Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1899 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Scar-Lead Salvation, Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 & more scored

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
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This week's Famitsu review scores are in.
  • BYAKKO: Shijin Butai Enrenki (Switch) – 8/8/8/9 [35/40]
  • Chernobylite (Switch) – 8/8/7/7 [30/40]
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5, Xbox Series) – 9/9/9/9 [36/40]
  • Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3(PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch) – 8/8/7/8 [31/40]
    • The game takes around 20 to 30 hours to clear, or five to six hours in Fast Mode. It takes around 45 hours to complete everything.
  • Scar-Lead Salvation(PS5, PS4) – 7/7/8/7 [29/40]
    • The game takes around 25 hours to reach the ending, or 30 hours to complete everything.
 
Good for expedition 33 even tho it would have reached 40 if made by a japanese studio.

They even announced a movie.
This is getting a bit too far for my taste.
I hope this does not preludes a grim future made of micro-transactions, crap merchandising and follow-up for this game and 50 future games ala ubisoft franchise.
 
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They even announced a movie.
This is getting a bit too far for my taste.
I hope this does not preludes a grim future made of micro-transactions, crap merchandising and follow-up for this game and 50 future games ala ubisoft franchise.

The movie was announced before the game even came out.
 
The same Famitsu that gave FFXVI a 39/40? :messenger_grimmacing_

Xenophobia: a fear and contempt of strangers or foreigners or of anything designated as foreign, or a conviction that certain foreign individuals and cultures represent a threat to the authentic identity of one's own nation-state and cannot integrate into the local society peacefully.

Then again reviews are subjective. Regardless, imo Expedition 33 is better than anything SE has done in 20+ years.
 
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Claire Obscur is not a perfect game but it's far better than FF XVI. They are a bit biased.

Regardless, score it got is very good.
 
Good for expedition 33 even tho it would have reached 40 if made by a japanese studio.
Same score as Lost Odyssey.

I blame the qte.

Most japanese people doesn't seem to like qte on rpgs. Games like The Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Hearts and Lost Odyssey all had qte's and were unsuccessful in Japan.

Even sales wise E33 was a dud in there:

Famitsu software sales chart for April 21 – May 4:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5): 9,825


I personally disliked E33 exactly because of the qte. I hate quick time events.
 
Xenophobia: a fear and contempt of strangers or foreigners or of anything designated as foreign, or a conviction that certain foreign individuals and cultures represent a threat to the authentic identity of one's own nation-state and cannot integrate into the local society peacefully.

Then again reviews are subjective. Regardless, imo Expedition 33 is better than anything SE has done in 20+ years.

LOL four 9/10 scores is xenophobia now...?
 
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Same score as Lost Odyssey.

I blame the qte.

Most japanese people doesn't seem to like qte on rpgs. Games like The Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Hearts and Lost Odyssey all had qte's and were unsuccessful in Japan.

Even sales wise E33 was a dud in there:

Famitsu software sales chart for April 21 – May 4:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5): 9,825


I personally disliked E33 exactly because of the qte. I hate quick time events.

You can disable QTE in menu.

LOL four 9/10 scores is xenophobia now...?

Have any non Japanese game ever got 40/40? Honest question.
 
Same score as Lost Odyssey.

I blame the qte.

Most japanese people doesn't seem to like qte on rpgs. Games like The Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Hearts and Lost Odyssey all had qte's and were unsuccessful in Japan.

Even sales wise E33 was a dud in there:

Famitsu software sales chart for April 21 – May 4:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5): 9,825


I personally disliked E33 exactly because of the qte. I hate quick time events.
Some good points you make, still QTE and chauvinism are to blame in equal parts imo
 
Same score as Lost Odyssey.

I blame the qte.

Most japanese people doesn't seem to like qte on rpgs. Games like The Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Hearts and Lost Odyssey all had qte's and were unsuccessful in Japan.

