Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has beautiful graphics and a great narrative. But what happens when those story-driving cutscenes refuse to load? It’s a frustrating issue in an otherwise immersive experience, leaving many like yourself stuck on a screen or frozen in place when a cinematic should be playing. So, is there a way to fix it? Read till the end to find out.
Many players have reported this issue in Clair Obscur Expedition 33, where cutscenes either freeze with only the audio playing or display a red screen instead of the actual cinematic. This glitch can seriously disrupt the flow of the story, with many on forums echoing the same concern. So, how to fix it? Details regarding the same are shared below.
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Cutscenes Not Loading Issue: Is there any fix yet
Unfortunately, there’s no official patch or solution for this cutscene not loading issue yet, so players will need to rely on community-suggested workarounds and tips. These may not work for everyone, but trying a few of them could help you get past the problem until the developers release a proper fix.
Basic checks
The first step is to restart the game and ensure it’s running with administrative privileges. Also, double-check that both the game itself and your GPU drivers are fully up to date, as missing updates can often cause display or compatibility problems. Keeping everything current and running with the right permissions can resolve a surprising number of launch and rendering issues before diving into deeper troubleshooting.
Media codecs
A player who faced the same issue during cutscenes (while audio and subtitles continued) discovered that the problem was due to missing Windows Media codecs. The fix is simple: Head over to Windows Settings > Apps > Optional Features > Add a feature, then search for and install Windows Media Feature Pack. Once installed, it should resolve the cutscene playback problem.
Shader cache
Clearing the shader cache might also do the trick. To clear the shader cache in Steam, go to Steam Settings > Shader Pre-Caching (or Steam Client, depending on your version), and simply toggle the “Download Shader Cache” option off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on. This will effectively flush the existing shader cache and allow Steam to rebuild it, which can help resolve certain visual glitches or cutscene issues.
DirectX and graphics drivers
You can also try forcing the game to run with DirectX 12 using the -d3d12 launch command. To do this, go to Steam> Library> Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (right-click)> Properties> General. Here, add the command in the Launch Options textbox. After setting the -d3d12 launch option, the cutscenes should load just fine.
In-game settings
A simple graphics settings tweak might help resolve the issue. So, open the game, go to Settings, and then Graphics, after which set DLSS to Quality, turn Chromatic Aberration and Movie Noise off, and set Shading to High instead of Ultra. According to players, having shading on Ultra and DLSS set to DLAA can cause the game to look noticeably worse or introduce unwanted visual effects, so adjusting these settings may significantly improve overall image clarity.
Reinstall Windows
Another effective fix reported by a player involved updating their Windows version. They were originally running Windows 10 version 1809, and after performing a clean installation of Windows 10 22H2, the cutscene issue was completely resolved. So, perhaps older Windows builds may lack essential components or compatibility updates needed for proper cutscene playback in the game.
Well, these are the most effective and popular workarounds to fix the cutscenes not loading issue in Clair Obscur Expedition 33. We hope this guide was helpful. Tune in to DigiStatement for more daily gaming content like this! You can also click here to find out how to skip these cutscenes entirely in Clair Obscur Expedition 33.
