Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ≼| OT |≽ La Belle Fantaisie

Its sense of dread and hopelessness, it kid of feeling I got when i first played Nier Gestalt on PS3.
Maybe I should have spent more time there. It seemed to me like a short straight road with a few people to talk to for background info. Hope I didn't miss some crucial story.
 
Maybe I should have spent more time there. It seemed to me like a short straight road with a few people to talk to for background info. Hope I didn't miss some crucial story.
When I first played that part I talked to as many characters as I could but I was confused what was happening, the world was CLEARLY broken and it was festival but also it was sad because it felt like goodby party.
And at the harbor everything start to click......its basically was same as short lives characters had in Xenoblade 3.
 
only the clunky title can stop this game sales....but i do not even know if we should consider those since it is free on gamepass for 2/3 of it's audience.

great catch by MS by the way
LOL you mean 1% of it's audience

It's a turn based RPG, and it's so heavily influenced by JRPG genre conventions that it basically is a JRPG

The market for JRPG is all on PS and Switch with a significant and growing PC contingent

Which is why if Sandfall are smart they'll have a Switch 2 version of the game ready this year
 
Can i have a non cuck reviewer / non furry.
Tell me if this game is ok?

I thought octopath was fucking sheit
So, I very rarely have time for JRPG emo soppy bollocks.

The game is really good. The battle system is enjoyable (to the point of looking for mobs to fight, always a good sign). Fairly simple parry and dodge mechanics allied with combo attacks where you set up bigger hits.

Music is awesome.

Story is a load of daft cobblers, but others seem to be enjoying it.

Solid 8/10, with the chance to increase if it maintains this pacing.

Good game.
 
What is with pause automatically showing and everything going blurry when taking a screenshot?

k7agmKI.jpeg
 
Last edited:
What is with pause automatically showing and everything going blurry when taking a screenshot?

k7agmKI.jpeg
Yeah noticed it too, they will fix it soon imo.

Almost 20h in.. that game is a masterpiece. Everything just flows perfectly and organically: no quest marker, no objectives, no shitty side quests, no BS.

I just play the game, its so fucking cool to not having to deal with a "to do list" and just float in the air with Lune while exploring.

I play a shit ton of Jrpgs, this is one of my favorite genre, but damn its gonna be hard to go back to some after this one..

I hope some creators in Japan are scratching their head right now..
 
I have a question about the very beginning of the game. Why would there have been an expedition 0? They didn't know there was a count down yet, why bother?
 
I have a question about the very beginning of the game. Why would there have been an expedition 0? They didn't know there was a count down yet, why bother?

One of the optional conversations at the festival asks that same question so maybe it will be explained later.
 
Will play this after Oblivion but can someone confirm if there's difficulty / accessibility type options to make the parrying and timing(s) easier?
 
I have a question about the very beginning of the game. Why would there have been an expedition 0? They didn't know there was a count down yet, why bother?
I think they started with 80-something.

The combat in this game is outstanding. Fought the first boss, and I love how they introduce various new mechanics in the middle of a fight without leaving you feeling like you need to restart to take advantage of your new knowledge.

One thing I'm still not entirely clear on is the timing of the parries and counters. I can get it if it's a major attack that has an obvious rhythm, but when it's a minor enemy that does a slow buildup I keep getting hit.
 
It looks beautiful and has that old school feel to it.
May I ask if the game is very based, none of that woke agenda twisted gender ideology binary and pronouns stuffs? Thank you.
 
Will play this after Oblivion but can someone confirm if there's difficulty / accessibility type options to make the parrying and timing(s) easier?
Difficulty options don't change the timing windows, just the damage done (you deal more and take less the easier it is).
 
I need something potentially spoiled for me, because it's going to bother me if so;
Does Gustave get with Lune at the end? Or does he remain loyal to his wife?
Thank you in advance!
 
Will play this after Oblivion but can someone confirm if there's difficulty / accessibility type options to make the parrying and timing(s) easier?

If you remove the parrying then you're left with a mechanically simple JRPG combat system.

The parrying and dodging is where the magic happens.

It looks beautiful and has that old school feel to it.
May I ask if the game is very based, none of that woke agenda twisted gender ideology binary and pronouns stuffs? Thank you.

No, none of that. You're safe to play and enjoy.
 
Last edited:
It looks beautiful and has that old school feel to it.
May I ask if the game is very based, none of that woke agenda twisted gender ideology binary and pronouns stuffs? Thank you.

So far none.

This will piss some people off, but I don't care. What I am loving is the fact that the dialogue, writing, story and characters don't have that overly excessive "anime cringe". That is amazing for a game like this.
 
If you remove the parrying then you're left with a mechanically simple JRPG combat system.

The parrying and dodging is where the magic happens.



No, none of that. You're safe to play and enjoy.
So far none.

