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[zapper]

Guys, is this game really worth it? I still have to play it, but every time I see it, I lose interest. The OST is incredibly redundant, every frame looks like a mix of crap made by AI in UE5. I'm very biased, but it never struck me as anything from the ad. I really see a whole jumble of random stuff, even one of the secret bosses, which would have excited me when I was 13, but today... hmmm.

Is e33 good for those who have always known the genre?

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

Guys, is this game really worth it? I still have to play it, but every time I see it, I lose interest. The OST is incredibly redundant, every frame looks like a mix of crap made by AI in UE5. I'm very biased, but it never struck me as anything from the ad. I really see a whole jumble of random stuff, even one of the secret bosses, which would have excited me when I was 13, but today... hmmm.

Is e33 good for those who have always known the genre?

No. I play about ten JRPGs a year, a mix of old and new, and this game is not the shining beacon of the genre people want it to be. It's Lost Odyssey if the game was up its own ass. It's a good game, but it's clear the majority of people who absolutely adore it don't get down and dirty in the genre.

If you want to play a hyper linear and repetitive game with the over-melodramatic tone of The Last of Us, then you'll like this.

 

[Danjin44]

Guys, is this game really worth it? I still have to play it, but every time I see it, I lose interest. The OST is incredibly redundant, every frame looks like a mix of crap made by AI in UE5. I'm very biased, but it never struck me as anything from the ad. I really see a whole jumble of random stuff, even one of the secret bosses, which would have excited me when I was 13, but today... hmmm.

Is e33 good for those who have always known the genre?

I'm not gonna say hyperbolic shit like "this the best JRPG past 20 years" or "masterpiece" but it's good game and worth give it a chance.

 

[calico]

It eclipses the genre, but you already seem like you made up your mind so probably not worth it.

 

[Demption]

No. I play about ten JRPGs a year, a mix of old and new, and this game is not the shining beacon of the genre people want it to be. It's Lost Odyssey if the game was up its own ass. It's a good game, but it's clear the majority of people who absolutely adore it don't get down and dirty in the genre.

If you want to play a hyper linear and repetitive game with the over-melodramatic tone of The Last of Us, then you'll like this.

You just sold the game to me

 

[Danjin44]

It eclipses the genre, but you already seem like you made up your mind so probably not worth it.

Absolutely not.

 

[DenchDeckard]

But not a goat status. It's a good game, yes and enjoyable, decent story, but i hope that placing it to level of legends like ff7 og ps1, chrono trigger, zelda ocarina, or xenogears has too stop. Its just a lucky year. No big game type of a game like gta6 or wolverine to compete against. Death stranding 2 is great for me but its considered niche, badly judge and not commercial success, while GOY or KCD2 are just good games. I doubt if the sequel will have same success.

I disagree completely, I think it is up there with those game and will be seen that way in years to come.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

You just sold the game to me

Happy for you! Just wish it mesmerized me like others.

 

[Darchaos]

Well deserved!

 

[Danjin44]

I disagree completely, I think it is up there with those game and will be seen that way in years to come.

I don't agree because as much as I like E33 I don't want any JRPG go same direction as this game.

I want proper towns, city and world feeling alive, I want turn based combat that rewards having good gear and defensive option instead of entirely depending on parry and dodge.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

I don't agree because as much as I like E33 I don't want any JRPG go same direction as this game.

I want proper towns, city and world feeling alive, I want turn based combat that rewards having good gear and defensive option instead of entirely depending on parry and dodge.

This. E33 is phenomenal at what it sets out to do, but it misses out on so much that makes other JRPGs shine that to me it turns into a one and done game and not something that should inspire the genre. It is structured like a AAA narrative focused game with JRPG combat mechanics bolted on. They did a fantastic job at realizing that and it's amazing for what it is, but it isn't one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Expected and definitely not bad, I mean seriously guys Astro Bot won last year so what credibility does this show even have?

Pretty good? Small games are indeed the best games! AAA gaming is dead. People don't love those anymore.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

Pretty good? Small games are indeed the best games! AAA gaming is dead. People don't love those anymore.

What games sold the most this year?

AAA games. This is a hive mind "get out of your bubble" mindset.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I don't agree because as much as I like E33 I don't want any JRPG go same direction as this game.

I want proper towns, city and world feeling alive, I want turn based combat that rewards having good gear and defensive option instead of entirely depending on parry and dodge.

That's unfair to think that though,imo. Even though I agree with you 100 percent that I don't want Japanese games to change.

