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

After that I'm overriding DLSS to DLSS4/Transformer model, implementing RTX HDR, and then creating/editing the engine.ini
I also enabled hardware lumen but the difference is barely noticeable.

I must really be getting old though because I haven't seen a single complaint in this thread about the super tiny text for skill and item descriptions.
I counted at least 3. So, I think it would be patched in the next update or few.
 
8 hours in. I really like it.

It grows more and more on me. The music, the lore, the combat, builds possibilities....
A true classic modern JRPG, which correct a lot of stuff that were annoying for in the classics.

I really enjoy the fact you can get into boss fight which are way above your level and still win by parrying/dodging, instead of the traditional "I have to come back when I gained 20 levels".
I start to mess around with builds. There is quite some possibilities.
For the moment I make Maëlle a glass canon by putting everything in Strength and Luck (and a bit of Agility for speed). Nothing in HP or defense. Then equip some Lumina that buff her when I revive her (because she can die fast), boost her counter (nice synergy with her skill that allow her to take the damage instead of her allies, she can parry everything) and other damage buff.

No item management. Only 3 items to use in combat : heal, AP, revive. And they refill at "bonfire". Love it.

I am currently at the Gestral Village and I love the Gestral. They're kind of Minions but I really enjoy them. Laughed several times reading their dialogs.
The village was too big for me (never liked towns in JRPG).

So far I see 2 cons to the game :
  • The menus are not very readable. It's hard to see which items is highlighted. Now I got use to it but it took quite some time.
  • Outfits : first they have no impact on stats. I can do with that but I prefer when they affect my stats. And second so far it's only silly outfits which I am never a fan in games. Especially here with the quite heavy tone of the story. I don't want to see a very heavy cutscene moment with my character wearing a béret and sunglasses (or the ugly outfit "Sakapatate" I just found. By the way love that name : a funny orthograph for "Sac à patates", literally "Bag of potatoes", use as an expression for an ugly outfit).

No really a con but I am puzzled by the Chroma (the money of the game). You get plenty of it and by the time you reach the first merchant, you are so rich you can buy whatever you want and so far items are really cheap (and there is not a lot to buy). I guess it might change later but I arrived at my first merchant with like 30 000 chroma and items were at 2000 at best.

Really eager to see more. I'll soon unlock another character from what I got from the dialogs I just had.
 
Either the UI is a little aggravating or I just didn't notice where it's shown but:

When you are selecting what Pictos to use, it's somewhat intuitive that you want to put on the ones which cost the most Lumina points and try to use the Luminas which cost the least points. But nowhere in the UI does it show you while you are trying on Pictos how much Lumina points they cost in the selection menu, forcing you to either memorize which ones cost which points, look for a guide which shows them, or just trial and error put them on and take them off one by one

The Lumina points cost of each Picto shown on the selection screen should really be patched in
 
The end of ACT 1 just broke me

I need a hug papis
theoffice-hug.gif
 
Either the UI is a little aggravating or I just didn't notice where it's shown but:

When you are selecting what Pictos to use, it's somewhat intuitive that you want to put on the ones which cost the most Lumina points and try to use the Luminas which cost the least points. But nowhere in the UI does it show you while you are trying on Pictos how much Lumina points they cost in the selection menu, forcing you to either memorize which ones cost which points, look for a guide which shows them, or just trial and error put them on and take them off one by one

The Lumina points cost of each Picto shown on the selection screen should really be patched in
The Lumina stuff is really poorly explained.

I actually missed it for about 5 hours and thought that it was only pictos that gave you benefits. And then I went to the curator and thought, what on earth are all these points for?

It should have automatically taken you there.

The UI is a bit cramped, but probably better on PC.
 
Not too far but there is no real, consistent tell for parries. There just isn't. That Lancelier guy had no tells. No sound. Just get used to it by trial and error. Dodge is more forgiving but parry feels way too unnecessarily strict, almost just frame bad. Maybe add blue and red parries with different benefits and room for error? As it is, parries feels a bit frustrating.

Some nit picks still stand, blurry environment (Perf. Mode), bad facial animations, and small font/UI and actually a poor UI overall.

Surprisingly don't think Charlie Cox is all that here. The direction he's been given seems all over the place.

I thought this was a turn-based RPG? Parries sound very real-time.
 
I thought this was a turn-based RPG? Parries sound very real-time.
Turn based with real time element.

When attacking, you can press X with good timing for increased damage/effect.

And when you're are attacked, you can dodge/parry any attack with good timing (some attacks are chains of several attack so you have to parry/dodge each one of them). You can make "no hit run" of the game if you're good enough.
Some attack can only be avoided by jumping. All of that is just a button press, you don't move in real time.

