Digital Foundry: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - DF Review - PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox Series X|S - An Exceptional Achievement

"DF preferred playing it in Performance mode due to input response in battles."

Do they expand on this? I can't watch the video right now, but if there is input lag in quality mode I might just switch to performance mode. There I was thinking my inability to time parries was a skill issue. 👀
30fps will always have more latency then 60fps.

Personally I've never gotten good at any of the QTEs but so far I've been able to get through (I just played through Old Lumiere and fought Renoir again without too much trouble. Some enemy types just kick my fucking ass.

That being said the game is still my GOTY so far.
 
This is undoubtedly for me the Studio Revelation of this generation. Making a critically acclaimed game with equally excellent production values, graphics, and performance across all platforms, and with only 33 people...👏👏
 
I wonder if the parry timing is easier at 30 fps. Might try it for a second playthrough in quality mode with all those graphics.

You posit increasing the latency between what you see on screen, your button presses and the game reacting will make the game easier?










At 40fps I feel like im missing everything, I cant even imagine the first mime fight at 30fps.
 
The game is beautiful, though I do want to fix the weird halos around the heads when dof is on. Not sure if that's a dof or DLSS issue. I'm a weirdo and I like dof.
 
Maybe the concept is that you can see attacks more clearly? Same frames are displayed twice as long.

But you cant see attacks more clearly because you see less of said attack per second.

The attack will effectively warp from one position to the next position, the distance itll warp is larger than at 60, 90 or 120fps.
And with fewer frames its not unlikely you wont even see the moment of impact.....the time you actually need to press the parry button.

The more frames per second the more of the attack you can see, and thus have more frames to react.

That doesnt even take into account the added benefits of lower latency higher frame rates bring to the table.
 
Looks like the Italians aren't big fans of this French RPG.


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My man has a hate boner for turn based games for some reason (just check out this post he left in the OT). Anyways, had to leave the good old laugh emoji on that comment of his for being a hater.
 
I'm waiting for the PC analysis, but I'll still start playing it today, gonna pay Game Pass for the first time in ages
 
Maybe the concept is that you can see attacks more clearly? Same frames are displayed twice as long.

I think it'd be the opposite.

The parry / dodge window would be the same, you just have half the frames to respond in.

That being said, I'm playing the game in Quality mode. Performance is too soft and makes hair and shadow flickering very obvious.
 
I can dodge pretty consistently in Quality mode, honestly, even the fast attacks don't trip me up. Interestingly, it's Performance mode that sees inconsistencies in my gameplay begin to crop up, from not perfectly nailing the QTEs, to more enemy attacks hitting my squad because I missed my dodge by half a frame. It's weird, despite Performance mode absolutely feeling better.

Quality mode for me has gotten just as much use.
 
Same on my 4090. And the game itself recommended me DLAA. I switched to DLSS quality and it still hits like 59 fps sometimes in combat. But there are no stutters. It's not perfect but I'm not mad at it either. Oblivion running at 100+ fps and getting stutters is way more aggravating.
I can't believe this engine is still praised to this day by some people here. I get that not everyone is Ubisoft to have their in-house engine but if those guys in Plague Tale can it can't be that exclusive…
 
I can dodge pretty consistently in Quality mode, honestly, even the fast attacks don't trip me up. Interestingly, it's Performance mode that sees inconsistencies in my gameplay begin to crop up, from not perfectly nailing the QTEs, to more enemy attacks hitting my squad because I missed my dodge by half a frame. It's weird, despite Performance mode absolutely feeling better.

Quality mode for me has gotten just as much use.
Same. Git gud Oliver.
 
I can't believe this engine is still praised to this day by some people here. I get that not everyone is Ubisoft to have their in-house engine but if those guys in Plague Tale can it can't be that exclusive…

To be fair it's just something Ive noticed a few times. It's usually between like 80-100 fps. But yes, UE5 is dogshit and I actively avoid buying UE5 games unless it's something I really want to play like this.
 