We can't blame a game being so good that it could influence others to try and copy it's key gameplay elements and content.

It worked for E33 because it was completely in line with the story. The world was pretty empty. Millions dead and I won't go much deeper for anyone who hasn't played it.

I think being worried about what the amazing Japanese RPG devs might copy and it not being what you want (same here) is a bit unfair on E33. If I am understanding you correctly?

It's like, I adore crono trigger...one of my favourite games of all time. I wouldn't worry at the time that other Devs might now do more futuristic ( or prehistoric lol) RPGs.

I don't know if I'm doing a good job of explaining but basically. I think E33 is incredible and I know I'll remember it in 30 ISH years just like I do with Crono Trigger.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Pretty good? Small games are indeed the best games! AAA gaming is dead. People don't love those anymore.

Ah yes I keep forgetting that Astro Bot is a indie title made by 12 people in a basement and they only managed to release it by saving up their allowance that they get from their grandparents, sorry my bad.

 

[Danjin44]

That's unfair to think that though,imo. Even though I agree with you 100 percent that I don't want Japanese games to change.

We can't blame a game being so good that it could influence others to try and copy it's key gameplay elements and content.

It worked for E33 because it was completely in line with the story. The world was pretty empty. Millions dead and I won't go much deeper for anyone who hasn't played it.

I think being worried about what the amazing Japanese RPG devs might copy and it not being what you want (same here) is a bit unfair on E33. If I am understanding you correctly?

It's like, I adore crono trigger...one of my favourite games of all time. I wouldn't worry at the time that other Devs might now do more futuristic ( or prehistoric lol) RPGs.

I don't know if I'm doing a good job of explaining but basically. I think E33 is incredible and I know I'll remember it in 30 ISH years just like I do with Crono Trigger.

Do I think E33 is good game absolutely, does it outclass every JRPG absolutely NOT.

My issue here is people think other JRPG should follow this game's example and I absolutely DO NOT WANT that.

It's good game but also it's missing lot of features I personally love about JRPGs.

 

[Physiognomonics]

What games sold the most this year?

AAA games. This is a hive mind "get out of your bubble" mindset.

Sure people buy hamburgers more than triple stars restaurant food but they don't "love" them, do they?

Ah yes I keep forgetting that Astro Bot is a indie title made by 12 people in a basement and they only managed to release it by saving up their allowance that they get from their grandparents, sorry my bad.

Oh yes the old number of people pointless argument. It's all about the small budget and the vision of the director. E33 budget is 30 times less than Spider-man 2 (who has 2000 people working on that game). Astro-bot budget is likely way less (probably 5-10 times less) than those AAA games. Those game are AA, just deal with it.

 

[Portugeezer]

You must mean Japan

It's a JRPG

 

[L*][*N*K]

Sure people buy hamburgers more than triple stars restaurant food but they don't "love" them, do they?


Oh yes the old number of people pointless argument. It's all about the small budget and the vision of the director. E33 budget is 30 times less than Spider-man 2 (who has 2000 people working on that game). Astro-bot budget is likely way less (probably 5-10 times less) than those AAA games. Those game are AA, just deal with it.

It was a flagship title of a platform holder, it had PlayStation 5 bundles for fuck's sake, some of you are genuinely delusional.

 

[Halfkut]

Long time rpg fans are going through exact the same thing long time platformer fans went through with astrobot last year

Anyone with more than a surface level understanding of the genre was left completely bewildered by the hyperbolic praise it received

Both e33 and Astro are fantastic games for sure, but best in there genre? That's crazy talk

Luckily for rpg fans it's not an exclusive so you won't get labeled a Nintendo/xbox fanboy for not sucking its dick and might actually be able to have a decent discussion about it

 

[Danjin44]

Long time rpg fans are going through exact the same thing long time platformer fans went through with astrobot last year

Anyone with more than a surface level understanding of the genre was left completely bewildered by the hyperbolic praise it received

Both e33 and Astro are fantastic games for sure, but best in there genre? That's crazy talk

Luckily for rpg fans it's not an exclusive so you won't get labeled a Nintendo/xbox fanboy for not sucking its dick and might actually be able to have a decent discussion about it

Well said.

 

[Poppinfresh]

Guys, is this game really worth it? I still have to play it, but every time I see it, I lose interest. The OST is incredibly redundant, every frame looks like a mix of crap made by AI in UE5. I'm very biased, but it never struck me as anything from the ad. I really see a whole jumble of random stuff, even one of the secret bosses, which would have excited me when I was 13, but today... hmmm.

