⚠️ This post is intended for people that have completed Expedition 33’s main story quest. Spoilers ahead.
Expedition 33 is a compelling, exhilarating, and soul-crushing video game set in the world of Lumière, a vibrant painted world that immediately demands your attention. I was captivated not just by the incredible visuals, but by the meticulous way it handles grief and morality, especially in the final choice of the game. That’s something that I love about Expedition 33: there is no easy resolution to the decisions that we make. No matter which option you pick, you’re left conflicted, torn between two equally depressing outcomes, and yet that’s precisely why I think it’s so perfect.
In the final scene, Painted Verso and Maelle are at a heartbreaking ultimatum: you, the player, must decide who to fight as and determine the fate of the canvas. This is a decision that had left me stressing the first time, spending over ten minutes to think about. Alas, I reluctantly went with the decision to fight as Verso. I thought that while it is tragic that we would be removing the canvas, this whole world of grief was brought about because the Dessendre family was unable to move on from their grief of Verso Dessendre.
As a result, I was met with an end in which Alicia was inevitably forced to leave the canvas, and Painted Verso “saved” Verso’s soul from a tiring effort of forever painting the canvas.
And so, we watch all the characters we made close connections with, slowly fade away, as does Verso and his soul. “What could be worse than this? This feels horrible!” I initially thought.
But as we are met with the warm atmosphere of the Epilogue cutscene, A Life to Live, in which the Dessendre family grieves over Verso Dessendre’s death, Alicia — and we, the players — grieve over the loss of everyone we formed tight bonds with within the canvas.
Was it all real? Well, what can we define as ‘real’? These painted characters were conscious; they lived, they loved, and they suffered. Imagine you find out that the world that you live in is fake? Does that make you any less real?
And that leads me into Maelle’s ending, in which Painted Verso begs her to put an end to the canvas, repeatedly saying that he does not want to live this life, before fading away. Presumably, Maelle takes his chroma and we are led into the Epilogue cutscene, A Life to Paint. After some time, we see all the characters that we lost throughout the story brought back to life such as Gustave and Sophie. They all gather up in an opera house, happy and joyful. This was what we wanted, right?
So why does this feel wrong? Throughout the entire journey of the game, this is what we were hoping to achieve by the end!
But as we see Verso enter the scene, soon to play the piano, we are met with a terrifying cut to Maelle’s face, showing that her staying in the canvas is causing her to slowly die in the real world.
Throughout many communities, a certain question lingers. “What’s worse, living in a sad truth or living a happy lie?” Verso’s ending to me, accepts the harsh reality that Verso Dessendre is dead, and that the Dessendre family must move on — together. And I personally see it that way too. I think it is the healthiest way forward for Alicia and the Dessendres, as I found that Maelle’s ending results in a life of denial, and an illusion of happiness. But we can’t ignore the fact that Verso’s ending results in the entire erasure of a world of ‘real’ people whose lives, loves, and struggles were as meaningful as our own. Even if Verso’s canvas was crafted, it can’t be denied that the emotions that were held were undeniably genuine, as seen in the prologue of the story, where Gustave watches Sophie pass in the gommage. You can feel his pain.
So, which is the bigger tragedy: the erasure of a world, or the perpetuation of a lie?
What ending did you choose, and why? Were you left feeling as conflicted as me? Feel free to discuss in the comments, I would love to hear your insights.
This was my first blog post. If you like what you see, stay tuned for more blog posts about other games soon.
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