I can't believe this engine is still praised to this day by some people here. I get that not everyone is Ubisoft to have their in-house engine but if those guys in Plague Tale can it can't be that exclusive…
I haven't had any issues with UE5 games, personally.
 
I can't believe this engine is still praised to this day by some people here. I get that not everyone is Ubisoft to have their in-house engine but if those guys in Plague Tale can it can't be that exclusive…

I mean .. Oliver flat out says in the video that he doesn't think a game this polished by a such a small team would be possible on any other commercial engine.
 
I can't believe this engine is still praised to this day by some people here. I get that not everyone is Ubisoft to have their in-house engine but if those guys in Plague Tale can it can't be that exclusive…

Asobo, the 20+ year old game studio with over 200 employees, thats your benchmark for Sandfall???


Sandfall is like 4 years old and started with like one programmer.
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If they had attempted to make this game without middleware they would probably still be at the concept art stage and completely out of money by now.




Alot of the people who insult Unreal Engine dont actually know how engines work and blame things that arent the engines fault......on the engine.
Is it bloated yes, because its meant to suit basically any project, if your project doesnt need certain facets cut them out, if you didnt activate a feature your game relies on then its on you, NOT the engine.
If it doesnt do something you need it to do, then its on you to add that feature.
 
I haven't had any issues with UE5 games, personally.
Then you have the machine to brute force it. That doesn't mean it's an optimised engine.
I mean .. Oliver flat out says in the video that he doesn't think a game this polished by a such a small team would be possible on any other commercial engine.
I've seen the video but good ol' Ollie isn't a C++ programmer. He can't possibly know that. I'm not a fan of other commercial engine but surely can't produce last gen visuals at next gen loads as efficiently as UE5. (5.4.4, the "optimised" one).
Asobo, the 20+ year old game studio with over 200 employees, thats your benchmark for Sandfall???


Sandfall is like 4 years old and started with like one programmer.
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If they had attempted to make this game without middleware they would probably still be at the concept art stage and completely out of money by now.




Alot of the people who insult Unreal Engine dont actually know how engines work and blame things that arent the engines fault......on the engine.
Is it bloated yes, because its meant to suit basically any project, if your project doesnt need certain facets cut them out, if you didnt activate a feature your game relies on then its on you, NOT the engine.
If it doesnt do something you need it to do, then its on you to add that feature.
This is the fairest point of all. Yes. My comparison with Asobo was unfair. That said UE5 has consistently failed to prove to be performant. This isn't amateur hour, several teams of devs can't be so ignorant about how an engine works year after year. The core of the thing has optimisation problems or there are no more programmers left in the world. Pick one.
 
Then you have the machine to brute force it. That doesn't mean it's an optimised engine.
Not really. I have a 2080 Super as a primary, and a Series X as a secondary, and an ROG Ally as a casual device. I doubt said machines really, "brute force" UE5 games like that lol, but having played Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on all 3, that one has run very well for me, even on the Ally. And then, stuff like Stalker 2 in Quality mode, Avowed in Quality mode, Robocop on the Ally, and now Oblivion Remastered and E33 have all been played on the Series X, and I haven't had issues with any of those games at all.

I wasn't even implying that UE5 was "optimized", simply that I personally haven't experienced performance issues with it in the games that use it, nor on the machines I've played them.
 
Game is simply gorgeous and the art style is insane. I catch myself just standing in game and watching the environment, kudos to Sandfall.
 
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This is the fairest point of all. Yes. My comparison with Asobo was unfair. That said UE5 has consistently failed to prove to be performant. This isn't amateur hour, several teams of devs can't be so ignorant about how an engine works year after year. The core of the thing has optimisation problems or there are no more programmers left in the world. Pick one.

Or dev teams are being pushed to meet deadlines and arent able to put in the QA required.
Within 6 months most UE5 games are patched to the point of not being an issue.

It would be logical to assume if the teams were instead given a 6 month delay specifically for QA the game wouldnt have launched with issues.