Is e33 good for those who have always known the genre?

No, it's not worth it.

I play a ton of JRPGs, and E33 is mid at best. It's the JRPG for people who don't play the genre.

The story is cliche as hell, combat is easily broken once you learn the timing of the parry mechanic, and it lacks a lot of QoL features, like a decent mini-map.

People love to huff their own farts and talk about how great this game is, but if it had been made by SquareEnix or another Japanese developer, it would have been a 7-7.5/10 game, and those same people would be talking about how much wasted potential the game had. The current glazing of this game is downright pathetic, and my prediction is that, unlike the 7.5/10 game it was influenced by (Lost Odyssey), history will not be kind to E33.

EDIT:

One more thing: I absolutely despise the fact that we live in a culture/time where developers/critics/players try to assign a deeper meaning to everything. Why can't we just have games with a big bad that needs to be killed? Instead, developers want their game to be about "generational family trauma" or some bullshit. Every single time that sort of thing turns what could be a fun game into a slog.

 

[calico]

If we're opening it up from JRPG to all RPG then yeah you might be able to find some better than Exp33. The latter is a much higher bar.

 

[Lokaum D+]

For everyone that needs

 

[captainnapalm]

I've played a couple of hours of this and my initial impressions were... ok. The soundtrack comes on very heavy - and the tone seemed a bit all over the place. The visuals were ok but again, lacking in a bit of subtlety and way too much post-processing. Was thinking maybe I should try it in French because the lip-synching was also very distracting.

At the same time, it's good to see a game like this do well. The whole 'frustrated artists slaving away at Ubisoft before breaking away and making something that actually spoke to them' thing should be a lesson for the entire industry.

 

[Oberstein]

Warhorse wasn't exactly thrilled.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Warhorse wasn't exactly thrilled.

KDC is the better game.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

Warhorse wasn't exactly thrilled.

They made Henry gay for nothing. Games media didn't take the bait.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

They made Henry gay for nothing. Games media didn't take the bait.

He isn't gay, he just took 'Audentes fortuna iuvat' a little too strongly to heart.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Why are people calling this a jrpg?

 

[TwiztidElf]

I'm so glad and its comforting that JRPG fans are coming out and saying wtf to all the praise E33 is getting. I thought I was taking crazy pills.
Great game? Sure.
All the awards and crazy hype its getting? wtf???? It's so weird. Must be the 33 in the title right?

 

[TwiztidElf]

Why are people calling this a jrpg?

Because it is.

 

[calico]

Warhorse missed the boat on gay Henry it seems. They'll have to make him 'neurodivergent' in the next one.

 

[TwiztidElf]

Surely folks that are loving E33 have played Persona5 right?
If not, that's really your next stop. Welcome to one of the best genres.
(We need to channel this energy correctly!)

 

[Poppinfresh]

Surely folks that are loving E33 have played Persona5 right?

You mean, Persona 3, right?

Then Trails of the Sky 1st Chapter

Both of which are vastly superior to E33 in every way.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Long time rpg fans are going through exact the same thing long time platformer fans went through with astrobot last year

Anyone with more than a surface level understanding of the genre was left completely bewildered by the hyperbolic praise it received

Both e33 and Astro are fantastic games for sure, but best in there genre? That's crazy talk

Luckily for rpg fans it's not an exclusive so you won't get labeled a Nintendo/xbox fanboy for not sucking its dick and might actually be able to have a decent discussion about it

Bullshit. I've been playing JRPGs since the early 90s (started with FF1, but Shining Force was the game that really got me into the genre).

Clair Obscur is easily my favorite JRPG of the last decade and definitely one of the GOATs. It's like the "Final Fantasy for grown ups" that I used to imagine Squaresoft would be making some day.

oh well, not surprised to see a vocal minority of haters getting all butthurt about this game. JRPG fanbase has some of the most catty, pedantic, elitist, gatekeeping dorks I have ever encountered. Of course these people are going to turn against a JRPG as soon as it starts getting some mainstream success and recognition.

Why are people calling this a jrpg?

I consider "JRPG" to be the name of a genre, named after the country where it was popularized. Not literally "RPGs from Japan".

Whatever you want to call it, E33 is the same sort of game as Final Fantasy.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Because it is.

It was made in Japan?

