Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Genre: Action Rpg
  
• Spoiler Free Review: Maybe spoilery if you read too much into what I say or analyze screenshots too closely.
• Time Played: 100 Hours
• Too Short/Long: It's pretty much just right. I did everything in the game and feel pretty satisfied with my time. Earlier in the final act, I definitely wanted more time with game, and it gives you plenty more to do.
• Soundtrack: This has an absolutely amazing soundtrack. I immediately downloaded it after finishing the game. The fact it was 12 USD for 8 hours of music feels criminal.
• Why I played: Leading up to it, I was pretty excited for this games release and shared a few trailers here and there, I thought it looked like a pretty stylish RPG.
• Did I cry: Yeah, maybe at a few points in the game.
• Jank: This is a pretty polished game. Off the top of my head I can't really think of any jankiness.
• Difficulty: It's pretty up there for turned-based, story-oriented RPGs. The combat is really good, and the characters are each pretty different, each utilizing their own gimmicks, but it can be pretty punishing getting the timing right to parry or dodge.
• Recommend to others: I definitely put this high on my recommendations to others. Above many games I consider my favorites, just because I feel like it's more likely to find appeal to a wider audience. It has a lot going for it in every facet of the game. I would say the biggest hurdle for most people is going to be the difficulty, but I'm also speaking as someone who sought out all the optional content. Like many rpgs, you can definitely come to out level your opponents, so it shouldn't be too inaccessible, even for those who can't get the timing down as well.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 far exceeded my expectations. From the trailers, I just thought I saw something really cool and stylish. An RPG that finally had flair to rival Persona 5's UI, and hype battle music. While they're very different styles of games, I definitely think it succeeds in that aspect. Better? That's a matter of taste, but few rpgs ooze style in the way these games have and I think that has a lot to do with Persona 5's success. I think it similarly will be a reason that Expedition 33 goes unforgotten. 

Maybe weird to compare the game to Persona 5 at all, but I think it's the first thing that comes to many minds when you think "Stylish rpg". I do think they share more than that superficial aspect of it too, but I'll try to keep this review more or less spoiler free. Which now that I think on it, make it hard to discuss a lot of facets of the game.

It's one of those experiences where you kind of go in knowing that people don't know why things are happening, so you're constantly unravelling the story alongside them. That makes every revelation and moment to moment kind of a spoiler, where the main story is concerned anyway.

If you go to the website for the developer, they have little profiles for the main development team and it lists each of their favorite games. You can clearly see they wore their inspirations on their sleeve with this game. While it's a new and modern game, there are many times it feels like an old comfort game. The soundtrack is excellent of course, but there are ways that I find many older rpgs capture the moment-to-moment in it's music that tell a story in itself. I'm not saying modern rpgs don't, and there are plenty that also have great soundtracks, but the way the story is told in the sound and the way you feel like you are where you are because of the way it sounds. That's what's so great about it.

While it's a very serious game most of the main story, it's not all doom and gloom. It has light hearted moments of characters just interacting with each other and enjoying each others company. It has sharp back and forth banter that is well written and entertaining. It has snarky comebacks and quick-witted jokes. But these elements rarely feel out of place. It's enough to keep the balance, without taking from the mood.

Then you have the mini-games. Something I may have mentioned in other more recent mini-game filled rpgs, that I always feel so surprised when I see in a modern game. In my mind mini-games are a staple of rpgs, but a lot do with out them nowadays. This does not, they are very purposefully there and in your face, and they're great. Maybe a little frustrating, but the awards are appropriate. As far as I can recall anyway, I believe you only get silly alternate costumes for them, so you're not missing out on anything mechanically or game changing in any way, but they're a fun aside to mix up the game play a bit.

Speaking of mixing up the game play, I do appreciate the diversity throughout the game. I always found a way to utilize my whole party and rotate character in and out, which maybe not everyone did. There are only a few brief moments throughout the game you're forced to use certain party members or team compositions. I feel like I would have actually preferred they did it more. Just to make you mix it up and try new things. Not that the enemies didn't. There was a solid amount of enemy gimmicks that kept battles interesting.

I only have a few complaints about the game and overall they're rather small. Map markers would have saved me time - a little skull icon to know where I left optional bosses for later, a little treasure chest or something to indicate a merchant in an area, another misc icon or two I can drop a pin down for - just so I can remember key points. I get not wanting to flood the game with tons of extra UI stuff, it's a beautiful game and it deserves to be looked at in detail, so I can live without mini maps, and hovering icons and all that and stuff, but at least let me put pins in my map.

I also REALLY would have loved to be able to save picto loadouts or something. I would have been way more experimental with these if I could easily save back ups. There were a couple times I used screenshots as a reference, but you eventually get so many and have so many points even that becomes a bit of a pain.

I would have liked them to have two difficulty options. I played on the normal mode(Expeditioner I think?). Story mode nerfed enemies damage way too much, but it gave slightly better parry and dodge allowance. I think the parry/dodge time was just a LITTLE too short for normal mode. Should have had a couple extra frames or another millisecond, or whatever it would equal out to. Especially deep in the game. Enemies definitely get pretty tricky with their move sets, and I instead found strategies that disregarded me needing to parry/dodge, even though I was likely much better and consistent with it early in the game.

Last complaint is that I wish the third act of the game had a little bit more required content. I think it expects you to go for the final run as soon as the act starts, or is scaled pretty much to that? But there is SO much content you get access to in the final act of the game. When I roll credits I don't want to go back and do all this stuff that technically doesn't matter any more. I get wanting to make sure most people could enjoy the story and at the same time wanting to make some tough challenges for those who want them. I just feel it could have been a little bit smoother of an experience if they included some of those as part of the main story or made them accessible earlier in the game.

Overall all my complaints are very minor, and all but one is fixable in a future update - if they had any desire to do so. Not much they can do about what is essentially a "game pacing" complaint at this point. Regardless, it was a phenomenal game that I'm glad I got to play and will think about for some time.

All this and I've yet to really mention the art outside the "style" it has. The art in this game is just unbelievable. I took so many screenshots. Every shot in this game could be an art piece in it's own. For a game that is so thematically centered around art, it just absolutely nails it. It's just so gorgeous. Even though I had to retrace my steps through areas because I forgot what was where, it gave me more opportunities to just enjoy the level design, environments, the backgrounds, the set pieces, etc. So I'm just gonna share a bunch of extra screenshots below here.

If only I could show it in motion, because honestly that is where it shines; as a moving art piece. The particle effects, the camera angles, the timing of movement and motion, even the sound effects and music along side it, it all coalesces to become the art piece it is. Probably why I avoided many battle shots because the ones I have are either too spoilery, or just don't do the moment justice in a single frame.