron, and he requires a termination, but it does not affect the final Nevron quest reward.
The key missable interaction of this period is with (verso), one of the Maelle camp scene, which occurs following the first Axon fight in Act Two. This optional interaction features the characters engaged in a piano performance, and you will receive the Record, Lettre a Maelle when done. If the players do not complete this interaction before the end of Act Two, it seems the record becomes unobtainable forever.
You can still get the Connoisseur trophy if you kill the prologue Mime and collect the duplicate Record present in the last area of the game, as the trophy system seems to check for any 33 Records rather than requiring 33 specifically unique Records or anything like that. Players are advised to seek out optional camp scenes to achieve this record.
Phase 3 – Completion of Act 3 and Overall Endgame Cleanup
In Act Three, players unlock all available locations over world map as they acquire flight skills to reach the final story segments. During this section, the final missable opportunity happens through a relationship interaction with Maelle, details of which are fully listed in the collectible guide. During Act Three, players have the option to either pursue completion of all side areas right now or address the side content cleanup after completion of the main story.
When players load their save files after completing the final boss, they will return to the final Expedition Flag (the area of the final boss fight). Everything is accessible to the player, so they can continue to explore activities freely. The design offers great flexibility for players that prefer different ways to complete the game.
There is a vital Maelle interaction at Relationship Level 7, in which players are given a choice between Truth and Lie. Choosing the Truth option keeps your relationship levels with her at the maximum and also unlocks her level 3 Gradient attack – essential for the Maelle trophy. Picking the lie option will permanently disable trophy unlocks on this playthrough, as well as blocking her powerful combat abilities.
If players are unsure about their decision or want to see different results, they can opt to load a previous save and make sure to choose the Truth. It’s the only relationship interaction in which your dialogue choices have permanent consequences for trophy progression, as all other party members can be changed regardless of what you choose.
Detailed Missables Analysis and Prevention Strategies
Prologue Critical Requirements and Consequences.
The first section of the game requires perfect accuracy with two fights that cannot be replicated later. It is crucial that you pay close attention to where and when you initiate the Mime battle. This is because any other Mime battles that you might have during the game will not count towards trophy progress. Generally, you earn costumes and hairstyles as loot from these enemies. You can also collect Record items through other means.
The Old Key of the Festival is the single most critical missable item in the game because there’s no way to get it later. If players go beyond this point without the key, they will be completely locked out of completing the Journal collection and the Follow the Trail trophy. The key is mandatory for trading of tokens at stall three and cannot be supressed or substituted.
Mid-Game Strategic Decisions and Alternative Pathways
The Record items from Verso and Maelle camp interactions are important to complete collections; however, if you have defeated Mime in the prologue, and picked up the duplicate in the last area, you can fail this step. The flexibility of the Connoisseur trophy mechanism is that any 33 Records can be submitted instead of having to be unique.
Battling enemies of different colors coming your way will be tougher as they will have increased health and damage but their overall attacking pattern will remain the same.
The Spring Meadows Chromatic Lancelier is an easy Professional trophy when approached with more upper-level characters during cleanup, although finishing it early is completely doable for skilled players looking to get ahead.
Generally speaking, dialogue systems in relationship interactions with party members are flexible and allow for choices to be explored. The only exception is the climactic interaction with Maelle. What you choose here will directly affect how far you can go in the relationship as well as superior combat abilities. Thus, making the correct selection is a must for trophy completion.
Late-Game Completion Requirements and Reward Structures
There are different levels of rewards on the last Nevron quest depending on player decisions made during the game. If you peacefully resolve issues with quest-giving NPCs, you will be rewarded more and face fewer challenges. Choosing aggressive options in battle results in more troublesome bosses that have a way lower reward structure. Thus, not fighting strategically is much cheaper for the player.
If players accidentally choose the wrong dialogue during the Maelle moment, they should reload an earlier save as soon as possible. The game automatically saves your progress in different slots, giving you a reasonable chance to undo your mistake if you act quickly.
Technical Specifications and Platform Considerations
The PlayStation 5 version of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launching on April 24, 2025 is not backward compatible or cross-gen. The devs at Sandfall Interactive have made the experience for current-gen hardware, so there isn’t a PS4 version.
Since there is no way to save manually, use menu methods or equipment modification actions to prevent unwanted autosaving. Players must take this limitation into account when deciding how to approach a crucial encounter or when trying to fix their mistakes in a missable opportunity.
Trophy tracking systems don’t have regional breakdowns so you will need credible outside guides to complete this efficiently. The game is designed so players can explore and clean up everything after finishing the story. However, if players miss specific collectibles during the first playthrough, they may have to meet New Game Plus requirements.
You can level your character to 99 by grinding at the end-game activities or using the New Game Plus mode. Trophy requirements are not impacted by one’s setting choices. By choosing a more difficult setting the damage output of the foes is increased. In addition, the timing window strictness is also increased. But the foe health and the details of the other mechanics remain constant across all settings.
The new battle system cleverly mixes turn-based counteract playing with active defend mechanics, creating enjoyable experiences that reward planning and skills. Players can learn complete damage avoidance through dodging and parrying systems. However, this won’t happen the first few times, as it requires a lot of practice and timing precision.
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