 

[Topher]

Long time rpg fans are going through exact the same thing long time platformer fans went through with astrobot last year

Anyone with more than a surface level understanding of the genre was left completely bewildered by the hyperbolic praise it received

Both e33 and Astro are fantastic games for sure, but best in there genre? That's crazy talk

Luckily for rpg fans it's not an exclusive so you won't get labeled a Nintendo/xbox fanboy for not sucking its dick and might actually be able to have a decent discussion about it

Nah....it's just a difference of opinion. Nothing crazy about believing Astro Bot and E33 are the best in their genres. You just don't agree with it. That's fine.

 

[Nocty]

not surprised they mopped it all up, it was well deserved

we need more passionate developers making unique games that they enjoy playing, simple as that

 

[WoJ]

No, it's not worth it.

I play a ton of JRPGs, and E33 is mid at best. It's the JRPG for people who don't play the genre.

The story is cliche as hell, combat is easily broken once you learn the timing of the parry mechanic, and it lacks a lot of QoL features, like a decent mini-map.

People love to huff their own farts and talk about how great this game is, but if it had been made by SquareEnix or another Japanese developer, it would have been a 7-7.5/10 game, and those same people would be talking about how much wasted potential the game had. The current glazing of this game is downright pathetic, and my prediction is that, unlike the 7.5/10 game it was influenced by (Lost Odyssey), history will not be kind to E33.

EDIT:

One more thing: I absolutely despise the fact that we live in a culture/time where developers/critics/players try to assign a deeper meaning to everything. Why can't we just have games with a big bad that needs to be killed? Instead, developers want their game to be about "generational family trauma" or some bullshit. Every single time that sort of thing turns what could be a fun game into a slog.

I've played a ton of JRPGs in my life and I really love the game personally and have zero issues with it winning game of the year. We live in a time where many developers and publishers are pushing derivative slop that all kind of looks the same. Expedition 33 reminds me of PS1 era Final Fantasy and I love that.

That being said, there's a lot here I agree with. I don't necessarily think the story is cliche has hell as you said, but I am not a fan of the late game twist.

Spoiler

Personally I think the game would have been better narratively if it stuck with the initial idea behind the Paintress being this unknown entity wiping out people of a certain age every year. Perhaps Renoir is someone who is ultimately behind the Paintress and created her through experimenting with chroma and is now using the chroma of the people who died during the annual gommage to fuel his own immortality or something like that. But I was disappointed by the revelation that the characters lived in a created world.

I really enjoyed the combat, but at a certain point it becomes pretty simplistic in that you're using the same abilities over and over. However I appreciate that you can more or less handicap yourself and try different builds to more or less create your own challenge by limiting what you do and use (i.e. not using Stendahl).

I 100% agree with your last point about games trying to assign some deeper meaning to things. I play games largely to go on an adventure and kill the bad guy, make some friends along the way and to take a break from reality. I hated the Dessandre family in part because of how they were shoe horned into the narrative. And because of that I had zero issues picking

Spoiler

Maelle's ending because I didn't give two shits about the "themes" of the game. I wanted an ending where we killed the bad guy we set out to defeat and life went on for the people I went on a journey with

 

[Sanepar]

Good game but doesn't deserve goty.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

No, it's not worth it.

I play a ton of JRPGs, and E33 is mid at best. It's the JRPG for people who don't play the genre.

The story is cliche as hell, combat is easily broken once you learn the timing of the parry mechanic, and it lacks a lot of QoL features, like a decent mini-map.

People love to huff their own farts and talk about how great this game is, but if it had been made by SquareEnix or another Japanese developer, it would have been a 7-7.5/10 game, and those same people would be talking about how much wasted potential the game had. The current glazing of this game is downright pathetic, and my prediction is that, unlike the 7.5/10 game it was influenced by (Lost Odyssey), history will not be kind to E33.

EDIT:

One more thing: I absolutely despise the fact that we live in a culture/time where developers/critics/players try to assign a deeper meaning to everything. Why can't we just have games with a big bad that needs to be killed? Instead, developers want their game to be about "generational family trauma" or some bullshit. Every single time that sort of thing turns what could be a fun game into a slog.

I think it's more like the opposite. If this game were published by S-E and ended up being some 0.5 million seller with a 75 Metacritic, JRPG fans would be back up on their crosses crying about how criminally underrated it is and how the ignorant gaijin dudebros are persecuting turn-based JRPGs.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Surely folks that are loving E33 have played Persona5 right?
If not, that's really your next stop. Welcome to one of the best genres.
(We need to channel this energy correctly!)

