Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Metascore
I saw a headline the other day about how Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was not just tied as the highest-scored game of 2025, it was one of the highest-scored games…ever.
That didn’t seem right to me, and while no, that is not true of its 92 Metascore, as dozens of games are higher than that, if we’re talking about user scores? Actually yes, that’s true. And from what I can tell, at least at the moment, it may be the best user-scored game that can be tracked on Metacritic.
With hundreds of reviews in, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a 9.6/10 on Metacritic from players. That is not just the highest I’ve found, but the highest I’ve found by a good margin. Metacritic lists the highest user-scored games ever in a list, and while it’s not in perfect order, it’s full of all-time greats. Among these, clicking through as many as I can, I have only seen one 9.3, and that’s The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine DLC.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Sandfall
The rest of these games on the list range from 9.0 to 9.2. Any classic you’re thinking of is almost certainly in that range. Ocarina of Time? 9.1. Final Fantasy VII? 8.9. GTA 5? 8.5. As for more recent games, what would come to mind? Elden Ring? 8.2. The Last of Us? 9.2. Baldur’s Gate 3? 9.2. This year’s Blue Prince with its tied 92 Metascore? 7.6.
I say Clair Obscur “may” be the highest user-scored game of all time because I have not clicked through the thousands that exist, but at least for now, that appears to be true and I cannot find anything close to it. (On Steam specifically that may not be true, as it has a stellar but perhaps not all-time best 93% positive score).
Will things stay this way? That remains to be seen. It stands to reason that as more reviews coming in over days or weeks or months it could drop. This may be an initial burst of excitement that’s skewing things this high, but I’ve seen people call it their GOTY after an hour, and up there with the best Final Fantasy games ever made despite this being a game made by a new studio of 33 people.
It’s hard to overstate just how wild this is. There has been almost nothing but effusive praise for it among players, and it seems like a frontrunner for GOTY at the moment, despite a series of great releases in 2025 already. It may end up butting up against GTA 6, but even then, I mean, anything’s possible with a game this beloved.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Bluesky
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