This will piss some people off, but I don't care. What I am loving is the fact that the dialogue, writing, story and characters don't have that overly excessive "anime cringe". That is amazing for a game like this.
Thanks guys for answering my question. That is a good sign that the game is very based. I'm so hype and itching to get this one since it is beautiful on Ps5 and after seeing some of the videos, but avoiding spoilers, it reminds me a bit of classic PlayStation games like Folklore, Shadow hearts and Final Fantasy X.

Looks like I will now have to fit my budget for Doom Dark ages, Death stranding 2, GTA6 (if its this year) and for Obscur 33. DS2 is my priority so, I might choose between Doom DA and Obscur 33 on which one to buy first and the other one later this year. And we have Days gone remaster. If GTA6 will be for next year, that will free up my budget.
 
Last edited:
If you remove the parrying then you're left with a mechanically simple JRPG combat system.

The parrying and dodging is where the magic happens.

I can't seem to get the timing down at all. Been fighting the same enemy over and over again to try and get sense of it but I rarely get it.
 
I finished the prologue and a part of act 1. It's really good. Not sure why everyone was saying the prologue was emotional, maybe I'm dead inside lol, but it was a good opener and introduction to the world. The battle system is so fucking good, engaging and rewarding. The art, the sound design, the environmental storytelling, holy shit, all brilliant so far.

I thought the devs said the lip sync was with the English voice overs? Or is this just bad facial animation? I don't know, but it feels off.
 
IN CASE ANYONE IS WONDERING

Random monsters out in the field just dropped respec item, so feel free to respec as you see fit (and don't spend 10k gold in the shops for them!)
 
If this game isn't a major success I don't know what I'll do with myself 😂 I never felt this way about a game.

I feel sorry for anyone who isn't playing or enjoying it.
 
I can't seem to get the timing down at all. Been fighting the same enemy over and over again to try and get sense of it but I rarely get it.

Use dodge to learn the timing for new enemies.

The dodge window is much more forgiving, plus with the added bonus that when you get a perfect dodge, that's telling you what the parry timing is. Perfect dodge = parry timing window.
 
If you remove the parrying then you're left with a mechanically simple JRPG combat system.

The parrying and dodging is where the magic happens.

Don't want to remove it completely, just wondering if there's options to relax it.
 
I have a question about the very beginning of the game. Why would there have been an expedition 0? They didn't know there was a count down yet, why bother?
If you look in the journal in the menu, there are journals to collect it. We went from 34 to 33 so it's descending. There are journals 34 - 84 to collect, so there have been 50 prior expeditions I believe. My guess is that the expeditions would've started exactly when the Gommage started. Gustave said to Maelle in the prologue she had 9 years left, she is 16, that would make her 25 when she is affected by the Gommage. Expedition 34 - 9, would put her on Expedition 25. So I guess that would make sense.
 
I love the diorama optic of the overworld and the design of every area so far has been really good.
It's not exactly a technological marvel, but the art and music design is great and it's been a long time since I've actually been really interested in a game's story.
The only minor annoyance I've had so far is that the game has a zoom reset bug in 32:9. But that's been fixed by the community already.
 
Last edited:
Use dodge to learn the timing for new enemies.

The dodge window is much more forgiving, plus with the added bonus that when you get a perfect dodge, that's telling you what the parry timing is. Perfect dodge = parry timing window.

Ah.....gotcha. That makes sense. I'm starting to get the hang of it. There is a single enemy right by an expedition flag that I've been fighting. Turned the difficulty down to easy just for this fight so it doesn't do much damage, but I'm skipping my turn every time so that I can only do damage during a counter after a parry and prolong the battle. Other enemies won't be the same, but getting a sense of how the parry works is helpful.
 
r176GkM.jpeg


Just started the game, well, not even started, I've just been sitting on the title screen and getting entranced by the damn OST. I can already tell, without having even pressed a button yet, that the screenshot above is incredibly apt.

50 people made this game, btw.
They had some help along the way but it's more like lower 30s. Watched a french interview today.

Also one interesting tidbit. As good as the characters are, the staff told the voice actors, here's our story, if you have any input or ideas for your characters, feel free to help. That's pretty nuts
 
Ah.....gotcha. That makes sense. I'm starting to get the hang of it. There is a single enemy right by an expedition flag that I've been fighting. Turned the difficulty down to easy just for this fight so it doesn't do much damage, but I'm skipping my turn every time so that I can only do damage during a counter after a parry and prolong the battle. Other enemies won't be the same, but getting a sense of how the parry works is helpful.
It seems like the enemies do hit really hard even on normal difficulty, but once you nail the parry and dodge mechanics the battles are really rewarding, so it's a fair trade. I almost died several times just trying to parry.
 
It seems like the enemies do hit really hard even on normal difficulty, but once you nail the parry and dodge mechanics the battles are really rewarding, so it's a fair trade. I almost died several times just trying to parry.

Yeah, the game makes a perfect parry and dodge very satisfying.
 