Completely different games. they have nothing in common.

I thought the gacha threads were bad, but oh, dear, this one is getting salty for sure.

 

[RafterXL]

I love the E33 salt. Who knew all it took for a jrpg to win GotY was to ship it off to France and remove all the cringe weeb shit? I'm only half taking the piss, I play, and like, plenty of jrpgs but can at least be honest and admit that for every non-jrpg fan glazing E33 there is at least one dork who only hates the game because it doesn't have dogshit, hokey ass anime dialogue, at least one girl that talks like a 5 year old, and wasn't made in Japan? Maybe if the average jrpg fan had some standards the best jrpg released in the last two decades wouldn't have been produced outside of the country. Food for thought.

Guys, is this game really worth it? I still have to play it, but every time I see it, I lose interest. The OST is incredibly redundant, every frame looks like a mix of crap made by AI in UE5. I'm very biased, but it never struck me as anything from the ad. I really see a whole jumble of random stuff, even one of the secret bosses, which would have excited me when I was 13, but today... hmmm.

Is e33 good for those who have always known the genre?

No, you should absolutely not play it because you're already going into it with a terrible attitude. It could be the greatest game ever made and you'll find ways to shit on it, like many, many jrpg fans have, most who made up their minds long before they touched it. And if E33 would only appeal to your 13 year old self, what does that say about the rest of the genre?

 

[Topher]

People love to huff their own farts and talk about how great this game is,

If I'm going to point out people huffing their own farts then I'll start with the folks who think their own personal opinion should override everyone else. Are people supposed to change their minds because you broke out your superior JRPG credentials? You do realize that there are reasons why a lot of folks do not care for JRPGs and if E33 were one you adored then it probably wouldn't have been nominated in the first place, right?

 

[Darchaos]

Did we just say that if one Loves or like E33 one should play Persona? Did that actually just happen?

 

[calico]

Modern Square making a game this good is too far-fetched to consider.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I love the E33 salt. Who knew all it took for a jrpg to win GotY was to ship it off to France and remove all the cringe weeb shit? I'm only half taking the piss, I play, and like, plenty of jrpgs but can at least be honest and admit that for every non-jrpg fan glazing E33 there is at least one dork who only hates the game because it doesn't have dogshit, hokey ass anime dialogue, at least one girl that talks like a 5 year old, and wasn't made in Japan? Maybe if the average jrpg fan had some standards the best jrpg released in the last two decades wouldn't have been produced outside of the country. Food for thought.


No, you should absolutely not play it because you're already going into it with a terrible attitude. It could be the greatest game ever made and you'll find ways to shit on it, like many, many jrpg fans have, most who made up their minds long before they touched it. And if E33 would only appeal to your 13 year old self, what does that say about the rest of the genre?

The salt must flow!

The post is absolutely retarded and the dude you are replying to believes that we can't see what he is doing, not only sneezing at the game but at the people who enjoyed it, like a coward that hrows the stone and hides his hand.

 

[Brakum]

How can we give GOTY to something a large amount of players are not engaging with?

Is this in actual serious question?

A prize for the best game is going to.. the best game. You want to give it to the most popular instead yeah?

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Why can't we just have games with a big bad that needs to be killed? Instead, developers want their game to be about "generational family trauma" or some bullshit. Every single time that sort of thing turns what could be a fun game into a slog.

Maybe that's because the games that made the genre very big in the west some 30-ish years ago were, in fact, all about big identity traumas and mommy/daddy issues? I mean, what were those Final Fantasy 7 to 10 all about again?

Surely folks that are loving E33 have played Persona5 right?
If not, that's really your next stop. Welcome to one of the best genres.
(We need to channel this energy correctly!)

Persona 5 is a good game, but to think that it was largely considered the best JRPG of the past decade says a lot about the state of the genre and the tastes of the people who hailed it as such.

You mean, Persona 3, right?

Then Trails of the Sky 1st Chapter

Both of which are vastly superior to E33 in every way.

Hahahahaha.

Ahahahahahahahaha.

I finished E33 in the time it takes Persona 3 to get… absolutely nowhere. I played that slog for 30 hours and nothing - absolutely fucking NOTHING - major happened beyond the initial premise. I didn't even get the infamous Aigis in my party. The most iconic character of the game. In 30 fucking hours of absolute boredom and the laziest dungeon ever seen in a game after the 80s and their first-person dungeon crawlers.