If you’ve been scrolling through gaming trailers lately, you probably saw something that looked like a fever dream staged inside the Louvre. That’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It’s gorgeous. It’s weird. It’s developed by Sandfall Interactive, a French studio that clearly spent a lot of time staring at oil paintings before they started coding. Specifically, the Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts and the broader influence of 19th-century Impressionism have become a massive talking point for fans trying to decode the game's "Paintress" antagonist.
She’s a literal god-like figure who paints a number on a monolith every year. When she does, everyone of that age turns to smoke. Poof. Gone.
It’s a grim premise. But the art? It’s vibrant. It’s lush. It looks like Pierre-Auguste Renoir grabbed a sword and decided to design a boss fight.
The Artistic DNA of Sandfall’s World
Most games go for "gritty realism" or "cartoonish stylization." Sandfall went another way. They leaned into the Belle Époque. We’re talking about a period in French history where art was exploding, and Renoir was at the center of it. When we look at the Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts—essentially the conceptual sketches and environmental textures that define the game's world—you see that soft, dappled light that defined the Impressionist movement.
Renoir was famous for his focus on beauty and light. He once said that a picture should be something "pleasant, cheerful, and pretty." Ironically, Expedition 33 takes that "pretty" aesthetic and uses it to mask a world that is fundamentally broken and terrifying. It’s a contrast that hits you over the head the moment you see the character designs.
The armor isn't just plate mail. It has filigree. It has flow. It looks like it was brushed onto the screen.
Why Renoir?
You might wonder why a game about a suicide mission to kill a goddess would look to a guy who liked painting flowers and children. Honestly, it’s about the soul of the setting. The game takes place in a world inspired by France’s most iconic era.
Renoir’s work often focused on the fleeting nature of life—capturing a moment before the light changes. In Expedition 33, life is the ultimate fleeting resource. You have a ticking clock. The Paintress is literally erasing generations. By using the Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts as a foundation, the developers create a visual irony: the world is at its most beautiful right before it ceases to exist.
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Breaking Down the Visual Cues
If you look closely at the leaked concept art and the high-resolution trailers, the brushwork is everywhere. This isn't just a filter. The textures on the trees in the "Flying Waters" area or the way shadows fall in the "Lumière" district mimic the broken-color technique.
Impressionists didn't blend paint perfectly. They put dabs of color side-by-side and let your eye do the work.
Sandfall is doing the same with their engine.
- The skyboxes aren't just gradients; they are layered textures that look like canvas.
- Character outfits utilize fabrics that catch "light" in ways that feel more like a painting than a 3D model.
- The monsters? They look like something pulled from a dark, surrealist twist on a 1880s gallery.
The Paintress: A Dark Mirror of the Artist
The main villain isn't just a mage. She’s a creator. This is where the Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts really matter for the lore. In many ways, the Paintress is a twisted version of the great French masters. She creates beauty, but her creation requires destruction.
There's a specific draft floating around the community—an early render of her studio. It’s cluttered with brushes that look like spears. The "paint" she uses is rumored to be the essence of the people she's erased. It’s heavy stuff. It turns the act of painting—something Renoir viewed as an act of joy—into a mechanical, cold process of elimination.
The community has been digging into the "Season of the Paintress" lore, and the consensus is that the game’s world is literally her canvas. When she’s done with a "draft," she clears it. Hence, the "Expedition" teams. You are the 33rd attempt to stop her from wiping the slate clean.
Technical Execution of the Impressionist Style
Building a game that looks like a Renoir painting in Unreal Engine 5 is a nightmare. Usually, UE5 is all about hyper-realism—Lumen, Nanite, all that tech. Sandfall had to fight the engine's natural urge to look like a photograph.
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They used custom shaders to achieve that "draft" look. If you pause the game during a combat sequence—which, by the way, is turn-based but has real-time parries—you’ll see the "painterly" effect most clearly. The motion blur doesn't just smear pixels; it looks like a wet brush stroke.
It's impressive.
It also serves a gameplay purpose. The visual clarity in the Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts ensures that even when the screen is filled with particle effects, you can still see the enemy's tell. You need to see that elbow drop or that sword glint to hit your "Reactive Turn-Based" triggers.
Comparisons to Other "Artistic" Games
We’ve seen this before, but not quite like this.
- Okami did the Ukiyo-e ink wash thing.
- Elden Ring has its "epic oil painting" vistas.
- Lies of P touched on the Belle Époque but stayed in the "dark and grimy" lane.
Expedition 33 is different because it isn't afraid of color. It isn't afraid of looking "soft." Most RPGs are terrified of looking soft. They want to be "edgy." This game embraces the elegance of Renoir’s drafts and then stabs you in the heart with a high-stakes narrative.
What Fans Are Saying About the "Draft" Aesthetic
On Reddit and ResetEra, the discussion around the Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts is split between "This is the most unique-looking game of the decade" and "Will my PC explode trying to render this many brushstrokes?"
The developers have been pretty transparent about the influence. In interviews, they’ve mentioned that they wanted the game to feel "distinctly French." You can’t do that without acknowledging the Impressionists. Renoir’s influence is the bridge between the historical setting and the fantasy elements.
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One detail people keep missing is the "Canvas" mechanic. There are hints in the UI drafts that players might be able to influence the "paint" of the world, essentially using the Paintress's own tools against her. If that's true, the artistic theme isn't just skin-deep—it's a core gameplay loop.
How to Appreciate the Art While You Play
When the game finally drops, don't just rush to the next objective.
- Look at the water. It’s modeled after the way Renoir painted the Seine. It’s not "clear"; it’s a reflection of colors.
- Check the character portraits. They look like hand-sketched drafts from a 19th-century notebook.
- Pay attention to the "33" motif. It's hidden in the architecture, often looking like it was carved with a palette knife.
The Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts represent a shift in how we think about "AAA" art direction. It’s moving away from "how many polygons can we fit" toward "what kind of mood can we evoke."
Practical Steps for Following the Development
If you're as obsessed with the look of this game as I am, you should follow the Sandfall Interactive dev blog. They’ve been dropping "Behind the Brush" snippets that show exactly how they transition from a 2D sketch (the drafts) to a 3D environment.
Keep an eye out for the "Lumière" trailers. Those are the ones that really showcase the Renoir-style lighting. Also, look for the "Pre-order Artbook" announcements. Usually, these books contain the actual Expedition 33 Renoirs drafts that didn't make it into the final build, which are a goldmine for anyone interested in concept art or art history.
Ultimately, this game is a love letter to a very specific moment in time. It takes the "drafts" of history and turns them into a playable nightmare. And honestly? It’s about time someone made art history this cool.
Next steps for interested players:
- Watch the Reveal Trailer again: Look specifically at the "Flying Waters" segment to see the Impressionist dabs in the sky.
- Research Renoir’s "Luncheon of the Boating Party": You’ll see the exact color palette used in the game’s main city.
- Follow Sandfall on social media: They occasionally post high-res concept "drafts" that serve as great desktop wallpapers and offer clues to the world-building.
- Check your PC specs: UE5 with custom painterly shaders is likely going to be demanding, so make sure your GPU is up to the task before the 2025 release.
The intersection of gaming and fine art is getting crowded, but Expedition 33 is carving out a space that feels entirely its own. It’s a bold move to base an entire RPG’s identity on 150-year-old drafts, but if the final product looks half as good as the concept art, we’re in for something special.