Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is basically the game everyone stopped scrolling for during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase. It’s got that high-fantasy-meets-French-Renaissance vibe that looks like a painting come to life. But here’s the thing about games that look this good: they are absolute resource hogs. Developing a turn-based RPG with "real-time" reactionary elements means every frame counts. If you miss a parry because your screen stuttered for a millisecond, the illusion breaks. That’s exactly why Expedition 33 frame gen technology has become such a massive talking point for PC and console players alike.
Sandfall Interactive isn't just making another RPG. They are pushing Unreal Engine 5 to its absolute limit. You can see it in the textures of the Paint—that weird, apocalyptic substance the Paintress uses to erase people. When you’re dealing with high-fidelity environments and complex lighting, native 60 FPS is a struggle even for beefy hardware. Frame generation, whether it's through NVIDIA’s DLSS 3, AMD’s FSR 3, or even Intel’s XeSS, isn’t just a "nice to have" anymore. It’s becoming the backbone of modern gaming performance.
The Technical Reality of Expedition 33 Frame Gen
Let’s be real for a second. When people hear "frame generation," they often think of it as "fake frames." And yeah, technically, they are. Your GPU is looking at two real frames and guessing what should go in between them using motion vectors and AI. For a game like Expedition 33, this is a lifesaver. Because the game uses a reactive turn-based system—think Final Fantasy X meets Paper Mario—your timing on dodges and parries is everything.
If the Expedition 33 frame gen implementation is handled correctly, it bridges the gap between cinematic visuals and the responsiveness required for those parry windows. Most Unreal Engine 5 titles currently rely on these upscaling and generation technologies to hit consistent targets. We’ve seen this with Black Myth: Wukong and Lords of the Fallen. Without it, you're looking at a 30 FPS experience on anything but a top-tier rig.
Is there a downside? Sure. Latency. Generating frames adds a tiny bit of delay. NVIDIA counters this with Reflex, and AMD uses Anti-Lag. In a turn-based game, this latency is way less of a deal-breaker than it would be in Call of Duty, but you’ll still want that extra smoothness when the Paintress starts drawing her numbers and the world starts falling apart around your party.
Why UE5 Games Need the Help
Unreal Engine 5 is gorgeous. It's also heavy. It uses Nanite for geometry and Lumen for lighting, which basically means the GPU is constantly sweating. Expedition 33 features massive, sweeping vistas and incredibly detailed character models. Gustave, Maelle, and Lune aren't just blocks of pixels; they have intricate clothing physics and facial animations that reflect the grim reality of their world.
Most developers are now designing games with upscaling in mind from day one. It’s not "unoptimized"—it’s just the new baseline. For the Expedition 33 frame gen experience to feel "native," the developers have to tune the UI. One of the biggest tells of bad frame gen is a flickering HUD or ghosting around the character’s sword during a swing. Sandfall has been quiet on the specific versions of DLSS or FSR they are using, but given the 2025 release window, we can expect the latest iterations that minimize these artifacts.
Comparing the Options: DLSS vs. FSR in Expedition 33
If you're playing on an RTX 40-series card, you're set. DLSS 3 Frame Gen is the gold standard right now because of its dedicated hardware accelerators. It’s clean. It’s fast. But Expedition 33 is also coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. This is where things get interesting.
✨ Don't miss: Why A Way Out Xbox One is Still the Best Co-op Game You Aren't Playing
Consoles use AMD hardware. This means FSR 3 (FidelityFX Super Resolution) is the likely candidate for getting those consoles to hit 60 FPS in a "Performance Mode." Honestly, FSR has caught up a lot. While it used to look a bit "shimmery" compared to NVIDIA’s solution, the latest versions are impressive. If you’re a console player, you want this. You want the game to feel fluid while you’re exploring the Belle Époque-inspired ruins.
- NVIDIA DLSS 3/4: Best image quality, requires 40-series or 50-series (rumored) cards.
- AMD FSR 3.1: Open-source, works on almost everything, including consoles.
