Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

[NateDog]

I have fierce, fierce opinions on the right thing in that ending.

Talk to me.

Spoiler:

I went with Verso. Especially after "the boy" said he wanted to stop painting, my heart bled for him. It had to happen and that cycle had to end. I was quite surprised to see a lot felt the same way.

For once, I agree.

Spoiler:

The game wraps you in an incredible meta fiction through that ending dilemma. We as players have grown incredibly attached to this fiction, this canvas, the people it inhabits - in a manner incredibly similar to the Dessendre family; and we are forced to confront our selfish desire vs the greater, but harsh good. Verso is ultimately right that the Dessendres incapability of dealing with their grief cannot be changed as long as the canvas remains, and the grieving 16 year old is not someone i'd trust with responsible use of the canvas. Layer it with painted Verso's pain, and real Verso's pain and the cyclic torture being forced upon him due to him being forced to paint to keep the world alive (even though painting was never his passion), there is no good choice but Verso's. Now imagine my surprise when I saw that the majority of the discourse is people thinking Maelle is the right choice. Fucking insanity. My boy Verso is ride and die.

I'm writing an article to iron out my feelings on this game since while there is the obvious first and second layers to the story, I kept thinking about it through the lens of art theory & author intent and there is a very interesting discussion to be had on how it comments on textual intentionalism vs reader interpretation.

Spoiler:

I honestly expected most would side with Maelle on this, Verso's decision is such a difficult one. Especially leaning into what you've mentioned regarding author intent, we've inhabited this world and loved those in it and grieved for those that have been lost either in front of us or in the past through the sacrifices they've made for the future. Deciding to destroy that entire world and everyone and everything in it is such a hard thing to do, especially from Verso's point of view because he has used Maelle and the others for this pursuit, and he is destroying himself after many years of wanting it. Wanting to be free of immortality and then finally reaching that point where it is achievable and going through with it to condemn Alicia to have to confront her guilt and the reality that Verso is finally completely gone.

I haven't watched Maelle's ending yet but I could guess what it would be like and what it would mean and from what I've read that was right. Living a "life" like that, tricking yourself into believing you will willingly leave it in time, I could never do it. I felt a lot for Sciel and Lune, but even with Sciel I felt as if she understood it. She seemed to get Verso better than the others (excepting Monoco and Esquie, but even they knew what he intended and accepted it).