Weve had plenty of UE5 titles that have launched without glaring issues, so it isnt an inherent engine issue.
Hell the most popular game in the world runs on Unreal and supports hardware from potatoes to hadron colliders. (Fortnite by the by)
Again you cant blame the engine if the devs dont put in the time.
Saying the engine isnt optimized is like blaming an Ice Cream machine for making Ice Cream that taste like shit............put shit in get shit out.

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You have a very very reductive look on the game development, I suggest you try Unreal or atleast Unity, its free, load up some of the demo projects, itll give you some insight because you end up sounding quite dumb talking about it when you clearly dont really know what you are talking about.
 
I started playing this, amazing game from the very beginning and it runs as smooth on Windows as if it was running on Linux.

My only complaint about the technical aspects is the hair, it looks so bad and impossible to fix that it ruins the whole presentation, it can't be saved, I tried native 4K, etc. And nothing, shit just looks shimmery no matter what.
 
I am not impressed with UE5 in games so far. Not delivering the hype.
But i recognised its use. Clair33 would not be possible without UE5. It is a fine looking, good performing game for noob studio
 
Not really. I have a 2080 Super as a primary, and a Series X as a secondary, and an ROG Ally as a casual device. I doubt said machines really, "brute force" UE5 games like that lol, but having played Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on all 3, that one has run very well for me, even on the Ally. And then, stuff like Stalker 2 in Quality mode, Avowed in Quality mode, Robocop on the Ally, and now Oblivion Remastered and E33 have all been played on the Series X, and I haven't had issues with any of those games at all.

I wasn't even implying that UE5 was "optimized", simply that I personally haven't experienced performance issues with it in the games that use it, nor on the machines I've played them.
All those games have performance issues so it's possible that you're inmune to drops as I in many instances am.

You have a very very reductive look on the game development, I suggest you try Unreal or atleast Unity, its free, load up some of the demo projects, itll give you some insight because you end up sounding quite dumb talking about it when you clearly dont really know what you are talking about.
And you think that opening UE (which is mostly connecting boxes nowadays) and launching a project as an amateur will give me or you an insight on game development?
 
And you think that opening UE (which is mostly connecting boxes nowadays) and launching a project as an amateur will give me or you an insight on game development?

I started with modding UE3, then moved on the UDK for the fully experience, then moved to CryEngine 3, then moved to Unreal Engine 4 and now use Unreal Engine 5.
Not for development but for Visualization and Simulation.
But ive got enough insight into game logic and the engines to actually implement relatively simple games relatively quickly. (Game Design was my minor in College).


The fact you think Unreal Development is mostly Blueprint shows just how out of touch you are, you probably shouldnt really be talking about game development when you know very very very little.


Open Unity or Unreal open the demo projects just so you can see the scope that the demo projects alone are, so you can appreciate what this small team has managed to achieve and why Unreal was the most obvious choice to get this game out within the timeframe they have with the dev size.

All those games have performance issues so it's possible that you're inmune to drops as I in many instances am.

No they dont.
On console they are borderline flawless.
On PC unless you set everything to max you should no problem running them on midrange hardware.

  • Ninja Gaiden 2 Black - No real issues.
  • Stalker 2 - Dont set it to max and itll run just fine on PC and runs well on Console
  • Rogue City - Such a small team brought us such a polished game, runs on anything.
  • Oblivion -PC version stutters to death, console version is fine.
  • Expedition 33 - Console version actually tries to hold 60 and has a flawless 30. Midrange PCs easily power through it, and it has minimal stuttering.



Other than Oblivion Remastered what issues have you had with these titles and what hardware settings were you using, cuz if you were using settings beyond your power thats on you, if your CPU is from the 1920s time to get serious, if you were playing on console, I call bullshit.
 
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The game is fucking gorgeous thanks to its string art direction, I don't care the actual "tech" behind it.
 
You posit increasing the latency between what you see on screen, your button presses and the game reacting will make the game easier?










At 40fps I feel like im missing everything, I cant even imagine the first mime fight at 30fps.

Its because the action is in fact slower so gives you more time to decide when to react especially with the fake outs and delay attacks. Yeah the lag is there you just adjust to it (parry earlier).
I remember gow ragnarok has some almost impossible fights on hard at performance mode. I change to quality and it was doable.
 