Thanks guys for answering my question. That is a good sign that the game is very based. I'm so hype and itching to get this one since it is beautiful on Ps5 and after seeing some of the videos, but avoiding spoilers, it reminds me a bit of classic PlayStation games like Folklore, Shadow hearts and Final Fantasy X.

Looks like I will now have to fit my budget for Doom Dark ages, Death stranding 2, GTA6 (if its this year) and for Obscur 33. DS2 is my priority so, I might choose between Doom DA and Obscur 33 on which one to buy first and the other one later this year. And we have Days gone remaster. If GTA6 will be for next year, that will free up my budget.
I don't know if the developers are "based", the game just has a very old fashioned feel to it. The the clothing, the architecture, the music, the speech and sensibilities of the characters, all very much feels like late 19 to early 20th century, and they are very much adhering to it and not injecting anachronistic elements that takes the player out of the setting.
 
Been a while since I've played a game that seems like it was made by people that didn't have the maturity level of a 5 year old.
Characters are likable and graphics are lovely even if they are a bit ruff at times (think Ninja Theory), but they do outshine the best at times too.
But everything else is top tier and as I said, there a sense of maturity in the story and cinematography I haven't seen in while, especially with a western developer.
I hope this does well because they have a bright future ahead of them if it does.
 
Will play this after Oblivion but can someone confirm if there's difficulty / accessibility type options to make the parrying and timing(s) easier?
In this one it's difficulty. Story mode has more forgiving parries and dodges, although the game description states that even on normal you don't really need perfect dodges/parries (but you do for Expert).

I'm two and a half hours in and the game is absolutely fantastic. Freaking masterpiece with plenty of things to love. Visually it's gorgeous (and performance on PC seems to be great so far), and the music is top notch. Mixing turn based combat with real time actions (both for dodge/parry and attacks) is imo a genius move. The story starts strong and if this keeps up, this will be my GOTY by a landslide.
 
Last edited:
Second session is over, 28 hours in! Updated thoughts:

+ The story feels VERY similar to one of my favorite RPGs of all time; FFX
+ There are moments, especially early on, that felt extremely inspired by Chrono Trigger
+ Pictos ala FFIX gem system works amazing in FFIX and works just as amazing in this game
+ Running around in zones and suddenly encountering a boss that's 30+ levels above your level and getting one shot is giving me FFXII-vibes
+ World map looks, feels and plays wonderfully
+ Costumes and hairstyles are obtainable in-game
+ One of the best RPG combat systems of all time, on par with SMTV:V Press Turn Icon system (although if you're not fan of timing inputs, this might not be for you)
+ There is a town I reached that VERY MUCH resembles one of my favorite towns from FFIX (I'll let you guess which)
+ No quest log, no mini map, no radar. Reminds me of how PS1 RPG was during the golden era
+ More references, I think?! Booskaboo from Seiken Densetsu 3 is pretty much in this game
+ Story and dialogue has the perfect blend of humor and serious moments
+ Not open world
MAJOR PLOT TWIST: DO NOT CLICK THIS AT ALL!! DO NOT CLICK THIS!!!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Killing off the main character was a ballsy choice. I still don't know if this was a good idea or not because I know people are gonna love this character.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
MAJOR PLOT TWIST: DO NOT CLICK THIS AT ALL!! DO NOT CLICK THIS!!!
+
Crushing Cavern = Demon Wall
+ Mini games! Platforming ones, volley ball ones, casino, gambling! Even the mini-game that Sean in Third Strike does to the player is in this!
+ Pontiff fucking Sulyvahn (he was in the trailers, so not gonna spoiler tag this one), and the build up to him was one of the coolest boss battles of all RPG history
+ Maelle. Just... Maelle.


- The cutscene engine is so unbelievably realistic and the jump from that to in-game is very jarring from time to time
- PS5 Pro on performance is very stable (60fps), however it shouldn't look this blurry
- No retry button in battles ala Metaphor
- No way to continue on dialogue without a button press
- Having to go to camp to save instead of just being able to save anywhere in the world map is… meh

Overall, the game is so far a 9. If it sticks the ending, it might just become one of my favorite RPGs of all time. And since I basically don't play anything else the past 10 years, that's saying a lot.
 
Last edited:
Made it to the first boss on expert and am loving this game. Everything is excellent so far and the difficulty is challenging since you can't learn to parry on the fly because it just takes one or two hits to end you but you can master it to become untouchable.
 
Made it to the first boss on expert and am loving this game. Everything is excellent so far and the difficulty is challenging since you can't learn to parry on the fly because it just takes one or two hits to end you but you can master it to become untouchable.
Imagine a no hit run on this game.
 
Just out down oblivion to start this one. Like an hour into and this game is gorgeous in both graphics and sound. My weekend plans just got changed to this over oblivion.
 
Lip sync seem a bit off for anyone else or is this just me? Not a lot but it's breaking immersion on some of these dramatic scenes…
 
Top Bottom