But it plays out like a traditional turn based. You have all your time to decided what you want to do. Just when attacking or being attacked, you have to be ready to react in real time.
 
lol is this the dick who never gives you a turn unless you counter every hit of a multi hit chain many times, and counter the one shot kill move?

People are going to be real sad if they are doing dodge only or get hit when they reach this guy.
Yeah it's that cunt. Thankfully I figured him out quick and I'm very good at parrying 😂
 
  • Outfits : first they have no impact on stats. I can do with that but I prefer when they affect my stats. And second so far it's only silly outfits which I am never a fan in games. Especially here with the quite heavy tone of the story. I don't want to see a very heavy cutscene moment with my character wearing a béret and sunglasses (or the ugly outfit "Sakapatate" I just found. By the way love that name : a funny orthograph for "Sac à patates", literally "Bag of potatoes", use as an expression for an ugly outfit).
Weird all the outfits I have found have been normal. The prolog outfits for Gustave, Lune and Maelle along with a normal 'civilain' outfit for Maelle. Got a bunch of different hairstyles which are also normal with the exception of a Gestral haircut for Maelle.
It's cool how with all the secrets and exploration etc everyone has a different experience.
 
Reached lvl 83 with lvl 32 weapons, need perfect chroma catalysts to fully upgrade the weapons. All I have to say is that void damage and light damage are amazing.

I am glad I didn't go NG+. End game content is amazing.
 
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Playing this game made me realize how tired I am of the usual JRPG games, with the same 'save the world' and 'has amnesia' tropes.
It's either a crew of screechy, chibi-looking pre-teens, or a bunch of overly regal, fem-boys, also trying to 'save the world'.

Possibly why the FF games have sort of 'underperformed' (according to SE)

I think the whole JRPG genre needs a reset and needs to rethink the tired formula.

Expedition 33 is a breath of fresh air. Sure it does SOME of the usual JRPG stuff, but the writing, music, combat, exploration and mechanics are different enough and impressive enough to infuse new life into the genre.
 
Weird all the outfits I have found have been normal. The prolog outfits for Gustave, Lune and Maelle along with a normal 'civilain' outfit for Maelle. Got a bunch of different hairstyles which are also normal with the exception of a Gestral haircut for Maelle.
It's cool how with all the secrets and exploration etc everyone has a different experience.

I think it's very personal. I have the outfit of Gustave from the prologue. I classify it as "silly" because going fighting battle in smoking don't to it for me.

Hairstyle are fine (except the one you mentioned) so far but I got use to their default one and it makes weird to me to change.
For a first run, I like to stay immersed and not immersion breaking stuff.
I wish for some battle/exploration outfits that doesn't break the immersion. So far only the default one are working for me.
 
Just started. Noticed a few things:
  • The prerendered cut scenes are surprisingly low quality. There's mod that cleans up a bit but they're still blurry with lots of banding issues. They really need to clean these up and offer them as an optional DLC for those who want it.
  • The lip sync is not great in English. I don't think they performance capture for a lot of the dialogue. It definitely reminds me of older JRPGs where it was obvious the lip sync was done for Japanese and they just tried their best to make it work with the English audio.
  • I really hate when they randomly use French words while speaking English. Minor nitpick but it's a pet peeve of mine.
  • Are we seriously shipping games with DLSS3 DLLs still? Come the fuck on.
  • No HDR? On a UE5 game in 2025? I shouldn't have to install RenoDX to add it.
  • Turning off depth of field significantly improves image quality.
 
The lip sync is not great in English. I don't think they performance capture for a lot of the dialogue. It definitely reminds me of older JRPGs where it was obvious the lip sync was done for Japanese and they just tried their best to make it work with the English audio.

It's the same in french. I guess it's due to the small size of the studio/budget.

Also for the french words... well it's there since the beginning and the game is build with heavy influence France culture. But I can get that it's not for everyone to mix languages.
In my opinion it was a "mistake" to focus so much on the English voice during the marketing. I get it that would have been stupid to not do it in English because it would reduce a lot their market but as their game is basically a fantasy version of France and French culture is omnipresent in it, it would have make sense to promote the game mainly with French voice (I mean all the trailers etc...).
But I get it probably impossible to do that if you want to sell your game.
 
Found Lune's hair cosmetic for Maelle

Emma Watson Cats GIF by BuzzFeed
 
I think I reached the end but I won't proceed. Backtracking to all the undiscovered locations

When can Esquie dive?

they should let you change weapon mid fight at the cost of 1 AP
While I like the idea, I see why it isn't there. We will just be able to abuse everyones weakness
 
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Found a merchant in one of the optional areas (one of the best ones yet) who sells a picto that gives 2 AP upon applying stat effect on the enemy, I'll take that my friend, Lune thanks thee.