- Intel XeSS: Great for integrated graphics or older cards, though less common for frame gen specifically.
The Impact on Reactive Turn-Based Combat
Expedition 33 isn't a "select a menu and wait" kind of game. It’s active. When an enemy attacks, you have to hit a button to dodge or parry in real-time. This is why Expedition 33 frame gen is more than just a marketing buzzword.
Imagine you’re fighting a boss. The boss winds up a massive AOE attack. The frame rate dips because of all the particle effects on screen. You miss the parry window because the visual cue didn't line up with the game logic. That’s a controller-throwing moment. Frame generation keeps the visual flow steady, which helps your brain process the timing better, even if the "input" latency is slightly higher than native. Most people can't feel 10-20ms of latency, but everyone can see a frame drop from 60 to 45.
Addressing the "Fake Frame" Controversy
There’s a group of purists who hate this stuff. They say if a game can’t run at 60 FPS natively, it’s broken. I get it. I really do. But we’ve reached a point in graphics technology where the "brute force" method—just throwing more raw power at the screen—has diminishing returns.
Ray tracing and high-density geometry are expensive. If developers stopped using frame gen, games would start looking like they did five years ago. Or they’d run at 720p. By using Expedition 33 frame gen, Sandfall Interactive can keep the visual bar high without excluding everyone who doesn't own a $2,000 PC. It’s a compromise, but it’s a smart one.
Hardware Requirements and Expectations
What should you actually have under the hood to run this game well? If you’re aiming for 1440p or 4K with all the bells and whistles, you’re going to need a card that supports these AI features.
For PC players, an RTX 3060 might handle the game at 1080p natively, but once you toggle on the Expedition 33 frame gen settings (assuming FSR 3 support for older cards), you could suddenly find yourself playing at a smooth 90 FPS on a 144Hz monitor. That’s the magic of the tech. It extends the life of your hardware.
On the console side, expect a "Resolution Mode" at 30 FPS (native-ish) and a "Performance Mode" that uses upscaling and potentially frame generation to hit 60 FPS. Given the complexity of UE5, a stable 60 without some form of reconstruction is almost impossible on current Gen consoles.
Final Practical Steps for Players
To get the most out of your experience when the game drops, you need to prepare your setup. This isn't just about the GPU; it's about the whole chain of hardware.
First, check your monitor. If you plan on using frame generation, you really need a display that supports VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). This helps smooth out any tiny pacing issues that AI-generated frames might introduce. If your monitor is locked at a rigid 60Hz without VRR, frame gen can sometimes look "jittery" if the frame rate isn't perfectly synced.
Second, keep your drivers updated. Both NVIDIA and AMD release "Game Ready" drivers specifically for big Unreal Engine 5 releases. These drivers often contain the specific profiles needed to make the Expedition 33 frame gen implementation work without crashing or visual bugs.
Third, don't be afraid to tweak. Most modern games allow you to set the "Upscaling" (the resolution) and "Frame Gen" (the extra frames) separately. If the game looks a bit blurry, turn up the upscaling quality and let the frame gen do the heavy lifting for the smoothness.
Expedition 33 looks like a generational leap for turn-based RPGs. It’s stylish, it’s dark, and it’s ambitious. Embracing the tech that makes those visuals possible is the only way to play it the way the developers intended.
Actionable Insights for Launch Day:
- Enable HAGS: On Windows, make sure "Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling" is turned ON in your display settings; otherwise, DLSS Frame Gen won't even show up in the menu.
- Prioritize Latency Tools: Always pair frame generation with NVIDIA Reflex or AMD Anti-Lag to offset the millisecond delays inherent in AI frame creation.
- Check for Day-One Patches: Unreal Engine 5 titles often get massive performance gains in the first 48 hours via "shader compilation" fixes and tech tweaks.
- Monitor Your VRAM: Frame generation uses a bit of extra video memory. If you're on an 8GB card, you might need to drop textures to "High" instead of "Ultra" to keep everything stable.