Even sales wise E33 was a dud in there:

Famitsu software sales chart for April 21 – May 4:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5): 9,825


I personally disliked E33 exactly because of the qte. I hate quick time events.
FF16 has awful QTEs in boss battles.
 
Evading and parrying are qte's now? Lmao

Sekiro is a qte fest then 😂😂😂 Jesus Christ the takes on some people...
On a turn based game? Yes.

And no Sekiro isn't a qte fest. Timing your blocks is part of most action games, it's about getting the flow of the combat. Evading, blocking and countering according to the player capacity. Each player can fight the enemy however the way he wants it using the tools the game has.


Qte is basically: the player doesn't have any other input at that moment and can only react the way the game wants him to react.

In my opinion is a terrible mechanic, I don't have an issue with timing my press of buttons (I grew up playing games like Pop'n Music and I love them), but I depise quick time events. I hate games like the original God of War because of qte.
 
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i guess Kepler didnt feel like buying a 40 from famitsu
They even announced a movie.
This is getting a bit too far for my taste.
I hope this does not preludes a grim future made of micro-transactions, crap merchandising and follow-up for this game and 50 future games ala ubisoft franchise.
no they havent, a holding company has the rights to it thats all.
 
LOL four 9/10 scores is xenophobia now...?

When FFXVI gets a 39/40?! FFXV gets a 38/40?!

Tracy Morgan Bullshit GIF by Team Coco


Listen I respect your opinion and I'm not going to invest my time debating something I can't prove, but a French indie studio of 33 employees made a better JRPG than a Japanese company with 4700+ employees who's been specializing in the genre for 40+ years. It's a better rpg than anything SE has released in decades regardless of famitsu's scores. Somehow I hope it's a wake up call for SE …

Have any non Japanese game ever got 40/40? Honest question.

According to google AI:

Famitsu, a Japanese magazine, has awarded a perfect score (40/40) to a total of 30 games, with only three of those games developed by non-Japanese companies. As of 2023, these three games are The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda Softworks, Grand Theft Auto V by Rockstar Games, and Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions.

Also, Ghost of Tsushima is somewhat of a stretch since it was released in 2020, and was made by a developer who became a Sony first party developer in 2011. It's a little sus.
 
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Sandfall just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but strategy and tactics are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can become successful by dodging and parrying. If you implement QTEs in a turn based JRPG, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the japanese public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase Clair Obscur for either system, nor will they purchase any of Sandfall's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Sandfall has alienated an entire market with this move.

Sandfall, publicly apologize and make your next game a TRUE strategic turnbase game or it will never get a perfect 40/40 like Nintendogs.
 
When FFXVI gets a 39/40?! FFXV gets a 38/40?!

Tracy Morgan Bullshit GIF by Team Coco


Listen I respect your opinion and I'm not going to invest my time debating something I can't prove, but a French indie studio of 33 employees made a better JRPG than a Japanese company with 4700+ employees who's been specializing in the genre for 40+ years. It's a better rpg than anything SE has released in decades regardless of famitsu's scores. Somehow I hope it's a wake up call for SE …


I'm waiting for additional patches before starting 33 but I did buy it right away to support the company.

I don't think S-E is capable of a wake up call. If they were, I think they'd have already woken up. I don't think they've had this in their DNA for decades. I think there might be some bias in favor of Square Enix, but I refuse to believe a 36 is a "bad score" let alone xenophobic.


According to google AI:

Famitsu, a Japanese magazine, has awarded a perfect score (40/40) to a total of 30 games, with only three of those games developed by non-Japanese companies. As of 2023, these three games are The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda Softworks, Grand Theft Auto V by Rockstar Games, and Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions.

Also, Ghost of Tsushima is somewhat of a stretch since it was released in 2020, and was made by a developer who became a Sony first party developer in 2011. It's a little sus.

How is Ghost of Tsushima suspect because they became a Sony developer? It's not like Sony first party games are all getting 40s. The only other one is Death Stranding and Famitsu loves themselves some Kojima.
 
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