I've already said so much about the game but still have so much more to say, think I'll save the bulk of it for an epic post upon completion though. One QoL feature the game needs is fast travel back to any expedition flag across different areas, it becomes tedious running back and forth. One of the only criticisms I have, I say again, this is an instant classic that has already earned it's place on amongst the JRPG titans, imagine what this team could do with a sequel, especially since the game found huge success and they could dedicate more resources to it, refine some of the rough edges, the future is bright.
 
they should let you change weapon mid fight at the cost of 1 AP
I feel like that'd be a bit too powerful considering the stat scaling and elemental perks that'd give you. Actually, I'm kind of glad it's the way it is, because it makes you consider your build strategy ahead of time. Also, battle commands are already pretty complicated once you get everything unlocked and this would complicate it even more.

But it would make for some even crazier builds!
 
After a few fights I've noticed some of my weapons have leveld up, sometimes multiple levels at once.
Is that a reward for specific fights or do weapons actually level up as you use them? I thought the faceless dude at camp was the only way to level them up
 
After a few fights I've noticed some of my weapons have leveld up, sometimes multiple levels at once.
Is that a reward for specific fights or do weapons actually level up as you use them? I thought the faceless dude at camp was the only way to level them up
If you get a duplicate of the same weapon, it gets upgraded instead.
 
Also got the Gestral Village last night.
It's great how they not only nail the more dramatic parts of the plot, but the more lighthearted moments are really well done too. There's a lot of funny interactions and dialogue in this part. I spent like half an hour just walking around talking to everyone.

If you get a duplicate of the same weapon, it gets upgraded instead.

Oh, I see.
Thx
 
If you get a duplicate of the same weapon, it gets upgraded instead.
Daman I didn't get it neither. That's a smart system ! Avoid an inventory full of duplicates.

Also got the Gestral Village last night.
It's great how they not only nail the more dramatic parts of the plot, but the more lighthearted moments are really well done too. There's a lot of funny interactions and dialogue in this part. I spent like half an hour just walking around talking to everyone.
I reached the same point yesterday and I thought the same. Heavy and dramatic parts are really well done and I found the whole Gestral's fun is done pretty good. I love the interaction with them.
It never becomes over silly or break the immersion.

Really eager to see what's to come.
 
Console folks, are most of you playing in Quality or Performance mode?

Qualit mode, with all the vignetting and stuff disabled, looks pretty soft as is.
 
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are you all playing in french voices or english.
the french style of definitely gives a sense of fresh air.

some of the cutscenes are a bit rough. sometimes they look like mannequins, other times, they look like actual people.
i really like what we see so far early on with the townspeople and the culture of how they deal with it seeing as how its been going on forever and they just take it as fact.
 
are you all playing in french voices or english.
the french style of definitely gives a sense of fresh air.

some of the cutscenes are a bit rough. sometimes they look like mannequins, other times, they look like actual people.
i really like what we see so far early on with the townspeople and the culture of how they deal with it seeing as how its been going on forever and they just take it as fact.

The English VO is the main one.
 
I finished Act 2 which was surprisingly short but I guess I'm including the prologue in act 1. Both of the final act bosses have really made me work for it. I hope the act 3 final boss isn't to hardcore. I guess I'll end up having to go back and do some end game dungeons to power up. Maybe by the end of the game all those "Danger!" places will just be normal places.

Also the platformer area is fucking BS and had my hands sweating by the time I got to the top.
 
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I want to gush about this game and read everyones impressions but I hate spoilers 😭

This game also has the most music switch ups, it bothers me so much when games have like 2 battle tracks for the whole game.

And EVERY track is SO good!!!!

Edit: The main character is voiced by daredevil!?
 
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English VO is a pretty amazing cast so I had to stick with it!

Pq59BZc.jpeg
Everyone crushed their voice delivery.

Ben is a national treasure at this point. Let the man voice solid snake in a MGS1 remake. He could give him the correct bravado and gruff.

Charlie Cox being so successful with daredevil and Marvel money im surprised he took this but he's my favorite delivery in this game. Gustave not finishing his thoughts as he rambles is done so well by him.

I hope he does more game voice acting.
 
Console folks, are most of you playing in Quality or Performance mode?

Qualit mode, with all the vignetting and stuff disabled, looks pretty soft as is.
I've been playing on quality mode and default settings. Looks and runs fine on PS5 Pro. I'm not bothered by extra frames in performance mode, if I was I would've just got it on PC tbf.
 
Grind is getting there

 
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