Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Gets Rated Steam Deck Playable

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It's been 5 days since Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been released, and it has been a whirlwind. The gorgeous RPG has blown expectations out of the water, with its incredible visuals, soundtrack, story, and interactive turn-based gameplay. I love the game, and it's no wonder that it's one of the highest-rated games of all time on Metacritic. Even though it was released as "Unsupported" on the Steam Deck, it was still playable, and it seems Valve has taken that into account.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is $39.99 on Fanatical right now, if you are purchasing soon and want to save extra money.

As of a couple of days ago, the game is officially rated Steam Deck Playable. It didn't get the Verified badge due to small in-game text and needing to use the touchscreen or virtual keyboard for the game's launcher/setup tool. However, it works well with the controller and shows the correct icons, and the default graphics work well on Deck.

While I have my thoughts on how the experience is on the Steam Deck, and why I feel it's a mixed bag, I do agree with the rating. It is playable, albeit with some major compromises to the visuals. Playing at the default configuration changes how a majority of the game looks while trying to keep a 45 FPS lock. It does the job most of the time, with some fights and the world map going down a bit, but it's playable. It's hard for me to completely recommend playing it this way due to the compromises, but it can be played and completed on the Deck if that's your only way to play.

Hopefully, we will see more improvements as time goes on, and it will be even more playable with less compromise. Still, it's an amazing game and hard not to keep coming back to and finish. There's a good reason why this game is so highly rated, and it should definitely be added to your library regardless of where you play it!

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is on sale on Steam for $44.99, but can be purchased on Fanatical for $39.99 if you want to save a little more money.

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