  • Ninja Gaiden 2 Black - No real issues.
  • Stalker 2 - Dont set it to max and itll run just fine on PC and runs well on Console
  • Rogue City - Such a small team brought us such a polished game, runs on anything.
  • Oblivion -PC version stutters to death, console version is fine.
  • Expedition 33 - Console version actually tries to hold 60 and has a flawless 30. Midrange PCs easily power through it, and it has minimal stuttering.
NG is fine. It's a remaster of a 360 game after all.


I don't have info about Oblivion on consoles but the PC version is widely documented.
Expedition looks like a last gen game it shouldn't have minimal stuttering.
 
I'm not a hater but sorry i can't stand turn based rpg, however i'm happy if other people are appreciating the game ! To each his own! ^_^
I'm disappointed to hear that my man, since if you're a fan of RPGs, it means that you've skipped some of the best RPGs released in years, like BG3, SMTVV, Unicorn Overlord, Metaphor, and the list goes on... :lollipop_pensive:
 
NG is fine. It's a remaster of a 360 game after all.



Rogue city locked 30, 60 fps drops some frames into the high 50s?
How many of those games did you actually play after patch one?


You dont know anything about Unreal and you know nothing about how these games perform now.
Hell I dont think you even knew how these games performed at launch cuz alot of them were good launches on consoles and as I pointed out, within 6 months almost all UE5 games have been near perfect.


Expedition looks like a last gen game it shouldn't have minimal stuttering.


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Damn Ive been wasting my time thought I was talking to someone with sense.
 
Rogue city locked 30, 60 fps drops some frames into the high 50s?
How many of those games did you actually play after patch one?


You dont know anything about Unreal and you know nothing about how these games perform now.
Hell I dont think you even knew how these games performed at launch cuz alot of them were good launches on consoles and as I pointed out, within 6 months almost all UE5 games have been near perfect.
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I've shown you metrics of performance. Give me some about those supposed improvements.
 
Meme Reaction GIF by MOODMAN

I've shown you metrics of performance. Give me some about those supposed improvements.

For which game?
Andf on what platforms.

Cuz Rogue City runs perfectly on Console.

Expedition 33 runs easy on my 12400 which is a CPU that basically costs as much as a game.
 
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For which game?
Andf on what platforms.

Cuz Rogue City runs perfectly on Console.

Expedition 33 runs easy on my 12400 which is a CPU that basically costs as much as a game.
avowed runs very decently on my ryzen 5600 as well
VERY rare stutters
is it the new ue 5?
 
Damn Ive been wasting my time thought I was talking to someone with sense.
How is he wrong? Does it look any better than TLOUII or RDR2? Cause I sure as hell don't think it does. It's also not up to par with current-gen juggernauts like Alan Wake 2, AC Shadows, BMW, or Senua's Saga.

I think it very much looks like a last-gen game, albeit a high-end one, which is impressive given that this was mainly a 30-men team.
 
That it takes a team of 30 people to prove that Unreal 5 is not a failure on current consoles is worthy of study....
Indeed. But it's also quite a recent version of UE5: 5.4.4 and they also didn't lost time with XSS optimization, and rightly. Downgraded graphics, 30fps, ship it.
 
How is he wrong? Does it look any better than TLOUII or RDR2? Cause I sure as hell don't think it does. It's also not up to par with current-gen juggernauts like Alan Wake 2, AC Shadows, BMW, or Senua's Saga.

I think it very much looks like a last-gen game, albeit a high-end one, which is impressive given that this was mainly a 30-men team.

Lets not be glib here.
Saying looks like a lastgen game so it should run easy work, and saying it looks like the best of lastgen games are two very different things.
 
Lets not be glib here.
Saying looks like a lastgen game so it should run easy work, and saying it looks like the best of lastgen games are two very different things.
Hell, I'll even go a step further and say that E33 is a step up from even the best last gen titles. The notion that it looks like a last gen game is simply false, in my opinion.
 
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